des noise: HIS BOOK OF PLOTS WAS THE ONLY THING LOST

1/18/10

HIS BOOK OF PLOTS WAS THE ONLY THING LOST

"Let's experiment w/ captions, shall we?"

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but there's no rest for Mrs. Des Noise, the teacher (unusual, I know!)-- or for Des Noise either, of course. Is there ever? The two-day weekend certainly didn't feel like three days, but it felt like we packed in enough for them. After dinner Friday with my wife's family in honor of her birthday, a fun-filled Saturday peaked with ASKLAGANDAGANZA III, i.e., the third annual birthday concert for Vaudeville Mews booker Ladd Askland. If you weren't in the room to see the Poison Control Center headline that night, there's nothing I can say to convey what an un-self-consciously awesome time it was. Just, a roiling, fist-pumping crowd sing-along of spilled drinks and bodies flying back and forth between stage and floor. I missed Derek Lambert's opening set, but I did get to see him up there grinning, fighting to keep his shirt on, after helping PCC out as one of a rotating cast of two bass players along with Elliot Imes. I did get to see Ladd stage-dive. I saw PCC's guest drummer, Dave, who was totally coincidentally (no! really!) wearing a purple Northwestern shirt. I saw TJ win third annual Man of the Year honors (congrats, TJ!). I saw Patrick Tape Fleming do the splits, and Devon Frank, who had driven up from grad school in Missouri, rolling around on the floor with his guitar in the air. I saw Pat carrying Ladd's brother on his shoulders. I didn't see PCC drummer Donald Curtis (grad school-related conflicts) or bassist and past Man of the Year Joseph Terry (North Carolina)-- they were missed, but the crowd energy was better than New Year's Eve (but what is Asklandaganza if not better than New Year's Eve?). I also saw the Autumn Project, who I'd never seen before, and who put on a conversation-stoppingly loud, masterfully precise, slightly epic (but what is Asklandaganza if not epic?) set of emotion-wracked instrumental rock, "post-rock" really. I saw Amedeo and @namedpipe and many other Des Moines friends, too. A dance party broke out; the DJ played Beck and Depeche Mode and early New Order.

Philosophy Ph.D. students use their heads.

Sorry for the trivial post (went to trivia night with Bob Nastanovich at the Hessen Haus, too!)-- I wish I had a good quote from Dr. King to share on this important holiday (check out Pat's blog, or a Virginia professor's excellent column in the Register this morning, or your usual commentary sources, for that), or deep thoughts on all the tragic headlines. I'm thankful for what I've got.