2005-03-14 - 1:18

Let the man go through

So I ended up missing both shows last Saturday, because I am getting soft with age. On the plus side, though, I added a Stars concert to my April plan, which will make 5 shows in 7 days. Hopefully, that will be enough rocking and/or rolling to atone for my past transgressions.

I think that I'm more excited for the Moby/Buck 65 gig than I have been for any concert in recent memory. That's a dream line-up for me. I haven't seen Buck in a year and a half now, so I'm definitely overdue. Moby fans who don't know Buck are in for a treat, as he is a fantastic performer.

As for Moby, all of my previous concert experiences have been amazing. Liam was visiting when I saw Moby play his last club show in Montreal, which made for a great time. The Area: One festival prompted a Toronto road trip with the majority of my roommates, which was also a blast.

My intersection with the second year of Moby's festival came just a few days after I bought my house, with Aaron driving to New York for the show. That outdoor affair was complemented by a spectacular thunderstorm. Jumping along to "Extreme Ways," with the rain pouring down and lightning touching down over the sea, remains one of my favourite concert experiences.

This time around, it's going to be another group outing (six of us, as it stands now); and I'm very excited to see Moby hopefully match the high of those previous shows.

So, in 2000, I was psyched to be seeing Moby at a Montreal club and I was addicted to playing Gran Turismo on the PlayStation. Five years later, I'm psyched to be seeing Moby at a Montreal club and I'm addicted to playing Gran Turismo on the PlayStation 2. Okay, Moby's a couple of albums further along and GT has advanced a couple of sequels; but that sounds like a holding pattern to me.

At any rate, yes, I picked up GT 4, after Aaron lent me his copy long enough to get me hooked (i.e., for at least enough time to play through one race). I think that it's a good thing that Laurie has been busy studying for a course that she's taking, or I'd be getting myself in trouble with marathon PS2 sessions.

Apart from the racing, there has also been the usual board and card game battling, including Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, Frank's Zoo, and even Groo: The Game. I maintain that I should automatically be granted victory in that last title, by virtue of being the Prince of Chichester; but it doesn't always work out that way.

This week should be a mellow one, with the boss on vacation and work down to a manageable level. Sounds like an opportunity for more GT 4, to me . . .

J.