"I'm pretty sure I wasn't your first choice. I think I was the last one remaining. I wish we hadn't gone and destroyed it, 'cause I was thinking we could pull another weekender. You've still got a bit of clairvoyance." ~the hold steady
On Thursday I saw The Hold Steady in concert at the Beacon Theater. It was a great show. First of all, I love that venue; it's probably my favorite seated concert venue in the city. They're touring to promote their newest album, Heaven is Whenever, and they played all my favorite songs from that record ("Hurricane J," "We Can Get Together," "The Sweet Part of the City," "The Weekenders"). My favorite album of theirs, though, is Stay Positive, so I was hoping to hear a lot of songs from it, and I wasn't disappointed. They played "Sequestered in Memphis," "Magazines," and "Slapped Actress," which are three of my favorite songs from that album. The only thing I wanted to hear but didn't was "Lord, I'm Discouraged." It's omission wasn't surprising but was still disappointing.
Craig Finn is such an engaging entertainer. He uses his whole body to draw the crowd in; he never stops moving onstage, and he uses the whole stage. You can't help but move along with him. I filmed some songs, but I skipped some because I wanted to move around. I wanted to film "Hurricane J" and "Sequestered in Memphis" because I love those, but I just had to dance instead. And I should have filmed "We Can Get Together," but I'm not sure why I didn't think of it at the time. I guess I was just so excited to hear the song. I did catch some of my favorites, though. There are more on my youtube page, but these are the songs I love the most:
Slapped Actress (I was SO psyched when they launched into this; it was the song I wanted to hear most):
The Sweet Part of the City (my favorite song from Heaven is Whenever):
Magazines (oh, how I love this song):
The Weekenders (the girl has clairvoyance; is this song for me?):
"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life." ~green day
So I haven't written about Billie Joe yet. How do I even put into words how amazing he was? First of all, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, there's a fabulous musical on Broadway right now called American Idiot. It's based on Green Day's hugely popular and highly acclaimed concept album of the same title. Billie Joe Armstrong (the lead singer of Green Day) just appeared in the musical for one week as St. Jimmy. It was easy for him to just jump in for a week because A.) he created the character he was playing, and B.) he wrote all the music and performs it in Green Day's concerts on a regular basis. He knows it better than anyone. Even though we've seen the show more than once, Nic and I knew we had to see it with him, so we got student rush tickets to his last show. He made me see the character of St. Jimmy in a completely new way. He was absolutely brilliant. Of course just hearing him sing was incredibly cool, but his acting was really impressive as well. And the crowd was so excited, which always contributes to the overall vibe from the show. Billie Joe's energy was infectious. Before his first scene, we could hear him screaming backstage, and audience members started screaming as well. He got one standing ovation during the show (which is rare) and of course during curtain call as well. During curtain call he sang a short song that he wrote for us before launching into "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life"). Here it is (along with "Good Riddance"):
I have TONS of movies to write about as well. Maybe tomorrow? On Thursday I'm seeing The Hold Steady, so be prepared for a post about that concert.
Friday, October 01, 2010
"And we sing with our heroes thirty-three rounds per minute. We're never going home until the sun says we're finished." ~the gaslight anthem
On Thursday I saw The Gaslight Anthem at Radio City Music Hall. It was a really great concert. They seemed so excited and grateful to be there, and you could sense the positive energy coming from the band. They're from New Brunswick, NJ (very near my hometown), and this was almost like they were playing at home; there were a lot of Jerseyans there.
It was a solid setlist. No huge surprises, but they did play my favorite song of theirs, "Here's Looking At You, Kid" (I was SO excited), as well as a bunch of other favorites ("Bring It On," "Boxer," "The Patient Ferris Wheel," "The Diamond Church Street Choir"). Along with those, "We Did It When We Were Young" was particularly gorgeous live.
I didn't get any great pictures (I always have trouble taking photos at concerts), but here are a couple: Here's my video of "Here's Looking at You, Kid." Unfortunately the video quality isn't great.
"I didn't mind you blaming me for your mistakes, I just held you in the doorframe through all of the earthquakes." ~the antlers
Today was one of my favorite days of the year, the Broadway Flea Market. It was so much more enjoyable than last year (when it was moved inside because of rain). I spent way too much money and bought way too much stuff, but it's once a year, I love owning special Broadway memorabilia from my favorite shows, and the money goes to BC/EFA (a charity that I support), so I felt okay about my splurge. I went in the morning before it technically opened and most booths were already selling stuff, so it was nice to be there before the crowds arrived and before the best stuff was sold. Here's what I bought in the morning: I love having actual drumsticks used in American Idiot (and they're definitely used; the ends are really worn out), the prop letters from A Little Night Music are pretty cool, and the Boeing Boeing bag was only $5 and came with a bunch of stuff inside (keychains, luggage tag, mousepad), so I thought it was a good deal. Nothing in the above photo cost more than $10.
I went back later in the day, when the prices were dropped. At one table you could fill a bag with as much stuff as possible for just $1 total. I got a few window cards, a Behanding in Spokane script, an opening night playbill from Long Day's Journey Into Night...there were lots of goodies. I also got a big reasons to be pretty poster for $1. My biggest splurge of the day was a hat from the recent revival of Guys and Dolls signed by the entire cast. That was the only thing that cost more than $10. My biggest problem now is figuring out what to do with all my acquisitions. I've already updated the wall above my bed: As you can see, the top row is devoted to my favorite playwright, Martin McDonagh. The wall is probably too crowded, but I don't care. I love looking at these.
I'm already excited for next year's Flea Market.
ETA: I'm testing a .gif here (Claire taking a watermelon in the face on the season premiere of The Amazing Race). GIFSoup
Saturday, September 25, 2010
"I'm gonna run to the river, kiss my hand and wave. Gonna run to the river, gonna throw a blue bouquet. 'Cause they're gonna be cool happy genius heroes, I'm gonna miss them so much." ~the national
Tonight I planned an evening for three of my teacher friends and I to see Waiting for Superman. It was great to hang out with them because I'm the only one left at our school so I don't see them much anymore (two of them aren't teaching anymore and one is at a different school). We all hated the movie, though. It made us really angry. So get ready for a rant. It's incredibly biased. And political. And one-sided. In promoting it's own agenda, it completely ignores important factors in education. It blames the teachers and the teacher's unions for all the problems in our country's education system. The main problem is not the teachers. Why not examine the fact that education has been turned into a bureaucracy? School districts are run like companies. Principals are given all the power. The film never once mentions the importance of strong leadership. What about schools with principals who can't lead? Who don't know how to run schools and train and inspire teachers? I know that there are some bad teachers out there, but that's not the biggest problem we face and should not be a reason to completely strip unions of their power. Teacher's unions are necessary to protect teachers because of unfair treatment that they face. Trust me, if the unions didn't exist, a lot of teachers' lives would be ruined. I've seen it happen to great teachers even though the union does exist. The union is necessary because of the way that our education system is run. I wish it weren't necessary, but it is.
The film also fails to address the issue of parental involvement. It follows the lives of some students who are applying to charter schools. All the students followed in the movie have parents who deeply care about their kids' education. Unfortunately, those parents are not the norm. I have a feeling the kids who didn't get into the charter schools to which they applied will still be okay, even if they go to regular neighborhood public schools, because their parents will push them. Parental involvement is SO important. Some parents of my students don't even know where their kids are at 11pm. I've even had parents tell me that they've given up on their kids. What about those kids, the ones who don't have someone at home telling them to do their homework and inspiring them to succeed and emphasizing the importance of a good education? Yes, that's the teacher's job as well, but it needs to be a joint effort. It's not fair to place all the responsibility on the teachers.
Another issue I have with the movie (and I realize this might make me some enemies) is the promotion of the idea that all kids should go to college. I believe that all kids should have the opportunity to go to college if they so choose, but I don't think that college is for everyone. Society is made up of an incredibly diverse group of people who complete a variety of jobs, all of which are necessary for the society to run smoothly. What's wrong with becoming skilled in a trade? Why do we place such an emphasis on white collar jobs? Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer (society couldn't function properly), and not everyone wants to be, and that's okay.
I don't know, I was just really angry while watching the film. I felt like I was being attacked. It was promoting a very specific political agenda, and I don't agree with it's message at all. Sure, I felt for the kids in the movie, but there has to be a better way to improve the public education system. I'm a teacher, I'm proud to be a teacher, I care deeply about my students, I want to give them the best education possible, and this movie made me feel...I can't think of the right word.
I just wrote this immediately after returning home from the movie and I may come back and edit it once I've sorted my ideas out a little more. Anyway, here's the trailer:
