XTC The Meeting Place 2005 Registration Details

This is quite a bargain for XTC fans, the hardest part is actually getting to Swindon if you’re not in the UK!

The full price list for attending XTC The Meeting Place 2005

£20 Weekend Pass
Entry to all events and includes t-shirt & brochure

£15 Weekend Pass
Entry to all events

Can only make certain events?

£4.50 Ticket to the Moonrakers
Martin Newell & The Fuzzy Warblers

£6 Ticket to X-static at the Furnace
Includes free entry to Melting Pot disco afterwards

Paying on the Door?

£5 Friday Night at the Moonrakers
Martin Newell & The Fuzzy Warblers

£2.50 The Spot Saturday at The Spot 10am – 4pm

£7 X-static at the Furnace
Includes free entry to Melting Pot disco afterwards

£3 Coach Fare to the White Horse

Other Prices on the Weekend

£5 Meeting Place T-shirt
£3 Souvenir Brochure

How To Pay

Click on the registration button below and send an email with the following information
1 T-shirt per Ticket, extra shirts at £5 each

1. Name


2. Address


3. Idea Forum name if applicable optional


4. Email address


5. Tickets required


6. T-shirt size if required S, M, L, XL

You will receive an Email with details of costs (in $ and € also) and how to pay. Postage will be added at cost. T-shirts and brochure will not be sent out, to keep postage costs down, but you will have them waiting for you at the ‘Meeting Place’. All you will need to claim them is your ticket number.

Payment options will be cheque/postal order/Paypal for UK and Paypal for rest of world (paypal will include an extra charge of approx 5.4%) and maybe money transfer but I need to check on the charges for that.

To buy your tickets:-

register@xtcthemeetingplace2005.co.uk

Your details are for our own use only. They will not be given to any parasites!

See more progress on: XTC The Meeting Place 2005

43 Songs, a.k.a. The Soundtrack of My Life: A Film for the Future

43 Songs, 23 categories, on 2 sides. Let me know what you think:

Side 1
1. me (3): Caesars “Fun & Games”, Ash “Girl From Mars”, Sleeper “What Do I Do Now?”
2. moods (2): Dubstar “Not So Manic Now”, B.R.M.C. “High/Low”
3. interests (2): Bjork “Human Behaviour”, Jimi Hendrix “Manic Depression”
4. Kitty: Takako Minekawa “Fantastic Cat”
5. brother (2): My Vitriol “Always Your Way”, Bjork “Army of Me”
6. procrastination (2): Suede “Lazy”, Charlatans “Can’t Get Out of Bed”
7. past/present (2): Idlewild “Self-Healer”, “A Film for the Future”
8. parents (2): Dogs Die In Hot Cars “I Love You ‘Cause I Have To”, XTC “Making Plans for Nigel”
9. travels: Blur “On Your Own”
10. education: XTC “Mayor of Simpleton”
11. doubts: XTC “Dear God”, B.R.M.C. “White Palms”

Side 2
1. friends (2): British Sea Power “Remember Me”, B.R.M.C. “Shade of Blue”
2. inspiration: Radiohead “Anyone Can Play Guitar”
3. So Cal (3): Moby (w/Gwen Stefani) “Southside”, B.R.M.C. “Down Here”, Raveonettes “Ode to L.A.”
4. infatuation (2): Real Tuesday Weld “(Still) Terminally Ambivalent Over You”, Talulah Gosh “Beatnik Boy”
5. lust (2): Catherine Wheel “I Want to Touch You”, Elastica “Stutter”
6. musicians (2): Heavenly “Cool Guitar Boy”, “Starshy”
7. sister: Chemical Brothers “Galvanize”
8. college (2): Lush “I’ve Been Here Before”, Echo & the Bunnymen “The Cutter”
9. jobs (2): Echo & the Bunnymen “Never Stop”, Avalanches “Since I Left You”
10. Christmas (2): Raveonettes “The Christmas Song”, The Three Wise Men (XTC) “Thanks For Christmas”
11. music: The Jesus & Mary Chain “Far Gone & Out”
12. depression (2): Garbage “Silence is Golden”, “Breaking Up the Girl”

See more progress on: Share my ‘music knowledge’ with other ‘music geeks’ as myself

Caesars, The Sights, The Golden Republic @ Slim's, July 24th

The Caesars (a.k.a. Caesars Palace… in their native Sweden) were one of my favorite discoveries (along with The Raveonettes) through my previous job at Norwalk. Ah, Caesars… how I love thee… let me count the ways:

Sort It Out
May The Rain
We Got To Leave
Only You
Kick You Out
Paper Tigers
Out There
My Heart Is Breaking
Jerk It Out
Over ‘Fore It Started
Throwaway
Soulchaser
It’s Not the Fall
You Don’t Mean a Thing

Spirit
Punkrocker

I don’t even want to get into describing the other bands because they could only pale in comparision to the almighty Caesars, who should really be getting so much more attention than they have so far. (Also, I missed most of the Golden Republic, though the one song I did hear of them seemed pretty good.) This was an all ages show, which meant that the room was full of teenage girls. How delightful… the show began with a totally darkened stage. The Caesars each came on stage one at a time, starting with the drummer who shushed the audience. When the lights came on, the music started along with their background videos. Of course, the music was absolutely amazing: melodic and modern rock songs, harmonized vocals from the lead singer, lead guitarist, and drummer; loud crunchy guitars, prominent farfisa organ, throbbing bass, and crashing drums. If you’ve heard any of their albums, you know what I’m talking about. Almost every song sounds like a potential single, which is no easy feat for any band. Their on stage rock theatrics were also entertaining: the lead guitarist tended to spray water quite a lot, he also would spin his guitar around and pretend to stab himself with it. The drummer was an expert at spinning his drumsticks around, throwing them up, and catching them. The keyboard player doubled up on tambourine and would every so often go talk to the drummer and picked up some sticks to drum along with him. The singer even asked the audience “to keep Bjorn at his organ.” The bassist (with the crazy platinum blond curls) would hop around and do a few funny little steps back and forth. The singer was mostly all business, putting a lot of power and energy into his vocals and guitar playing. I am so glad the Caesars decided to play in San Francisco because they were so very amazing. Anyone reading this, I insist that you do yourself the favor of seeing them live. The albums are great, but their performances are even more impressive.

See more progress on: go see an amazing band play sometime this year

The website seems to be owned by Carmel Media Corp.

Carmel Media Corp
PO Box 2848
Carmel, CA 93921
831-626-3640

See more progress on: revive the Monterey International Pop Music Festival

This is a real shame

I was wondering why they never repeated this festival despite all its success, I found out why from this article

“Unfortunately, the establishment was not prepared for all of the activities of the underground, which is understandable. After the festival, a proposal was passed

to prevent the State Fair Board from booking any event that would attract more than two thousand visitors without the permission of the city. In other words: no more Pop Festivals. (7)

The significance of this is that Monterey, like so many other festivals to come, never had the chance to be repeated. While this let festivals like Woodstock and Altamont shape the course of rock music, it denied a chance for future Monterey International Pop Festivals to have their influence.”

Discouraging, yes, but I still think it’s possible for things to change by now.

See more progress on: revive the Monterey International Pop Music Festival

I know, it happened in 1967

That doesn’t mean it can’t happen again. Check out my lofty new goal on 43 Things

See more progress on: Monterey International Pop Music Festival

Another Monterey International Pop Music Festival? It could happen...

Adding my memories of music festivals from 2002 just reminded me of how great they are and the Monterey International Pop Music Festival was one of the first and greatest (if not the first and the greatest?). Here is a great site from someone who actually attended

I found this line-up from this 60’s Music Festival website

Friday Evening,
June 16, 1967

The Association
The Paupers
Lou Rawls
Beverly
Johnny Rivers
Eric Burdon & The Animals
Simon & Garfunkel

Saturday Afternoon,
June 17, 1967

Canned Heat
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Country Joe & The Fish
Al Kooper
The Butterfield Blues Band
Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Steve Miller Band
The Electric Flag

Saturday Evening,
June 17, 1967

Moby Grape
Hugh Masekela
The Byrds
The Butterfield Blues Band
Laura Nyro
Jefferson Airplane
Booker T & The MG's (with the Mar-Keys)
Otis Redding

Sunday Afternoon,
June 18, 1967

Ravi Shankar

Sunday Evening,
June 18, 1967

The Blues Project
Big Brother & The Holding Company
The Group With No Name
Buffalo Springfield
The Who
The Grateful Dead
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Scott McKenzie
The Mamas & The Papas

See more progress on: revive the Monterey International Pop Music Festival

V2002 Chelmsford: my most well-documented festival experience

This was an easy train ride back and forth from London, no camping required. The only problem was getting on the wrong night buses. First, here’s the line-up:

Sat. 17th August: Mull Historical Society, The Bluetones, Halo, Elvis Costello, My Vitriol, Supergrass, Sigur Ros, Beta Band, Ian Brown, Manic Street Preachers

Sun. 18th August: Longview, The Cresecent, Phantom Planet, Kosheen, Seafood, The Donnas, The Coral, Starsailor, Elbow, Gomez, Idlewild, Primal Scream, Doves, Stereophonics, Basement Jaxx

My reviews of who I saw

Some photos from Day 2

See more progress on: Chelmsford

Leeds Festival 2002: The year of the infamous riots

An amazing experience, tons of great bands played… I’m still impressed with who I saw even looking back on it today. I met a couple of really cool Welsh girls who helped me a lot when I’d arrived with too much luggage and forgotten my tent poles. I was very lucky to have run into them. As I mentioned in the title, there were riots that included people setting toilets on fire with police helicopters flying around at night. It was very “Apocalypse Now.” Here’s that unforgettable line-up:

Leeds Festival – Friday 23 August until Sunday 25 August 2002

Aug. 23:
Main Stage: Guns ‘N Roses, Prodigy, Puddle of Mudd
Radio 1 Evening Session Stage: Spiritualized, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead, Cornershop, Haven, Six by Seven, The Shining
Carling Stage: Biffy Clyro

Aug. 24
Main Stage: The Strokes, Pulp, The White Stripes, Dandy Warhols
Radio 1 Evening Session Stage: Feeder, The Electric Soft Parade,
Guided By Voices
The Boutique Stage: Ladytron, Dot Allison
Carling Stage: British Sea Power

Aug. 25:
Main Stage: Foo Fighters, Muse, Ash, The Hives, A, Less Than Jake, Andrew WK
Radio 1 Evening Session Stage: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Cooper Temple Clause

See more progress on: Leeds

The Best Music Festival in America

That’s a statement I truly stand by. It actually gets better every year, which is even more impressive considering who’s played there. I went in 2002, here’s a list of the bands I saw:

Apr. 27: Princess Superstar, Cornershop, Pete Yorn, Charlatans UK, Groove Armada, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Beta Band, Bjork, Chemical Brothers
Apr. 28: Ping Pong Bitches, Fairview, Blonde Redhead, Elbow, Belle & Sebastian, Mos Def, The Strokes, Zero 7, Prodigy, Oasis

For my detailed commentary, click here and click on Coachella

See more progress on: Coachella Music & Arts Festival

I thought this was in North London

My cousin Charlie dropped me off at Hampstead Heath so I could get a more natural view of London. I thought this was pretty close to his house in Golders Green, so I’m a little confused by it’s placement in Camden.

See more progress on: Hampstead Heath

This is where I saw Garbage!

Here’s the story, I was walking around the Camden underground station after a day of sightseeing at Hampton Court. I wanted to see a band called Longwave at the Barfly since I knew the show was that night for just 5 pounds. Well, I never found it because I walked by the Camden Electric Ballroom, where I discovered that Garbage was playing there that night! I figured the tickets might be a lot, but then there were scalpers around. However, a girl in line wanted to sell me her ticket for 10 pounds, but the scalper didn’t want to lose out on a “punter” so he offered me a ticket for 5 pounds! Of course, I accepted! When I got inside, I was also pleasantly surprised to see Queen Adreena opening. That’s pretty much it, I didn’t stay after to meet the band since I didn’t want to miss the last train home.

See more progress on: Camden

I really wish I were there now!

I just discovered that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were headlining the Hai Ho Yan Rock Festival, which is Taiwan’s largest free international rock festival. Other acts appearing include Melissa Auf de Maur, Boom Boom Satellites, Vincent Gallo, and Peaches. Find out more details and links on my xanga

See more progress on: Taipei

Crissy Field: One of my sister and nephew's favorite places in SF

Whenever I go to Krissy Field, it is always at the suggestion of my sister. Her son loves to run along the giant steps. It’s a nice place for a picnic or barbecue, though it does get windy being so close to the beach and the bay. Still, it’s a lovely place to visit. It used to be a closed off air field and now it’s a popular spot for dog walkers.

See more progress on: Crissy Field

I've got to stop starting more blogs

Well, since first adding this goal to my list, I’ve started another new blog. It’s mostly about the books I’m reading since it has a handy book list review feature, check it out here: Books, Music, Movies, and More

I like the features of Blog.com even more than Blogger, because there are categories, plus it’s easier to add links and customize the appearance of the templates. I’ll still use Blogger since it’s more popular and integrated with more sites, though I do like Blog.com alot.

See more progress on: Get more people to read my Blog

Amoeba Records: a store for all music lovers

This is probably my favorite record store of all time, with only the Hollywood store approaching it in greatness. Not only is the selection vastly impressive, there are also many great free in-store performances by a variety of very cool bands. The ones I’ve seen there include The Raveonettes, Supergrass, And You will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, etc. My brother has also seen Eisley, Hot Hot Heat, and British Sea Power.

See more progress on: Amoeba Records

This is a test post from the Zoundry Blog Writer

This is only a test.

I'll invite you if you send me your email address!

It also helps to send your first and last name, though it can be fun making up names for people… I love Orkut, great comunities, rating your friends, it’s cool!

See more progress on: Be invited to Orkut

Still not sure what to do with del.icio.us

But I’ve definitely been using it. Check out my del.icio.us links

See more progress on: start using del.icio.us

The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby - The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age

The Ambient Century by Mark Predergast is an incredibly detailed and comprehensive history on the development of electronic music from the early composers to the minimalists and into the rock age (innovators, psychedelia, German, Synth, Indie, and Individualists), and ends with House, Techno, and 21st Century Ambience. This is essential reading for anyone interested in electronic music or the history of music in the 20th Century in general. I would make this required reading if I were teaching a class on electronic music, though it’s definitely much more interesting than a standard textbook.

See more progress on: Share my ‘music knowledge’ with other ‘music geeks’ as myself

Support your local poet

Music collections tend to vary from mp3 collections. I personally own a lot of CDs that I don’t plan to import to iTunes… currently I don’t have enough hard drive space. I get kind of annoyed by people who no longer buy CDs because they can illegally download them for free, but I also don’t want to be a victim of the greedy music/recording industry. Still, it is very important to support your favorite artists because most of them only get a small portion of what their albums make. I think they make more from concerts and merchandise, so that is also a good way to support them.

Guzzlefish Collections

Online Playlists

iTunes Registry
Music Mobs
Last.FM
AudioScrobbler

There’s also Soundflavor though I actually don’t use it.

See more progress on: Share my ‘music knowledge’ with other ‘music geeks’ as myself

Been a Mac user since the early 90's!

And I don’t think I want to switch to a PC any time soon. My brother and sister have PC’s, so I have access to them and can use them. However, for my own interests and hopefully, my career I will continue to be a Mac addict. My first one was a PowerMac 66mHz with 8mb RAM and 250 mb HD. Then, I got a Lime Green iMac in college and my mom got a Blue and White G3, which she still uses now. After I graduated in 2002, I got a shiny new iBook G3 700 mhz, 40 gb HD, with 384 mb RAM. I still use it, though I eventually would like to get a new super duper dual 3 gHz G6 (G5 is the current highest) with tons of RAM and HD space. Some day…

See more progress on: buy a Mac

Too many blogs in too many places

I started out using Xanga and I still use it as my main blog, but I have them everywhere… it can be really addictive! I’ve found old friends and made new ones through Xanga, it’s a really great way to stay connected with people. Here are links to my main blogs:

My Wonderful Xanga
Heaven Up Here
My Book Reviews

You can also find my rarely/never used blogs on MySpace, MSN Spaces, Friendster, and Yahoo 360.

See more progress on: start a blog

I'll bring my guitars from So Cal...

Then, I’ll take my music books and actually figure out some chords and maybe even some songs. Tabs are pretty easy to read, I’m just too into other things to practice for a long time.

See more progress on: Learn to play the guitar

My best advice is... join everything! (and participate)

43 Things is actually a great place to make friends. There’s also Friendster, MySpace, Orkut, Ryze, Hi 5, Xanga, Blogger, Yahoo 360, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, etc. and if you’re into music: MusicMobs, Last.FM/Audioscrobbler, iTunes Registry, Guzzlefish, SoundFlavor, Upcoming.org, etc. I use all of them to varying degrees, just look for “porcupiny”.

See more progress on: make six friends

Currently up to 17 subscribers!

So you do care, how sweet! I’m currently subscribed to 50, though I haven’t been keeping up with them lately. I’ve been kind of busy with my summer class, but now I have a month off before Fall classes start so I’ll try to get caught up with y’all!

See more progress on: find out who’s subscribing to me :)

One of the Robot Co-Op's best kept secrets

It’s an awesome site that is surprisingly underused. I think the Robot Co-Op should definitely integrate it with 43 Things. Check out my account on All Consuming.

See more progress on: try out 43.allconsuming.net

A beautiful city

I went there as part of the London and Paris tour I went on in 2002. I didn’t go to the Roman Baths, but I did enjoy a very nice meal at quaint tea house with some people I’d met on the tour. It was definitely a city I won’t forget.

See more progress on: Bath

People still want 'em!

It’s funny because someone emailed me from a gmail account asking for an invite.

See more progress on: give away GMAIL account invitations

Keep the requests coming!

I’m glad there are lots of people interested in joining Orkut. No one I know personally seems to want to join.

See more progress on: Invite some people from 43things to Orkut