Bento Box

Had I known going to see the Cat Power taping would result in a 2.5 hour commute to Issaquah, followed by some hitchhiking with my brother and his coworker, and then a 2-mile uphill hike in the snow - yeah, maybe I would have passed.

She was amazing- treated it more like a studio session rather than a performance though. Two songs on piano, and two on guitar - and what seemed like a dozen restarts for each. She was very apologetic about the restarts. I got antsy near 7:30. She finished, we met and she gave me a kiss (I’m never washing this cheek again~~~)

The snow was coming down hard in Seattle - it could only be worse in Issaquah. High up, boatloads of bad drivers, black iced freeway. White-knuckle riding the suckage train to nowhere. Snow snow snow everywhere. Probably over a foot in Issaquah, look at the patio bench here

Drove on the highway at 2 mph, trying not to stop. I stopped. I slipped and slid around, but I was ok once I got rolling. Made my way to QFC about 8 miles from home. Hopped in my bro’s AWD car and prayed we could find a safe way home.

Holy shit the roads were packed. Icy packed. The sounds of futile squirrely tires were a symphony. Tried one way, nope- blocked, shutdown, tried another way, yikes- blocked by noobs in corollas trying to scratch their way up. 2 lanes in each direction on the hill became a free for all, mainly cars who can go, went: any space they found. Many had to abandon their cars on the highway, on the street, and on the hill. No use, we went back down the hill, parked at Walgreens, bought hats, and hiked it back up to meet my bro’s coworker’s friend with a Ford Escape with chains. Hitched a ride about a couple miles up, got stuck, they dropped us off to hike and they turned back.

Shin-deep snow in skate shoes, my bro in dress shoes, our jeans were frozen by the time we made our way back. I’m 98.7% sure I’m going to work from home tomorrow. I should also buy some chains just in case.

Ray LaMontagne is a talented musician. Thanks to a beautiful angel at work I got the chance to see him perform at the Paramount last night. We almost had a whole row to ourselves - my guess was that the record label reserved the entire row and the row in front of us but no one showed up. Unobstructed view ftw.

While his voice and music are great to listen to, I found his performance lacking. Even after three songs there was no word of hello/how ya doin/Seattle you rock~! What the hell was that. And between every other song he took a couple minutes to chat with his band off mic and tune his guitar.

The crowd. Not sure what to say about the crowd. I was 1. the youngest one there (saw a child there though) 2. the only asian. Why am I cursed to always notice these kinds of things? I wish I wasn’t so ultra-sensitive to being a minority. Half the crowd would hoot and hollar and the other half would be ssshhhh-ing the other half because they’re trying to hear what he’s mumbling about. The mumbling - Ray’s mumbling made it seem like he didn’t even want to be there. I kept thinking he was apathetic about performing. Charismatic he is not. He DID say “I love you too” after the MILLIONTH time someone screamed “we love you Ray~” Yeah Ray, you don’t love us. You’re just going through the motions like a guy who’s been in a 10 year loveless relationship.

The music. The music was great. It was Ray LaMontagne though. He much can he really “rock”? During a couple of his slow songs I put my head back and fell into a light sleep. Very peaceful and relaxing- there was no way I could actively concentrate on the music in the dark-dark-dark theatre. His band seemed more energetic than he was. He got the crowd moving when he played a couple up-beat songs. Granted it was the Paramount so there wasn’t much moving to be done anyway. Cramped seats. A movie theater has more legroom. A movie theater wouldn’t have a woman sitting behind me singing along to the few hooks and lines she knows either.

Here’s a short video of one of Ray’s more upbeat songs:

I had a better time enjoying his opening act: David Ford. Charming Brit who played his cute folksy songs that he mixed on the fly. Very talented guy. Lots of emotion. I felt he upstaged Ray. Sucks he only played a 30 minute set. He joked around and told us about the mexican food he had earlier and how bloated he felt.

My colleague’s halloween costume. During the children’s costume I announced to my co-workers I was a big geek and knew what cartoon characters the kids were dressing up as: Diego! Naruto! Right after I said “yeah I’m a geek…” some girl nearby mentioned “Didja see the Katermary Damacky?” Self-administered forehead slap right there. Guess I forgot what kind of company I’m working in. Boozefest was not as elaborate as last year but still there were many creative dept showcases. I’ll pilfer some pictures from the intranet and post when I pry myself away from Yelp. Boozed it up over the weekend, two nights in a row- lowered my hermit-factor by a few points after this weekend. Socializing is teh fun- as long as people set me up for dirty punchlines. Tonight I went with the bro, his wife and kids to the mall for trick or treating. Makes sense- under 40 deg outside, the kids would become ice statues. Holy crap Bellevue mall turned into Mainland China. Never seen so many East Asians in one place - not even Ranch 99 (Filipinos!). Swarms of Asian parents dragging the kids to where the good candies where. Fai dee lo tong la~ 3.9 berry much-ah. Where were the white kids? Maybe trolling around their neighborhood in the cold - Calvin’s dad would say: It builds character. HA! Us Chinese go where the candy is bountiful and comfortable. Cuteness abound in the mall, and the occassional jailbait in fishnets and booty shorts “bumble bee costume” - awk…ward (schwing!).

Did a HDR B&W pic of the house this weekend. I like it.