Goth Panda

We went to see the Flight of the Conchords last night at the Tower Theater. Thanks to Tom for getting us the tickets! We had a great view of the show from right next to the lighting board, about midway back on the first floor.

I called in advance to see if they were letting people take photos, and had the following surreal conversation:

Me: Hi, I’m calling to see if photography will be allowed at the show tonight.
Employee: No, because of the flash.
Me: But what if I don’t use a flash?
Employee: Oh, that’s okay then.
Me: So, no-flash photography is okay?
Employee: Yes.

But there were tons of people taking flash photos throughout the show. I actually got reprimanded for taking photos. Some official-looking guy came up to me and motioned to my camera. “It’s okay, there’s no flash,” I told him. “No, you can’t use professional photo equipment,” he said. “Point-and-shoots are okay, but no extendable lens.” Uh, okay, Tower Theater. Way to get your policies coordinated. So then I absolutely did not take any more photos after that ever. None at all. Ahem.

It was very hard getting clear shots in any case because my telephoto lens was not made for low-light situations. If I had one of those awesome (read, awesomely expensive) Canon telephoto lenses, the photos would have been better, but I also probably would have been kicked out. So I guess this is a good compromise. I did wish I could have had a tripod, though.

The show was great, and after reading the Facebook comments about the drunks and rowdiness at the 10 p.m. show, I am very glad we went to the earlier show. I was also very glad we had seats. Because, again, I am old.

Kristen Schaal, a.k.a. Mel, opened for them and she was cute and funny.

Here she is pretending to be a sexy librarian.

A relationship metaphor out of cooking utensils.

The guys came out in robot suits, but did not play “Robots,” instead launching into “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor.”

Jemaine holds on his head to be able to play.

Jemaine forgets the lyrics to “Carol Brown.” The band assures us that it was not a mistake, that that’s the way the live version goes.

Mike and I were trying to figure out the high point of the evening. When Bret said he forgot the lyrics because he was dehydrated and Jemaine doused him with bottled water? When Jemaine threw aside a microphone stand that was in his way or got tangled up in the electrical cords? I personally liked when Bret was moving the microphone through the audience to have people sing, and Jemaine told him not to give it to everybody because there wasn’t enough time.

I still can’t quite believe that I used to drive to work. I am regretting that I didn’t make the change to commuting by train before last summer. Here are some of the reasons why commuting by train is better than driving:

• It takes less time.
• It is more relaxing.
• It is much cheaper.
• It is more direct.
• It is environmentally friendly.
• It is rarely annoying.

In addition, it provides me with ample opportunities to watch other people. Since most people leave for work at about the same time every day, I have gotten used to who will be there, depending on whether I am early or late. Since I am pretty much a recluse, I never talk to these traveling companions, but having them around provides a nice sense of familiarity.

Plus I like to look at what other people are wearing. My own style is very conservative — some might even say boring — so I like looking at what other people are doing and possibly pick up pointers.

I saw a woman on the train today who initially attracted my attention because she was wearing glasses similar to mine. I thought she looked around the same age as me, although that probably means she is several years younger. My self-image is firmly stuck in the past. Initially I thought she was dressed much smarter and more professionally than I was, but when I saw her again later, I realized this wasn’t exactly the case. She was wearing what I think of as casual fabrics. She had on a corderoy jacket with epaulettes — I am not a fan of epaulettes unless they are adorning an actual piece of military uniform — and a jean skirt. She was also wearing flat shoes, which endears a person to me, and I think she had a pastel scarf around her neck. Not a winter scarf, but a decorative scarf. I am always impressed with people who can wear decorative scarfs. I actually have several, but have never figured out a way to wear them that doesn’t make me look ridiculous.

A couple of months ago, I was reading some article on some website, and it made a casual reference to a plot point on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Except I didn’t understand the reference, because I never watched Buffy. I had never even seen one episode.

I thought to myself, I have missed something that is now so deeply embedded in our culture that casual references can be made to it in unrelated articles which I then don’t understand. And I don’t like not understanding things, especially cultural references.

So I queued the series into my Netflix and started watching it. And I was kind of surprised, because I liked it. I don’t know what I was expecting, but Season 1 was charmingly underbudgeted, and Seasons 2 and 3 were really good. There were some individual bad episodes, but for the most part, I was glad to be watching it.

Until Season 4.

People, I cannot get into Season 4. Is it just me, or did the entire series take a huge nosedive for this season? I am somewhere in the middle of it, but I haven’t watched an episode in weeks and I was pushing through them swimmingly before.

So my question is, should I give up on Buffy and assume that seasons 1-3 were as good as it got? Is there some later point that I should skip ahead to? As it is, I’m just not looking forward to going on.