"I'm spinning round the room in awe" ryan adams

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

Aurora and I apparently picked something up at the Hilton. And she didn't drink from the Captain. haha but now we both have raspy throats. Hahaha. We took one for the team.
It's going to reach nearly 70 in Wilmington NC this week. Sweet. While Delaware is freezing with be soaking up some semi-rays.
I told Karen that I just need to keep a packed bag next to my door. Kind of like what pregant women door. So that if I am in a rush, I can just grab it on the way out. Filled with all the necessities, such as clothes, toothbrush, underwear, and a poof. Can't forget the poof.

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Damn the snow plows. Everyone in my apartment complex is pretty much plowed in. I love where I live. First off, whenever snow falls, usually you see cute little snowmen or snow forts. nope, not here. Here you see snow porn. It's amazing the art you can create with snow. And getting cars out is another story. We usually don't get enough snow to justify purchasing a shovel, until now. So we must get creative on how to get cars out. Brittany had a BYOB party to get Peebur out...Bring Your Own Bowl. That didn't last long. This morning I saw everything from trashcans to pots to brooms to shovel out the trapped vehicles. My favorite was the group of guys using a keg bucket to scoop away the snow. Fine work boys.
So after being trapped for two days, I needed some more music. As if all the cds I came away with from the MMC wasn't enough. Here is what I picked up from my store....went in to pick up cds and ended up working a few, gotta love Rainbow :-)

This is what I got...
USED: The Beatles- Past Masters One, The Beatles -Past Masters Two, The Cars -Greatest Hits, The Police -Ghost In The Machine, Seeking Homer -Paradise (I know I know, I have had this disk since it came out, but it snapped right in half!)
NEW: Jesse Malin - The Fine Art of Self Destruction, Virginia Coalition - Rock and Roll Party, Brendan Benson - Lapalco

PART 1
ok, this was all out of order, now its in order....
Well well well, not even sure where to begin....one of the best weekends ever is coming to an end....and I still consider this Monday night as a part of the weekend since the Blizzard of Oh Three has kept me captive inside...
and of course keep in mind that i have no idea who is reading these and it pains me to have not be as detailed :-D

Aurora and I had the pleasure of using a Durango during the trip, in which I quickly named the "Go Go Durango". I refrained from using an Aussie accent. And after all this time we are still speaking to each other and she hasn't killed me yet, haha. We stop on the way up to Harrisburg for coffee and pizza. Coffee and cigarettes (besides music) are our main addictions and we defnitely could not have survived the weekend without them.
"Cigarettes and chocolate milk
These are just a couple of my cravings
Everything it seems I like's a little bit stronger
A little bit thicker, a little bit harmful for me" rw
So we make it to the Hilton without getting lost, which is an incredible feat. Finding parking, on the other hand, was more adventurous. So we go to the check in counter. As people came in for the conference, they gave out the rooms, so we heard the two counter people discuss where to put us and whether "should we put them there?!?!" to which Aurora and I reply "YES! Put us there!" seeing how whatever they were talking about was sure to be interesting. So they laugh and gave us room 521. It's all about the numbers. We got off on exit 19, which is Aurora's favorite number, and room 521, if you add all together (5+2+1) equals 8, which is my favorite number....yeah. So we go in, drop our stuff off, do a squeal, jump up and down...oh wait, that was me. Aurora told me to calm myself. We go downstairs and in the meantime I call Phil (from Lloyd Dobler Effect...there are going to be a lot of names, so I will do my best to identity them) and I leave a message saying where we are. I then call everyone else who we know will be there to tell them what room number we are. Phil then calls back saying that the band is in 520. No fucking way. Way.
So we partially unpack and meet up with Mark (from Jonasay) to hit up some shows. Aurora was unable to get into the Gingerbread Man so we walk back to the Hilton. She lights up and goes on on why she hates her parents for not getting it on earlier so she can get in places. So two guys and a girl (wasn't that a tv show...?) come out of the Hilton, talk to us, hands us a CD and tells us to come to their show. I ask if Aurora can get in, they say "sure, she can carry a box". So off we went into the van. The kidnappers were Tim, Michael, and Jen from mellowheadblue and were great great people from good old Arlington VA. Jen boosted up my confidence in possibly moving out there. It's so very strange how everyone that I have encountered lately has been all connected in some sort of way. Folded Under, also from Virginia, was next. Oddly we had just missed Phil there while we waited for Mark outside. Mark then kidnapped us, and we went to the Firehouse to see Fighting Gravity. Ran into Michael Sauri (Cinema 8) and surprisingly he wasn't too cool to talk to us ;-) . Off to the pizza place with scary drunk people. Then back to the Hilton. Thursday was low-key since not much was going on. Go back upstairs and Mark decided to see if LDE was really next door. Aw yeah they were. Aurora and I knew that this weekend would definitely not be the same now....A few later, it was Aurora, Mark, Phil, and I talking in our room witnessing Phil's drunkeness. The night before, the girls of 5208 had decided to make cookies and well, we kinda miscalculated so I had an abundance of baked goods, so I brought them with me....
Ok, my inability to cook deserves its own new paragraph...So we had made cookies and I had brought cookies. But see...yeah I am not that adept in the kitchen as we all know from my misadventures. So we didn't have table salt, but I had sea salt. Hey, it's all the same, right? Nah....seal salt really doesn't dissolve or mix well, so the whole cookie eating was made entertaining by salt surprises in the cookies. Ok, back to another paragraph...
So yeah we're all just talking being entertained by Phil's devouring and leaving cookie messes everywhere. It's soon 3 am and Mark leaves and Aurora and I walk him down to the lobby. She smokes, then we head to the elevators. On the way, this group approaches us, and it wouldn't have been as intimidating if they weren't two inches from us the whole time. They won't leave us alone then the security guard come sup, and they still won't leave. Then Mark comes in to save the day since he left his cell upstairs. Disaster averted. Yeah, still around 3am. Aw yeah, Rusty (LDE) comes to visit. Then Phil ventures back and uses our bathroom. We had free trial sized stuff in the bathroom and we noticed that half the mouthwash was gone and wefound it odd that he went to use the bathroom and then the mouthwash disappears. He wou'dnt fess up ;-) oh but we know..... 4:30am rolls around and we decide we need to get some sleep since the early morning shows are starting to air. As we're trying to go to sleep we hear knocking from next door (LDE's room) so we do the knocking back and forth thing for an hour. This was the start of the knocking and the sharing. The whole weekend 520 and 521 were pretty much just one room and just barged in whenever and used everyones stuff and whenever we wanted to play with the other we just knocked. or if we wanted to wake them up. or bother them. anything really haha.
Set the alarm for 11 am but nooooo at 10:30am a certain someones cell phone goes off and all we hear is Rusty. Damn him and lack of sleep! Javi (LDE) comes in our room shortly after. Did we even lock the door that night?! Wearing the same clothes as the night before. So the three of us are talking then decide to go downstairs to the lobby. Aurora and I both still wearing what we wore to bed. Nothing like looking half dead at noon in the Hilton lobby in our pajamas amidst a bunch of professionals in business attire. Yeah. For some reason all I carry with me downstairs is my cell and Hilton card. Not expecting a phone call, Phil calls. "mirandaaaaaaaaaa can i shower at your place?!". Go upstairs and he is waiting in hallway. Hilarious. Blah Blah Blah, we all get ready then go downstairs for breakfast...I think at this point its about 2 pm. Food takes too long so we play with breadsticks. The Real Torino. They take too damn long so we go to the Neato Burrito. Ahh yeah, anything named the Neato Burrito has got to be excellent. And it was. The Game Players: Aurora, Me, Rusty, Jessica (friend of LDE and we (me and Aurora) kidnapped her as our own), Phil, Jen (LDE promo/merch/all around girl), and Todd (more music group promotions) had a wonderful culinary experience. Haha. Avoid the nachos and buy lots of Snapple. Where the hell did Javi escape to?! After lunch, Rusty, Jessica, Aurora, and I hit up the panels and talked to lots and lots of people and got fun stuff. It was great meeting some people who I knew by name and not by face. Signal Fading is a great great resource that everyone should check out and embrace. Off and on we met up with the LDE crew before we decided that it was time to go back to the rooms. Impromptu practice session in 520. Donnie was either asleep or on the phone the whole time. We love how he never talks unless he is on the phone....Rusty, Jessica, and I go out and get reinforcements....cigarettes, alcohol, and poofs. The three of us (girls that is) all seemed to have forgotten our poofs at home. Poofs are a necessity.
Come back, all just chill in our room, talking and getting ready. I took a shower and notice that the mouthwash is now in the shower. Phil and the mouthwash...whats the deal?!?! Haha. See, there is a rule, and usually it's "you can see us before we get ready and after we get ready, but you're not allowed to see the transformation". Nothing like having everyone come in and out and Rusty and Javi and Rod chilling with us as we're trying to straighten hair, find clothes, and put on makeup. No offense and no hard feelings, it was just funny :-)
Then we leave for the Crowne Plaza...
and i must start a new page, break this piece up ;-)
PART 2
So yeah....
We leave to go see Capitol Air at the Crowne Plaza who put on a very good performance with their new tunes. Forgot to mention that Aurora and I ran into CA at the club the night before, so out of 30 venues and 300 bands it was cool to randomly run into them and hang out for a bit. Matt (CA) had snazzy new blonde hair. Walk around....we decide to go grab food before the next round of shows, so we find a chinese restaraunt. So we go in and order and we find it odd that on a Friday night we're the only ones in there. Oh wait...because it was Valentine's Day. Oh Geez. Hahaha. Off to more shows in the cold......
LDE at the Crowne Plaza. They looked extremely nervous and despite various sound issues sounded good and pulled off some new stuff. And the duct taped banner stayed up! :-) There was a huge turnout and I saw some very obvious positive reactions. Left to go see Jonasay while Aurora checked out more stuff. Even if it was slightly frightening....
Jonasay played at Gullifty's and of course that venue is always behind and they went on about an hour late. They looked exhausted. Oddly Justin had a friend also from DE. Sound issues for them as well, so hey, at least the MMC was being fair about it ;-). Stayed to watch Pepper's Ghost from Philly. Throughout the past few four years I have seen them in various places. Same sound, same show. Nothing bad, but nothing great. A little after 2am I leave for the Hilton again...and this is where the fun begins....after hours and hours of seeing shows and networking, it's time to let loose and have some fun...
So I arrive at the Hilton and run up to the room and pass a million people. Drop the stuff off, grab the camera, the Captain in one hand, Coors Light in the other...it's time to party. So everyone at the conference is pretty much on floors 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. The part was on the fourth floor. Yes, I said floor. not rooms, but just in the hallways. Aurora, Jess, and I were mainly together with April (one of the girls who worked the conference), and Rusty, Everyone was just in the hallways talking and drinking and having a great time. All sorts of musicians and industry people and it was wonderful just to have such a basis with everyone. the party was also in the elevators as we went from floor to floor. We saw one guy with nipple rings and a banner as a daiper, some canadiens, and a very happy graphic designer among others. We try to find javi so we yell "Javi" all up and down the floors until we think we hear him and Jess discovers that she hears him in the elevator haha. The one thing about Javi is everyone knew who he was. Everyone know who LDE was so that was very awesome for him. Blah blah blah, hanging out on the floors...then we go upstairs to the 5th floor. Oh yeah, we all have this on video as well as film....
We run into Rusty and Ken (Heat), and a few other guys then they errupt in some free style hip hop/rapping for a while. This was awesome. We sat there for like 30 minutes just watching them create new beats and lyrics. Spontaneity was the essence of this conference.
Aurora runs back to the room which was right in front of the freestylin' corner and comes back and exclaims that no where else in this hotel smells like weed except for in the 520/521 wing. That is on film too.
Again we wander the floors. I have the Captain with me. The Captain, like Andrea L., was a dirty dirty whore. If anyone had mono in the Hilton, then we all have mono since i think every single person on floors 4 and 5 drank out of the bottle.
Around 4:30ish we come back to Aurora and my room....where it's let's see, out of the people we knew...me, Aurora, Jess, April, Ken, Rusty, Javi, Rod, and random guys. Talking talking drinking drinking blazing blazing. "JAM SESSION!!!!" All of a sudden we have guitars, congas, a violin, and amps in our room. And there is a mini show and jamming and talking and just greatness for a while.
Around 5:30ish Steve, Ken, and Dave from Green To Think come in with Gilligan. All with some Yuengling. This is why they are great. So yeah, we're all chilling then the room starts clearing out around 6:30 except for Aurora, Ken, Steve, and me. Something about Elephant Games (which Aurora had to remind me of today since I had no idea what she was talking about) haha. So the four of us spent some time hanging out, making fun, and talking. Trying to finish up a music crossword puzzle proved difficult. I havent even looked at it yet, maybe I should to see the craziness. Saturday morning cartoons starting coming on. Then we realized that it was past 7 am. Time flys by when you're having a great time :-). Haha we told Steve he better watch out on the message board..... ;-)
So then they turn off the lights and tuck us in...star sheet!?!? and it's 7:30am. They leave. Aurora and I talk. We see that we still have congas, amps, and a violin in our room. She gets up and needs a cigarette but can't find a lighter. "all i need is something that fucking makes fire!"
bed time : after 7:30 am
wake up: 10:30 am thanks to our wonderful neighbors :-P

another blog to finish it up....
PART 3
You should be reading these in order!
So we wake up to the bustling of the LDE next door. Knock knock knock. We're dead. And Hilton coffee isn't that strong.
Good byes are rough.
But off to see some more music. 4 more bands.
I think we went babysitting. Never before have I felt so old. I hope I never acted like a stupid 15 year old girl at a concert. Stupid 22 year old girl is more adequate ;-) hahaha. I love how when Jen, Brit, Holly, and I went to see John Mayer last our ages slowly reverted as the night progressed haha.
So needless to say we were cranky, obnoxious, and tired. But once Graham Colton went on, we awakened.
The whole conference all of LDE, except for Donnie I think haha, informed us how Graham Colton is NOasis. It is too sad to even write. But as we listened we heard the "inklings" of other songs in some of GC's work. We won't let the man get us down.
Then Justin (Jonasay) comes up to us. What the heck?!
But GC put on a great show, not as good as Asbury, but a good setlist to an energetic crowd.
And after the show, oddly Spare Dimes was playing.
Hung around for a bit, then headed home.
SOOOO SLEEPY!
Hit the bed around 4 am.
Thank you Blizzard of Oh Three.

ok ok ok i have a part 4
So when we checked into the Hilton, they gave us the "Rules and Regulations" this will shortly be on my site (www.mirandaland.com), but in the meantime...

"Posters, flyers and stickers are not permitted to be distributed or placed around the hotel" hahaha yeah right! I think the town of H-burg was definitely littered that weekend and LDE was probably responisble for most of that! Those rebels....

"MMC7 and the Hilton willnot tolerate the defacing, damage, or destruction of the property or premises of the hotel or conference venues" - after the security people realizes that they were outnumbered, they left us alone and ogled at the hoodlum that was occuring. we have a picture of the security people holding broken stuff.

"Use common courtesy towards all hotel guests, especially late at night" - nothing like a good v-day ruckus