Best annivesary evar.
Despite my super-blah self in the previous post, the trip to NYC this past Saturday went better than I thought it would.
We left a little later than I had wanted to, and wound up taking the 1:33 instead of the 12:33 train into Grand Central. Since we got there almost as the 12:33 was leaving we had time to go find a quick bite to eat, and came across a nice pizza/sub place just up the road from the station, which I need to recommend to my aunt who lives in that area. We both got subs and they were amazing! His was more like a salad with turkey, over bread, and mine was just a serving of eggplant parm over same. So tasty.
I kept myself amused on the train with Fables v.10 (I NEED 11!!!) and the trip felt a lot shorter than it could have. Immediately out of the station we took a wrong turn and wound up going three streets in the wrong direction before turning around and finding Beard Papa and Chiyoda Sushi. 1) This was the theme of our navigation and 2) THANK YOU DJ for showing us these very yummy places! We got our cream puffs, and a light snack, since we had just been full of Italian about two hours ago, and some onigiri to take with us and eat as we walked.
We went the right direction to get to Time Square and found the Sanrio store with little difficulty. It was a little crowded, and not quite how I remembered it the last time we were there (granted, it was 5-6 years ago). Didn't find anything I OMG-HAD to have that I could really justify getting, so we moved on.
On the street we saw some break dancers! Me, being full of wonder at this strange huge place had to stop and watch, having never seen any before XD We were also approached by a man selling CDs (his own, that he was signing as he sold :3), "Don't be afraid of a black man comin' at you with CDs!" He was really nice, and Jeff did get a CD from him, though I don't think it's anything we'd really listen to...I'll try it once I'm done with this. He asked where we were from, and if I was Jeff's wife, to which Jeff replied "Maybe, soon." #O_O# *squish*
We were trying to find things to do before the show, but no other shops looked interesting, and the Ripley's museum that did was almost $30/person to get in, so we just made for the Subway to be on our way to the venue. I was a little put-off by the subway at first, but that's why I have Jeff :D he got us into the right station after more of our navigation theme, and once we were on 14th street, we made it down to 13th, turned around, and found 16th...
After all that walking, turning, walking some more, and waiting in line outside, we found ourselves inside the Highline Ballroom. With our wine/soda, cheese and chicken tacos, and surrounded by like people, we were ready to geek out to the Awesomeness that is Jonathan Coulton.
The opening band was better than I was expecting, to be perfectly honest. Their first song, possibly titled "We Are the Opening Band" was an excellent lead in to a very fun set, which I wish I had taken notes on as well. Jonathan came out and joined them for a few songs, they showcased some fake jingles they had written, and performed acapella, announcing, similar to Gregorian chanting, a bout between two nuns based on some recent real nuns in the news. They finished their set with a song called the Seacaptain's Wife's Lament, pandering to their pirate loving audience. We were to play the part of the crew, performing various "Arrr!"s when cued. There was a hopeful Arr, and thoughtful Arr, and a Dejected Arr (which they had a t-shirt for, which I almost got, and still may if I find it online). Throughout the song they kept stopping and trying to play with this new toy until it broke: "What kind of socks do Pirates wear?"
"ARRRRRgyle!!!"
"Who's your favorite Droid?"
"ARRRRR2D2!!!"
"And what's the movie?"
"StARRRRRRR Wars!!!"
"And what's a Pirate's favorite restaurant?"
"ARRRRRRby's!!!"
"NO! ...it's Roy Rogers."
And so on.
There was a brief intermission, and we finally got what we came for.
THE SET
The Future Soon
Ikea
Shopvac
Flikr
-In which we learn that the giant panda is dead
(Joined by Paul and Storm)
Tom Cruise Crazy
Soft Rocked by Me
-Which was concluded with a medley, as follows:
--Tequila Sunrise, Hitchin' a Ride, Everyday People, My Girl, Blue Bayou, Lime in the Coconut/Hey Jude =O_o= (Audience" NaaaaNaNa NaNaNaNaaa, etc)
(Joined by Ukulele player)
cover: Birdhouse in Your Soul(?)
-(Not sure what this was...any info, please comment)
Code Monkey
-Extra Acoustic sounding (possibly due to Ukulele)
(Joined by 10,000 Ukuleles!!! (ok, 7 more) called Ukulele Army)
My Monkey
Creepy Doll
-Possibly the most awesome piece of awesome in the history of awesome due to:
--Guy ROCKING OUT on Ukulele, Well timed single tambourine hits, well timed egg shaker, single note Ukulele solo
(Ukuleles leave stage)
I Feel Fantastic!
(Paul and Storm leave stage)
Mr. Fancy Pants
-In which we are Rick Roll'd by a device which will be described later
I Crush Everything
Skullcrusher Mountain
Still Alive
-"I wrote this song for a video game" *Audience 'splode*
You Ruined Everything
-Which I previously didn't know was about babies <3 awww
Re: Your Brains
-Audience Participation as Zombie Hoard
(Jonathan leaves stage)
ENCORE!
(Joined by Paul and Storm, Ukulele Army)
Imperial March by entire audience at slightest provocation
Rick Roll'd again! (Or maybe it was just a cover...)
First of May
-Conluded with Sweet Caroline, accompanied by audience participation. I was shocked to find that Jeff DIDN'T KNOW THE ADD-ONS!*
--*"BAH BAH BAAAAH!" "SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!!"
(All leave stage)
(Audience begins rhythmic, synchronized grunt-like sounds)
(Jonathan, Paul and Storm return to stage)
"Well, this wasn't planned..."
Itsy Bitsy Spider (no, really)
Mandelbrot Set
cover: Welcome to the Machine
-From what they said, I think this was a Pink Floyd cover...confirm/correct?
--Confirmed by Rob
Curl
(Previous two songs performed because they weren't asked for, to show we don't own him)
A Talk with George
-Last song 4 Realz
Aside from the awesomeness mentioned in the notes, I need to describe this machine. It looked like an electric harpsichord with big black buttons all over it. As he first started playing it I thought it was a drum machine, but it turns out he had programmed all the sounds and lyrics from "Mr. Fancy Pants" into the machine, and performed it at about quadruple the original song's length with the help of the right buttons. Towards the end of the song, he pushed the Rick Roll button, and under all the drum beats and whispers of "Mr. Fancy Pants" we heard "Never gonna give-Never gonna give (give you up)..." I nearly died laughing at that point. And now I want a piece of Flair that reads "I've been Rick Roll'd by Jonathan Coulton"...because it's awesome.
Best Anniversary present EVAR.
Also, having read the blog on his website, Jonathan has noted that this was the most fun show in recent memory :D Squee!
Somehow after all the excitement we made it back to Grand Central and caught a 12:10 back to Poughkeepsie, despite fearing that the last train left at 11:13 (We were NOT leaving the concert just for something as silly as getting home before tomorrow *pssh*). On the train we worked more on 'Working Title', which I will devote an entire separate entry to, since this is getting too long, and listened to the Paul and Storm CD Jeff got on the car ride home. I almost fell asleep around miles 114, 125 and 134, but other than that, we arrived home safely, and thusly collapsed.
THE END!
Yesterday was spent resting, recovering, and entertaining a Rob and MJ who lost power during the evening. We also went swimming, which I am still sore from, in addition to 'from-all-that-walking' (with added blisters and chafing =T_T=) and 'playing-THOSE-SONGS-in-DDR-after-months-of-not-playing' pains. It has made me realize how horribly out of shape I am, and I am going to go back out into the pool and swim laps until I can't feel my arms, followed by real food for lunch, and more working on job skillzorz, yay.
We left a little later than I had wanted to, and wound up taking the 1:33 instead of the 12:33 train into Grand Central. Since we got there almost as the 12:33 was leaving we had time to go find a quick bite to eat, and came across a nice pizza/sub place just up the road from the station, which I need to recommend to my aunt who lives in that area. We both got subs and they were amazing! His was more like a salad with turkey, over bread, and mine was just a serving of eggplant parm over same. So tasty.
I kept myself amused on the train with Fables v.10 (I NEED 11!!!) and the trip felt a lot shorter than it could have. Immediately out of the station we took a wrong turn and wound up going three streets in the wrong direction before turning around and finding Beard Papa and Chiyoda Sushi. 1) This was the theme of our navigation and 2) THANK YOU DJ for showing us these very yummy places! We got our cream puffs, and a light snack, since we had just been full of Italian about two hours ago, and some onigiri to take with us and eat as we walked.
We went the right direction to get to Time Square and found the Sanrio store with little difficulty. It was a little crowded, and not quite how I remembered it the last time we were there (granted, it was 5-6 years ago). Didn't find anything I OMG-HAD to have that I could really justify getting, so we moved on.
On the street we saw some break dancers! Me, being full of wonder at this strange huge place had to stop and watch, having never seen any before XD We were also approached by a man selling CDs (his own, that he was signing as he sold :3), "Don't be afraid of a black man comin' at you with CDs!" He was really nice, and Jeff did get a CD from him, though I don't think it's anything we'd really listen to...I'll try it once I'm done with this. He asked where we were from, and if I was Jeff's wife, to which Jeff replied "Maybe, soon." #O_O# *squish*
We were trying to find things to do before the show, but no other shops looked interesting, and the Ripley's museum that did was almost $30/person to get in, so we just made for the Subway to be on our way to the venue. I was a little put-off by the subway at first, but that's why I have Jeff :D he got us into the right station after more of our navigation theme, and once we were on 14th street, we made it down to 13th, turned around, and found 16th...
After all that walking, turning, walking some more, and waiting in line outside, we found ourselves inside the Highline Ballroom. With our wine/soda, cheese and chicken tacos, and surrounded by like people, we were ready to geek out to the Awesomeness that is Jonathan Coulton.
The opening band was better than I was expecting, to be perfectly honest. Their first song, possibly titled "We Are the Opening Band" was an excellent lead in to a very fun set, which I wish I had taken notes on as well. Jonathan came out and joined them for a few songs, they showcased some fake jingles they had written, and performed acapella, announcing, similar to Gregorian chanting, a bout between two nuns based on some recent real nuns in the news. They finished their set with a song called the Seacaptain's Wife's Lament, pandering to their pirate loving audience. We were to play the part of the crew, performing various "Arrr!"s when cued. There was a hopeful Arr, and thoughtful Arr, and a Dejected Arr (which they had a t-shirt for, which I almost got, and still may if I find it online). Throughout the song they kept stopping and trying to play with this new toy until it broke: "What kind of socks do Pirates wear?"
"ARRRRRgyle!!!"
"Who's your favorite Droid?"
"ARRRRR2D2!!!"
"And what's the movie?"
"StARRRRRRR Wars!!!"
"And what's a Pirate's favorite restaurant?"
"ARRRRRRby's!!!"
"NO! ...it's Roy Rogers."
And so on.
There was a brief intermission, and we finally got what we came for.
THE SET
The Future Soon
Ikea
Shopvac
Flikr
-In which we learn that the giant panda is dead
(Joined by Paul and Storm)
Tom Cruise Crazy
Soft Rocked by Me
-Which was concluded with a medley, as follows:
--Tequila Sunrise, Hitchin' a Ride, Everyday People, My Girl, Blue Bayou, Lime in the Coconut/Hey Jude =O_o= (Audience" NaaaaNaNa NaNaNaNaaa, etc)
(Joined by Ukulele player)
cover: Birdhouse in Your Soul(?)
-(Not sure what this was...any info, please comment)
Code Monkey
-Extra Acoustic sounding (possibly due to Ukulele)
(Joined by 10,000 Ukuleles!!! (ok, 7 more) called Ukulele Army)
My Monkey
Creepy Doll
-Possibly the most awesome piece of awesome in the history of awesome due to:
--Guy ROCKING OUT on Ukulele, Well timed single tambourine hits, well timed egg shaker, single note Ukulele solo
(Ukuleles leave stage)
I Feel Fantastic!
(Paul and Storm leave stage)
Mr. Fancy Pants
-In which we are Rick Roll'd by a device which will be described later
I Crush Everything
Skullcrusher Mountain
Still Alive
-"I wrote this song for a video game" *Audience 'splode*
You Ruined Everything
-Which I previously didn't know was about babies <3 awww
Re: Your Brains
-Audience Participation as Zombie Hoard
(Jonathan leaves stage)
ENCORE!
(Joined by Paul and Storm, Ukulele Army)
Imperial March by entire audience at slightest provocation
Rick Roll'd again! (Or maybe it was just a cover...)
First of May
-Conluded with Sweet Caroline, accompanied by audience participation. I was shocked to find that Jeff DIDN'T KNOW THE ADD-ONS!*
--*"BAH BAH BAAAAH!" "SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!!"
(All leave stage)
(Audience begins rhythmic, synchronized grunt-like sounds)
(Jonathan, Paul and Storm return to stage)
"Well, this wasn't planned..."
Itsy Bitsy Spider (no, really)
Mandelbrot Set
cover: Welcome to the Machine
-From what they said, I think this was a Pink Floyd cover...confirm/correct?
--Confirmed by Rob
Curl
(Previous two songs performed because they weren't asked for, to show we don't own him)
A Talk with George
-Last song 4 Realz
Aside from the awesomeness mentioned in the notes, I need to describe this machine. It looked like an electric harpsichord with big black buttons all over it. As he first started playing it I thought it was a drum machine, but it turns out he had programmed all the sounds and lyrics from "Mr. Fancy Pants" into the machine, and performed it at about quadruple the original song's length with the help of the right buttons. Towards the end of the song, he pushed the Rick Roll button, and under all the drum beats and whispers of "Mr. Fancy Pants" we heard "Never gonna give-Never gonna give (give you up)..." I nearly died laughing at that point. And now I want a piece of Flair that reads "I've been Rick Roll'd by Jonathan Coulton"...because it's awesome.
Best Anniversary present EVAR.
Also, having read the blog on his website, Jonathan has noted that this was the most fun show in recent memory :D Squee!
Somehow after all the excitement we made it back to Grand Central and caught a 12:10 back to Poughkeepsie, despite fearing that the last train left at 11:13 (We were NOT leaving the concert just for something as silly as getting home before tomorrow *pssh*). On the train we worked more on 'Working Title', which I will devote an entire separate entry to, since this is getting too long, and listened to the Paul and Storm CD Jeff got on the car ride home. I almost fell asleep around miles 114, 125 and 134, but other than that, we arrived home safely, and thusly collapsed.
THE END!
Yesterday was spent resting, recovering, and entertaining a Rob and MJ who lost power during the evening. We also went swimming, which I am still sore from, in addition to 'from-all-that-walking' (with added blisters and chafing =T_T=) and 'playing-THOSE-SONGS-in-DDR-after-months-of-not-playing' pains. It has made me realize how horribly out of shape I am, and I am going to go back out into the pool and swim laps until I can't feel my arms, followed by real food for lunch, and more working on job skillzorz, yay.