Quick update. Helene. Milton. Etc.
So it's been an eventful few weeks/near month since I updated.
The day after I last updated, I saw Hans Zimmer. Luckily I ended up not really hurting too much after that. The most exerting thing I did was wander around WNDR with Kyle, which was actually a lot of fun. It was my first time visiting an interactive art experience, & while it's no Meow Wolf (which I BADLY want to experience!) it was still really neat! The show itself was actually something much more my speed, as it was entirely seated. Sitting down = Helpful to me these days. (Standing = BIG time ouch) Hans Zimmer was just incredible. Hearing so many movie themes in person was super cool, like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Batman, & Interstellar. Overall, great time!
At the end of that week was Korn. I did get the VIP for Korn, which I knew was a big gamble because there was no artist involvement. (I suspect it's because Jonathan caught covid back in 2021. Perhaps it's a precaution for the band health-wise, especially since I peeped Jon still hitting some oxygen) The experience itself was quite a big let down though. I don't know if it was because of the venue? It was just in some large pavilion tent in a tucked away part of the venue that no one would ever know was there, & it was really lacking. Sure, there were a couple things to look at like skate decks, those platinum/double platinum/gold etc awards, fan art, etc. But it was pretty sparse. There were a couple spots people could take their own pictures, like a ring light with a green screen & a Korn backdrop. The "cash bar" was not a cash bar & was card-only like the rest of the venue, & the included merch was nothing but a cloth tote bag with some cheap foam earplugs in a piece of plastic with Korn on it. To be honest, I felt the VIP was a BIG rip-off. For what I paid for a VIP package that did not include meeting the band, they could've been a little more generous with the merch or something. As for the VIP "lounge" itself, again I wonder if perhaps the venue just didn't have a proper space for something like that. I hope that experience was better for other venues.
Anyway, as for Korn themselves, they put on an amazing show. I took a big gamble getting GA pit, knowing that standing for long periods of time just doesn't agree with my body anymore, but I did it anyway. I was only a couple people back from the barricade, which was cool actually cause some guy was there with his two kids & the little girl was just too cute/funny. She was having a great time with her dad holding her for the entirety of Korn's set, waving to Jon & making hand-hearts when he looked her way. He waved back & I peeped him making the heart back at her when she did the hearts. During Y'all Want A Single, I couldn't help but laugh when she held up her middle finger. But yeah, great time! The driving part, not so much. I couldn't find anyone to catch a ride down with, so I ended up driving myself to/from Korn by myself, which was about an hour & a half each way. Pair that with the fact it rained all day & into the night, & it was beyond stressful. (I still get real bad anxiety driving at night, especially in the rain, because of the accident) But, I made it! I paid dearly for it physically though. The next day, I could not get out of bed at all. I hurt SO bad. Even my arms hurt a lot just from holding up my phone periodically to take pictures/video during the show. It took me 4-5 days to finally start to feel rested from the show. I even worked from home Mon/Tues afterwards because I just could not get myself out the door. Gotta love fibromyalgia!
That was it for shows for me, & will be until King Diamond later this month. I got GA for that as well, but I need to remember to take it easy. Korn & Excision were two shows I was on my feet the entire time for, & I did NOT feel good at all afterwards. (I ended up feeling weak & actually vomited, presumably from the heat in the venue, during Excision) There is a guest room pass available for $50 that gets you into a private area with a bar, seats, etc. I may do it just so I can guarantee I have a hopefully not-quite-as-crowded place to sit down to take a break. Unless anything more gets announced for winter/spring, King Diamond will be my last show untiil May.
In less fun news, we've had some unusual weather. Not here of course, but down south in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc. They had that hurricane Helene come through. Florida got messed up quite a bit, but Appalachia? They got WRECKED, & that's putting it very mildly. Friday the 27th, they got all that rain from Helene, which dropped something like 40 trillion gallons of rain. I believe dams also ended up failing as well, which meant some insane flooding. I'm talking water rising something like 30 feet or more. People who thought they'd be fine because the highest the river ever got was something like 10 feet higher, & they had the water right up to their doorsteps 30 feet higher. People were not expecting that kind of flooding, & for good reason. It's the mountains. They don't ever get weather like that. But they did that day. I'm still seeing constant videos of the raging waters completely burying everything in water & mud. Entire homes being ripped off their foundations & being swept away before being smashed into poles or bridges, before the water took those out too. The force of that water was insane. It moved so fast. Steel beams from destroyed bridges were found bent after the waters finally receeded. It was insane. So many people are still missing, too. It's just... It's beyond a disaster. So many people were swept away, & many of them will likely never be found. I can't imagine how many ended up buried under the mud. I think about the survivors who saw bodies just piled up on the shores after the water receeded, about the man who called 911 because he had bodies in his front yard. Just hearing these stories absolutely devastated me.
Helene was so, so awful. I don't think there's been anything that bad since Katrina, which in a somewhat similar fashion, had that flooding after the failure of the levies after the hurricane. And I'm just watching it on my phone, unable to do anything to help. I so badly wish I could go there & volunteer to help. I want to help. I want to do something. I can't afford to donate anything right now, so I've shared what I can & tried to spread word for people needing help. It's all I can do, & I feel like it's not enough. I just want to help.
To make matters worse, Hurricane Milton is coming. It's on its way to Florida, which I think it's going to hit tomorrow. I've seen many, many videos regarding evacuation & the lack thereof by so many people who just couldn't get out. Many people couldn't afford it, many people got stuck just trying to get gas, & it was something like 30+ miles of gridlock just trying to flee. I've seen several videos of cop cars driving around neighborhoods in evacuation zones, blaring warnings about the storm over a loudspeaker. As of tonight, people are being told that if they don't evacuate, they'll likely die. (Which for something so dire, the people who can't afford to leave or who couldn't get out sure didn't get much help. Think about the only help I saw were waived tolls & shoulders of the highway being opened for travel) The hurricane did hit category 5, although they don't expect it to stay that strength as it makes landfall.
It's going to be bad. Florida just had a hurricane come through, & between that, the debris, & the fact that it's been raining & the ground is super saturated? It's going to be bad.
Anyway, I just wanted to briefly talk about things that happened & things that are happening. Even though I'm nowhere near Florida, I'm still nervous & anxious for the people there.