Hell, if Catie is my captor, then I must have Stockholm Syndrome. I'm Patty Hearst and she's the Symbionese Liberation Army. Together we're bank robbers making our way to the vault. And yes, in this metaphor the vault holds true love, and the bank, uh, it probably represents society or something.
Sorry, I'm getting side-tracked. So, for our two year anniversary, Catie bought me the DVD box set of the original Star Wars trilogy. How great is that? As for me, I bought us two tickets to see the Swedish pop group Peter, Bjorn and John at the Paradise Theater. "Writers Block" is probably one of our favorite all time albums, so it was pretty much a can't miss gift.
I was pumped to find out what they would release to follow up "Writer's Block", but after hearing their new album "Living Thing" for the first time, I was really let down. Catie planned to write an album review for her blog and I was happy to provide some title suggestions. Perhaps, "Peter Bores and Yawns" or "New Album Peters Out" (when writing an album review, it's always good to include some insulting puns). So yeah, I was not impressed. After a few listen throughs it has admitted grown on me, though. "Lay It Down", "Nothing to Worry About" and "I Want You!" are all great tracks. Then there's maybe two or three songs that are good enough that they can play six songs from the new album and still make it a really amazing show. If you haven't heard any of it yet, go download those tracks right now.
So anyways, the concert was a couple of weeks ago. Peter provided most of the show's energy. He was dressed in some sort of doo wop get-up, and spent most of the show moving around the stage with the same sort of weird energy you'd have dancing around the living room in your underwear. Then there's Bjorn dressed in all leather. He'd spend long periods standing in place, motionless, with one finger pointed up towards nothing in particular. He came across as a very sedated Burt Reynolds. And finally there was John who pretty much seemed like a bad ass. His outfit reminded me of a longshoreman. They're a very odd trio. Catie and I agree that they we would really like to see them together in their own tv series, because it must be quite a sight to see them all hanging out together. Thanks to pitchfork and mtv, you can get a glimpse of what that show would be like. Check out the Peter, Bjorn and John daytrip at SxSW.
It's worth mentioning that before the show, Catie had a couple of beers at the Sunset Cantina and was pretty drunk for the show. At one point I thought she was going to get into a fight with a couple of college hussies who were trying to barge their way closer to the stage. All in all, it turned out to be one of our best dates ever.
Later that week we drove back to Brighton to see Rick and Suz and watch the Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In which is probably the best vampire movie I've ever seen. Maybe that doesn't say much since, aside from Buffy, I probably hate anything involving vampires. Anyways, watch it. The 12-year old vampire girl was pretty horrifying. But what was even scarier was the elementary school bully scene in the suburbs of Stockholm. The main character Oskar is basically fighting for his life against 12-year olds who try to stab and drown him. In hindsight, maybe my seventh grade experiences of being spit on and pushed down the stairs were not all that bad afterall. Note to young Flip: carrying a trapper keeper is the equivalent of wearing a bulls-eye.
Now that I think of it, Sweden has a pretty big effect on my life. Cuz you know, first, there's the music. Second, IKEA. Third, Swedish Chef, he's a pretty decent Muppet. Fourth... uh. Okay, so it doesn't really affect my life at all. Maybe the point I'm trying to make is that I WANT IT TO! Sweden sounds like a great place. One day, a few years down the line, I swear I will take a shot at becoming a sophisticated globe-trotter. Sweden must be a destination. I'll see the Ale's Stones, listen to Jens Lekman albums, go to a Swedish party (pictured) and get the real Stockholm Syndrome. After that it's onto London, Amsterdam and my ancestral stomping grounds of Germany. It would make for a pretty cool honeymoon...Dustin is planning a trip to Germany this year. I wish I had the vacation time/money to join him. There's also a standing offer from Jordan for a cross country road trip in which we would listen to nothing but alt country. Damn that would be great. And thank God I have Catie as my travel partner. She has great road trip traits (ie she's easily excitable). I know that if I pick out a city, she'll spend hours googling ideas of what to do, not because she's anal about having the perfect itinerary or anything like that, it's just that she's always that excited by the prospect of a trip.
As a kid I sometimes felt like I'd never get to see anything. My family wasn't all that adventurous. We had been as far north as Syracuse, struck west into Ohio, and made one excruciating two day drive to Disney World. Over the past few years I've slowly but surely been able to check things off the list. I took 80 as far west as Wyoming. Then I checked off the rest of the midwest by driving back through route 70. But that trip was too much about escaping a bad situation. There was no time for the kind of care free curiousity and casual soul searching that make a road trip so great. In March Catie and I spent some time in Phoenix and Vegas. And we've been exploring New England one state at a time. Soon I'll be through with the US. The next big target is probably California, or Seattle. At some point in 2010 I want to be neck deep in the Pacific. When that happens, I know my travel partner will be right there with me.
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