Cons, Concerts, and other such Contabulous Contraptions
So, yes. A busy week. But not bad at all.
It started last weekend, with my return to Madicon. Which, unfortunately, was not all I hoped for. The con chair (whom some may remember as "Christine") refused to acknowledge my existence for the entire weekend. This was, in some respects, a blessing, but made gettng any sort of service sort of a faint hope. When the con chair is gossiping with her friends as opposed to letting you pick up the artwork that your artist girlfriend asked you to get for her, it proves to be rather irritating. Also, it turns out that the con chair spent all the money on other stuff, which means that White Wolf didn't show up. This, too, was a disappointment. Still, it was very nice to see Rachel again, and any weekend when I get to see Jessi is good.
Work, as usual, was craptacular. 'nuff said.
Then came Thursday night, and the Billy Joel concert!!
It was, to put it very simply, UTTERLY FUCKING AWESOME. Around two hours and 15 minutes of solid music? KICKASS.
In case you couldn't tell, I had a great time. Highlights included the following:
--Billy Joel pointing to my section and thanking all of us in the nosebleed seats, because he "really needed the money. Do you have any idea how high my car insurance premiums are these days?"
--The performance of "Goodnight Saigon", when he brought onstage about 10 vets (probably from Walter Reed, from the look of some of them). Really moving, tastefully done, very nice.
--The encore, when he came back onstage, sat down at the piano, looked to be about ready to play "Piano Man"........and then started playing the "Looney Tunes" theme.
--Billy Joel dancing a little Riverdance Irish jig off-stage, after wishing everyone a happy early St. Patrick's Day.
--The fact that he brought one of his roadies on stage, picked up an electric guitar, and let the guy belt out a pretty good rendition of "Highway to Hell." Yes, that's right; I got to hear the Billy Joel version of "Highway to Hell." ^_^
Other than the vertigo I got at first (acrophobia + being about 5 rows from the top of the Verizon Center = eep), and the drunken sorority girls behind me who WOULDN'T SHUT THE HELL UP, it was most excellent.
Oh, and the Sara Dixon reference (since I don't think anyone knows this story): My freshman year of high school, Billy Joel went on his "farewell tour", after which he was never going on tour again. I wanted to go very, very badly, but I had no ticket. The day after the concert, in S. Rose's geometry class, I was saying as much, when Sara Dixon (who sat next to me) went "Oh, I went! I wish I'd known you were a fan -- we had too many tickets, so we had to give some away!" And I let out a strangled scream of death and rage. (Well, not literally, but you all know what I mean.) But now, almost 9 years later, I can say with all due respect -- TAKE THAT, SARA DIXON!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!
So, anyway, yes. That was the week. Down in Harrisonburg now, back Sunday. Later, all.
Oh, and in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I tried my first Guinness last night. It was (when cold and not flat) the first beer I've ever had that I actually enjoyed, and didn't taste like cat piss. So, hooray for Guinness.
--Squeegee
"BRILLIANT!!"
It started last weekend, with my return to Madicon. Which, unfortunately, was not all I hoped for. The con chair (whom some may remember as "Christine") refused to acknowledge my existence for the entire weekend. This was, in some respects, a blessing, but made gettng any sort of service sort of a faint hope. When the con chair is gossiping with her friends as opposed to letting you pick up the artwork that your artist girlfriend asked you to get for her, it proves to be rather irritating. Also, it turns out that the con chair spent all the money on other stuff, which means that White Wolf didn't show up. This, too, was a disappointment. Still, it was very nice to see Rachel again, and any weekend when I get to see Jessi is good.
Work, as usual, was craptacular. 'nuff said.
Then came Thursday night, and the Billy Joel concert!!
It was, to put it very simply, UTTERLY FUCKING AWESOME. Around two hours and 15 minutes of solid music? KICKASS.
In case you couldn't tell, I had a great time. Highlights included the following:
--Billy Joel pointing to my section and thanking all of us in the nosebleed seats, because he "really needed the money. Do you have any idea how high my car insurance premiums are these days?"
--The performance of "Goodnight Saigon", when he brought onstage about 10 vets (probably from Walter Reed, from the look of some of them). Really moving, tastefully done, very nice.
--The encore, when he came back onstage, sat down at the piano, looked to be about ready to play "Piano Man"........and then started playing the "Looney Tunes" theme.
--Billy Joel dancing a little Riverdance Irish jig off-stage, after wishing everyone a happy early St. Patrick's Day.
--The fact that he brought one of his roadies on stage, picked up an electric guitar, and let the guy belt out a pretty good rendition of "Highway to Hell." Yes, that's right; I got to hear the Billy Joel version of "Highway to Hell." ^_^
Other than the vertigo I got at first (acrophobia + being about 5 rows from the top of the Verizon Center = eep), and the drunken sorority girls behind me who WOULDN'T SHUT THE HELL UP, it was most excellent.
Oh, and the Sara Dixon reference (since I don't think anyone knows this story): My freshman year of high school, Billy Joel went on his "farewell tour", after which he was never going on tour again. I wanted to go very, very badly, but I had no ticket. The day after the concert, in S. Rose's geometry class, I was saying as much, when Sara Dixon (who sat next to me) went "Oh, I went! I wish I'd known you were a fan -- we had too many tickets, so we had to give some away!" And I let out a strangled scream of death and rage. (Well, not literally, but you all know what I mean.) But now, almost 9 years later, I can say with all due respect -- TAKE THAT, SARA DIXON!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!
So, anyway, yes. That was the week. Down in Harrisonburg now, back Sunday. Later, all.
Oh, and in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I tried my first Guinness last night. It was (when cold and not flat) the first beer I've ever had that I actually enjoyed, and didn't taste like cat piss. So, hooray for Guinness.
--Squeegee
"BRILLIANT!!"