Category: Miscellaneous

Be still my 14 year old heart.

Definitely a must watch concert to cross off my personal list (Rush is still on there, damn it). 

My first exposure to the brilliance of Trent Reznor was with the Wish video on MTV (remember when MTV used to actually play music videos). It was 1992 and “Broken” was released. And since I was 14 at the time, I hand-stitched the reverse “n” on my denim shorts (I know… I know…). I think it also had the Pearl Jam stickman on there. Why do we throw things like this away?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfxD60rV9k]

So, the opportunity of finally being able to see Nine Inch Nails live presented itself. I was so excited about it and not one second let me know. Trent Reznor (beyond being completely hot!) and his band are powerfully intense and nailed every song spot on. I remember feeling how I had when Pearl Jam first came on stage – just ridiculously shy and completely in awe. Now, normally I cannot understand why people take photos of concerts – but in this instance, I just did not mind being a massive dweeb.

To see “The Fragile” live is just … overwhelming. It’s such a tremendously beautiful and powerful song and deservedly gave me goosebumps. He did a really good mix of the popular songs (I really didn’t expect that many to like “Wish”!) and of course, “Closer” and “Hurt” got the most recognition. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsHSwd4GDgI]

I think my rock roots (not that you can tell from my outfit in the above picture) has always led to appreciate his music but it’s my internal self loathing and chaos that makes me love his words. So, here are some of my favourite lines.

The Fragile – If I could fix myself, I’d..but it’s too late for me
We’re In This Together – You and me, even after everything, you’re the queen and I’m the king, nothing else means anything 
The Perfect Drug – Without you, everything just falls apart, without you, it’s not as much fun to pick up the pieces
Only – Sometimes I think I can see right through myself 
Cl0ser – You make me perfect, help me become somebody else 

 

Next up, Aimee Mann!

I have a nagging feeling that life is the space between.

I might have been under the mistaken belief that life is a series of choices – a multitude of stops and starts. What if life is what happens between decisions? The seemingly insignificant moments, dismissed time, the rebound? I’d like to think of it as a gap between your teeth, that isn’t typically beautiful but is rife with character, defines your presentation, is embarassing and beautifully flawed.

Decisions relax to normalcy and routine – the calm before the storm. The space between is the storm in the teacup. Uncomfortable and exciting all at the same time. I come across a fair few people who try to bridge the decisions – to avoid the manhole – and sometimes, it’s better to jump over it because there’s no telling if there are sharks or dolphins in the water. I think I just got bitten by a shark but maybe a dolphin will come save me. Or maybe I’ll just haul myself out eventually.

If you understood this post, you’re way smarter than I am.

As the pop culture adage goes, “When your heart’s on fire, smoke gets in your eyes“.

The less familiar line of the song, which happens at the end is, “When a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes“.

Sure, the smoke is all romantic in the beginning – the little candles lighting the dinner table, the igniting of a cigarette, the sweet scent of incense – you want to be deluded, to be mistaken – for one brief moment – to truly get lost in the moment (smoke is extremely effective in clouding of vision).

And then – there’s the other kind of smoke. The thick, suffocating, engulfing kind that blinds and brings tears to your eyes.

Hindsight comes with this momentary blurred vision beyond the necessity of eye-drops. You realise that the smoke was always the same kind of smoke. It’s the beautiful delusion we seek in the hope that when the smoke clears, the oasis is still there. And if it isn’t, we’ll cry for a bit – and then reach for a fresh pack of matches.

 

Here’s the Platters singing Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and the best use of this song in a soundtrack from the movie, Always.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGzMiqvnChk]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n2cUxZndWA]

This scene struck me as funny, so I took a photo of it – a cup of tea, Starbucks and a can of Coke on my desk (and yes, this is in the course of the first half of my day). It also posed a question to me: What came first – caffeine or codeine?

It is no surprise or secret that I have somewhat a dependency on sleep inducing pills (not in any Jackson/Ledger way) but is this caused by my caffeine intake over the day? Or do I drink this much caffeine to help me stay awake over the day because I am not sleeping well at night?

Which comes first? The caffeine or the egg?