circularwaffles

Anne:  Is your throat swollen at all?

Me:  I only have a mild, annoying cough, come and go nausea and I feel freezing
Nope
My throat is fine

Anne:  K, I have something else entire.

Me:  Yeah, I just have my own brand of fun

Anne:  I have the nausea, cough, fever, and chills. But my tonsils are so mad swollen that I can't breathe great.

Me:  Yikes, that really blows sweetie. Is there anything you can do to improve the breathing? Is it because your lungs are feeling phlegmy or something else?

Anne:  No. It's because my throat is closing up slowly.
I've been just drinking and eating really cold things to try to shrink my tonsils.

Me:  Christ, I hope you feel better lady. Most of that stuff is manageable but the whole difficult breathing thing really blows.

Anne:  Yeah. I have an appointment on Monday with Concord ENT.
It's been fun though, I was pretty delusional with my fever.

Me:  Get to punch Papa Smurf at all?

Anne:  Apparenrly all my stuffed animals have different immunities and I only sleep with my bear because it's immune to everything except scarlet fever.

Me:  WOW
Way to go lady

Anne:  Yeah, my dad couldn't get the camcorder working, otherwise there would be evidence of it.
http://www.dressaday.com/072706_lulyyang.jpg
I want that btw

Me:  Oh man, I'm pretty sure I would've tried the same thing
You want a butterfly dress?
Why not.
I think I like the shoes more then I like the dress

Anne:  I want to be a pretty pretty princess
The dress I would modify.
Like taking away the black fuzzy stuff at the top

Me:  It makes me miss my wings

Anne:  You will always have wings if you believe

Me:  Yeah... I'm defiantly going to save this conversation lady

 I've already listed my valid complaints, in full, twice, which is two more times then I care for when I'd rather take my problems with a baseball bat and bury them in my backyard.  I digress.  Tonight I got to see Fall Out Boy at the North Star Bar.  ALL the odds were against me, I showed up late, I wasn't in the fan club, I only had $30 to bribe people with and I had about an hour of sleep to work off of.  Needless to say, I didn't have a ticket or much of a chance.

Nicole and Rachel came through for me big time.  After I arrived, they (the venue workers) had to kick out any non-ticket holders to the curb, which meant I was screwed.  Nicole arrived, I explained my predicament, then sat in the Pizza place across the seat plotting.  I would not be discouraged until someone broke me.  I called Nicole and told her I was sitting at the Pizza place a block away and if by the time I finished my pizza and no one had an extra ticket, I would leave.  Nicole and Rachel, being the amazing people they are, convinced a really nice couple who were in the fan club and had a friend who wasn't feeling well enough to go to the show to give me their ticket.  Nicole asked me to bring her a slice of pizza so they could explain the situation in person since people were trolling around like sharks (like moi) in an attempt to get into the show.

They totally got me in.  Nicole blew me away by later telling me, the couple wanted to know that I was a fan, preferably a overcast kid (OCK is Fall Out Boy fan club, I've never been a joiner) and pitched them an argument that I have been at EVERY Fall Out Boy show she has been at and considered me an honorary fan.  If it hadn't been for her endearing depiction, I would have finished a small pizza by myself and ended up walking all the way back to my apartment pretty upset.

Instead, I saw a fantastic show that has left me feeling unbelievably content and now I am going to sleep.  Nicole rocks, her friend Alyssa who bought us drinks afterwords is fantastic and I feel more optimistic then I have in ages.

*thud*

I finished, 'You Suck, A Love Story' by Christopher Moore and am now moving onto 'Bloodsucking Fiends' which was suppose to come first.  Do I ever seem to do things in order?  No.  Next it'll be Wintersmith by my beloved Mister Pratchett and onto Making Money.  I missed reading.

Today I was swept away for lunch with Avery, Anne and Peter.  I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for Anne and Avery, I'd probably starve, alone, in my house, then Gus Gus would have no one to play with.  Only, I did eat before Anne and Avery came over.  Which is irregular. 

Bradford Junction, how I love you. 

Anne and Avery were placing orders and I thought that Grilled Muffins would be a good-crappy band name.  Anne said New Hampsha Banampsha needs to work in P-Emo, and that  Grilled Muffins would make a perfect name for one of the local bands.  The New Hampsha Banampsha project has become my own, less then private obsession.

A few nights before, Mom had fallen asleep at the Aztec/Mayan Astrology lecture and started snoring out loud.  I couldn't figure out where the snoring was coming from, or decode what Anne and Avery were trying to point out to me was my own Mom, passed out right behind me.  We did get Starbucks beforehand, but the lecture really was just that boring.  Informative, but the lecturer seemed to have sucked any entertainment value from the information being provided.

The night was saved by pizza, a short trip to Pat's Peak and end at Avery's house.  Dan even gave me and Anne a ride home, which was great since Mom had kidnapped the car.  I think Anne may have almost been put to sleep with me and Dan talking about movies, musicals, and music we enjoyed.  It's been a good week, I'm not sure I'm ready for tomorrow.

laughinatsilence (7:13:07 PM): I'm accepting it, then giving it to Anne and Panda
laughinatsilence (7:14:01 PM): thank you, you still don't have a junk
laughinatsilence (7:14:02 PM): lol
laughinatsilence (7:15:02 PM): Should I show my mom and ask her if she thinks you have a junk?
laughinatsilence (7:15:56 PM): You still there?
crhain88 (7:16:23 PM): hang on
laughinatsilence (7:16:23 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:00 PM): huh?
laughinatsilence (7:17:01 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:04 PM): huh?
laughinatsilence (7:17:05 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:07 PM): what?
laughinatsilence (7:17:07 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:10 PM): why?
laughinatsilence (7:17:10 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:12 PM): STOP!
laughinatsilence (7:17:13 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:15 PM): I'm confused
laughinatsilence (7:17:16 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:18 PM): ugh
laughinatsilence (7:17:19 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:17:21 PM): I give up
laughinatsilence (7:17:21 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
laughinatsilence (7:18:37 PM): HA HA HA!
laughinatsilence (7:18:45 PM): oh my god, am so saving this conversation
crhain88 (7:18:54 PM): why?
laughinatsilence (7:18:54 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:18:59 PM): stop!
laughinatsilence (7:18:59 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
laughinatsilence (7:19:18 PM): That is suppose to be my away message
crhain88 (7:19:32 PM): oh, it's acting up
laughinatsilence (7:19:32 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
crhain88 (7:19:38 PM): TURN IT OFF
laughinatsilence (7:19:38 PM): Food.  Gingi doesn't have a junk.
laughinatsilence (7:19:41 PM): I kind of don't want to take it down now since it makes me laugh so hard I'm actually crying a little

I know it's been awhile since I attended the show, a few weeks have felt like a few years with finals.  I took a picture of Patrick Stump on the Young Wild Things Tour that I can't stop glowing over.  It kind of makes up for the fact that the rest of my pictures sucked.  I need to go lay down now since most of last night I was sick.  Stress does that.

I hate my calendar.  It tells me that it's only Tuesday but this week has been stretching thin so long that time feels like a bitter retort.  Crazy bitch is gone.  I love Nicole, Helen and Panda now more then ever.  I really missed Anne and Avery more then anything the past three days.  I'm getting new glasses since my current glasses broke when I was assaulted.  I just want to curl up and forget.

OP-ED
Musicians Speak Out

No stranger to the term “sell out,”  Fall Out Boy bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz talks about the ever-changing music business-and why it might be okay for bands and brands to join forces.

When Lloyd Dobler said in Say Anything, “I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career.  I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought or processed.  You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that”-I am betting he never could have guessed where the Internet would take the future of the music business.  Who would’ve thought the RIAA would sue individual users?  Who could have predicted that the record plaque might become extinct?  Who could have seen ringtones as a (semi-) legitimate means of getting your music out?  Most of us have a friend whose raison d’etre is to a scale new nights of cynicism daily.  Mine is a guy named Marc.  Marc says the second coming of Christ will be televised. ‘The King of Beers presents the King of Kings’ he often rants.  While Jesus’ return brought to you by Budweiser might be a bit over the top, the line between art and commerce has blurred in the past decade as technology continues to disintermediate old media.

While it once was considered sacrilegious to shill for corporate sponsors, there is now a fine line between a brilliant strategic marketing campaign and tattooing the Nike Swoosh on your ass.  Trust me; I have beachfront property right on the waves of that line.  It doesn’t take a degree from Wharton Business School to know tat the record business is in some kind of trouble.  Not the “Officer, I did not know that bag full of cocaine was in my suitcase” trouble, but “We better find some new ways to pay for videos and tours because CDs ain’t selling as well” trouble.  At the same time, that little TiVo box on your television has brands looking for new ways to reach you.  If you show an advertisement in the forest and no one sees it because everyone has TiVo, is it still an ad?  Seems like a match made on rock ‘n’ roll heaven, right?  It would be if not for our old friends, integrity and credibility.  This is here it all gets tricky.

Most bands start out to have their voices heard, to do something original, to see the world, ect.  Making money is generally last on the list.  You could throw a dart at an unemployment office board and hit more stable ways to make a living.  The only thing they have besides a box of crappy merch and a MySpace page are their integrity and credibility.  Once a band starts to become successful, money becomes an interesting part of the equation.  I never card about money, I only wanted the band to see the world and live inside the pictures I grow up reading in Circus magazine-and maybe connect with some people along the way.  I’m not going to lie to you, though-I don’t want to have roommates at 50, especially when they are named Mom and Dad.  We’re lucky enough to be one of the few bands who have sold some records, actually recoups expenses and have never sold off our touring or merch in some scummy deal.  But what about the unknown bands?  How many people would never have heard of the Fratellis or Jet or the Caesars if not for the iPod commercials?

As the future of the music business unfolds, consider this: If Dell computers offered [insert credible indie artist here] enough money to allow him to give away his albums for free to everyone, would that be selling out or would that be a win for everyone?  If having American Express sponsor a tour allow Fall Out Boy to keep ticket prices to half of what others change, is that taking corporate sponsors too far?

No matter where you are, your eyes and ears are under brand assault.  When you walk inter a club or an arena, instantly you see Coca-Cola and cell phone ads-that ticket you bought that says “Budweiser presents so and so” does for a reason.  In a world with more music fans but less music buyers than ever, record labels are changing the way they play ball.  They get in bed with corporations for co-op ads and make a bit on the side while cutting bands smaller checks with no one the wiser.  As we speed past the tool booth on the user-to-user file sharing, major labels are quickly becoming giant ad agencies.  The future will see us using these brands to reach more people and offer our music/videos/touring for lower costs, if not free.  But we have to be extremely careful in deciding which brands we collaborate which and which we don’t.  This is where not only credibility comes into play, but the sincerity of the medium-I mean, no one wants to be the background music for recruiting in “Be All That You Can Be.”  In fact, I would argue we should take it one step further ad understand our own music/videos culture to be a brand.  In keeping with this way of thinking, we are in control of the brands and we cut out the middlemen.  We are able to offer content and tickets at a lower price but still go to sleep at night knowing what we are supporting.

The record business may be over, but the business of music has a very fertile future.  We are the brand, which allows us the time to keep being creative and stop thinking about ways to scrape it or constantly sit on the phone with our business managers.  While you think about the win-win possibilities of the convergence of bands and brands for fans, I’m off to get the Nike tattoo I was talking about earlier.

Jonathan Daniel of Crush Management contributed to this piece.  For more info visit falloutboyrock.com or crushmm.com.

PS.  raison d’etre I think means 'reason to be.'