Is That What Your Inner Voice Sounds Like?

Nate had a show last night, and I planned to attend, but not before catching America's Next Top Model after missing it for like 2-3 weeks in a row. Finally they wised up and gave annoying Gina the boot. She might have photographed well, but she just didn't cut it in person. I think her jumping up and down on one leg and laughing creepily at Janet Dickinson's request pretty much sealed her fate. Plus no one likes a whiney baby.

After scrubbing the bathroom, dusting the living room and wiping down the kitchen counters, Eli and I ran over to Bill's for the show. Apparently Scholar had brought a ton of people (there was a tally at the door.. I put us both down as fans of Winterpills.) The crowd consisted mostly of x'd up college kids... which is fine, except it provided a difficult setting for Winterpills, who are fairly quiet pop music. I enjoyed their set, but it was definitly a tough one for a noisy bar. I don't know if it's possible to get an intimate setting for a show these days, but I think that's where they'd be best heard.

I'd been really excited about seeing Young Republic for some time now. From their MP3's they sounded a lot like Belle and Sebastian, so I was interested to hear more of them. I think I may have had too high of expectations. They weren't bad by any means, but were a little different than what I expected. After a few songs, they began to remind me more of Bright Eyes than anything else.. and even though I was a fan of the wide span of instruments they had up there, I don't know if they needed three violins. At the same time, they're still a young band and I think that they're only gonna get better (as long as they can keep all nine members intact.) So yeah. They have potential. What an asshole statement for me to make.

Songs I love right now:
Birdmonster: Cause You Can
Dirty On Purpose: Light Pollution
Most Serene Republic: You're Not An Astronaut

It is goddamn beautiful outside today. Jenny arrives in Boston any minute now. Hooray!

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU INTERNATIONAL MALE?

So unless I am mistaken, my beloved International Male has gotten a makeover. I feel sick to my stomach...

That was then:







And apparently... this is International Male now. Soooo disappointing.

BOOOOOOO

Each week that shithead Ace Young ruins song after song after song. Seriously. I want to punch him in the throat so he can no longer force that crappy falsetto out of his vocal chords. What's even worse is how the judges refuse to acknowledge that he is constantly singing off key!! Are they not listening?!

Last night was pretty much the worst it could get. He managed to mess up what is pretty much the WORST song in existence, Drops of Jupiter. First off, he said it was "a great song" (not true) and then, while singing it horribly, pulled down his shirt to reveal an old hockey or soccer wound while singing the line in the song that contained the word "scar."

I hate him. Especially because he looks like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Who can respect someone who looks like a Disney character?!

This is your Bertucci's passport.

Last.fm finally updated my Top 10 and now it's a little more accurate. I'm starting to get a little obsessed with Last.fm. I mean, now I know that The Stills are my #1 artist overall, and apparently I've listened to Be Your Own Pet 47 times in the last week.

Things are starting to firm up on the first couple of show I'm booking at Great Scott. The only one completely confirmed at this point is the Faces On Film/Sharking/Mason Proper show for The Plan on June 3rd.. And I just had Mad Man Films email me back and say they'd be down to play in July with Mon Frere.. Still putting together a show with Nous Non Plus in May.. If you know any local bands that would be perfect with a French pop band.. lemme know.

The shows I book (that aren't Plan shows) will be under the name Team Courage, which the name of our winning team from 2003's best 4th of July ever kickball game. The one where Joey knocked me down after I caught the ball at 2nd base and we all sat on the roof at Z's house and me and my brother ran down to the street with a cup of wine and a sign that said "fireworks are for suckers." Those were the days. Anyway. That is now the name of my production "company." Shit.. remember the No-Show Congregation? Antiquity Boy and His Future Motor Bike? Where the hell is Grant anyway?

Eli and I went for dinner at Bertucci's last night and we had our favorite waiter. It seems silly to have a favorite waiter.. especially one you've only had once previously.. but when someone lays out napkins with samples of different wines and then holds the door open for you when you leave, they're gonna leave and impression on you. We can't figure out if his awkward dopiness is an act or not. Regardless, you'll never get a more thorough explanation of a special anywhere else.

Finally, in honor of my favorite person ever coming into town, here is a picture of her feeling me up during my last year at school. I apologize for the hat. Seriously.

The Frickin' Weekend

Friday I ran out of work to meet up with Heather and together we ran to Beantown Pub to meet up with Dany, Greg, Jamie and a couple of her friends for a drinking and eating fest that lasted a few hours. Afterwards we parted ways and Heather and I headed to Reel Bar in Allston to meet up with Aimee and Laura (hey, it was a "meet up" kind of weekend.) I had never been there but Aimee was singing the praises of their photo booth, which pretty much sold me. Not to mention they had free Pacman and stuff. Ian Robinson was DJing old school hip hop and us girls just sorta took over the corner booth and goofed off for a few hours (see pictures.) It was great to go somewhere new in town... especially since it kicked ass. The door guy seemed fairly confused that we were there.. and some guy standing at the bar asked how a guy was supposed to approach a table of ladies like that. I told him we were all married with six kids and this was our night out.

The bar closed early, so we ran over to the Pill for some awkward dancing to finish out the night. Poor Heather had to get up to work at an ungodly hour. Whoops!

Saturday I spent too much money on a fabulous array of clothing and make-up.. including quite possibly the most perfect dress in existance. Looked ugly on the hanger, but "cute on." Laura treated me to some mexican food at Sol De Mexico and I discovered that mole sauce (at least their mole sauce) makes me wanna puke.

The Plan was great.. it was good to DJ again after a couple weeks of being away... even though it was tough to figure out what worked between Part Chimp and Big Bear (someone suggested Barry White.) The Cops convinced me early on that I should attend the after party Big Bear was showing (even though they ended up bailing!! boo!!), so I gave in and prepared myself for a long night out. I piled in Carl and Keri's car with Bob and Nate and we headed out to the practice space after the show. And then...

Somehow, I'm not sure how, the weirdest "jam session" ever happened. We were scattered in the room.. me with Nate's empty scotch bottle and a drumstick, Nate with a drum and Part Chimp filling out the rest. It was really incredible.. or as Carl said, "fucking unreal."

Nate and I ended up staying out too late.. I discovered my love for drumming and we ate at IHOP at 6 in the morning.

Yesterday I spent trying to catch up on sleep and half-way watching a Friends marathon with Eli. I don't even really like Friends. I finally dragged myself out of bed and went to the Middle East for What Made Milwaukee Famous, Dr. Dog and The Gossip. This was my first time seeing the Gossip for who knows what reason and I was completely blown away.

Blah. I'm sick of typing. It was a weekend. A lot happened. Jenny comes on Thursday. Madness.

Top 10 of the week

My itunes library is very limited at the moment. And I haven't listened to Mitch Hedburg at all lately. I don't know why it says that I have.

Woman charged with stowing away to attend SXSW music festival

Now THAT is dedication

Called Out By the Shoe Police

For some reason the kids around here are always going on walking field trips right around the time I'm on my way to work.. and this morning a junior high girl yelled to her friends as I was passing through their traveling group "I have those shoes! She got them at Payless!" Yes, I did. And now a bunch of junior highers think that I'm uncool. And the truth is, they're probably right.

Last night I hurried out of the office late and forced myself into the gym before grabbing a banana for dinner and heading down to Great Scott for the Annie show. First of all, where did all those young hip people come from? I wanted to grab them all by their angular haircuts and ask them why they don't come out to The Plan every weekend. Is it because Carl and I aren't adorable Norwegian pop stars?

Laura and I settled in at one the back tables and chatted about the crazy antics of a certain ex (not mine.)Just to let you all know, being incredibly creepy will NOT win the girl back.. but it will amuse her friends.

Shy Child opened up the show.. I couldn't really see them from where I was, but they sounded like a band. A pulsing thumping band. Protokoll went on next. It's been a while since I've seen them, and they seem like they've gained a lot more confidence. The first time I saw them, there was a lot of fumbling and equipment failure, but they've definitely gotten more balls about them.. although I do find awkwardness endearing.

I ended up staying for only part of Annie's set. By the time she went on it was midnight and I was tired from the day and realized that no matter how cute she is, it's hard to perfectly bring an amazing live show with only a DJ, a guitar player and her. I'm not hating though. She played Chewing Gum and I got to watch the incredibly adorable people dancing in the back.

Eli was nice enough to grab me a Jane bag from the private party earlier, so now I'm the proud owner of the latest issue, a extremely large gaming t-shirt and a totally awesome gaming hat. Since when are Jane readers fat and love video games? The comp ain't half bad though.

Tonight I'm meeting with Jamie and some of her friends at Siloutte and then Heather and Laura later on. I'm feeling like some shenanagins. It's been a week after all.

Umm does this mean we're not getting married anymore?

Hello heartbreak

VIDEO MANIA!!!

Umm.. Can cereal mold? Like if it's just sitting nicely in my cabinet waiting for me to put it in a baggy and bring to work? Cause I'm kinda convinced it can now. This is totally gonna ruin my ability to ever eat dry Trader Joe's Maple Wheat Squares isn't it. Goddamn it. My freshman year of college I got a rotten piece of tofu on my salad and things haven't been the same since.

Yesterday, to my delight Jay from Light Footwork informed me that he used to be in a band called Zack Morissey. Not only is that the best band name ever, but there's video that proves that before Jay started writing great pop music, he was a high school Weezer fan just like the rest of us.

Speaking of video, a couple days ago Greg aka DJ Never Forget of Finger on the Pulse that there was a video of Loryn and I dancing to Cloud Room at the SXSW Absolute Debauchery party. How embarassing. If you do a find on the page for "Cloud Room," it should come up. Loryn's the tall one in the tank top.. I'm near the end with the blonde hair.

Last night Eli, Laura and I went to The Paradise to see Youth Group. I figured out a few things while I was there. 1. Taxpayer are assholes 2. I can fall asleep during anything 3. The lead singer of Youth Group doesn't actually wear that striped shirt every at show like I was convinced he did.

But seriously, in regard to point #1, I'm sorry my friend didn't know who the fuck you were and was trying to sell somebody her extra ticket... there's no need to act all "don't you know who we are?" about it. You're a local band, that's who you are. Also, there's no need to heckle Youth Group and then talk shit about them as people are leaving. You are the opener for a reason.

Final Countdown

I've been home for two days now and my body is still punishing me for the damage I did last week. I've barely been able to stay up past 10 and have been exhausted all day every day. I guess it makes up for the last week of staying up until 3am and waking up at 8:30am and running around only fueled by Sparks and Vitamin Water.

Did that all really happen? Did I really meet Thurston Moore? Did I really half-mosh to Be Your Own Pet? Did I really see Neko Case play a show on a hill overlooking Austin?

I'm jumping back in with two feet this week. Youth Group plays on Wednesday, Annie on Thursday, The Cops on Saturday and The Gossip on Sunday. And I get to DJ again and ruin my hearing further.

My best friend ever comes to visit next week and I have yet to figure out how I will impress and entertain her.. any suggestions for activities/restaraunts are welcome. Hopefully the weather will go in our favor and we can walk the Freedom Trail or get drunk on a trolley tour.

The week after that is Macrock and I get to go to Virginia and stock up on books and hang out with 4-5 of my favorite people and kind of revel in how great this winter/spring has been so far.

I love it.

Even at 24, I'm still crappy at video games.

Day 25.6777

I hate the fact that it's 8:30am and I can't sleep anymore even though I'm exhausted and want to sleep for 20 more hours. Caffeine is a necessary evil.. I've been using it to stay awake but it prevents me from sleeping off the exhaustion from the previous day. Today is the last day of SXSW. I'm not sure if I'm ecstatic or sad.

Bands I've seen over the last 48 hours: Velvet Teen, Visqueen, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, Jason Collett, Be Your Own Pet, Most Serene Republic, Dr. Dog, Dirty On Purpose, Levy, Novillero, Neko Case, Morningwood, Sound Team, The Divorce, Smoosh, Long Winters, Two Gallants, The Lashes, Hot IQs... umm and more.

Today is packed again, I just don't know what with. U.S.E for sure.

We leave tomorrow at 7am.

It's Gonna Take Me a Minute Cause Your Hair Is Different

The first official day is finished and what a fantastic day it was. Managed to check out The Slats, Birdmonster (!), The Sharking, The Editors, Aberdeen City, The Vacation, Field Music, Castenets, Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice , Cloud Room and National Trust. I think that's it. My feet are tired, my makeup's smeared, but I feel satisfied. While at my last show of the night, I noticed a familiar face dancing to National Trust.. I had to catch my breath once I realized it was none other than Loryn Hatch, who I haven't seen since she moved away in 8th grade to live in Italy. I thought I was imagining it, but I sucked it up and said hello... we sort of dissolved into awkward giggles and scrabbled outside to catch up. There's no other old friend that I would rather have run into. I was delighted.

Here we are having dinner on a Southern porch. I was only half awake.

Steve and Canada at Yarrr PR showcase. Haters.

This is before he got pissy and knocked over the microphone and stormed off stage with the rest of the band. I wish I were joking.

Well manicured eyebrows.

Last show of my night... Everyone danced during Hey Now Now.

She looks lovely in the sunlight.

Aberdeen City's showcase was packed. Fantastic.

The Vacation (with fog machine?)

In Rare Form

Last night we headed out the BMI opening party at the Trading Post and took advantage of the free Red Stripe and food (I should have eaten more food...) The dude from Meat Puppets was playing acoustic and did terrible versions of his songs. You would think that someone would know the melodies to their own songs?

After that we (Brooke, Derek and friends) went to Whiskey Bar for Darin's DJ set. After scoring the 2nd highest score on nudie touch, we settled in the back for the rest of the night. I danced a little too hard, drank a little too much and it was fantastic. Thank goodness that I've located my cell phone.

Left, Right, Center, Dot

Ah I'm drowning in Shiner Bock. Well, not at the moment. At the moment I'm drowning Starbucks coffee and listening to Gnarles Barkley tracks. Last night we buckled down for some rounds of a "popular dice game" (I forget the name) here at the house. We started playing with bottle caps, but by the end of the night, it was $1 bills and somehow ended up being the only one to lose every game. There goes $9.

We went to Shady Grove for dinner, which is exactly the kind of place that makes me want to sell everything I own and move to Texas. The entire place is made of unfinished wood and strung up with Christmas lights and there's more outdoor seating than indoor. They serve things like fried catfish and jalapenos twice-baked potatoes. There were even green chiles in my "Southwestern Caesar Salad." Their outdoor bathrooms are located in a trailer split into two sides (the woman's side is painted bright pink and there's warnings of "uneven floor.") All of this coupled with Shiner on tap and Southern accents. Dear Texas, I love you.

AUSTIN, DAY 1.5

Apparently waking up at 4:45am, traveling all day and eating more food than you could ever imagine will tire you out so much that you'll fall asleep at 10pm (which, I may point out, is only an hour or so earlier than my usual bedtime.)

Our two plane rides were fairly uneventful. No babies kicking the seat or annoying throat-clearers (ok, besides me). In Dallas I got to take advantage of Brookstone's massage chairs during our layover. Let me tell you, there's nothing more frightening than getting a swedish massage from a robotic chair or having a "calf massager" squeeze your legs so tight that you think the muscles are going to pop out. For only $4000, you can feel like you're being relaxed to death.

We got into Austin in the afternoon and picked up our soccer-mom mini van, which has the coolest gadet ever, "Never Lost" which directs you to whatever address you tell it to. Although it failed during our first attempt to use it (by sending us to an abandoned grocery store, not an open one), we made it safely to our home away from home after relieving Albertsons of two cases of Shiner and all its Sparks (plus some food).

Our place is pretty damn great. Very clean and fancy with a leaf-filled pool in the backyard. I claimed the room with a daybed, which means I get to relive my childhood for the next week by sleeping in a near-cage.

We got dinner at Johnny somethingorother and ate more than I thought possible. All the carbs plus one gigantic frosty wine/sangria drink pretty much put me out while watching How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. mm sleeep.

I've been up since 6:30am, went for a run/walk (note to self: buy new running shoes), working, going into town later (I hope) to walk 6th street before the madness begins. sigh.

CUUUUUUTE!

If The Partridge Family were fronted by Steve Buscemi, grew up in a rural town in the country, regularly attended youth group and were best buds with Architecture in Helsinki, they would be called The Boy Least Likely To.

Last night's show at Great Scott was their "first show outside of Europe" (they've played Sweden), and they seemed delighted with the warm reception from the crowd. So much so that when they audience was relentlessly cheered for an encore, the band played the opening song of their set for a second time.

As a whole, the band's enthusiasm was refreshing. Their music is unapologetically dorky (case in point, Warm Panda Cola, a song about... well, just that), and sugary sweet. They seemed completely comfortable on stage in front of an entirely new crowd, in an entirely new city, in an entirely new country. They didn't even make any stupid Red Sox jokes. While they usually perform as a two piece, they somehow multipled during their flight over, coming in with 7 members (two girls, five boys, almost all wearing striped shirts). The fleshed out version meant electric bango, harmonica, keys, and even recorder... All welcomed additions. Pop music never sounds so good.

I'm Happy Because I'm Stupid

I saw on the news this morning that not only did Kirby Puckett die, but that, of all people, YANNI was arrested for domestic violence. Do you think he was wearing a white ruffled shirt and leather peter pan boots over tight black pants while beating his lady? I hope so!

Last night I went home after work and crawled, wimping into bed without so much as a hello to my roommates or a bite of dinner. Getting 10 hours of sleep is not as awesome as it sounds, even though I'm feeling slightly better today. I still have a man-voice, which is pretty awesome for leaving messages on my station's machines. Croak.

I'M SICK

Hooray For Pop Music!

The Hopefuls were great last night, even despite there being nobody there (why does Paper make the first band go on so early when they know that people don't show up until like 11pm?). Eli, Laura and I stood in the front bouncing along and at the end of their set I leaned over and told Eli that I could probably watch them play forever and not get bored. They played a couple of unfamiliar (new?) songs, as well as the majority of Fuses Refuse to Burn. I was worried that they wouldn't be able to pull off Big Mouth without that kick ass harmonica part at the beginning, but it ended up being my favorite song of the set. I hope they come out with a new album soon... hint hint.

I've been getting tons of emails about different SXSW parties and showcases and my head is swimming. I have a feeling that I'll be taking some time this weekend to organize it all into Bethany's Ultimate SXSW Party List. I leave a week from today. I'm praying for t-shirt weather.

Check out this picture of Manchester by the Sea. Only a few more months until bikini-land!

I HATE YOU SPAM MAIL

Electric Youth

This whole static shock thing is getting really old. It's getting to the point where I jump anytime I touch anything. Can it rain or something please?

It's been a bit since I've posted, mostly cause I've been distracted and haven't had much to say. I went to New York. I've been sXe for two weeks now and my body is thanking me. I get up (almost) every morning at 6am to read gossip magazines while I use the eliptical machine at the gym. I'm finally starting to lose some of the "20-30" pounds my mom claims I had gained. Perhaps my trip to H&M this weekend won't end in a pouting fit cause my boobs are too big or a shirt doesn't look right.

I've seen some fantastic shows over the last few weeks including Stars and Belle and Sebastian. Tonight is The Olympic Hopefuls.. Can't wait.

THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO GIVE. I WISH THIS CUT ON MY LIP WOULD HEAL SO I COULD SMILE.