TrickyBuddha Studios

Tonight we went to Grand Rapids, Michigan to catch the Nine Inch Nails show. Here’s a write-up of the night.

Ken and Mychelle picked us up on their way to the show from Chicago. We got there a bit early so we hung out at a TGI Friday’s for a bit and munched some food. Maybe 20 minutes before the 8pm start time, we walked over to the Van Andel Arena - wandering past a few “you’re going to Hell” protesters along the way.

We found our seats and at 7:58pm, amazingly, the show started. I don’t know that I’ve ever been to a concert that started on-time.

The opening act was a Japanese band called Boris. They were pretty decent and I got more into them the longer they played. Or maybe they just played better songs near the end of their set? Either way, they weren’t too bad for an opener.

Right about 9:30pm, NIN started up their set. I don’t remember the specifics of their playlist but it was a decent blend of their full catalogue and lasted about two hours.

Aside from the almost-perfect renditions of their tunes (Candice said it was like listening to the CDs), the stage was the big treat and, in fact, the reason we road-tripped the two-plus hours to Grand Rapids instead of seeing them at Lollapalooza in Chicago.

NIN uses three high-tech, see-through net or curtains (except at Lollapalooza) that display images like a monitor. At the start of the show the one at the back of the stage showed ambient imagery. Then the curtain in front dropped down so that the band could interact with it. For example, Robin Finck came out and pressed large empty squares on the curtain. Each time he touched a square it filled in and created a drum beat for one of the songs. At another point, the screen displayed static and obscured the band, but each time Trent Reznor sang it created a small opening so that we could see through.

Here’s a YouTube video showing off each of the effects in a five-minute clip. You have to see it.

All in all a good night but I think we’re going to check in early so we can head back out to Chicago tomorrow to see Joey again before he leaves.

(today’s post: 224 words)

Yesterday I gained a car (I forgot to mention that earlier. It’s nice to have it back and it looks great. I should take pics.) but lost a wallet. Today I:

• Called the Chicago police and reported my wallet as lost;
• Called the “big three” credit agencies and started the process to set up a fraud alert;
• Visited the local Indiana BMV and received a new license;
• Visited my local Allegius bank and had my account transferred and a new bank card ordered;
• Bought a new wallet (thanks Candice!);

This is in addition to last night, when I initially had my two credit cards canceled, the accounts transferred, and new cards ordered. Whew! That’s a lot going on while also planning for a NIN road trip tomorrow and getting to see Joey last night.

One final point related to my car, the final total came in at $4226.94! Ouchers. Thankfully I had insurance and thankfully Geico is happy to cover it. Originally I said I would have to pay Geico until August of 2012 before I’ll have given them as much money as they have given me. Now that my claim has been updated, it will be February of 2014, based on my current rates, before I have given Geico more money than they have given me.

I’m home pretty late tonight but that was expected! In fact, I had even planned around getting home late in regard to the site by having the idea that I would post some pictures.

Quick n’ easy!

And what were the pictures going (yes, sharp-eyed reader… there are no pictures-to-come in this post) to be? Pictures of me and Candice and Lisa heading to Chicago to spend some time with my cousin Joey! That’s right, Joey’s in town for a wedding.

Well, everything worked perfectly (more on that in a moment) but, unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures! Part of it was the excitement of getting to hang out with Joey after having not seen him for maybe five years now, but part of it was also the distraction of having lost my wallet tonight.

let’s pretend this *old* pic of me and Joe is recent for the sake of this post :p and let’s also pretend that Candice and Lisa are in it.

Fortunately on the latter, I didn’t have much in my wallet. I had a couple credit cards, a debit/credit card, a Costco card, a grocery store coupon card, and maybe a few other random junk items. I also had my social security card in there (yeah, yeah, I know… now). We called the banks and everything got shut down. Not sure if someone actually has my wallet, but if they do they’re only getting about $15 out of the deal. And my all-too-hot driver’s license. Maybe they can make a little shrine.

Back to the night, getting there was probably more complicated than it should have been (thank you, Google maps) but it was such a joy to hang out with Joe and have Lisa and Candice there. It was their first time meeting. I got to catch up on the goings-on of that side of the family (my dad’s sister), meet Joey’s girlfriend, and even talk to my Aunt for a bit on the phone. So all in all a good night. But now I’m tired, so goodnight.