Drama pt. 4; Dim Sum; Will, Exiled; the Undertow Orchestra; Sabrina, Shawn, and Grey
2/20
(I changed this from how it was originally written; I got my weeks mixed up.)
I got back into town and contacted Cindy, who, true to form, had spent her day off working in lab, and said that she wouldn't be able to hang out, but that we needed "to talk about us". I seriously thought that she was going to break up with me. This hanging over my head, I went on out to Cecil's and had a couple of cheap rounds before Cindy called and asked me to meet her at Rudyard's. Some discussion followed, particularly of the fact that I had gone out with Char and co. the previous Thursday. There was other stuff; I won't go into details but eventually it was over and done with.
2/22
Cindy had found a dim sum place in the village which we checked out for dinner. Some of the food was maybe a bit too authentic for me, but I enjoyed the experience.
2/23-2/24
Will had to vacate his apartment to allow one of his roommate's some time with a lady, so he came over for some TV on Thursday. The situation repeated itself the following night, so we went for beer... somewhere before going to Chipotlepec for food and more beer and then the Proletariat for more beer, and finally back to my place for some comics before Will was given the "all clear" to return to his place.
2/25
The "Undertow Orchestra" show was that night. Cindy and I started off the evening with food at Jenni's Noodle House. I decided to try their pho, and liked it, perhaps better than Mai's, but Cindy thought you should never have to pay more than $5 for pho (it was $7). She had some sort of vermicelli dish, I believe. We also had some egg rolls which were good.
After a pleasant dinner, we scooted on over to Walter's for the show. The "Undertow Orchestra" was a group of four frontmen/singer-songwriters: David Bazan (Pedro the Lion); Vic Chesnutt; Mark Eitzel (American Music Club); and, the primary draw for me, Will Johnson (Centro-matic). The four had a nice arrangement, switching off various instruments and backing each other up, while each did three songs over two rotations, for a total of six songs from each artist and twenty-four songs total.
My expectations weren't low or anything, but this wasn't a show I had been particularly excited about. That was an oversight on my part, as it was an absolutely incredible show. Will's songs were, as I had thought, the highlight (and an impartial Cindy confirmed this). It was slower material, though whether it was some of the newer Centro-Matic stuff (which is fairly slow and quiet), South San Gabriel stuff (also slowand quiet) or his solo stuff (slow and quiet?). Vic Chesnutt was a bit quirky and also turned out to be great. David and Mark also did a good job, though their stuff ran together a bit.
In the end, it was a night of beautiful music presented in a novel format which surpassed all expectations. Maybe my 5 beer buzz helped things along, but I think most of the credit goes to those fine musicians.
2/26
Sabrina and Shawn thoughtfully had me over for dinner and a viewing of Grey's Anatomy (which turned out to be a really great episode).
(I changed this from how it was originally written; I got my weeks mixed up.)
I got back into town and contacted Cindy, who, true to form, had spent her day off working in lab, and said that she wouldn't be able to hang out, but that we needed "to talk about us". I seriously thought that she was going to break up with me. This hanging over my head, I went on out to Cecil's and had a couple of cheap rounds before Cindy called and asked me to meet her at Rudyard's. Some discussion followed, particularly of the fact that I had gone out with Char and co. the previous Thursday. There was other stuff; I won't go into details but eventually it was over and done with.
2/22
Cindy had found a dim sum place in the village which we checked out for dinner. Some of the food was maybe a bit too authentic for me, but I enjoyed the experience.
2/23-2/24
Will had to vacate his apartment to allow one of his roommate's some time with a lady, so he came over for some TV on Thursday. The situation repeated itself the following night, so we went for beer... somewhere before going to Chipotlepec for food and more beer and then the Proletariat for more beer, and finally back to my place for some comics before Will was given the "all clear" to return to his place.
2/25
The "Undertow Orchestra" show was that night. Cindy and I started off the evening with food at Jenni's Noodle House. I decided to try their pho, and liked it, perhaps better than Mai's, but Cindy thought you should never have to pay more than $5 for pho (it was $7). She had some sort of vermicelli dish, I believe. We also had some egg rolls which were good.
After a pleasant dinner, we scooted on over to Walter's for the show. The "Undertow Orchestra" was a group of four frontmen/singer-songwriters: David Bazan (Pedro the Lion); Vic Chesnutt; Mark Eitzel (American Music Club); and, the primary draw for me, Will Johnson (Centro-matic). The four had a nice arrangement, switching off various instruments and backing each other up, while each did three songs over two rotations, for a total of six songs from each artist and twenty-four songs total.
My expectations weren't low or anything, but this wasn't a show I had been particularly excited about. That was an oversight on my part, as it was an absolutely incredible show. Will's songs were, as I had thought, the highlight (and an impartial Cindy confirmed this). It was slower material, though whether it was some of the newer Centro-Matic stuff (which is fairly slow and quiet), South San Gabriel stuff (also slowand quiet) or his solo stuff (slow and quiet?). Vic Chesnutt was a bit quirky and also turned out to be great. David and Mark also did a good job, though their stuff ran together a bit.
In the end, it was a night of beautiful music presented in a novel format which surpassed all expectations. Maybe my 5 beer buzz helped things along, but I think most of the credit goes to those fine musicians.
2/26
Sabrina and Shawn thoughtfully had me over for dinner and a viewing of Grey's Anatomy (which turned out to be a really great episode).
posted by L. Maxwell Ward at 11:46 PM
