Everything but the YYYs is lacking enthusiasm

Well...so much for the Metric vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs thing. I got sick of writing and revising it. So, to wrap that subject up, suffice it to say that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs provided a much more enjoyable show than Metric. I don't know if it was just Karen O's enthusiasm and Emily Haines's lack thereof, but the crowds at each show had notably different attitudes, as well. Color me disappointed.

As for other things (that probably matter more in life), I've finally started to learn how to cook pizza (and yes, it is an important life skill)! I even have a sweet burn on my right forearm from the oven to show for it. Awesome. I'll be sure to report back when I actually have something interesting to say here.

Emily Haines vs. Karen O.

Because, really, they're the only ones anyone cares about in their respective bands.

I mean, when the front-person of the band also happens to be a sexy alt-rock chick with a great set of...vocal chords...why would you bother directing your focus at anyone else on stage?

(An actual review/comparison of Metric's show vs. Yeah Yeah Yeah's show at Bumbershoot to follow, hopefully tomorrow. I've got a tired headache from staring at my screen too much this evening, so I'm calling it quits for right now.)

[Both photos by Sarah Bastin, taken at Bumbershoot last weekend--and a super-dee-duper thanks to Flickr, my humble amateur means of acquiring beautiful, professional photos for all my ridiculous unprofessional needs]

Recovering from Bumbershoot

After a loaded 3 full days at Bumbershoot, I spent yesterday morning/afternoon catching up on internet things and letting my feet rest before work.

I'll try to get into more reviews of the other shows in the next few days, but for the moment I'll just mention one of my favorites of the weekend, which was Raphael Saadiq's performance.

I snagged this beautiful photo from the Three Imaginary Girls blog, who got it from photographer Jason Tang.

If I'd had any misgivings Sunday night about choosing this closing show at the Fisher Green Stage over Jason Mraz at the Mainstage, they were completely vaporized as soon as Raphael walked out, in his suit and horn-rimmed glasses. The band was tight, the singers energetic and sexy, and I experienced an hour and a half of live music-induced euphoria. The crowd loved them so much that we got him to come out for 2 encores! I had just left after the first encore, assuming it was finished, when I heard the crowd start cheering again. I turned around, saw members of the band onstage again with their instruments, and ran back to join the audience, both surprised and elated.

Their set consisted of about 70% songs from their album and 30% covers/jam sessions. It flowed beautifully, and Raphael was a fantastic stage presence. I'm not sure how much of the audience were fans before the show (judging by the lack of singing along to the songs), but I don't think there was a single person who left without having thoroughly enjoyed him/herself.

And there probably wasn't a single man-lover (of the straight or gay variety) who left without silently acquiescing to Raphael's dialogue in the song "Let's Take a Walk". (Which, incidentally, begins with the lines "This place is crowded/Don't know about you/I need some sex/Some sex with you".)

One day, I'll return...but in the meantime...

The other day, I checked my bre.in.rome gmail for the first time since April 2008. There were pages of new emails, most of which telling me that someone new had added me on my bre_in_rome livejournal, which I hadn't updated in almost as long. The last post was notifying my friends and family that I had missed my ferry to Barcelona (this was only a couple of weeks into my quarter abroad in Rome), and was freaking out and trying to figure out if I was going to book a last-minute flight or what.

I never got around to updating that journal the following 2 months I spent in Europe, owing to the fact that I just got too busy and too far behind in my posts.

So, since I'm not currently busy running around Barcelona, London, and various parts of Italy, I've decided to finish documenting my travels. It's been over a year since the trip and since I've recounted my stories to friends and family. But I figure I'll remember more about it now than I will 10 years from now, so I should tell as many stories as possible while I still can. Luckily, I have a good number of photos to help jog my memory.

http://bre-in-rome.livejournal.com/

Of course, this is just going to fuel the constant yearning I have for all things European...and more specifically, all things Italian.

Back to School

In January, that is. It turns out the University of Washington doesn't really care why you stopped schooling, how you did while you were there, why you want to come back, or how you've changed. It's just a simple act of being entered back into the system.

I think I would feel more validated if I had been accepted only after explaining myself. Though I don't really want to get into the reasons I need that validation.