Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Myo's Massive Midpoint Adventure: The Pre-Planning



So here we are again. It's that time of the year when downtown Cincinnati is invaded by musicians from all corners of the world. It's that time of the year when Main Street teems with people, actually resembling the Entertainment district it was intended to be. It's that time of the year when I pore through dozens of band websites to map out a sensible weekend itinerary, put aside my preference for Smithwick's for Christian Moerlein, and actually update my much-neglected Blogspot.

Yep, it's Midpoint Music Festival time.

I'd planned ahead this year. I requested Thursday and Friday off from work so I could write my recaps in a timely manner. I'd spent two weekends checking out MySpace pages for bands from Chicago and New Mexico and the Netherlands, printed out various color-coded incarnations of my personal schedule, and planned out hip-and-sensible outfits for each evening. (Yes, I planned my outfits. Sometimes I'm a total girl about these things.)

After an unplanned good night's sleep Tuesday night (my "short nap before trivia" turned into "unconscious until 2 am"), I awoke to predictions of scattered thunderstorms for the evening. Aw, crap, not again. (There were torrential downpours during Midpoint last year. All of the outdoor venues got rained out and I spent much of the weekend completely waterlogged.) Seeing as how the kickoff location was Fountain Square, this was a problem. (A quick check of the Midpoint website confirmed that a venue had been secured in the event of rain. Whew!)

So now all that's left is to slog through a few hours of work, grab a copy of CityBeat for their full coverage of the weekend's event, scamper home to change clothes and toss a notebook and a handful of pens into my bag, and head off to Fountain Square (or the Know Theater) for an evening of music, movies, and mayhem. Until then, I'm keeping a nervous eye out my window on the looming grey clouds.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Chocolate. Flowers. Lingerie> Jewelry.



Random thoughts for Valentine's Day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap. - Joel Barish, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


One of the things I had wanted to do more often this year was post more mixes. I had aimed for one a month and, in my usual fashion, I completely blew it on the first time out. January came and went with nary a mix in sight.

Sometime last week, I decided I would do two mixes for the dreaded February Hallmark holiday. See, I'm of two minds when it comes to Valentines Day. On the one hand, I'm single and have been for most February 14ths of my adult life. The overwhelming abundance of hearts and flowers and assorted chocolates can be annoying and depressing for someone on the outside of that world looking in, leaving noseprints on the glass. It's easy to become cynical and jaded about the festivities and the related merchandising, as the recent Singles Awareness Day and Anti-Valentines Day campaigns have proven.

On the other hand, I'm also a hopeless romantic. While I can rant and rave all day about the evils of the Hallmark holiday, part of me is shaking her head, muttering "Oh, you're just jealous" under her breath. Part of me misses the idea of being part of a "we", of the warm expectant feeling of having plans (even if they only consist of watching movies over pizza and beer), the warm blush that accompanies an unexpected phone call or heartfelt conversations. Part of me worries that it's too late, that somewhere in the great scheme of things I've missed my window of opportunity, and I should invest in an apartment that can accomodate a bevy of felines and accept my future as a Crazy Cat Lady; part of me rolls her eyes and vehemently insists that it's never too late and I really should stop it with this ridiculous defeatist attitude. And besides, it continues, candy is good and there's no proof of relationship requirement on buying it.

So yeah, I'm still not sure where my feelings lie on the holiday. I don't begrudge my friends that celebrate with dinner and exchanged gifts, but the date looms on my calendar with a Nelson Muntz "HA-HAH" every year as I try to ignore the red-and-white festooned aisle at Kroger. Hence the two mixes (compiled of stuff on Antoinette), and me curled up on the couch eating Sweet Tarts Hearts with Eternal Sunshine cued up in the DVD player, getting in a good cry before Lost starts.

(I chose not to include "Valentines Day" by Lovely Crash (the song quoted in the title of this post) because I couldn't decide which list it should go on, but it's currently featured on their MySpace. Enjoy!)

Anyway, on to the MyoMixes... enjoy the evening, folks. Wherever your feelings might lie.


Hopeless Romantic Mix

Only You - Yaz
Somehow Did You Know - Vinx (used in the original ending of the story that later became my second completed NaNo)
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Flowers in the Window - Travis
Vegas - Ryan Downe
You are the Everything - R.E.M.
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Liberation - Pet Shop Boys
The Genius of Water - Over the Rhine
Alison's Starting to Happen - Lemonheads (included if only for the line "She's the puzzle piece behind the couch that makes the sky complete")
Sometimes - Erasure
Wasting Time - Judybats (used in the karaoke scene in the unfinished NaNo about Fermata, Nebraska)
Love's Recovery - Indigo Girls
Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
Between the Bars - Elliott Smith (used in the after-karaoke scene in the unfinished NaNo about Fermata, Nebraska)
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Stay (Wasting Time) - Dave Matthews Band
Fall At Your Feet - Crowded House
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - The Chieftans w/ Van Morrison
My Baby Only Cares For Me - Brian Setzer Orchestra
Central Reservation - Beth Orton


Bitter and Jaded Mix

I Feel Possessed - Crowded House
I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine - Beth Orton
So Lonely - The Police
Where I End and You Begin (The Sky is Falling In) - Radiohead
Selfless, Cold, and Composed - Ben Folds Five
Invisible - Alison Moyet
Thorn in My Side - Eurythmics
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me - The Smiths
You Won't See Me - Beatles
Where Am I Gonna Run To - Ryan Downe (included due to the Rube Goldberg-esque suicide attempt in the video that I played to death at the Warehouse)
Just My Luck - The Spectacular Fantastic
Waltz #1 - Elliott Smith
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely - Husker Du
Do We Even Belong Together? - Freekbass
Victim of Love - Erasure
Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
Only a Memory - The Smithereens
There's a Fine, Fine Line - Avenue Q
Cherries in the Snow - Lovely Crash