But That's Not Quite The Same (It Isn't, Is It?)

Thomas Dolby is touring again. Now, for many of you reading this, he's the guy that did "She Blinded Me With Science;" if you've heard anything else by him, it's probably "Hyperactive." However, for a non-trivial group of us, he's a pivotal figure in the electronic evolution of pop music. By me, he's sort of the cyberpunk equivalent of a New Romantic. I wore my lab coat. :-)

Tonight was his Houston show; as he pointed out in his opening patter, it's been 18 years since he was last here. The Spouse leapt on the show as soon as he heard about it; he, I, quantumduck and AK, bassfingers and AM, memeslayer, and northwall all went as a group. We'd never been to the venue before, another converted warehouse space on the east-northeast side of downtown. I rather liked it as a concert space; if I ever got together the money and time to throw the Toreador Party, it would probably be a better place for it than the Longitudinal Line would be, which is the other place I'd been vaguely thinking of using. It did have a couple of, um, issues with decoration, but for the most part it was okay - more than one place to get drinks during a show, large dance floor, multiple levels. The sound system needs some work, but we could hear everything fine.

Dolby had great energy, and worked through a couple of techno-glitches with aplomb. His voice was a bit rough, but nothing that interfered with the show. His timing and rhythm were great. He only did one whole new song, but it sounded pretty much like him - no great shifts in style. He didn't have a lot of stage patter, but he seemed comfortable with what he had.

We had a minor encounter with a group of loud, happy drunks who were standing on the dance floor, not moving, and shouting over the speakers to chit-chat with each other. After three songs of this, I tapped one on the shoulder, apologized for interrupting, and pointed out that if they weren't standing right in front of a speaker stack they might be able to hear each other better. They gave me the "why is this woman taking to us" look, said "uh, sorry," and moved. However, this much drunker older guy who was shooting photos of them earlier (I'm assuming he was press, since they didn't let Bassfingers bring his cameras in) decided that my exchange with them somehow meant the Spouse had grossly offended him and tried to get in our faces. I just ignored him, and a guy behind us intervened between him and the Spouse and told him to cool off. He wandered back and forth a couple of times after that to see if we were still in what he clearly felt was his space; the last time we saw him, he was literally falling down drunk.

The second band that came on played ambient. I have nothing against the genre, but it's so dependent on production that I really don't think it needs to be heard live to be appreciated. We left in the middle of their set.

Other than the belligerent drunk dude, it was a really good show, and I'm thrilled that Dolby is touring and making pop music (as opposed to his soundtrack stuff) again. I'm very much looking forward to his next album.

But That's Not Quite The Same (It Isn't, Is It?)

Thomas Dolby is touring again. Now, for many of you reading this, he's the guy that did "She Blinded Me With Science;" if you've heard anything else by him, it's probably "Hyperactive." However, for a non-trivial group of us, he's a pivotal figure in the electronic evolution of pop music. By me, he's sort of the cyberpunk equivalent of a New Romantic. I wore my lab coat. :-)

Tonight was his Houston show; as he pointed out in his opening patter, it's been 18 years since he was last here. The Spouse leapt on the show as soon as he heard about it; he, I, quantumduck and AK, bassfingers and AM, memeslayer, and northwall all went as a group. We'd never been to the venue before, another converted warehouse space on the east-northeast side of downtown. I rather liked it as a concert space; if I ever got together the money and time to throw the Toreador Party, it would probably be a better place for it than the Longitudinal Line would be, which is the other place I'd been vaguely thinking of using. It did have a couple of, um, issues with decoration, but for the most part it was okay - more than one place to get drinks during a show, large dance floor, multiple levels. The sound system needs some work, but we could hear everything fine.

Dolby had great energy, and worked through a couple of techno-glitches with aplomb. His voice was a bit rough, but nothing that interfered with the show. His timing and rhythm were great. He only did one whole new song, but it sounded pretty much like him - no great shifts in style. He didn't have a lot of stage patter, but he seemed comfortable with what he had.

We had a minor encounter with a group of loud, happy drunks who were standing on the dance floor, not moving, and shouting over the speakers to chit-chat with each other. After three songs of this, I tapped one on the shoulder, apologized for interrupting, and pointed out that if they weren't standing right in front of a speaker stack they might be able to hear each other better. They gave me the "why is this woman taking to us" look, said "uh, sorry," and moved. However, this much drunker older guy who was shooting photos of them earlier (I'm assuming he was press, since they didn't let Bassfingers bring his cameras in) decided that my exchange with them somehow meant the Spouse had grossly offended him and tried to get in our faces. I just ignored him, and a guy behind us intervened between him and the Spouse and told him to cool off. He wandered back and forth a couple of times after that to see if we were still in what he clearly felt was his space; the last time we saw him, he was literally falling down drunk.

The second band that came on played ambient. I have nothing against the genre, but it's so dependent on production that I really don't think it needs to be heard live to be appreciated. We left in the middle of their set.

Other than the belligerent drunk dude, it was a really good show, and I'm thrilled that Dolby is touring and making pop music (as opposed to his soundtrack stuff) again. I'm very much looking forward to his next album.

Sometimes I just Don't Get It

Okay, I sort of understand the rad-righters who have been upset at Dick Cheney's acceptance of his lesbian daughter from the get-go; they're just being internally consistent. And I sort of understand how there might be many right-wingers who are content to just sort of sweep that under the rug, since lesbians aren't quite as icky as Teh Gay; after all, nothing they can do to each other can really count, right?

And that last is sort of a perennial argument of college-aged sexuality - if a woman is a sexually-active lifelong lesbian, if she never inserts a real tab Y into her slot X, is she still a virgin? Given the sort of contorted arguments teenagers who have made those stupid abstinence pledges go through to claim that they're still virgins despite spending long hours getting each others' rocks off, one might even imagine that your average radical Christian right-winger might well agree that, though a sinner, she is in fact still a virgin, never having known the touch of a man in the Biblical sense.

Now, I don't know anything about Mary Cheney's personal history, nor do I want to. But if she has, indeed, been a lifelong lesbian, if she's never walked on the straight side, then I am exceptionally puzzled by the Christian Reich's reactions to her impending baby. I mean, she's in a long-term relationship, but she hasn't engaged in the 'abomination' (in their eyes) of gay marriage, since her state doesn't permit it; you could say she's engaged, I suppose, since if their state ever changes its mind I'm sure they'll get hitched post-haste. And while her partner isn't going to have a genetic stake in her child, I'm sure she'll be an active and engaged parent. It's not like the kid will grow up in a broken home, or won't have any male role models; that's a pretty close family, and while I'd be terrified to have Dick Cheney as my grandpa, the kid won't know any better.

And only a real Scrooge could possibly be pissed off about the virgin Mary being pregnant during Advent.

Sometimes I just Don't Get It

Okay, I sort of understand the rad-righters who have been upset at Dick Cheney's acceptance of his lesbian daughter from the get-go; they're just being internally consistent. And I sort of understand how there might be many right-wingers who are content to just sort of sweep that under the rug, since lesbians aren't quite as icky as Teh Gay; after all, nothing they can do to each other can really count, right?

And that last is sort of a perennial argument of college-aged sexuality - if a woman is a sexually-active lifelong lesbian, if she never inserts a real tab Y into her slot X, is she still a virgin? Given the sort of contorted arguments teenagers who have made those stupid abstinence pledges go through to claim that they're still virgins despite spending long hours getting each others' rocks off, one might even imagine that your average radical Christian right-winger might well agree that, though a sinner, she is in fact still a virgin, never having known the touch of a man in the Biblical sense.

Now, I don't know anything about Mary Cheney's personal history, nor do I want to. But if she has, indeed, been a lifelong lesbian, if she's never walked on the straight side, then I am exceptionally puzzled by the Christian Reich's reactions to her impending baby. I mean, she's in a long-term relationship, but she hasn't engaged in the 'abomination' (in their eyes) of gay marriage, since her state doesn't permit it; you could say she's engaged, I suppose, since if their state ever changes its mind I'm sure they'll get hitched post-haste. And while her partner isn't going to have a genetic stake in her child, I'm sure she'll be an active and engaged parent. It's not like the kid will grow up in a broken home, or won't have any male role models; that's a pretty close family, and while I'd be terrified to have Dick Cheney as my grandpa, the kid won't know any better.

And only a real Scrooge could possibly be pissed off about the virgin Mary being pregnant during Advent.