jane q. public

Because I know you’re clamoring for my oh-so-fascinating words:

1. You may now refer to me as “Supreme Leader.”
2. I am still very busy and World Wide Internets* do not fit into my schedule. This is not permanent. I have a plan.
3. I may decide to live in a cardboard box soon, as my job is insanity-inducing and I don’t know how much longer I can do it.
4. I joined the Y.  The downtown facility is sexy – much like your Supreme Leader (I keed! I keed!)
5. I am sick of people embarrassing our state in front of the rest of the country.**
6. Iran seems like a shitty place to live.  Also, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really needs a stylist – he is a terrible dresser.  I like to call him “Members Only” since he looks like he’s wearing a Members Only jacket – unfortunately, now that I Google the two, I see that I wasn’t the only one to make this connection.
7. I’m calling the President next time there’s a fly in my house.  Apparently PETA’s pissing and moaning about the flyacide.  GROAN.

*I’ve got to say, I’m simultaneously jealous/resentful of you folks who get to use the internet however you like while at work.  I guess I’d have an easier time keeping up with Google Reader and Twitter, too, if I could use the internet for things other than looking up weird medical conditions while at my desk.  Seriously, though, even if they didn’t treat us like children at my office, I still wouldn’t have the time.  I stay excessively busy. 

**Dear Other 49 States,

We are not all ignorant, racist, regressive white trash in Tennessee.

Love,

Jane Q. Public

DISCLAIMER TO ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE MY MOM: I would like to request, Mom, that you do not read this, and instead, (I’m taking a page from Newscoma’s book here) go and look at this picture of a scary doll.

The reality of this happening (after I have most likely piqued your interest) is fleeting, I’m sure, but you were warned.

On with it…

About a month ago I randomly decided to buy tickets to the Nine Inch Nails show here in town on Halloween. Starting at age 12, I was a die-hard fan, and Trent Reznor was the man of my dreams. My interest had waned by the time The Fragile was released, so I hadn’t paid much attention since. Buying the tickets was just done on a whim (and a costly one, at that).

My expectations for the music weren’t incredibly high, but I knew from the first time I’d seen a NIN show (September 13, 1994 at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym with Marilyn Manson and The Jim Rose Circus – still the best show I’ve ever seen) that the stage show would be good.

I wasn’t disappointed.

I was entirely unfamiliar with the opening act, HEALTH, and wasn’t particularly interested in seeing them play. I wrongly guessed that they’d probably be some shitty goth band, but was pleasantly surprised when they weren’t. I guess they were bordering on being a noise band, but a little bit more post-punk. They were energetic and the base and kick drum (and crazy tribal drum thing) were so strong I could feel it in my chest. It kind of sucked me in, so after a little deliberation, I decided that I enjoyed them.

When it was time for NIN, I surprised myself with how excited I was. First of all, I was 12-years-old all over again and googly-eyed over Trent Reznor. Whether or not you like the music, you kind of have to admit that the man works hard and is pretty much a genius. Oh, and he’s totally do-able.

Which brings me to what really got to me during the show.

Sex.

His music just drips with sex. Whether it’s an overtly sexual song like “Closer” or some subtle, haunting tune that lilts off of the Ghosts I-IV album, it all just seems pitch-perfect for sex.   Some of it is made for the romantic love stuff, some of it for, well… fucking.

I had a lot more to say on that line, but luckily, it’s all left my brain in the distractions of the weekend, but yeah: Nine Inch Nails = sex.

Anyway, the lighting* and stagecraft was phenomenal. I’m not big on concert DVDs, but I wouldn’t mind finding one of the Lights in the Sky tour simply because it was so visually stunning. Plus, I have a short attention span, so the optical stimulus was much appreciated. Not that Reznor wasn’t stimulus enough.

I was rapt the entire time, even with songs I didn’t know, just because everything was so beautifully presented. So my final verdict is: AWESOME.

Predictably, a great deal of the audience was highly irritating. It just so happens that we found ourselves standing in front of a white trash family – I’ve been describing them as people who took a break from their meth lab in Kentucky to come to the show – who kept getting drunker and rowdier in the lead up to NIN taking the stage.

As soon as it started, they started a pit, and damn it if that didn’t irritate the living shit out of me. I explained to my friends later that I identified the moment that I truly knew I was old in the middle of the show: when I realized that I no longer thought it was cool when someone started a pit, but was instead annoyed because I wanted “to see the show.” So, yeah, I guess I’m a buzzkill like that, but whatever.

When it was all over, I was hurting and tired, but happy. We headed to Belcourt after that for the requisite viewing of RHPS, which was fun even if I was yawning the whole time.

Halloween was a success.

I took some pictures from the show, none of which turned out particularly well, but they might give you a slight idea of what it looked like (though they do the real thing ZERO justice).  Click the image below to view the photo set on Flickr.  Also, check out the band’s Flickr set of photos from the tour, which are 700 billion times better.

click to view the set

*In between a couple of the encore songs, my heartthrob decided to speak to the crowd. He said that the guy that handled the lights had gone missing earlier in the day and they hadn’t been able to locate him, so they were winging it. In my estimation, they did a fabulous job. I hope they found their guy, though. That was a little creepy.

• Here’s what The Tennessean had to say about Reznor’s visit.

Ellis & Korn

For my lunch break today, Dr. Frankenfurter and another coworker and I went to SportsPlex to watch our boys practice.  This as well as pre-game skates are my time for appreciating the aesthetic value of our team (I’d better not hear “puck bunny” out of anyone), but game time is GAME TIME.  Anyway, it was today that I realized that I really ought to have Dan Ellis’ babies.  On the left is a picture I took of him (with diminutive goaltending coach Mitch Korn) – click it and it will take you to the small set of pictures I took at practice.

Below you’ll find some pictures that circulated in e-mails around the office when we got back.

A little bit south of Saskatoon*

Kind of dorky, but I'd hit it (sorry, mom)*

Thirst Quencher*

He looks a lot like Roommate #2 in this one*

...and EXACTLY like Roommate #2 in this one*

BONUS: Legwand & Weber*

Stay tuned for a somewhat related Feel Good Friday post…

*I don’t have a source on these pictures – they were in an e-mail.