Steps taken forward...

Abney Park has a couple of all ages shows coming up and they need help getting the word out about it. To do that, robert_from_ap is looking for help getting these images all over the web. As a fan I am more than happy to do this. Their music is first rate with a unique, but familliar world beat sound and their live shows great. If you've never heard them before, go to the Vault and listen to some of their stuff.

To repost this:


<a href="http://www.slimstickets.com/evinfo.php?eventid=31645&sid="><img src="http://www.abneypark.com/slims.jpg"></a>

To repost this:


<a href="http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&pl=&eventId=946104"><img src="http://www.abneypark.com/knittingfactory.jpg"></a>

Last night, I went to a laser show with the Boy down at the Pacific Science Center to see the Wall. This had been the first time seeing a laser show since I lived in Denver. Of course, we went to go see the Wall and the Boy was commenting how trippy it was. The Seattle Laser Dome is a very different configuration from the Gates Planetarium back in Denver, named for Charles C. Gates of the Gates Rubber Company.

Where as the Gates Planetarium is like a theater in the round, with a platform in the middle for the star field generator in the middle, the Seattle Laser Dome is laid out more like a theater with a thrust stage, except people can lay down in the middle section and watch the show on the ceiling. Interestingly enough, I read that they even did a show with a live band playing for their CD release party. Of course, after I learned that I had images of the Ophelia, of Abney Park fame, rendered in laser light across the dome with the live show playing at the foot of the dome. Probably not quite of the steampunk vein with lasers, though if it were called a "Death Ray Abney Park" show instead of a "laser show", that could work. I should probably toss that suggestion robert_from_ap's direction. Who knows, he might go for it, right?

Anyway, the show was good and I found myself singing to the music and was okay that they dropped a few songs—Another Brick in the Wall, Pt 3; One of My Turns; Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home, and Run Like Hell. Actually, I was rather annoyed at Run Like Hell's exclusion, but life will go on. Interestingly enough, they replaced Empty Spaces with "What Shall We Do Now?", a song that was originally slated for the album—it's lyrics were printed on the album sleeve, no less—but was dropped due to time constraints and replaced with "Empty Spaces". The song, "What Shall We Do Now?" would find the light of day in the Allan Parker film, Pink Floyd's the Wall. The version they lifted sounds like they lifted it from the film based on the noise signature which is very different from the re-mastered sound of the CD and ends with the sound of the hammer breaking the glass.

The Boy was telling me it was very trippy on his way out the door. I said to him, "If you think that was trippy, you should watch the movie. We have it on DVD, you know..."

Of course, if I meant this to be "a brief post", why the hell am I writing it Word? Eh, get over it.

Yesterday started out in an exercise to flesh out an idea that actually germinated the day before that:

What if you knew you were going to die soon? But you didn't know when and you didn't know how. What would you do?

Generally, the idea is the easiest part for me. Where it gets difficult is fleshing out the details, but I am determined to continue this through. The idea has promise for me on a couple of levels and I want to see what I can do with this.

Yesterday, while looking through the Redmond Value Village for a blanket I need as a shoot prop, I came across a set of black satin sheets, $5 for the top sheet, $5 for the fitted sheet, and gorgeous satin comforter. Yes, we bought them and my inner hedonist was in bliss last night, in spite of the top covers that kept trying to slide off.

I went to the Life Long AIDS Alliance benefit concert with Aeolian, Genowen, and Abney Park last night with evaleastaristev.

Prior to Doc Maynard's letting us in at 9pm (the tickets said 8pm), nathan_fhtagn and robert_from_ap hung out with us in front of the venue, just shooting the breeze and that was awesome, especially when the chit chatting continued through the set up of Aeolin.

The first group, Aeolin, was best when they were just playing. The moment the they started singing along, then things got iffy, though I suspect a lot of it could have been that their sound mix was crap. Maybe they sound better in the studio. Anyway, there was one song they started playing which had a pretty elaborate musical set up and I found myself thinking, "Please, dear goddess, don’t let them sing." Do people not do instrumentals any more?

The second group, Genowen, sounded a lot better. nathan_fhtagn compared their front man, Sean Sonnet, to Robert Smith of The Cure, but I didn't hear that. What I heard was someone who reminded me a lot more of David Bowie, but perhaps that this comparison is because I've listened to more David Bowie than The Cure. I signed up for their mailing list and grabbed one of their free CD's to hear what their studio sound was like, because the live mix had problems. My favorite was when you could see their guitarist play, but no sound matched it.

The last group, of course, was Abney Park and the reason I was going to the show in the first place, so I could see them live. There is a palpable chemistry that you can feel when people really enjoy working together on stage, and this group did just that. We even got to hear a couple of new songs out of them, Airship Pirates and the Emperor's Wives. It was a good show all the way around.

Then we arrived at game with 20 minutes to spare. The Nos were having a meeting about something. We do that, get over it. And I had a lovely time roleplaying with sylvan's new tremere. We even came up with a plan to over throw Sabbat domains. It's simply genius! ;)

I should probably get started on my day which includes heading out to Lowman Beach Park in Seattle to shoot an image or two for the Edge of Propinquity, which had 2,200 unique pairs of eyeballs looking at in the month of July. ;)