Random notes at year’s end

So here we are at the end of another year.  The first decade of the millennium is almost over, and where has the time gone?  Well, if you’re like me, a lot of it went to watching movies and surfing the internet.  Wow, how exciting.

So last night, as I was home alone since Indie Boy was working late again*, I flipped through the channels and saw that Fox was showing two (count ’em) episodes of Glee.  I hadn’t watched it previously**, but it’s been getting a lot of good hype, plus I do love my musicals, so I thought I’d give it a go.  The show itself I quite liked – interesting characters (man I love Jane Lynch), the storylines were good – but the one thing I didn’t like?  The musical numbers.  Not because I’m against them breaking into song (see: above, loving musicals) – and heck, as a glee club school music group, it would be weird if they didn’t sing – but because the vocals were so overprocessed and produced.  They didn’t sound like teenagers exuberantly singing.  They sounded like the Pro-Tools robots that have taken over mainstream music.  Slick and tweaked up vocals seem like the antithesis of the spirit of the show, and may end up being a deal breaker for me.  There’s a reason I don’t listen to top-40 radio anymore.

So anyway, back to this end of the year stuff.  I know I’ve neglected this site a little, and will hopefully find the energy and inspiration to write more often.  I’m still a little mad at myself that I never got around to writing a recap of Coachella this year (and this late in the game I’m not going to), but here are some highlights:

Mike Patton and Rahzel covered Ginuwine’s “Pony”***:

Amanda Palmer kicked ass!

My Bloody Valentine tried to deafen everyone in the vicinity:

(Not pictured in this shot?  The eight strings hanging just above the wall of amps, each string holding five microphones.  There is a reason that nobody played the second stage or the large tent at the same time – you wouldn’t have been able to hear anything over MBV.)

At least they were kind enough to supply earplugs to everyone that day.

Other fun items of the year?  We also saw the Pixies in Denver:

That was a really quick Denver trip, but definitely worth it.  On our way back, we saw someone carting a statue in a trailer.

Shosty started deciding that he doesn’t need to use the litter box, which has led to some rather gross discoveries around the house.  Luckily for him, he’s pretty cute.

Delilah thought that she was a Christmas present this year.

Damian just wants to say hi, since the other kitties got their pictures on here already.

I took some silly pictures of Indie Boy:

Oh, and did I mention that it snowed?

So that’s a sliver of 2009.  Let’s hope 2010 turns out to be a good year. Melting all of the snow would be a good start.  That’s a hint, mother nature.

*Seriously, he never gets off work on time.  He’s lucky I’m a trusting girl, or I might think something was going on.

**Part of the reason I hadn’t been watching, is that I am hoping to rid myself of cable, and didn’t want to get hooked on anything new.  My plan is to clean out my DVR (which has six movies and three episodes of the Monty Python documentary that IFC aired a few months back) by January 31.  Once it’s cleaned out, I’m marching over to Time Warner and cancelling.  It was already overpriced, and just went up again, and cable isn’t work $100 a month for me.  So screw it.  I’ll Netflix shows or watch them on the internet.

***When they started playing this, I tugged at Indie Boy, asking, “Oh my god, are they covering “Pony”?  The IB had never even heard of the song before that night.  Granted, it’s the only good song Ginuwine has, and the IB doesn’t really listen to R&B, but still.  Patton and Rahzel also covered Clapton’s “Cocaine” and, in honor (or mockery) of Sir Paul McCartney, playing the main stage at the same time they were performing in their tent, “Ebony and Ivory.”