How many days until...

the new Jules Watson book arrives?   Four.  This woman is second only to Diana Gabaldon.  And we all know how I feel about her books.  Obsession.

my tattoo gets finished?   Seven.  Absolutely, positively Can Not Wait!!!!!

my income tax rebate gets here?   Seven.  Too bad it'll probably be spent on the house.

the new JR Ward book is released?   Twenty-eight.  Not sure if I'll have time to re-read the series before that happens.

the Old 280 Boogie?   Fifty-three.  Just me and the kids, I'm afraid.  John's up to his neck in Anatomy and Physiology...pun intended.

Bronwen's birthday?  Fifty-five.  Holy Atomic Pile, Batman!  My youngest will be three years old!

my birthday?   Eighty-six.  Both feet firmly planted in the "Thirties."

Bonnaroo?   One-hundred and nine.  Fingers crossed because the line-up this year will melt your face off.


Let's just stop there for now.  Any number bigger than 109 would just make me sad.

Music, sweet music.

After yesterday's serious post, I'd like to talk about something more upbeat and easygoing... Music. I don't discriminate, I love all genres. Well, that's not completely true. I can do without new country and new rap. I stopped listening to anything newer than, oh, probably 1994. Anything after that just doesn't do it for me.

Music plays a very large part in my life. It inspires my writing, can lift or drag down my mood, and I like to think my iPod as the soundtrack to my life. Someone at work recently told me they were "not really into music." This idea floored me. I can't imagine a day, no... an hour, of my life without music. Honestly, pick any song, and I can relate it to some incident in my life. Most of my major scenes in my WIP were sparked by music.

I've done a couple of blogs about We Were Promised Jetpacks. Don't worry, I won't tarry too long here. (Sorry boys, you'll have to share the limelight for a bit.) They are definitely the best band I've heard in a long time, and their album "These Four Walls" is IMHO the best release of 2009. And here my obsession threatens to take over again. Let's move on, shall we?

Here's my current playlist (artist-album). What are you listening to lately?

Heartless Bastards-The Mountain

Mark Knopfler-Golden Heart

Ray Lamontagne-Trouble

The Black Keys-All You Ever Wanted

Fanfarlo-Reservoir

Panda Bear-Person Pitch

"Short Bursts"

[The title is track nine from We Were Promised Jetpacks' album These Four Walls]

Friday's show @ The End was amazing. Even though the show started an hour late, I could've done without the first band (their name eludes me, something like cole slaw), John was wound up tighter than a dollar watch, and I was suffering from too little sleep and the early stages of sinus funk...I had a blast. That's such an understatement. I can't think of another word right now though.

First off, I went straight to the merch table and got WWPJ's new EP which has three new songs and two new versions of songs previously released on These Four Walls. I would've gotten a shirt but they only had med/large. (I ordered one online instead the next day) We each got a beer, which didn't sit well with me since I'd only been up a few hours from working the night before. (The first burp after my Yuengling Lager was a rough reminder of the last time I saw this band in ATL, and ended up puking at the rest stop somewhere between ATL and Nashville.) This particular venue only sold beer though, no liquor. I made a mental note to purchase a flask for my whisky.

John was in a horrible mood, and that threatened to bring me down...almost. He looked like he might jump out of his skin, and muttered to himself that he couldn't wait for this to be over. His knee was hurting, so I'm sure that didn't help. Neither did the four philosophical aspiring musicians behind us, who talked about nothing and everything very loudly up until the first band started. At one point I told him to go home and I'd take a cab, but he suffered through ;) I think he enjoyed WWPJ though.

As I said, the first band didn't do anything for me. Just wasn't feeling it, though I'll admit their drummer was good. He broke more than one stick that night. Finding shards of them on the ground led me to a mental image of having to bust out some ICU skills should someone get impaled.

The second band, Bad Veins, were great. I ended up buying their CD after the show. Just two guys, drums, guitar, keyboard, a reel-to-reel, and a telephone. I've only listened to the album once so far, so we'll see if it has staying power.

*sigh* We Were Promised Jetpacks..... I just love those guys, totally smitten kitten here. Seriously, this borders on an unhealthy obsession that rivals my idee fixe with Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series lol.

They opened with 'A Half Built House' that faded into 'Keeping Warm' which I loved because they didn't play either song in ATL last time. After that, they did most of the album except Conductor and An Almighty Thud. Their new one, A Far Cry, kicked ass! Very powerful song, dark in an oh-so-good way.

When the show ended, I was glad to see many "new" fans stop by the merch table to pick up CDs. For a minute, I thought we wouldn't get a chance to speak to the guys. John clearly wanted to get home, and it was 1am already. As fate would have it, I ran into Darren Lackie (drums). I said something lame like "kick ass show." Imagine my surprise when he remembered me from the ATL show. Okay, here's where the warring feelings kick in. I'm partially flattered that he would remember a fan, their name, and city after all the traveling they do but there's the lingering mortification of what I might have said/done to make myself memorable. For those of you who are acquainted with my drunken behavior, you'll agree that there are any number of things said or done that would qualify as memorable (both good and bad, hopefully more the former than the latter).

Since I was quite inebriated the last time I saw them, I don't even remember telling them my name [very sheepish grin]. The rest of our conversation is a blur, because I was racking my brain about what stupid things I might have said or done the night of September 27, 2009.

Anyway, we briefly said hi to Sean Smith (bass) before leaving. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Adam Thompson (vocals/guitar) or Micheal Palmer (guitar and namesake of my MC's husband in Blood Song) :( And much to my dismay, no pictures this time around. I was hesitant to ask. As a fan, you don't want to seem crazy, needy, etc. because if you already have one picture with the band, why would you need another one? Because I want another one, damn it. You can never have too many pictures taken with your favorite bands. I was a good girl though and didn't push.

Halfway home, I realized we'd forgotten to close out our bar tab, so back to The End we go. It was a little depressing to see them taking all the gear down, and hardly any fans hanging out after the show. Am I really getting that old, or do people not do that anymore? To me that's half the fun of going to live shows; trying to meet up with the band, a few drinks, laughs, etc. If John hadn't been in such a bad mood, I'd have stayed and bought a round for the band. But with three kids and grandma waiting at home...I guess I can't do that anymore *melancholy sigh*

Fast forward to present day. I mentioned the EP has two songs (different versions) from the first album. One of them is a hard hitting angst filled song called 'Short Bursts.' I tried very hard not to like the new version. I have a mild aversion to change. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The new version is still angst filled, just much more toned down. You still get the raw emotion out of it though.

I listened to 'A Far Cry' and 'Short Bursts' countless times Saturday night at work. After about the fifteenth time I realized this would be a hard fight. And damn it, try as I might...I like the damn song, almost as much as the original version. That's saying a lot since it was one of my top three off that album. I think I may even find inspiration for a scene or two in Blood Song from it.

Now the post-show glow is wearing off. And I'm sad not knowing how long it will be until their next show or album. (The only other live shows that made me feel like that were Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. They were nearly spiritual experiences.) I guess I'll have to survive somehow off youtube clips and such. A very hard existence I assure you. Oh well, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed they'll be playing somewhere in Scotland this May, or maybe Amsterdam.

p.s. at least I'm not suffering from a three day hangover this time around.

I *heart* Scotland

I've loved all things Scottish for as long as I can remember. I could listen to their accents all day and never tire of it. Some of my favorite books and movies are based on Scotland. The music is no exception. I'm a big fan of Belle & Sebastian, Silly Wizard, The Whistlebinkies, Camera Obscura, The Proclaimers, and on and on and on.....

John and I went to ATL Sunday night to see a band that I'm slightly obsessed with. OK, maybe slightly is a bit of an understatement. They're called We Were Promised Jetpacks, out of Glasgow, Scotland. Not only is this the greatest name for a band EVER, but the music is addictive too. I highly recommend a listen if you like rock music. They opened for two other bands from Scotland (The Twilight Sad & Frightened Rabbit) who were great as well. But I really went to see WWPJ. They rocked The Masquerade for sure. Afterwards, they were nice enough to hang out with fans. I got my LP signed and took a picture with the band. Very cool guys.

(from the left) Sean Smith-bass, Darren Lackie-drums, John, me, Adam Thompson-vocals/guitar, and Micheal Palmer-guitar.

Of course, I had to let them know that most of their album was on my playlist for writing. So now I have to figure out a way to write in Micheal (guitar) into the novel. haha. He requested to be the killer which might be weird since my character's last name is Jackson.

Anyway, with the assistance of a $70 beer tab (between John and myself), I had a pretty bad hangover the next day. I'm quickly realizing that I can't hang with the youngsters anymore. At least I can't recover as fast as they do. Which is why this blog is just being posted (3 days later).

So go out and get their album "These Four Walls." It rocks. If you can't find it in a store, you can download it from Amazon or from their label's website (FatCat Records).

P.S. (I'm adding this in a week later) If possible, I'm even more obsessed with this band and their debut album. I listen to it all the way through at least 3-4 times a day. And to quote the band, "I'm not even kidding!" I listen to it while trying wake up and cook breakfast for the kids ('Keeping Warm' specifically), and most of the whole album at work with the volume low so I can hear my patient's alarms, lol. I'm sure my coworkers are very annoyed with me for constantly humming the tunes and sometimes singing the songs out loud along with my iPod.

And just so you all know the lengths to which I'll go to see this band .... we had John's parents drive 2 hours to our house to keep the kids for us, and then we drove 3 1/2 hours to Atlanta for the concert. Not to mention, I swapped my regular sunday night shift for a weekday shift to have the night off. Being the opposite of a morning person, this was a big deal.

I'm very hopeful that they'll be playing a show when I'm in Scotland next May. That would be a great 30th birthday present for me :)