Moby!...Dick?

A pocket sized mystery occurred today which I feel is worth posting about. Today in the mail, I received a copy of Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I was not expecting Moby Dick, in fact I already own two copies of it, so it was the last thing I was expecting in the mail. I was expecting a copy of Moby : Replay - His Life and Times because Moby is the man, but no one could possibly confuse Moby with a gargantuan, white whale, right?

To make things even stranger, I had started to read Moby Dick the previous night for fun, so I suddenly felt like I was being watched and psychologically messed with. Who knew that I read Moby Dick last night? Why did I get a book from Bookarama from Bensalem, PA? Did I order this book and forget about it? No. Who among my friends and family would do such a thing? I called many and no one had any clue.

I returned to my room and looked up Bookarama on Google. A search for “Bookarama Bensalem” brought up three meaningless results. The address, 3161 State Rd, turned out to be a mattress factory called Croydon Mattress Factory. Was our universe colliding with another parallel one and I received a package from this other universe?

I called Croydon Mattress Factory.

“Hello, Crotdon Mattress Factory.”

“Hello, has your factory ever been a book store? or did a bookstore own the building before you?”

“Um...I don’t think so.”

“At no point has your building every been a book store?”

“Right. Is that it?”

“Yup. Thanks.”

I think I hurt his brain.

I checked out the packaging and noted that the book cost $2.32. Now that made me think. I love buying really cheap books online, and $2.32 is practically free. Did I buy this book!? NO!!! But I did buy that Moby book for really cheap...oh my. A quick search of my Ebay buys shows that I indeed did buy a Moby book for $2.32 last week.

Not correct me if I’m wrong, but I figure that people who work at bookstores are literate. Moby : Replay - His Life and Times, Moby Dick. Not even close. Wow.

And there concludes the somewhat entertaining pill-sized mystery that made my life entertaining for a few hours.

PS If anyone wants to buy Moby Dick, I’ve got an extra copy.

Moby in Montreal at the Metropolis

In my high school / college years, I've wanted to see three bands live; Lunasa, Moby, and Rammstein. I realize that no two of those three play music even remotely similar to each other.

I saw Lunasa. Twice. I actually played on stage with Lunasa. I actually shared a mic with Kevin Crawford! Those were two best times of my life.

Last Sunday, I saw Moby live. He has recently released Hotel and was touring the US / Canada because that's what musicians do. The show was at a venue called Metropolis in the heart of Montreal. From the outside, it didn't look like much, nor the entrance or stairs. However, the stage was small and cozy, complete with dance floor / mosh pit in front and tables and a bar setting in the back. There also was a balcony, which consisted of counters with tall stools for sitting. This is where we sat.

I went with my brother Jake, Aaron Fetterman, and Niall Mangan. My parents and younger brother Sammy came up with us too, but they didn't go to the concert. We arrived in Montreal at about 4:00 and were complete and utter tourists for two hours. Then Jake, Aaron, Niall and I went to wait in line for our Will-Call tickets. Chilling in an alley in Montreal with angry goth kids, giggly pot smokers, large bouncers / security guards and friends is a wonderful thing. We got our tickets and decided to go up to the balcony and wait for what we had assumed was a 7:00 show.

The show did not start at 7:00. At 7:30, a quirky individual who goes by the title Buck 65 entertained us for half an hour with pre-recorded tracks and a strange mix of rap, poetry, and glitter (the twinkly kind). He finished at 8:00 and we were left to sit for a complete hour before Moby came on.

There were only four other musicians on stage with Moby. Scott Frassetto on drums (he happened to be from Montreal (wink wink)), Laura Dawn on lead vocals beside Moby, some depressing female entity on keyboard and a hard rocker who played guitar and bass. Moby sang, played guitar and occasionally the bongos.

The next two full hours (without any breaks!) were utterly orgasmic (in the audio-visual sense). They played most of the good songs from Hotel along with all of the good songs of the past (including but not limited to: Go, Southside, Bodyrock, Next is the E, Natural Blues, We are All Made of Stars, Porcelain, and My Weakness.) They also covered Take a Walk on the Wild Side and a small part of Creep.

Moby also apologized to Canada for the US and its leadership. He asked if they would adopt us northern states and form a United States of Canada, and then the crowd started chanting "Moby for President." He also spoke a lot of French, which I, sadly, do not speak. At one point he shared with us many lewd French terms, which he had learned from a ex-girlfriend.

The only regret that I have was that I was not down on the dance floor / mosh pit jumping up and down with all my might along with the rest of the audience. For the next Moby concert I attend, I will most surely be down on the floor.

Laura Dawn blew me away. The light show was spectacular. The crown was awesome. Moby kicked ass. Montreal made me happy. The ensuing deafness satisfied me.

Thank you Moby.

Struggling to play Irish Music.

I have almost no regrets about coming to Clarkson. The biggest one (and the one that is panging me the most right now) is how this campus is practically void of any sort of Irish music .

I knew that Irish Music was some sort of urban legend here when I came and figured that I could provide a spark large enough to get some sort of group going. I hoped to find some experienced Irish musicians and envisioned myself meeting every week or so and playing gigs all over the place.

However, I found maybe 2 people who have any actual Irish Music experience. I have found many people who are enthusiastic and motivated to join in an Irish group, but who have had very little to no experience. I still figured that I could get something going with relative ease.

The one thing that I did not take into account was that I would be too busy to play Irish Music. I figured that no matter how busy I was, I would still play music on a near day-to-day basis. However, it is now almost two semesters since I got here and I have not spent more than 2 hours playing music with anybody. I have not forgotten my goal and have not given up, I'm just too_freaking_busy. There is always something that is more pressing than playing music. Especially this month, when there are half-a-dozen papers and projects to finish, tons of tests and finals and presentations to prepare for.

I don't think I'll be able to play for more than an hour in the next month.

It pains me to put the Irish Music off again and again, and I'm still trying to motivate and provide the leadership to start an Irish group, but I do not think it will be a quick or a simple process.

This was a short post, but I just want anyone who reads this to know that I'm trying and trying to get this thing going.

BBS