JOURNAL: Alternababe (Sabrina )

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  • 2114 hits 2006-05-06 02:36:23 Busy day. Arrived at friend Ericka's house @ 10am, hoping to start shooting my final film class project. My partner came at 11am. In the meantime, I just sort of hung out with Ericka & we talked about shit.

    Got the filming finished, I hope. Can't ever tell til you start editing it together. We had to improvise on the script, in large part because my other friend, who was supposed to appear as a main character, totally bailed. I'm so happy the hard part is over now!

    After that, came home, it was hot out, crashed, got corset top in the mail, tried it on, watched tv. After a few hours, Kindergarden Cop came on. I remember my guy friend from film class saying there was a cool dead body scene, so I'd been wanting to see that. The acting was surprisingly good thru-out. Continued watching the same channel, House was on next. Funny movie, hadnt seen it in a while. Tried to order pizza. Big disaster. Will never have Valentinos deliver again....got pizza, watched last few minutes of movie, then House 2, which I hadnt seen. It was really funny, especially the caterpiller-dog monster/pet.

    Skipped a bunch of details, but who cares? 
  • Coachella part 2 2006-05-02 15:49:43 Ok, back at Zuton. They were pretty good. They had already started when I got there, & I stayed til the end of their show. I moved around a lot to look at all the people, and check out a couple of guys who deciced to go shirtless (!). I was near the back, & there were people filming the show, probably for Coachella the movie.
    After that, I heard some people say Wolfmother was playing nearby. I couldn't tell what direction, so I just followed the mass. I think I found a band called Lyrics Born next. They pretty much just said "Motherfucker what!?" over & over, so I got bored, asked someone their name, and left.

    The next tent over was probably Wolfmother, but I heard some intriguing sounds farther off, so I decided to check it out. The last tent was the techno tent, where Daft Punk would be playing later. I made a mental note, because the cardboard signs next to each tent went right in, then right out of my brain. The guy in the techno tent was Joey Beltram. His stuff was okay for a while, and the tent was really chill, with not a lot of people, and everyone sitting on beach towels in the grass. Then I got bored, left, got a churro, & walked back to Wolfmother in time to hear the last notes of their set.

    I then walked to the adjacent (I spell-checked that word, bitch!) tent, & heard a few songs by Deerhoof. They were really different, almost like Shellac or early Husker Du. I thought to myself, I gotta hear these guys livve sometime. Then I realized that was what I was doing. It is kinda hard to hear when you're far from the bands. I picked up a free promotional fan from the ground, avoided the vomit, and went to see more bands.

    I think at this point I wanted to take a break, refresh, and buy a t-shirt. I went to the masssive food court area. Coachella is big. Really big. Dizzingly big. The time it takes to walk from one tent to the next is mind blowing. I wanted to try the bbq, but it was on the other side, so I just got the vegan stuff rather than walk 10 min on blisters. The coconut filled with coconut milk was good. The taquitos were ok at first, but started to taste nasty as I ate them. I waned to sit & eat, so I found the movie tent. They showed videos of a concert. Someone said "this is stupid." It was, cuz you could just go outside & see an actual concert. I finished the taquitos, threw them in the garbage next to a sculpture, took a picture of the sculpture, and went to the t-shirt area. I found the Coachella official merch, but the prices were $40-$50 for a shirt, and they mentioned "Clap your hands & Say Yeah".

    At that point, I realized I could catch the end of their set, rather than waste my time shpping, so I ran back to their tent, and wormed my way in to the front from the side. The trick is to find someone really pushy & rude forcing their way thru the crowd, and walk quickly in the path that they create, & it's best to try to grab their hand while you do this. I think at one point, earlier in the day, I had gotten into the tent, 1 few rows back from the front, and sat to wait for the next band to play, but got bored & left. I learned from ocnye that the best thing to do at a festival is find one stage, get a good spot early, and stay there, even if you don't like one of the bands. Otherwise you spend all your time walking, and almmost no time hearing bands.

    So I got a pretty good side view of the band, and the pople in the vip section (next year!). Clap Your Hands & Say Yeah are pretty good. I want to hear them again at my leisure. After their set ended, lotsa people left, and I moved closer to the front. There were a couple of shirtless asian guys, so I got pics with them. They didnt turn out, but it was just really funny. I think they were still in high school. Anyway, it takes about 20-30 minutes for the sound guys to switch between bands, so I alternated between sitting & standing to save my feet.

    The next band in that tent was TV on the Radio. I'd heard of them before, even heard them before, but not enough that I knew their sound or songs by heart. People kept cheering randomly, & I wondered if any of the people onstage were in the band. A bunch of girls were hanging out onstage, so I gues they were the band's girlfriends.
    The band finally started, and they were amazing. The guitarist had windchimes on his guitar neck. The band members actually switched instruments as the set went on, so the guitarist & one other guy were having a bongo competition, and the girl in the band came onstage. I kept daydreaming about opening my own club someday, and booking bands like this. I recognized their single when they played it. I really want to hear them more. I hope they are one of the bands whose set has video clips available online. Their set-up included these small rectangular rbg screns in the back, which kept changing color. It looked really pretty when they were red, blue & green.

    So their set ended. People left, I got slightly closer to the front. Ladytron was next, and they were one of the reasons I decided to come. I had heard them before on the radio, and relly wanted to see them live. They had a really elaborate background, with a huge projection screen, so it took a while to get ready. I was so squished between 2 girls that they were pressed against me the whole time. The girl who had pushed her way in front of me kept jumping up & down in such a way that is was like she was humping my crotch with her giant butt. I mentioned this to the girl to my left, and we both laughed.
    Ladytron came on. They were about 50% girls, 50% guys. The keyboardist girl, closest to me, was dressed kinda like a nun. Their set was really seamless & hypnotic, a little dark. The screen showed thes building with the windows becoming black, belts & bizarre stuff. They had a red light the whole time, so it was pretty ominous. The girl next to me said she had waited 3 years to see them, because they hadn't been in the US for 3 years. Holy crap! I checked the paper, & they're playing shows tonight & tomorrow, too! Maybe I'll check them out again...

    After their show ended, the mass exodus of people began. Only problem was, Cat Power was on next, so a crushing mass wanted to be in the front row. I had had it with being in front, and trying to fight to see the band, so I vowed to get a decent spot near the back for the rest of the night. I walked back to the last tent, because I had decided before arriving that I wanted to see Daft Punk. At that point, I was super glad I did, because trying to see She Wants Revenge (both bands played last, at the same time, 11pm) would have been a nightmare. Some of the stages were high up, like the main stage, and the outdoor theatre, were raised up, but the rest were almost at the crowd's level, so it was hard to see.

    OH MY GOD, My cat just had dihrreah, and I cleaned it up, but the smell is so bad, I'd rather smell burning hair. I know this because I lit a scented candle to counteract the smell, and a hair was in it, and it was actually a relief to smell burning hair!

    Since I wanted to arrive in the Sahara tent a few hours early to get a good spot to see Daft Punk, I decided to take my last break now, and get liquid. During Ladytron, the sky had gotten dark. It was after 8pm, sometime between 7-8pm, but it was still hot. There was a nice breeze the whole day, so even tho it was in the 90s, like the paper said, it was bearable. Just being crushed between people for 3 hours was a little heat-inducing. When I exited the tent, I saw the sky, and was amazed. The organizers had shot spotlights up to form this awesome light sculpture. It was simple, but highly impreessive.

    I had seen the ID check line earlier, and it stretched the length of Coachella, about 2-3 people think. Now it was aa 5-minute line. I tried to enter the beer garden, found the entrance, continued to the ID check, passed, waited to get in, found the cocktails, got in line, waited. I wondered why the cocktail area was dark. Apparently, after waiting 15 min, they got the power back on. So the line started moving. Verrrrrry slowly. Some guys tried to tell me a joke, that they should go to the front of the line because they were "half-black", but I heard "ahblack." It was kinda loud. Anyway, the stupid guys were joing around, but I was tired. I got my 2 triple margaretias, and a bottle of water. I didnt want to buy water on principle, sincce there's no way it should be $2, but I finally caved. It cost $21. I think I spent $34 on food that day. Damn. Drank margarita #1, walked to gate, found out that you cant leave with alcohol, drank margarits #2, tried to leave with the glass of ice for my water, but the guy said no. Threw glass in giant cardboard trash, walked to last tent.

    When I got there, it was still pretty relaxed, especially compared to the last tent. Everyone was dancing now, and I walked toward the front, and found one of the vip barriers. It was 2 rows of metal, braced with shelves. Basically, it was 2 rows of metal benches with backs. I sat & put my feet up. I think Carl Cox was playing. The guy onscreen was this black guy, who had been made totally white with fx, and the greenscreen effect made his head sometimes disappear. He was a standard techno dj, with a little of maybe digital underground influence. His set ended, the next started almost instantly. I guess they didnt have to worry about sound or something. It was probably the Audio Bullys, but I really didn't care. I was only there to see Daft Punk later. After a bit, I felt good enough to walk closer. I saw some cute guy with no shirt, so I decided to try & talk to him. Then some girl sat next to him. From their body language, they didnt seem to be together, but I decided to leave it alone. In this tent, the guys were very friendly. I met a guy Matt from Canada, talked him up, & got a phone number. He & his friends came to Cali for Coachella, & are staying til thurs. I gotta hang out with them. Then they left to meet the rest of their group, so I proceeded forward. I saw one guy, and he was looking at me, and we just started kissing. He sucked, and his mouth tasted like asparagus. Or maybe pot. I kept smelling tiny whiffs throughout the day...So he kept talking shit, I think he really was stoned, so I got bored & walked away. I found a space 2nd row in back of the frontmost vip barrier, so I stayed there. The guy next to me was from Ireland. He came specifically for Coachella. He yelled "6,000 miles!" I smiled, unsure of what to say.

    The curtain lowered. Daft Punk were there, on the middle of a black pyramid. They started their set. The pyramid had LCD screens on all sides, so they made it look differently according ot the songs, and it was really cool. The one of the left was rocking out the music, and the one on the right seemed focused on his soundboard. The remixed all their songs, including an awesome mix of "One more time" with "Aerodynamic." I heard some songs I hadnt heard before, and they remixed a bunch of their songs with "Around the World," which I guess is their most famous. They did an amazing job, and it was mind blowing.
    After the curtaiin lowered, everyone screamed "Daft Punk! Daft Punk!". Then the cuurtain raised, and they played a 30-minute encore. It was really cool. They didn't stop til 12:37. When they walked off the stage, I swear I saw one take off his helmet. He had curly blond hair & glasses, & looked like a normal guy.

    After that, everyone left en masse. Som people made cattle noises. The first place we were herded was the bathrooms, until people turned around & said "Dead end!" "Wrong way!" Then we all packed into the entrance. I forcced my way closer to the front, until it because so packed I couldnt move. I talked to a few people. I wondered why we weren't moving. As soon as I got to the exit, maybe 20 minutes later, the reason became clear: 10,000 people were being passed thru an opening in a fence 2 people wide. Wow. There was so much garbage on the ground I couldnt see the dirt. The camping entrance was super-crowded. Some people were selling crappy t-shirts. After an hour, I got back to near where the car was. My feet were hurting so bad, I had been limping since 11pm. I sat on an rv bumper, called my mom, asked her to come get me there, waited, got in the car, and had the happiest moment of my life, when I took my boots off. Then I lay down on the most comfortable bed ever, the back seat, and, after a couple wrong turns & a quick pit stop, fell asleep. We got home at 4am, and I slept til 5pm the next day.

    And that was Coachella. 
  • 2092 hits 2006-04-30 23:28:07 Coachella 2006!

    I got the tickets, & I went. Started out a little after 11am. The freeways weren't too bad. It was cloudy. Passed casino morongo on the way, and realized that, yes, coachella is just slightly past palm springs. Merging onto the 10 E, after about an hour the traffic started getting pretty sick, probably people arriving at Coachella. Cops directed festival traffic to Indo Blvd, which was massively jammed, onto jefferson st, which was even more jammed. It took an hour to go 2 streets, but the radio & tape player played good classic rock, from the yardbirds to janis joplin, so I was okay. Parking was well-planned, so all cars did in fact face the exit. It took about an hour to walk from the car, around the massive tent city set up for people to camp during the festival, to the line to get in, which was as wide as it was long, very. Water bottles werent allowed in, so some guy gave his water to people in line. I got black cherry flavored!
    Inside reminded me of ocnye, many stages, spread out. The distance to walk was massive, and there were at least 10,000 people, maybe more. The first thing I did was a tent, which I was attracted to because of the mister outside. Inside was set up like a rain forest, with a bunch of 20-somethings dressed up as leather-clad stiltwalkers. and rag dolls, and one girl wearing only pink ruffly panties. I took many pics with my disposable camera. It was amazing, like they were imitating african bonfire tribal sex festivals or something. Everyone was so primal & expressive. Then it winded down, and people started to leave, so I decided to check out some of the bands.
    The first band I saw was zuton or something.
    Ow! My haands are cramping, so I'll wrap this up, take a break, and continue later. 
  • 2075 hits 2006-04-27 01:27:19 Fruitful day. Since you can't survive on minimum wage, screw knotts, I decided upon conversing with the woman on the bench next to me to be a waitress. $100 a night!? Fuck yeah! Also, talking with my friend Ericka, who has a friend who strips, and since I lost a whole bunch of weight recently, I have been considering stripping. I split the difference & got a job as a waitress at a strip club. Shouldnt be too tough, some guys outside were hussling me as Ipicked up a penny, but I can handle that kind of stuff okay.

    Also, cant wait for Coachella on Saturday. not Sunday. I dont have $200 to spend on tickets for one day!

    *********

    Also, my condolences again to Katie in regards to her grandfather. 
  • 2061 hits 2006-04-25 22:01:49 Today was slow. I woke up at 5:11am, I know this because I saw the clock. I couldnt get back to sleep, and I just dont like to be up & doing things that early. I found my social security card, and I drove to knotts around 11:30ish. Got there around noon, never did find the 91 freeway, and waited for a little over an hour. Apparently, they skipped my name. It was 3 bitchy women. I actually heard one of them talking to a new hire: "You're tall MATT. You make me feel short MATT." Like that....

    Talking to this druggie woman on the waiting bench "we gotta take a drug test? jeez, how long I gotta stay clean for?", I learned that you can make money as a waitress from tips, like $100 a night and up. Really. So I asked if, instead of ride operator, I could work in a resturant. They said no. So I got the forms filled out, and because I had a back injury, I need a doctor's note before I can work. Forget it. Thursday, (I need more free time..) I'm going back to the Long Beach town center, and applying for all 3 resturants there. maybe I can get a job as a waitress. Fuck, I'd work as a stripper if the nearby strip club hadn't changed management. I think it's a real resturant now.....

    Also, I broke down & bought the Coachella tickets. If I can't leave the house for any fun reason, I'm going to that. I have nothing I really enjoy in my life. It's hard for me to wake up in the mornings, but I do it. Every. Single. Day. Harder & harder......but maybe Saturday will be better. Until then, I guess you could say I'm working for the weekend. Only not working for money, doing all the little shit jobs I have to do to survive. Dishes, dentist, school, more school, more school, cooking, cleaning, moving furniture, etc. It goes on......

    I'm making progress on my amv. It's one I started months ago & never finished. I'm really going all out on this one. I spent all day on 5 seconds, masking & color keying & levels adjusting & file converting, the works. I think this one's going to really turn out to be something cool, you know? Estimated time to completion: probably another year....XP 
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