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*Grumble*
2002-07-11 09:25:08
While parents do have their uses and nice functions, calling me at 8:30 on the day I leave when I went to bed at 2 is not nice. Especially since I can't get back to sleep...ah well, more time to play Vib Ribbon before getting picked up...
9 hours until the plane leaves.. - Countdown Continues: 17 Hours...... 2002-07-11 01:42:51 Except for a couple last minute items, I'm packed and ready to go! This is very weird, it doesn't FEEL like I'm going on a big trip...I guess that's just part of the fun!
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Lay down your bags, Travel's a curse...
2002-07-09 01:25:28
and I don't need an innkeeper to lighten my purse, should we continue in the vein of Les Miz. I swear I'm spending more to get ready to travel than I will when I'm actually doing so. It's damn scary how little money I have to leave with, but it'll all work out somehow.
Lately I've been dealing first with GRE's (and my stupid loss of $60 when I accidentally locked myself out of my room when there is no spare key), then with getting through class, now to get ready to leave in 2 days.
I'm guessing that I'm about 60% packed. Most of the clothes are good, including my suit. Yes, I'm packing a suit in a backpack. It's all rolled up and will be hellishly wrinkled upon arrival, and the truth is that I just don't give a shit. I'll take it into the bathroom with me and take a really long hot shower before I need it or something. Except I'm not taking any hangers with me, so that could pose a problem...but something will work itself out. It always does. Worse comes to worse I've got a wrinkled suit and semi-ugly tie to go with it and I just won't care. Damn conservative countries...if you want people to dress fancy and look nice, act like it's the 1600's so that we can wear truly fun and fancy stuff.
In the meantime, it's 2 days before I leave. Today's errands are:
Bank - Deposit money!!!!!!!!!!!!, get some cash euros
CVS - Razor Blades, Clothespins, Scotch Tape, Energy Bars
Book Exchange - Hospitality gift, wrapping paper
PAC Library - Return Hedwig Book
Class - Turn in Paper, leave to run other errands
Laundry - Towels, Lights
Call Parent
I've still got a good amount of packing to do too, mostly the non-clothing items and a few other things. I just pray that I don't forget anything important. There will be much panicking if this happens, and not in a good way (not "oh wow my video made the Otakon finals!" panicking, which I hope to be able to do).
As far as net access goes, I'm going to try and get online when I get to Salzburg on the 12th, but I may not be able to. Ditto for the 13th, and possibly even the 14th. Once I've gotten to where there's a computer (and I've gotten used to the german keyboard layout), I'll begin checking forums, answering email, etc. but it will probably be only once a day. I'll try to post a journal every day while in Austria, updates in Germany will be more sporadic due to the potential costs of hitting netcafes every day as well as convenience. Forget about hearing from me while I'm in Dresden, as I'll be with friends and therefore not as free to just go hop online when I need a break.
Now whether or not the journal updates are in English is another story...I definately won't be writing things out twice, you'll all probably get a mixture of German and English, so as far as translation goes, babelfish does a passable job with German (the grammar is fixed enough that it'll make some sense), but it's still too literal and dry for a really good translation...feel free to send me lots of emails to reply to with questions, etc.
Now, it's 1:25AM and as I check the second of the three MP3 cd's i'm putting together (whittled down from 8 plus the regular listening areas of my hard drive), I need to clean off the luggage and remaining items to pack from my bed so that I can get to sleep.
Will post at least once more before I leave. Keep reading! -
Addendum to Reply to Sarah....
2002-06-30 00:54:18
I should probably justify my decision to tell someone to track down a bootleg...it's very simple really.
REM is very cool with fan trading of concerts. Don't buy a CD off ebay, just leech the MP3's from murmurs.net's P2P or get a tape from someone, because the band has confirmed that they don't care about live recordings.
That being said, the tracklist for Gravity is:
Pop Song 89
Exhuming McCarthy
Welcome to the Occupation
Disturbance at the Heron House
Turn You Inside Out
Army Theme/Orange Crush
Feeling Gravity's Pull
Swan Swan H
Begin the Begin
Pretty Persuasion
Future 40's (String of Pearls)/I Believe
King of Birds
Crazy
Finest Worksong
You are the Everything
Academy Fight Song
Stand
Perfect Circle
Get Up
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Most of the performances are outstandingly good, and it's great that Academy Fight Song is in here, as the only way to get a legit copy is to have been a member of the REM fanclub in 1988 or 89 to get the vinyl copy as part of the Christmas package. Future 40's is a song that Stipe wrote and co-sang with for one of Syd Straw's albums (and I've been told that it's the best song on the album - I've only got that one song.)
Perfect Circle is wonderful and haunting, with minimal accompanyment. It's nowhere near the Time After Time, etc. medley that's available on the European single of Finest Worksong or some other collection discs (my copy's on the IRS European "Singles Collected" CD), but it's great. So is YATE.
The only weak spot on this recording is ITEOTWAWKI(AIFF), but having heard 3-4 different recordings of the Green tour including the official concert DVD (IIRC it was Tourfilm, a worthy pickup as well), I'm convinced that they just weren't big on the song at the time and did a really weak version of it for the whole tour. The best tour for ITEOTWAWKI(AIFF) is the Monster tour where they really cut loose and have everything on full blast. The Up tour is also good for ITEOTWAWKI(AIFF), but it also features 7-8 minute versions. The accoustic version on the complete MTV Unplugged recording is pricelessly funny as Stipe turns up the southern accent and the song has a very odd twanginess to it.
But the accoustic tour is another good post. -
Reply to: Sarah the Boring
2002-06-30 00:35:37
I've never, EVER seen a good AMV set to REM.
That being said, many of REM's own videos are insanely cool. If you get the home video/DVD "Pop Screw" (also known as Pop Screen), it's got all the videos they did for the Document and Green albums, and believe it or not, there was one for orange crush, shot in black and white, and extremely well done. One of the best parts of the Green tour was when everyone would get quieted down after something like I Believe or Feeling Gravity's Pull and then Stipe would sing the army jingle "Be all that you can be, in the army" and they'd launch right into Orange Crush. For a truly great REM listening experience, try and get a copy of the Gravity bootleg album. It's an edited combination of two shows done in Orlando for Westwood One radio, and it's one of the best overall setlists ever...hell, the entire Green tour was one of the best setlists ever.
The other problem, btw, with finding a video for Orange Crush is to find an anime with the depth that the song requires. I can think of one or two MAYBE but it's up to you to determine (and/or make it) for yourself what they'd be.
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