Shangri La, El Dorado, Sloppy Joes...

Xanadu was quite the place. I watched Citizen Kane tonight (guiltily for the first time) and from the very beginning, I could only think "They sure don't make movies like they used to..." Back to Xanadu, this place didn't look so fun from the distance, and seemed quite cold in some of the indoor shots, but you've got to give the set designers credit. That place was really nothing like I've seen before, it melded so many different worldly elements together into one jumbled bastion. I had to employ some of the gems of knowledge that I acquired back in art history classes to place some of the architecture. Back to the movie itself, the camera angles were sometimes breathtaking, as well as some of the shots. Also, what ever happened to the driving, intense, full of feeling orchestral work that went into old movies? Sure, some movie soundtracks today are good, and invoke some feelings while watching a movie, but it just isn't the same. Poor old Charlie Foster Kane.

I know that I've been gone for quite a while. Several things have been going on in my life. Some fun, some not so fun. Work has still been hellish and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Good thing I only have to put up with it until March. Still no second job, although I have been on an interview for one. At this point, I'm hoping that my annual bonus that comes through soon will be enough to carry me through my travels. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The Sufjan Stevens concerts were amazing. He and his "Illinoisemakers" played to a full house both nights, and had the audience completely entranced. So entranced, that at some points you hear silence between words being sung. In fact, some of the bartenders were making jokes that it was the quietest they've ever heard the place and that they were making too much noise when closing the cash register. I must say that at one point during the first show, I felt like crying while singing along. Sufjan really knows what to do to people to bring out all the feelings. It was a really enjoyable show and I have no complaints. The most fun was the human pyramid that was successfully made in the middle of the show. I also enjoyed the cheers in between songs. If only I could win Sufjan's heart like he has won mine with his music.

For the sake of content and length, I'll have to fill the world in with other news in the next post, including the awesome three days that I like to call The Austin City Limits Music Festival. Until then my friends...