My inner child is a teenage boy

I've suspected that for a while, but tonight (while watching Anton Corbijn's Control), it also occurred to me that he's a gangly British mod-punk-glam-rocker. He's also angsty, of course, and (unlike me) he probably smokes.

The Police

The Police
Originally uploaded by Mirka23

A couple weeks ago I went to see the Police. Twice. The first show was at Madison Square Garden - relatively intimate, I suppose. I wasn't sure what to expect, because there's been so much hype and everything. But they were actually quite fabulous.

From my perspective, it took a little while for the show to get warmed up. There were some good songs at the beginning, but the show really hit a good stride when they started playing "Wrapped around my finger" about half way in, and then it was really amazing for pretty much the rest of the time.

Some of the updates they've made to the songs were a little disconcerting, I have to admit. "Don't stand so close to me" (traditionally one of my favorites) was a little too... upbeat and poppy. It should be a more angsty and tormented song, I think.

The second show I saw was at Giants Stadium. This was the last show in the first U.S. leg of the world tour. I went a second time so that I could see the show with some friends who weren't able to get tickets to the MSG show, but I'm glad I did. I think the setlist was the same, but the stage was bigger, with more lights and screens and everything. They filled the stadium just as well as they filled the Garden, I think.

Beastie Boys

Tonight I saw the Beastie Boys at Summerstage in Central Park. Totally amazing. It was definitely worth braving the heat to see these guys do such a small, intimate show in their home town.
Last time I saw them was at Madison Square Garden, the show that was made into the movie Awesome... I fuckin' shot that! It was an epic show, of course, with lots of costume changes, smoke machines, and hours of great music. But this was so much better. For one thing, they were right there! I could actually see them without the aide of projections on a screen. They also seemed a lot more relaxed and they were talking, joking, having fun along with the crowd.

And they played a lot of classic stuff. Some newer songs, and some really, really old ones. I love the fact that three white rap stars in their early 40s would be up on stage playing punk songs they wrote when they were kids. How incredible is that? If there are people doing that, it makes me feel alright about getting older.

The Pipettes

Pipettes
Originally uploaded by Mirka23

Tonight I went to see The Pipettes at the Highline Ballroom. I got their CD last fall, on a trip to London. They're just now releasing the EP here. They were pretty damn bubbly and fun.

Part-way through the show I noticed that their drummer is Joe Van Moyland, who plays the composer Thomas Tallis on Showtime's The Tudors. That was a little surreal.

Ted Russell Kamp

My old school pal, Ted, is in town to play a show at the Rodeo Bar tomorrow. So tonight we had dinner and caught up. This is the first time we've seen each other in...damn, 15 years? We both felt that, although we had grown up (somewhat), we were also both very much the same. Pretty cool to see old friends after so long.

Today I got a check from a certain entertainment company for certain work that I did for a certain comedy group last month. I can't say any more about that, but I think it's pretty funny that, in theory, I am now a paid comedian. Not the kind of thing I would ever imagine myself being. The check is for such a small amount, I'm considering keeping it as a momento!