Rock Nerd

It's been one of those weeks. I keep thinking I should update and then I remember that I've got absolutely nothing to talk about. There hasn't been much going on round these parts, aside from a couple of shows this week and a baby birthday party over the weekend. Hm. So there was some stuff going on. These last couple of days have felt so long that there's no way the weekend was only three days ago.
Let's see... Saturday was a very weirdly rock and roll kind of weekend. Lemme 'splain: One of the kids I babysit has a father, and this father is the frontman of a big rock 'n' roll band. Last Saturday, his parents threw a birthday party for the baby and a whole bunch of their friends/bandmates/fellow rock dudes with wives and small children were there. So I was hanging out with all these rocknrollas, talking about children's television and watching kids trip all over themselves during the mad rush for cake and goodies. It was pretty awesome.
After, I headed to downtown L.A. to see the Battlestar Galactica band (super-nerd!) at the California Plaza. They were playing a free show and since I dig the T.V. series soundtrack, I thought it might be fun to check out. I was expecting a mellow, magical, sort of classical vibe. What I got was mind-blowing military rock. At one point during the show, the composer told the crowd that the next song we'd be hearing was it's live debut. They'd never played it in concert before because, "Well.... I just didn't think it was possible." They launched into it and my head exploded. One of the fiddlers was THISCLOSE to giving himself a heart attack, it was that physically taxing for him to keep up with what was going on all around him on that stage.
Here's a link to the song - Prelude to War
It was an incredible show and I'm so glad I saw it.
I left the plaza on a total music high and promptly got lost. I spent the next twenty minutes wandering through downtown L.A, wondering if I should have made that last right at Hill St. It wasn't too scary, though. Lots of people wandering in and out of clubs, bars and restaurants, lots of valets and doormen to rush to my rescue should anything happen. All the tall buildings were lit up and as I wandered the streets, gawking up at the pretty lights, I nearly fell down the steps of the subway station I'd been looking for. Got home safe and sound.
I forgot what I did Sunday but Monday was pretty great. I spent most of the day hanging out with my neighbors and, that night, went to the Silverlake Lounge to hear a friend of ours play. I'd never heard this particular friend play before and I wasn't sure what to expect. You know how sometimes you have to go and see a friend's band and they aren't very good and then they come up to you afterwards and they're, all, "What did you think?" and you're, like, "Um. I liked that thing you do with your shoe." and they're, like, "What?" and then it's awkward? This wasn't like that at all. Tim was absolutely fantastic. Brilliant musician and a total charmer with the crowd. One of my favorite song introductions: "This next song is kind of a cliché. Everyone writes about Hollywood. This one, though, is from the perspective of a small, drunken Englishman." Tim is absolutely all three of those things. He had a sort of Kentucky hoe-down meets alt rock vibe that I really enjoyed. I'm always surprised when the British peoples play country music.
Anyway, it was a great time and I have a really bad picture.
Tim is the small, drunken Englishman over on the right. Aaron, the guy actually looking (blurrily) at the camera, may be one of the greatest guitar players I have ever seen. I've got to remember to ask Tim about that guy -he's gonna be huge, I tell ya. HUGE.