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joeynelson
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Name: Joseph Conrad
Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
Gender: Male
Interests: i go to alabama and major in chemical engineering
Expertise: none
Occupation: Unemployed/Between Jobs
Industry: Hospitality
Message: message me
AIM:  jconrad346
Member Since:
3/8/2004
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| It's been a little over a week now since I went to voodoofest, and I have yet to write about it. Maybe the reason for this inaction is because I have described it to pretty much everyone I know, and thus did not want to describe it one more time. However, as it was such a once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable experience, I think it deserves to be retold one last time.
Voodoofest is 64 bands in 2 days. It is similar to woodstock and bonnaroo, but many of the bands are not as well known and there is no camping involved. It is seeing the strangest people you have ever seen in your life. One person I ran into had the long beard of an Amish guy, but wore a top hat, emo glasses, and a corduroy jacket. Another younger kid I couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy, as he/she looked like johnny depp in the newer willy wonka movie, only not in a good way. Another man that had the hair of legolas from lord of the rings was obviously on some kind of hallucinogen, as he ran around dancing with his shirt off the whole day. Everybody wore clothes that made them seem as if they were trying to be anti-conformists. To add even more strangeness to the attire, the event was held the weekend of halloween. As such, I had the pleasure of seeing many unusual costumes, including a very realistic devil and toweley the pot-smoking towel from south park.
Speaking of pot, I have never been around so much in my life. They actually sold bongs and glass pipes at the festival. When the good concerts began and you could hardly move, everyone seemed to pull the pot from nowhere and start smoking out of weird things like hi-liters and fake cigarettes. In case you are wondering it right now, no, I did not smoke any.
Now for the reason I went, the bands. More specifically, the reason I went was to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are flat-out amazing in concert. There was a distinct difference between the performances of the RHCP and that of any other band. They are the best at what they do, and they show that they have really fused as a band over the past 20 years. They have only gotten better with time. Flea and John Frusciante (the bassist and guitarist) are good enough to go crazy at any time, but they instead harmonize with the rest of the band. They played all of their most famous songs, and some not-so-famous ones. They didn't have as much new music, and that was a good thing. After ending 15 minutes earlier than their set was scheduled to end, the crowd encored them back onto the stage and they played a few more songs. Then, they introduced a new orleans band and played with them for 20 minutes straight.
Other bands of note were: The Flaming Lips, My Chemical Romance, Blue October, Social Distortion, A Broken Social Scene, Shooter Jennings, Juvenile (haha, he replaced Wu Tang Clan as if nobody would notice), and Pete Yorn. Oh yeah, Duran Duran also played, but I didn't see them. Of these bands, The Flaming Lips are definitely the coolest. The lead singer started the set off by climbing into a giant hamster-like blow-up balloon and crowdsurfing while the band played the first song. While everything on stage was set in psychadelic colors, aliens, santa clauses, and various super heroes (including captain planet and space ghost) lined the stage. Confetti was periodically shot into the crowd and balloons that inreased in size as the concert went on were also thrown into the crowd. After the final song, the lead singer blew up a 10-15-foot high balloon until it burst into dozens of grapefruit-sized balloons.
I would also like to add that My Chemical Romance sucks in concert, and their fans are ridiculous. The fans are overly dramatic, and are thus extremely annoying. It's really the lead singer's fault, as he is just as dramatic as they are. The songs all sounded identical to the radio's versions, if not worse. It seemed as if they were just going through the motions rather than really getting into it.
I also would like to say that I consistently made it to the front of
the crowd. This is no small feat, especially during the RHCP concert.
There must have been 30,000 people watching the same concert, all
packing themselves as close as possible to the front. I was even closer for the My Chemical Romance and The Flaming Lips concerts, mainly because they aren't as popular and don't have as many hardcore fans that make it impossible to inch forward as the RHCP do. Another reason is that every time people attempted to crowdsurf, which was alot of the time, it was possible in the less-popular sets to propel yourself forward as you "helped" the person surf.
All in all, the festival was the second-best thing that has ever happened to me. Erica is the first.
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Hustle, bustle, and, so much muscle
Cells about to separate
Now I find it hard to concentrate
And, temporary this
Cash and carry ‘em
Stepping up to indicate
The time has come to deviate
And, all I want is for you to be happy
And, take this moment to make you my family
And, finally you have found something perfect
And, finally you have found…
Death defying this
Mess I’m buying its
Raining down with love and hate
Now, I find it hard to motivate
And, estuary is, blessed but scary
Heart’s about to palpitate
Now, I’m not about to hesitate
And, want to treasure the rest of your days here
And, give you pleasure in so many ways dear
And, finally you have found something perfect
And, finally you have found…
(Here we go)
Do you want me to show up for duty?
And, serve this woman, and all of her beauty
And, finally you have found something perfect
And, finally you have found…
Yourself… with me, will
You, agree to take this man
Into your world
And now, we are as one
My lone ranger
The, heat-exchanger
Is, living in this figure eight
Now I do my best to recreate
And, sweet precision
And, soft collision
Heart’s about to palpitate
Now I find it hard to separate
And, all I want is for you to be happy
And, take this woman and make you my family
And, finally you have found someone perfect
And, finally you have found…
All I want is for you to be happy
And, take this woman and make you my family
And, finally you have found someone perfect
And, finally you have found…
Yourself | | |
| Last night, I awoke 2 hours after I fell asleep. As I awoke, I could hear a deafening noise close by. I initially thought that the morning had once again come too soon, and the alarm was just my usual alarm clock going off, its deafening blasts amplified by my desire to stay in bed. Imagine my surprise when I look out the window to a dark sky! As I look to the clock, I groggily think that I have imagined the alarm and am thankful that I still get to sleep for another 5 hours. However, as my rational thought process starts to kick in, I come to the conclusion that the blaring noise is not going away, that something must be wrong. Charles, my roommate, storms in the room and tells me that we have to leave the building. After we get outside to wait with the rest of the tired and angry Riverside East inhabitants, we realize that the outside temperature is most likely below 60. Needless to say, we were no longer tired. After waiting about 30 minutes, we made our way back up to the room, where it took me a while to get in the sleeping mood again. I almost fell asleep in every single one of my classes today.
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| There was another wreck that involved bikes. Fortunately, I wasn't involved this time. Apparently, a drunk driver drove through the fence near my dorm, and took out both bike racks. More than 20 bikes were damaged, along with the concrete and of course, the fence. It was this guy's first day in his daddy's new Mustang which he had borrowed, and he decided to take it for a ride to see how fast it would go right after he went to a frat party. Somehow, he managed to turn his car completely around, so that the back bumper is not even there anymore. After he crashed into the bike racks, he left the scene and parked his car in the Riverside parking lot. When cops looked for the culprit the next day, they didn't have to search hard, because the car still had a bike stuck under it. Luckily, the crash happened at around 2 or 3 in the morning, so nobody was around to get hurt. The funny part about this story is that my bike was among the few that did not get trashed. It is a beast! I am now convinced that it will survive WWIII if it ever occurs .
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| "Hey man, what's up?"
"Nothin' much, you wanna meet me at Burke at 12:00?"
"Hold on, I have a beep."
"Speak."
"What's goin' on, friend?"
"Oh, I was just talkin' to Sam about goin' to Burke for lunch."
"Yeah, that's what I was callin' for. Today's the last day, you know."
"I know man, I've been thinkin' about that steak ever since Cal this morning. It's a shame they aren't doing this any more."
"Alright, well I'll see you at 11:30, it's goin down!"
"Lata playa"
"You know, it's rude to talk to the phone in front of people."
"Oh, shut up Wang Wang. We had important matters to discuss."
"Like what?"
"Like today is the last day for steak at Burke!"
"What about seafood?"
"Yeah, that too."
"No! I guess I'll go today then. Well, I gotta go, I'm goin' to Cal and class starts in like 5 minutes."
"Holla at a balla."
"Peace from the East! (He is asian)!"
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