Death Cab Live @ Warfield

Commensurate with the downtown San Francisco concertgoing experience is winding your way through throngs of homeless on Market Street and wondering if your car windows will still be intact when you return. Thankfully that was the case last night and I could focus solely on hearing a great concert from Death Cab For Cutie.

The last time I got to see this band was at the Miramar Theatre, a tiny little place that holds possibly less than four or five hundred souls and where after seeing them you felt connected to a band and part of a select few who all knew how great this music truly was. That was over four years ago on the East Side of Milwaukee. Shortly before that I was exposed to their music by hearing the sounds of "A Movie Script Ending" blaring from my roommates stereo as the house was being cleaned. Everytime I hear that song I am transported back to that sunny autumnal afternoon and I can smell a hint of pledge and see the sun pouring through the front windows and reflecting onto the wood floors. I fell in love with that song and the rest of the "Photo Album."

Which brings me to last night and the yapping girls who would not shut the hell up sitting behind us at the Warfield. When the soaring chords of Death Cab weren't rising to the heights of the theater to the delight of the most hardcore fans, the girls could be heard discussing what song they heard on the "OC" the sinfully delightful show for tweens and high schoolers alike that is also masquerading as a flashy vehicle for pushing previously unknown and great music to the masses. I don't know if it was a good thing for shows like the "OC" to help push along a great band like Death Cab who has given us an overall beautiful record like "Plans" or if it would be delightful to still have them signed to Barsuk Records and keep me smiling when I drive down the road, windows down singing old tunes that wide-eyed passerby would hear as they stopped at a traffic light.

Gibbard was asked in an interview about the relevance of watching the shows his music has appeared on and he answered; "I watch 'Six Feet Under,' but that's about it. I mean, 'The O.C.' is a fine enough show, but I never feel inclined to watch it, I guess."

In any event, Death Cab is here and their star is rising, even though I wish I had to savor them all to myself, which of course is quite selfish. It is an interesting perspective to remember, much like the elegiac lamentations of a lost love or a crumbling relationship, the older albums and then welcome their new "Plans" and realize it is quite a good album.

Last night when I heard the initial and all to familiar chords of "Movie Script Ending" I bobbed my head and danced in my seat and smiled because I was able to share in the experience of hearing some great songs that brought back so many memories. It shows that the mixed crowd of newbies and true fans was held in check and hasn't defected. The newbies got their few songs and Death Cab delighted the hardcore fans with tunes dating back to their first record, actually a demo 4-track tape.

Hopefully like a budding new love, this relationship will continue to grow. So far from what I have seen, I have the facts and well, I am voting Yes!

Setlist from Warfield; November 14, 2005:

Marching Bands of Manhattan
We Laugh Indoors
The New Year
Title and Registration
Photobooth
Soul Meets Body
Summer Skin
Different Names for the Same Thing
Company Calls
Company Calls epilogue
What Sarah Said
Movie Script Ending
Brothers on a Hotel Bed
Crooked Teeth
Pictures in Exhibition?
Sound of Settling
---
I Will Follow You in to the Dark (acoustic solo)
TITLE TRACK!
Prove my Hypothesis

Study Makes Perfect & A Big Break

Hello ~

Ahhh, the rainy season has officially descended onto San Francisco. Although quickly darkening Autumnal skies and an abundance of rain help usher in the transition of summer to the rainy season (the only other season in SF), the good news is that soon snow will be falling in the distant Sierras and ski season will begin.

If anyone out there has advice or words of wisdom on the GRE, I would love to hear them.
My GRE exam, a wonderful and exciting gauge at your prospects of grad school is on November 17, so my life has pretty much been non-stop studying and ostensibly brushing up on high school math skills that have evaded my mind as well as studying the vocabulary and analogy questions that are going to determine my future. In fact, I think that the test along with the application process is the grad schools only way of getting to truly know a potential applicant. The long list of instructions on these tests is a built-in mechanism for admission committees to determine if a student will be a good fit at a school. To complicate the issue further, some schools place heavy emphasis on your GRE score than others. Berkeley's Journalism school does not care what you get on the GRE, rather, they care that you can show them upper-level writing techniques, that will be elude to success at their school. Stanford, on the other hand, does care about scores and wants to see that a high score on the GRE test that can show great success and the level of knowledge acceptable to an upper-echelon university. Other schools, like Columbia in New York, nix the exam altogether and require their students to take a special journalism exam proctored by an alum.

Currently I am also working on a really innovative and interesting project that will help distribute news to the masses differently than current methodology. It will place newscasts on the internet and downloadable to your iPod or mobile device. The news is called StoryToday and will allow the user/viewer to come up with ideas and thoughts on the news, rather than have us tell them what we want them to think. Today, news is heavily biased. Whether you feel it is more biased against your political beliefs is your opinion, but the news has an agenda and typically it is slanted due not to the viewers demands, but rather to appease management and the lowest common denominator of the masses; typically inducing news about celebrity and issues that end at our nation's borders. Our newscasts are going to bring you news all over the World, not just in California or the United States. You get to hear the story as it came from a different news location or source, and make a decision. You have the power here, and it will be neat to see where it goes.

For now, there is a funny promotional introductory trailer you can view.

Point your browser to; www.storytoday.tv & click on the download .mp4 link below the QuickTime logo. The trailer should immediately play.

Also, I received word that I have been cast in an actual, physical role of a motion picture. Tentatively titled, "Strap-Off" it is a comedy feature that is currently in pre-production. Right now a director has been hired, and casting is negotiating the appearances of big names like Natalie Portman and Eugene Levy. Obviously, if all goes well, this could be a huge break. My role is going to be an ER physician, and I will have more than one line. It is scheduled to be filmed in LA before and after the Christmas holiday, but in any event, I will keep you all posted on any exciting news, wish me luck on what hopefully could be a huge break!

I hope to update more on life out here before Thanksgiving. I may visit a friend who just moved to Oregon and a nice drive up there could be in order. I hope to hear from you guys, feel free to write.

Until then,

Cheers!