Apostrophe S

I was going to break the weekend’s events down into individual posts, but I decided I would rather play video games than write for an hour.

First, I saw the V for Vendetta movie on Friday, and I must say, I was impressed. There were the usual adaptation head-scratchers that left me asking “Why in the hell did they change that?”, but overall the Wachowski brothers were able to distill the greatness from what was otherwise a rather boring, visually uninspiring, long-winded graphic novel. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book. But it was about twice as long as it needed to be, and the movie really trimmed the fat in my opinion. And I was impressed that Hugo Weaving was able to really flesh out his character despite being hidden behind a mask for the entirety of the flick.

Second, St. Patrick’s day at the McMenamins in Bend was unbelievably packed. Obnoxiously so. Unenjoyably so. But hey, who am I to judge?

Third, Michelle and I spend Saturday in Portland. We visited a bunch of places, including Powells, the Pearl District, Nob Hill, and finally we finished the day with an ear-splitting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show at the Wonder Ballroom. And when I say ear-splitting, I mean literally one or two notches below the threshold of pain. It was to the point that my ears were thankful for the rest between songs. But the show was excellent. They played all the songs I knew plus a few more, and I was able to pick up a limited Howl Sessions record they were selling on the road. One thing I appreciated was that they didn’t up the tempo of all their songs to make them sound peppier.

Now, for those of you in Bend, no need to remind me that they’re playing here on Tuesday. I know. I had bought the Portland tickets before they announced the swing through Bend. But a Saturday show was much more convenient anyway. But if you were wondering whether you should go to the Bend show, I highly recommend it. I think there are some tickets left.

I also finished catching up on Brian K. Vaughan’s (of Y: The Last Man) Ex Machina (pronounced Ex MAH-ki-nah), which is a fantastic book about a former superhero who is elected mayor of New York city after he stops the second plane from crashing into the second tower on 9/11. So I’m adding that to the ongoing series I’ll be reading.

Oh, and I picked up Ambulance Ltd.’s New English EP, which has a fantastic live recording of their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless,” which they played the second time I saw them.

And if you’ve never heard of Death From Above 1979, you do needs check them out now. Other music of the moment: Morrissey, Tegan and Sara, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Subways, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs and many others.

And I’m still reading Age of Spiritual Machines. Did you know that time is both speeding up and slowing down? Yeah, me neither.

There, you’re updated.