Some of These are Jokes-Weekly Blog # 4

As I mentioned when I started this blog, from time to time, I plan to write about places I visit that aren't music-related. This past Saturday, the fearless duo (me and my boo) decided to check out a comedian named Amy Schumer at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse. This place reminds us of one of are favorite Austin places, the Alamo Drafthouse theater. I'm not sure which came first ( the Arlington Drafthouse is celebrating its 25th anniversary) but they are both very cool. Basically they operate as traditional movie theaters but instead of offering traditional movie fare like popcorn and candy, you can eat a full meal. There's even alcohol...you know, if you're into that sort of thing. I won't go into who does it better so as not to offend fans of either place, but there are some areas where one definitely outdoes the other.

In addition to offering movies at the low price of $5.50 per ticket, the Arlinton Drafthouse features some really big name comedians. We noticed during our last visit to check out The Social Network that Amy Schumer would be performing in a few weeks and we jumped right on getting our tickets. It's a must to do so in advance because they almost always sell out. We had seen her stand-up on Comedy Central and it had us dying. She is extremely edgy and does the whole Sarah Silverman shock factor thing really well. We actually took for granted how much even a risky cable network like Comedy Central censors comedians. She was definitely not holding back. Her comedy ranged from dating and sex, race and of course, picking on the people in the front row. I am always so impressed by the wit it requires to make fun of people so cruelly of the top of your head. If you haven't seen her perform, check out this clip from her appearance on Ellen (it's the most PC clip I could find).

Cult of Personality-Weekly blog #3 pt. 2

So the question was posed as to how my blog will show my personality. Well, that's an interesting question because I have actually found it difficult to fully be myself on this blog, as so much of my personality lies in my facial expressions. I have one of those faces that betray every thought in my head. Really. It can be a problem. But one thing I did realize is that I've had people tell me before that they can hear my (sometimes sarcastic) speech through my emails, so I guess that'll benefit me while writing this blog.

I recently started a new job and, you know, the first few weeks you lay back and get to know your place in the office before you really start to speak up and let people get to know the "real" you. That's kind of what I feel is happening with my blog. I'm getting more comfortable sharing my opinions (they won't all be good I'm sure) and finding my Blogging voice. It's going to be fun looking back at my first post after a few months of steady blogging...my punctuation will probably be the first thing to go.

Now We're Talkin'-Weekly Blog #3

So this past Friday, I was determined to fight through the week's fatigue and check out a band or a new place in town. So in the spirit of cooperation, my fiance did the research while I got ready to go out. We narrowed it down to some contenders but ultimately decided to stay in Virginia and check out what the folks in the 'burbs were into. He'd come across a place called Jammin Java in Vienna. OK I will not lie. I thought this sounded pretty corny but I listened to the band that was scheduled for that night and it sounded promising. Plus, the venue was ranked one of the top 40 music venues in the country by Paste magazine. It's owned by brothers and musicians Daniel and Luke Brindley of The Brindley Brothers so they probably knew how a band would want to sound, right? Right. Jammin Java is located in the suburbs. In a shopping strip. Next to a CVS. When you walk in it becomes clear why its name references coffee. Clearly during the day, this is a cool local coffee shop and cafe. At night, the bar is open for business and the area at the back is cleared to leave room for about 200 music fans. All in all, my first impression was that this was a pretty cool place with a cool concept.

 Photo by Rachel Brown Photography

 The band that we went to see was called Kid Architect. They sounded melodic and well-produced from the clip on the website, but nothing could prepare for their live performance. The show doubled as their album release party so the crowd was filled with their fans. I was beginning to wonder if the crowd was going to talk loudly near the bar throughout the entire show as the did during the first band's performance, but as soon as the first note from the lead singer's keyboard rang out, it drew the crowd to the stage like a super-magnet. I was so impressed with the balance of the sound again at this venue. Props to all the sound guys I've heard so far. Kid Architect's songs were creative and well-written. And though I am a singer and the lead singer was one of the best male leads I've seen in a long time, I will also say that all the members were strong on their instruments. No weak links here. There were even some strong harmonies toward the end. So to sum it up, it was pretty good night. Definitely worth the trip.

Sad Sad City-Weekly Blog #2

It is Friday night and I am sadly too drained from the week-and tonight's attempt to work off the pizza I ate today at the gym-to go out. So I decided to figure out what my next foray into the DC music scene would be. Initially I thought of blogging as literally an online diary of sorts, but as the readings have reminded me, another key use of blogs is to "log the web". So I decided to use my blog to post some of the websites I'm visiting in this week's search for a new place to go, or music to hear.

Imagine my delight when I turned on my computer, still logged in to Twitter, and in the first couple of tweets I see the 9:30 Club (last week's venue) announcing that Austin band Ghostland Observatory is doing a show Saturday at a place called Rams Head. This band is of course popular in their hometown  but I am really starting to grasp their popularity abroad. I had the pleasure of meeting them years ago and they couldn't have been nicer, in addition to being super-entertaining. If anyone does happen to read this before tomorrow, and you're looking for an awesome show, you should definitely check them out. I am considering going myself because it's been years since I've seen them play, but I kind of think that defeats the purpose of trying to find a local scene. So I keep searching...

Then I noticed a link at the bottom of the same tweet to a website/blog called brightestyoungthings. This is a site my fiance told me about because it's written by a friend of a friend. I'm already starting to see a smaller community beginning to form. Maybe I'll shoot her an email and formally introduce myself. No sense in lurking on her site and not making contact. We'll see...

PS-here's some video of Ghostland Observatory. You may know the song.