Jared Lyon

Fleetwood Mac in concert

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:53:00 EDT

2009/03/20 21:53:00

My mom made her yearly visit early this year so that we could go to see Fleetwood Mac. I'd never seen them in concert, though I did see a Stevie Nicks concert back in 2001 with my mom. It was a great show, even better than I thought it would be. The auditorium wasn't sold out, but it was pretty full. Just a few sections of seats open here and there.

The biggest thing that surprised me about the concert was that through the whole concert people were coming and goign from their seats. I could see people all around the auditorium leaving their seats to go get more beer or go to the bathroom. It happened through the whole concert. It's almost like they didn't really care to see Fleetwood Mac enough to sit in their seats. Beer was clearly more important for some people. On that same note, I was surprised by how many people left after the main set was done and as the first encore set was beginning. Did these people just want to beat the traffic? The traffic really wasn't that bad when we left. Another bunch of people left after the first encore set and right as the second encore was beginning. As I said, clearly some people weren't as into seeing Fleetwood Mac as others. Anyway, here's a quick rundown of the songs.

Main Set

Monday Morning
The Chain
Dreams
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Gypsy
Go Insane
Rhiannon
Second Hand News - Though sporadic people were at their seats dancing, this was the first song where a good amount of the auditorium was standing and dancing.
Tusk
Sara
Big Love
Landslide
Storms
Say You Love Me - Minus Christine McVie, this song was sung by Stevie and Lindsay alternating verses.
Gold Dust Woman
Oh Well - I didn't recognize this song at all. Apparently it was written by Peter Green, one of the initial members. In the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper review of the concert, the reviewer misstated that Fleetwood Mac played some Led Zeppelin because of this song. Led Zeppelin's Black Dog has some verses inspired by this song, but Oh Well definitely came first. That reviewer has more than that wrong with his review though, he states that Christine McVie hasn't been with the band for "almost two decades" when in fact I know she performed in 1998 with them.
I'm So Afraid
Stand Back
Go Your Own Way

Encore Set 1

World Turning
Don't Stop

Encore Set 2

Silver Springs

Stevie-Nicks-News.com has videos of almost every song performed on opening night in Pittsburgh, I warn you though, the quality varies a bit from clip to clip.

Antony and the Johnsons

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:02:00 EST

2009/02/20 20:02:00

The music from this group continues to amaze me. I was first informed about their music from my friend Soco, but at the time I don't remember if I really liked it or not. Apparently their first album was released in the UK in 1998, but it didn't receive it's big acclaim until it's second American re-release in 2004 (the first was in 2000). I've heard their music everywhere this year. It's in the great film V for Vendetta; it's in the Tim Robbins film The Secret Life of Words (well at least it's in the trailer); I even heard Antony on the radio in Old Navy (he was singing lead vocals for a song called Blind by Hercules and Love Affair). Lou Reed, Boy George, and Rufus Wainwright have even lent their voices and music to some songs. They even covered the David Lynch/Angelo Badalementi song Mysteries of Love (which was in the film Blue Velvet).

It's hard to even describe their music. I almost want to say "his" music, just because this music really is made so great from Antony's vocals. He sort of reminds me of Sinead O'Connor because his music sounds so heartwrenching at times. Somewhere online it was called funereal-paced chamber pop about mortality, sibling rivalry, and transgenderism. I think that fits the bill quite well. Antony himself is quite androgenous, in sort of that David Bowie/Annie Lennox way. And just like Annie Lennox, he can take a song and make it all his own. Case and point, I present two videos, one for a cover of Leonard Cohen's If It Be Your Will (unfortunately it's from a documentary, so it's interrupted by a voice over), and the other for Beyonce's Crazy in Love taken from one of his concerts. It's his own music that is so great though, so here are a few video links to help you understand who he is, in all his awkward glory: Hope there's Someone, Bird Gerhl, You Are My Sister (featuring Boy George).

In January, he released his third studio album, and I love it just as much as his other work. I'm telling you, not only do I have all his albums, but I've got his EPs and even albums that just feature him on a few songs. Yes folks, I'm a bit obsessed. Here's one more video, this one is from his most recent album: Epilepsy Is Dancing video.

Knocked Up

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:54:00 EST

2009/02/14 19:54:00

Nothing says "Happy Valentine's Day" like getting knocked up... Okay, that's not right at all, but I was just trying to think of a catchy segue into talking about this movie.

The movie came out way back in 2007, but I just thought I'd say right now, that I really liked this movie.

Comedy isn't my favorite genre of movies, but there was something about this one that I really liked. A lot of times, comedies are just way over the top. Even 40 Year Old Virgin, a film written and directed by the same guy, was a bit ridiculous. There was just something about this movie though that I loved. It seems very grounded in reality; this is how semi-strangers are adult about an unplanned pregnancy.

Sure, maybe in the real world, the woman would never end up with a man like that, but hey, it was believable enough for me, so I loved it. Both leads did a great acting job, and for some reason I really connected with them. Bonus: if you buy the 2-disc DVD set (or I'm assuming the Blu-ray Disc if there is one), you'll be treated to 20 minutes of the asian doctor improving the hectic birth scene. The 2-disc is worth buying just for his crazy ad-libbing. I was laughing so hard I almost had tears in my eyes... and I'm not much of a laugher. :)

Cabaret at the Geva Theatre

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:48:00 EST

2009/02/10 19:48:00

It was almost exactly a year ago now that I saw the play Cabaret at Rochester's Geva Theatre. I'd never been to the Geva before, but it's definitely one of Rochester's gems. No matter where you sit, you'll have a great view due to the theatre's quaint size.

As for the play itself, it was a production by Portland Center Stage, and I thought it was really well done. I'd only ever seen the movie, so I wasn't sure how much the play was different. I didn't really notice too much, other than the main Fraulein woman having a bigger part and the ending was much more gritty and drug-ridden than the film. It's funny, about two years ago I saw the play version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and was surprised how much more gritty and punk rock it was compared to the movie as well.

Regardless, I liked Cabaret so much I almost went a second time.

A new entry, a new year

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:38:00 EST

2009/02/01 19:38:00

Last year it was the Bumble, this year it's good ole Yukon Cornelius.

As is the custom every year for Christmas, I went back to visit all my family in my hometown and surrounding areas of Vermont. Every year the trip seems to get harder and harder to deal with. For one, it's an 8-hour trip, and really, most of my family and I don't have a lot to talk about. Sometimes computers come up, but then it ends with someone asking me to help put something on their computer, and that's where the visit ends up feeling too much like work.

Not to mention that many of my first cousins have children whose names are getting harder and harder to remember (let alone anything else).

One of the coolest things that I did while home was read through a recipe book that my mother had made for my sister. My mom created it by mailing out recipe pages to relatives on both sides of the family asking for noteworthy recipes. Certain recipes even had stories about them added on at the end. Quite a neat idea, and a lot of family and a even soem friends contributed.

I had to laugh because each of my grandmothers contributed 3 recipes, and they were so telling. My grandmother Lyon (who has quite a large garden) included three recipes that all required zucchini. My grandmother Taylor (who, along with my grandfather and relatives, has maple sugared ever year that I can remember) included three recipes that all required maple syrup.

All in all, it was an ok enough trip, I mean, I only do it once a year anyway.

I was back here in Rochester to celebrate the ringing in of the new year. Man, it's amazing how quickly a year can go by. The older I get, the faster they go. Even more amazing is that I only did four journal entries last year, three of which were in the first two months of the year!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:58:00 EDT

2008/09/12 13:58:00

I just recently happened upon this interesting project from the creator of Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As the banner image suggests, it's called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Just from the title I wasn't sure what to expect. Do people really sing in it?

Not only do they sing, but the songs are incredibly well written and composed! Plus the acting and camera work is equally as great.

You should check it out. It's a fun one-off project that the guy undertook personally and put a lot of money behind. The soundtrack is available on iTunes, and it even made it to #1 TV soundtrack for a while.

Watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

There's also an interesting back story to the project, which was created during the writer's strike this year. You can find that write-up in the Master Plan section of the official Dr. Horrible site.

Another semi-related musical video (though no where near as polished or expensive to create) that people might find interesting is the "spontaneous" musical in a mall food court created by a group called Improv Everywhere. The organizations goal is to "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places." Oddly enough, though the projects are completely unrelated, the vocals for the Dr. Horrible soundtrack were recorded just a few days before the food court musical was staged.

Crispin Glover's What Is It?

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:24:00 EST

2008/02/06 20:24:00

In early March of 2007, I had the awesome pleasure to see Crispin Glover at Rochester's Dryden Theatre. You might also recall that this is the same theatre that shows David Lynch movies from time to time. Anyway, this particular showing was for Glover's newest film What Is It?, supposedly the first of a three part "It" series.

Taking the view that Hollywood has become completely manufactured and too safe, Glover set out to make a film that challenged all that. So what does that get you? A cast primarily consisting of actors with Down Syndrome, naked women, an actor with cerebral palsy who also appears naked, a man in black face, Fairuza Balk voicing a snail, and Glover himself. Oh, and let's not forget the cherry on top: illustrations of prepubescent Shirley Temple with a Nazi cap and necklace holding an inappropriately placed riding crop.

He set out to shock, and that's definitely what he did. Personally though, I still wondered what the point was. But then again, I've wondered the same thing when watching some of John Waters's early films.

By far, the best part of the night to me was actually getting to meet Glover. Before the film showed, Glover read from some books that he's put together. It was a very performance art piece, and he performed quite well. In several parts he had the audience laughing. Other parts though, as with his film, can leave you a bit confused or uncomfortable. I guess Glover's works can be like David Lynch's works in this way. Sometimes the audience doesn't know how to react; sometimes they laugh because they don't know what else to do.

I've found some clips of Glover reading/performing on YouTube, but they are from many years ago, and he performs differently now.

So, why write about this over a year later? No, not because Glover makes a great Willy Wonka, just as I do. It's because I just read that he's started showing the second part of his "It" trilogy. (It showed as Sundance in January.) Gone are the Down Syndrome actors. I don't think this piece is suppose to be shocking like the first. They're not suppose to be connected in that way. This one is more of a psycho murder mystery, I think. Interestingly though, the actor with cerebral palsy wrote and acts in this second film, though he died before the piece was completed.

This second film is titled It Is Fine! Everything is Fine. I'm curious to see it, as I think it'll be more plot driven, and it's always fun to see independent films made with not a lot of money.

Phoenix fun, again

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:29:00 EST

2008/01/31 23:29:00

Just a quick note for those who may have missed it. It's been a couple weeks since I got back from Phoenix, and I finally uploaded photos from the trip. As expected, just like last year's Phoenix trip, I had a blast. It's always amazing that one can accomplish so much in a single extended weekend. I always think that most of the weekend will be taken up by the flight there and back, but then I am proven wrong. I feel like I was there for at least a week not just a few days.

Thanks go out to Joey, James, and Bobby who were great hosts. It was cool to hang out with them again.

Differences between this current trip and my last one? Well, I stayed with the three guys instead of Alex this year (I did get a chance to see him a couple times thought which was cool, if brief). And instead of a little hike in Papago Park, I went to the zoo (though I could see where we hiked from the entryway to the zoo). The last difference was that we went to more bars.

Either way, the trip was equally as fun.

Christmas and the New Year

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:37:00 EST

2008/01/03 20:37:00

It's unfortunate that Christmas is such a hectic and busy time. Sure, it can be fun, but I've always thought it's filled with more expectations than merriment.

Don't worry though, this isn't going to be an entry full of complaining.

I drove home to Vermont for Christmas. The trip back home was brief, but I still got in visits to most of the extended family. There was even a couple viewings of my recent DVD appearance, the most eventful of which was at my paternal grandparents. They couldn't find the DVD player's remote, so we couldn't move down to the menu item for the featurette that I'm in. My aunt ended up bring her player so we could watch the video. They liked it, but liked the clipping from a recent newsletter about my appearance better from my employer, Rochester Institute of Technology. I guess its just easier to show people a piece of paper versus a video... even if the video has international coverage, and the newspaper only extends as far as Rochester, New York.

I almost think my car had a more eventful Christmas than I did. Not that there's anything wrong with a low key Christmas. My car turned 50,000 miles old (mostly due to the 1,000 mile total trip). It also had an automatic car starter installed into it (a Christmas present from mom), and it even got a flat tire.

My mom mentioned that my preschool teacher (who was also my high school English teacher) bought a deli in town, so we stopped by there one day. It was really cool seeing her again and reminiscing. I went through every grade until high school graduation with her daughter, Meika. That day, we wrote an email to her. It'll be cool to hear from her again.

In other interesting news from the trip home, my mom showed off her new (and first) tattoo. Part of it comes from a design on a Harley Davidson shirt she has, and the Harley logo in the center was removed and replaced with subtle reference to Betty Boop's head. Mom's always loved Betty Boop.

As for New Year's Eve, it was mostly uneventful. Just went out and met some friends at a bar. I thought about making a resolution or two, but then decided it was silly. :)

Twin Peaks goes Gold (My DVD debut)

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:04:00 EDT

2007/11/02 00:04:00

Not that anyone noticed, but I never did a write up for the 2007 Twin Peaks Fest that took place at the end of July. I was holding off a bit because I knew something else was on its way. Halloween may have been on Wednesday, but I wanna talk about Tuesday, Twin Peaks Tuesday. Yes, I might be the only one who called it that, but either way, at long last, the complete series of Twin Peaks is available on DVD in one box set. On top of that, another soundtrack of music from the show was released! Who would have thought that 15 years after Twin Peaks ended, they'd be releasing more music?

If you've read my site at all, you probably already know that I am a fan of the show. But it gets even better than just the complete show being released! If you happen to check out the extra features on the DVD set, you'll see little ol' me chatting up a storm about the Twin Peaks Fest that I run.

All the special features, including the documentary about the festival that was filmed at the 2006 fest, are amazingly well put together. Seriously, Charles de Lauzirika and his team did a great job producing the set. I was so proud seeing myself and the three other fest organizers talking on the DVD, as well as some of the other great attendees. Apparently the set is selling quite well too; it had an Amazon.com sales rank of #1 in several categories. You can tell it's a set people have been waiting for.

To coincide with the DVD set coming out, Amanda and I (the two remaining organizers) redesigned and restructured a brand new Twin Peaks Fest site. As of today, it's not all completed, but its coming along, and I really like the new look. I even redesigned our Twin Peaks Fest MySpace page to look similar with the official fest site.

Thinking back on the 2007 fest. It was great as usual. We even got some great local publicity. The Wednesday before the fest, we were the cover story in the "living" section of the Seattle Times. Then, because of the Seattle Times coverage, Seattle's Channel 4 news showed up at the sign in (a bit before everyone was there though, unfortunately), and they spent a little while filming and interviewing. That night, the video story about the Twin Peaks Festival ran on the 4pm and 11pm news.

For those that can't see the video goodness of me on the Twin Peaks DVD set, you can at least catch me in the video clip mentioned above. :)

It was a fun, busy, and hectic time. We even remade a "red room" with a newly painted zigzag floor and new red curtains. I even made a photo slideshow music video of us recreating and hanging out in the red room. I also posted a bunch of photos from the 2007 fest, so check them out if you're so inclined.

UPDATE (April 2008): My alma mater's University Magazine has a little write up about me being on the DVD set (PDF).