popfest day four!
[the final installation, finally complete, since I now must endure comments about not updating my livejournal in real life]
I woke up early this morning and did a long run (it was overdue, since I should already be well into my marathon training program - except I am just sort of doing it ad hoc without an actual program) - 14 miles (2 hrs and 30 min., except I was going much slower than 10:00/mile pace by the end), through Dudley Park (and under the Murmur trestle twice (because I accidentally made a loop instead of continuing on the way I meant to the first time), then up along the North Oconee River Greenway (passing Weaver D's on the way) to Sandy Creek Nature Center and then through the woods along Cook's Trail (attempting to go all the way up to Sandy Creek Park, but making a wrong turn and ending up back at the halfway point when I should've been there, oops) and then back. Trail running was nice.
Also nice was the post-run Big Bang smoothie at Planet Smoothie.
I also took a walk up Pulaski Street to the Flat Penny Folk Art Gallery which features a lot of local artists (from Georgia and surrounding states) and a really friendly owner, and has been open since March of this year. I think it's also almost right across the street from the punk house that puts on really good shows that I'm never there at the right time for, but it would be another highlight if I ever moved there.
And then there was music.
Little Kings:
The Cocker Spaniels
Solo guy, with songs including "Only Black Guy at the Indie Rock Show," "Third Wheel Syndrome," and "The Overeducated Underclass." I loved him. and bought his CD. The cute bartender seemed to love him too. Of course I didn't use this to start a conversation or anything.
(I missed Pegasuses in order to buy cute vintage clothes at Agora.)
Astronomy Club
I loved them too. Plus they're from Greenville, South Carolina, which Whit and I visited two years ago (mainly to be horrified by Bob Jones University), and it's nice to see cool people coming out of there.
The Happy Bullets
They were also upbeat and fun.
(I missed Telenovela too, this time to go to Junkman's Daughter's Boyfriend on a mission to replace the clock in our kitchen that I broke (via too much force in squashing a bug on the other side of the wall) - successfully!)
Then in between shows I ate at the Grit for the fourth night running, except this time the cute bartender from Little Kings came in! and sat next to me at the counter! but of course I didn't actually manage to converse with her, because that would've been too simple! too logical! and instead I kept going over things I could hypothetically open a conversation with in my head but not actually saying any of them.
40 Watt:
Red Pony Clock
Unfortunately I only caught the end of their set, but I love them.
Fishboy
They are also a really fun band, and if the Poison Control Center has anywhere near as much presence and excitement onstage as they do, then I may actually regret missing them for the second time. Plus it was cool to discover that I really liked the band of the nice guy I'd been talking to for the past few days.
The High Water Marks didn't play, so Col. Knowledge and the Lickety Splits filled in. They were okay, but I ended up leaving to go get ice cream, because they were not the High Water Marks (who were one of the bands I'd been really looking forward to seeing).
I also missed Ideal Free Distribution, the next band, since I was socializing(!) (sort of) with Russian Spy Camera members and friends at the coffee shop. This is also when I learned about Pancake Meow and developed the desire for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich necklace to match Ryan's, because it is so cute.
Bunnygrunt
They were the reason I dragged Whit to Popfest 2004, and they're still awesome and punk and fun.
The Circulatory System
I'd never heard them before (a glaring omission!) and they were indeed great. Plus I managed to get pretty close to the stage and could see Heather McIntosh's cello technique. I like watching people play string instruments - maybe because I was always terrible at it, but I can appreciate how it's supposed to be.
The Apples in Stereo
They always put on a fun show, except I was so exhausted after the whole day that I couldn't really dance and ended up sitting down on a couch for a while, and watching other people with more energy than me dance.
Then there was the after-party at the Secret Squirrel, which it turned out I'd walked past every single night without even realizing it was there, at which I set a new personal record for the shortest time lasted at a party. I believe it was approximately 6 minutes. I'd waited around outside the 40 Watt in order to head over with Ryan and his friends instead of alone, but then ended up alone because he was waiting for his girlfriend outside, and immediately managed to get myself cornered by a really tall, really drunk guy, who told me all about how he was from Atlanta and such a badass that he'd cut a bunch of people off in the beer line because they were too nice to say anything, then invited me to go smoke marijuana with him, since apparently I was supposed to be drawn to his irresistible manhood or something. So I concluded that even a party full of sweet pop kids was probably not my scene, as I am not really a party sort of person. It was kind of disappointing, though, because I had been so excited to meet another person who didn't drink at all, but I worried about trying to tag along too much since he was there with his girlfriend (echoes of the Cocker Spaniels "Third Wheel Syndrome" from exactly 12 hours ago!). She did drive me the two blocks home though, since I ran into them entering as I was escaping, which was nice.
I woke up early this morning and did a long run (it was overdue, since I should already be well into my marathon training program - except I am just sort of doing it ad hoc without an actual program) - 14 miles (2 hrs and 30 min., except I was going much slower than 10:00/mile pace by the end), through Dudley Park (and under the Murmur trestle twice (because I accidentally made a loop instead of continuing on the way I meant to the first time), then up along the North Oconee River Greenway (passing Weaver D's on the way) to Sandy Creek Nature Center and then through the woods along Cook's Trail (attempting to go all the way up to Sandy Creek Park, but making a wrong turn and ending up back at the halfway point when I should've been there, oops) and then back. Trail running was nice.
Also nice was the post-run Big Bang smoothie at Planet Smoothie.
I also took a walk up Pulaski Street to the Flat Penny Folk Art Gallery which features a lot of local artists (from Georgia and surrounding states) and a really friendly owner, and has been open since March of this year. I think it's also almost right across the street from the punk house that puts on really good shows that I'm never there at the right time for, but it would be another highlight if I ever moved there.
And then there was music.
Little Kings:
The Cocker Spaniels
Solo guy, with songs including "Only Black Guy at the Indie Rock Show," "Third Wheel Syndrome," and "The Overeducated Underclass." I loved him. and bought his CD. The cute bartender seemed to love him too. Of course I didn't use this to start a conversation or anything.
(I missed Pegasuses in order to buy cute vintage clothes at Agora.)
Astronomy Club
I loved them too. Plus they're from Greenville, South Carolina, which Whit and I visited two years ago (mainly to be horrified by Bob Jones University), and it's nice to see cool people coming out of there.
The Happy Bullets
They were also upbeat and fun.
(I missed Telenovela too, this time to go to Junkman's Daughter's Boyfriend on a mission to replace the clock in our kitchen that I broke (via too much force in squashing a bug on the other side of the wall) - successfully!)
Then in between shows I ate at the Grit for the fourth night running, except this time the cute bartender from Little Kings came in! and sat next to me at the counter! but of course I didn't actually manage to converse with her, because that would've been too simple! too logical! and instead I kept going over things I could hypothetically open a conversation with in my head but not actually saying any of them.
40 Watt:
Red Pony Clock
Unfortunately I only caught the end of their set, but I love them.
Fishboy
They are also a really fun band, and if the Poison Control Center has anywhere near as much presence and excitement onstage as they do, then I may actually regret missing them for the second time. Plus it was cool to discover that I really liked the band of the nice guy I'd been talking to for the past few days.
The High Water Marks didn't play, so Col. Knowledge and the Lickety Splits filled in. They were okay, but I ended up leaving to go get ice cream, because they were not the High Water Marks (who were one of the bands I'd been really looking forward to seeing).
I also missed Ideal Free Distribution, the next band, since I was socializing(!) (sort of) with Russian Spy Camera members and friends at the coffee shop. This is also when I learned about Pancake Meow and developed the desire for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich necklace to match Ryan's, because it is so cute.
Bunnygrunt
They were the reason I dragged Whit to Popfest 2004, and they're still awesome and punk and fun.
The Circulatory System
I'd never heard them before (a glaring omission!) and they were indeed great. Plus I managed to get pretty close to the stage and could see Heather McIntosh's cello technique. I like watching people play string instruments - maybe because I was always terrible at it, but I can appreciate how it's supposed to be.
The Apples in Stereo
They always put on a fun show, except I was so exhausted after the whole day that I couldn't really dance and ended up sitting down on a couch for a while, and watching other people with more energy than me dance.
Then there was the after-party at the Secret Squirrel, which it turned out I'd walked past every single night without even realizing it was there, at which I set a new personal record for the shortest time lasted at a party. I believe it was approximately 6 minutes. I'd waited around outside the 40 Watt in order to head over with Ryan and his friends instead of alone, but then ended up alone because he was waiting for his girlfriend outside, and immediately managed to get myself cornered by a really tall, really drunk guy, who told me all about how he was from Atlanta and such a badass that he'd cut a bunch of people off in the beer line because they were too nice to say anything, then invited me to go smoke marijuana with him, since apparently I was supposed to be drawn to his irresistible manhood or something. So I concluded that even a party full of sweet pop kids was probably not my scene, as I am not really a party sort of person. It was kind of disappointing, though, because I had been so excited to meet another person who didn't drink at all, but I worried about trying to tag along too much since he was there with his girlfriend (echoes of the Cocker Spaniels "Third Wheel Syndrome" from exactly 12 hours ago!). She did drive me the two blocks home though, since I ran into them entering as I was escaping, which was nice.