my moral standing is lying down

You may all know how into hockey I am, and have been since the 97-98 season. But what you may not know is that I was a big fan of the X-games (BMX, in particular) from several years before that, though I sort of let it go for a loooong time.

I was reminded of my interest last week when I discovered that the X-games were being held in LA (as they apparently have been for like, the last 10 years), this coming weekend! Hahahah, how's that for serendipity? I'd wanted to attend X-games events SO BADLY when I was younger and then here they are, just falling into my lap unexpectedly after having just moved here! Right place, right time, I guess.

Of course I picked up tickets to two events -- BMX Vert (my faaaave!) and BMX Big Air on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. I am suuuuper excited! And though I've been completely out of the scene for 10 years, I've been watching footage from last year's X-games and yeahhh, I love Stevie McCann's style so I'm rooting for him to win Gold this year. Jamie Bestwick's had a nice run (5 years in a row), but it's time for someone else to step up and grab it. =D

I couldn't help but remember how HUGE an athlete-crush I had on Dave Mirra, who dominated the BMX scene when I was into it in the mid-90s. *___* So I checked out the wikipedia article on him where I discovered he'd been roomies with Ryan Nyquist (another big name in BMX, whom I also loved) and lololol like a fucking typical slash-fangirl my immediate thought was, OH MY GOD IS THERE ANY FIC FOR THAT?

I doubt I'll find any, but I'll have to try anyway.

JFC, I actually remember watching this. Like, on TV. As it aired.



...and CRAP, whatever happened to BMX Doubles and Flatland? Those were the bessssst.

I always end up meeting the coolest people waiting on line, or even just next to me in the crowd, etc. And somehow I'm not shy about starting up a conversation with strangers at a concert like I am pretty much EVERYWHERE ELSE. starsparkle333 suggested that it's because we're all there for the same reason/same interest, but I'm still super shy about chatting up strangers even at CONS, with fangirls, ffs!

...and did I mention how many lovely, lovely fellow bandom fangirls I met and chatted and squeed with yesterday? ILU GUYS! <333

In any case, some guy ordered too much pizza and offered my group the extra slices (which was awesome because other than a jamba juice at 2pm, that would be all I would eat until 11pm). And then I made two friends waiting in line. One SKYDIVES as like, a serious hobby -- like, she goes every weekend or something and packs her own chute and dives alone (not tandem) and she's like, I COULD TEACH YOU HOW TO PACK, YOU CAN COME DIVE WITH ME (in Michigan). We were sort of going on about how awesome it is and basically the other girls with us looked at us like we're nuts. If I'm in/near SF again I'm going to Lodi and diving again for $100, no matter what.

The other friend I made took this photo that's making the rounds; she's a pretty big fan of Panic and bandom-related bands like TAI and Empires and such; we bonded over previous concert experiences and also claiming our spots in the third row when we were let in, making a much-needed beer run even though the crowd was already ridiculous, and being surrounded by 15-year old girls. UGH. While I'll make an exception for a few Panic shows, I'd really rather stick to metal shows in the future.

The Black Cards were cute -- because PETE WENTZ IS TINY AND ADORABLE AND HAS THE CUTEST SMILE (second only to Spencer Smith's). But I'm not a huge fan of his music and it seems I never will be. Neon Trees were... good? The crowd was actually the rowdiest for them? Or, it seemed that way because I'd gotten to the barrier by the time Panic played and so I didn't have to fight for ground so much anymore. The singer is sort of fascinating to watch, but I'm just not a fan of their music. He does remind me a lot of a former coworker of mine, which amuses me to no end.

Then Panic came out and the first time Brendon ran over to our side, I thiiiiiink he may possibly have recognized me because of my glasses?! He complimented them on Wednesday when I MET HIM AND ZACK IN CENTRAL PARK. And then I got into this conversation with Zack about whether my glasses were Not Real a la the Matrix. =DDDDDDDD

As concerts go, Panic's show really isn't my idea of a good concert. I think there are just too many 15-year old girls for me to be able to get into it... also the lack of, you know, hard rock/metal sound... but I've pretty much started thinking of concerts as paying to see canon performed live. And that works for me. =D

Seeing Panic partially cover Personal Jesus also works for me.

In celebration of Spencer's birthday today, Brendon dedicated Always to him because -- in Brendon's own words -- "he's a sexy bastard". Spencer ran out in front of the stage to, you know, be serenaded and open his arms to Brendon's metaphorical embrace. The whole thing was sweet, including when the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Spencer and Brendon was amused and happy about it, and just. There was really just so much happy there. SO MANY SPENCER SMILES. I wish I'd been able to capture them all but Spencer is just too far away for my lack of zoom. =(

AND THEN PETE WENTZ JOINED THEM ON STAGE TO PLAY IWSNT AND IT WAS BEYOND ADORABLE TO SEE DALLON SHOWING PETE THE PROPER FINGERING WHEN PETE DIDN'T KNOW IT.

Yes, I said proper fingering.

But my favorite part (besides all of Spencer's parts... and maybe also a few of Pete Wentz's parts -- oh yeah, did I mention I got to touch his hipbone one of the times he dove into the crowd?), was seeing Brendon's spazzy dancing. I love it to death. <3333

LAJSFLJASDLFJA;SLFJS;LDFJKLJ

Dunno how I missed this particular vid before, of PATD's in-store acoustic set at the Best Buy at Union Square, NYC back in March. IT IS SO CUTE. 'Cause Spencer ACTUALLY TALKS, and they're both a little sweet and Spencer's a little sarcastic (oh, my heart) and-- PLAYFUL! He's so silent in most (recent) interviews that whenever he's like this -- relaxed and amused, lol, it's so great. SPENCERRRRRRRRRRRRR <33333

I haven't done it yet but I'm considering ripping and trimming audio on this one too -- cutting it up into just the four songs (TBOML, NITA, NP, IWSNT) -- so if anyone's interested in that, let me know.

(via thedreamerworld)

Video of traffic at the intersection of 28th & Park shows the "bad habits" of pedestrians, cyclists & motorists. I don't think I agree that this necessarily calls for a revision of street traffic rules in NYC (pedestrians are pretty darn safe in metropolitan NYC), but this video is super fun to watch nonetheless!



I love the point (toward the end) when the videographer labels the "Agressive Yield" of the car toward the pedestrians. Yeah, have to say I really really hate it when drivers do that (though I will admit to having done that myself a handful of times).

This makes me want to re-read Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt.

I was watching some of the videos over at cracked.com. The After Hours group that analyzes pop culture in movies/books/etc. in a friends-at-dinner sort of way is hilarious. After I saw all 8 or so episodes (around 5 minutes each) I started watching the "Does Not Compute" episodes (also like 5 mins each).... which is basically one of the guys talking about and making fun of some WEIRD FUCKING SHIT.

Like eyeball tattoos... AND BILLY HERRINGTON, WTAF:



I kind of think it's amazing, though. In a sort of WTF way, at least.

So, that indie hip hop duo, Rizzle Kicks? That I LOOOOOOOVVVVVE much more than anyone expects I should? They just released another song with a fucking amazing video. Again. They are just so fresh, unique, with awesome rhymes and rhythms and ideas no one else is doing. I can't get enough of their stuff -- next time I visit London I need to plan it so that I can see them live.



If you thought their sound or video was interesting, check out my faves:

Miss Cigarette
Down With the Trumpets
Price Tag
Burning Stuff/Fly Me to the Moon


ETA: So yes, this video WAS in fact put together from 960 long-exposure stills, taken by Toby Lockerbie.

GUYS GUYS GUYS--

I have this semi-obsession with Ed Sheeran now. Really, all this is delires's fault. OMG I WAS JUST STRUCK DUMB BY THE THOUGHT OF CHAV!EAMES AND ED SHEERAN HANGING OUT. *facepalm* I don't know how/why that would ever come about, but... OMG IT WOULD BE LIKE THIS.

ANYWAY.

Ed Sheeran's pretty awesome (especially considering he's only 19, WTF). I love his rhymes and his voice and his guitar playing (not that I know much about playing the guitar). I don't even like his solo stuff (it's waaaaaaay too soft for me), but if I actually listen to the lyrics and not focus on the song as a whole I could end up incepting myself. His collaborations with other grime and hip hop artists is really freaking awesome because there's more of a balance less of a strictly-soft/indie sound, BUT STILL WITH THE AWESOME RHYMES.

AND THEN HE DOES SILLY THINGS LIKE THIS. <333 WITH EXAMPLE.





ETA: Ahaha "American rappers have their guns; British rappers love their mums." This article about Tinie Tempah (who recently won a BRIT award for that song, Pass Out, BTW) does a good job of hitting all the high points of exactly why I love "Brit-hop" more than American rap/hip hop/etc.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA I HAVE JUST SPENT THE LAST HOUR AND A HALF WATCHING BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEOS FROM BBC'S MERLIN. OH MY GOD, THEY ARE ALL SO FUCKING CUTE AND ADORABLE AND FUNNY. WHYYYYYYYYYYY.

( videos what kept me laughing hysterically when i really should've been packing for toronto )

Apparently Bradley sings an awful lot on set.

ETA: AHAHAHAH ANTHONY HEAD LAUGHS SO MUCH; I CAN'T DEAL! I CAN'T DEAL!

So I read something this morning with the word shoals in it and I flashed back HARD to listening to due South music. Of course I thought immediately of Stan Rogers' Canadian folk song, Northwest Passage, which I fell utterly in love with from the first.

Happily, I played the song... then put it on repeat. I quickly realized that it wasn't the song with shoals in it (that's Paul Gross's Robert Mackenzie), but Northwest Passage is still on repeat now because I love it so much, it's so poignant and sad and hopeful. This is my favorite version. <3

You may or may not have noticed my fangirling and flailing from several weeks ago over going to see The Headstones in Toronto in February? Well, a bunch of the ladies who will also be going are getting commemorative tattoos. Not matching ones, but we're all going as a group to Yonge Street Tattoos to get inked.

I AM SO EXCITED! \o/

I'm getting a little bitty tat, only 2 inches long so I doubt it'll take longer than 10 minutes at most, but just the prospect of it makes me so happy! It's going to be one of the lines from the chorus of Northwest Passage: "one warm line" on the inside of my left wrist. I thought it was fitting.

15 days to go and I can barely contain myself. I keep re-writing it whenever the ink washes off because I'm absolutely in love with it. ♥_♥

It's kind of funny, it's actually going to be my most visible tattoo. The sparrows on my chest are pretty visible but they're also really easy to cover up and it's not like I notice them very much even when I'm wearing a tanktop or something that shows them off. All my other tats are also easily/always hidden. I'll be able to actually look at this one on my wrist all the time! How lovely~!


ETA: OMG I NEED TO REWATCH DUE SOUTH LIKE BURNING NOW. (Also, this would help with the whole big bang thing...)

ETA2: Ahahahah, did you guys ever see this live version of Ride Forever (from 1999)? With rows and rows and rows of Mounties standing behind PG & David Keeley. LOLZ FOREVER. I wonder what this event was for... It was for Canada Day, apparently.

This has probably made the rounds, but a friend sent it to me earlier and I just had the chance to watch it. IT'S AWESOME!