So far, so good - no more random shut downs. I had an old 98 machine that used to do the same thing on random websites. Meh. Stupid computers. Anyway. Weekend recap.
FridaySpent the day at
queenmaab's. We watched
Stardust and
A Dog's Breakfast while working on various computer things. I got a lot of work done on my movie database; cleaning it up and all that. I'm about 2/3 done filling out info in things already in there, so then I can put in all the ones I have left on the list.
We swapped Christmas presents of course :D I got some really nice things!
queenmaab made me two t-shirts (one with a robot and one with monkeys in a barrel) and also got me a Knifty Knitter (with some yarn!) and an organizer I can use for yarn. Dan got me a gift card for the movies ^^
We went to Yip's for dinner. I'd never been there before, but apparently the place has been there since before my parents started their restaurant like 20 years ago. So. Yeah. It was a good place. The food was pretty good, but you can tell they haven't done a major remodel in years XD It was neat, though. I liked it.
Saturday
smashedrecords and I headed to NYC on the Ten Year Vamp bus once again for the MEANY Fest finals. Uhm. Before we got on the bus, though, we ended up in the wrong parking lot (due to oversight) and I pretty much had to speed to the right lot to catch the bus. The traffic at the mall was
killing me, but thankfully, we made it there in time. Actually, we were told if they hadn't been waiting on another passenger, they would probably have left already. Eeep! The trip down was rather uneventful, but due to traffic and things, we didn't get to the Knitting Factory until about 8pm.
Once inside, I met up with
ozw! YAY, Oz! I haven't seen him in ages, so that was cool. Spent the next few hours just hanging out, chatting, and listening to the bands (Ten Year was last in the line up). My absolute favorite was Sonny Marvello, a Glaswegian band. They actually ended up winning the competition. I was really hoping drunken 10YV fans wouldn't be spilling their drinks on me, but alas -- that was not to be. Some girl I'd seen at other shows before was drunkenly flailing to the music and tipped her full drink cup over her head and all over the front of my bag (narrowly missing my camera! the cow.) and Josh, who was standing next to me.
Speaking of cameras, the lighting in the Knitting Factory is pretty crap for my abilities with the camera. I tried shooting in Sports mode, which... well. I dunno. It did take some decent shots, but there is so much grain because of the high ISO I'm sure it was using. I need to learn how to use manual mode better. Srsly. Also? Focusing was not my friend last night. I fail at photography.
After the show and the winners were announced (Maslow as runner-up? Seriously?! Um. Kay.), we sort of just stood around waiting for our bus to show up and take us home. I'd been so enamored of Sonny Marvello that when I spotted the bassist at the bar, I dragged
ozw over with me to ask him if they had CDs for sale. I couldn't quite hear what his name was over the noise of the room (Craig or Greg?) but he was really, really nice. I told him that they put on a great show and congratulated him on the win... then babbled on about how I really wanted to visit Scotland, specifically Glasgow, where the band is from. When I asked about the CD, he wandered off and told us to wait there and he'd go get me one. I offered to pay for it, but he politely declined and said that they wouldn't have any use for US dollars anyway. He told me to friend them on MySpace and we could chat -- so I told him I have a MySpace, but rarely use it, then handed him one of my business cards XD I are smooth. Oz & I wandered off to find
smashedrecords after that.
Somewhere in here there was an encounter with Drunk Bathroom Girl that I was not a part of. I doubt that she will follow me here, but let me say this publicly: I don't really give a shit. There's a reason we call you Drunk Bathroom Girl. I can excuse one time of disgustingly drunken behavior -- I know it happens. But week after week of being a sloppy drunk is appalling. If medication is the excuse, it shouldn't be. If you're on medication, you shouldn't be drinking. Dumbass. I will continue to think of you as Drunken Bathroom Girl until whatever point it is you sober up enough to stop falling over band equipment and stumbling across the floor. Of course, I'll be totally polite to you in person.
The bus came back about 12:30am and we all piled on for the ride home. Fred put in
Meet Joe Black for the ride back, which is sort of a depressing movie for a post-show trip, but okay.
smashedrecords and had a nice chat with Pete. He's a cool guy and it would be nice to talk to him again at the next show about whatever. I like intelligent conversation. We also showed him the photos we took. He was happy that I had actually taken photos of him because he's under the impression that people generally don't.
Best moment of the ride back: The girls up front were asking if anyone had gotten photos of the half naked twins on stage; I guess the response was generally a negative until
smashedrecords and I both shouted we had. Someone shouts, "Ha! The two straight girls in the front are the only ones who took pictures!" XD I are amused.
Anyway.
MEANY Fest Photos! (My server's being wonky.. sorry if things load slow)
Oz; Oz &
smashedrecords

Maslow
Sonny Marvello:
Ten Year Vamp:
More photos here. Including Super Chix, some blonde twins in shiny outfits, and the winners announcement.