So Amanda Palmer played in Falls Church on Thursday this past week. I hadn't actually realized she was going to be in town, but the webgoblin's post alerted me to it, and I decided to go (even though I had some looong work hours going on this week). I am so glad I did. The show was fantastic. I've seen a lot of live shows (200+ or more, by now) but for only a small percentage does it really feel like the artist is coming out there and just giving their all to the performance. This show was one of that small percentage. (Which is what prompts my belief that Amanda should no longer be known as simply "AFP" but now by the extended name of "AFP: Fierce Fabulous." Because she really is.)

Anyway, I walked over to the State Theater from East Falls Church Metro because Mapquest promised me it was not more than a mile. It probably wasn't, but it kind of felt like it was, given that I was wearing heels. Oy. Fortunately I got there just before Amanda's pre-show interview and found the webgoblin, his wife, and their two friends (and Eden from Balticon, too, although she wasn't at the table) at their reserved dinner table. Amanda came on shortly thereafter for the interview, which was neat. She talked about a bunch of things, including whether her fans ever got too obsessed, and then The Nervous Cabaret came out and played. They were totally not what I expected from the name, but were a lot of fun. (Somewhere in here we also ordered food and drink. cleolinda, I ordered a Woodchuck and thought of you. Hee.) During the break between sets I went out quickly to find an ATM and also buy a tiny AFP button (so cute!) and met bethofalltrades, whom I have seen in my circles around LJ and Twitter but had not met. I also mentioned that some strange guy had sent me to the merch table, and got another little button for that (Yay, Neil!).

Amanda was on next and her set was totally fun. From my completely garbled notes on my phone notepad, it looks like the set list was:

Astronaut (yay!); Missed Me; Guitar Hero; Ampersand.

Break:
Here there were questions from the audience, including "Is the real reason this show is early because you are going to see New Moon with Neil?" (which she didn't really dignify with an answer, hee!) and "Why haven't you read all the Sandman books?" (Amanda then asked how many people had read all of Sandman, and waaay more people than she expected raised their hands), and also "Why did you shave your eyebrows?" She also read one of Neil's stories from Who Killed Amanda Palmer?

There was a question regarding how hard life on the road can be and whether she gets a break or weekends sometimes, to which Amanda replied: "We don't do weekends; weekends are *not* rock and roll." And then commented on her social life and said she's been learning to go places without her computer: "It's hard, but you can do it. Leaving your phone at home? It's hard, but you can do it. I'm going to start a seminar called, 'Doing it with Amanda Palmer.'" (Hee!)

Back to the music:
The Point of It All; Runs in the Family (yay!); Mandy Goes to Med School (Now! With Audience Participation! (which was great)); That's Not My Name (The Ting Tings); Coin-Operated Boy (yay!); House of the Rising Sun.

Encore:
One of Us Cannot Be Wrong (Leonard Cohen cover, maudelynn, I got this on video JUST FOR YOU); Oasis with Twist & Shout in the middle; Leeds United.

It was a great set.

I ended up staying for awhile afterward, since Amanda was signing things and taking photos. I hadn't really brought anything to sign but thought a photo would be nice. And then last minute I remembered I'd picked up the postcard for the show from the table, so I got that signed after all. :)

I took a fair few photos (which are here).

Also, thank you @amandapalmer, for posting a pic of the whole audience. I'm there! Behind the guy holding up the glass on the left.


The webgoblin with his Lorraine a' Malena shirt:



Dan, Eden, Lori, and me:



Amanda Palmer in action:





The *real* Amanda Palmer (this photo cracks me up; I think she was reacting to something a fan was showing her):



Amanda signing Who Killed Amanda Palmer?:



Amanda Palmer and me:




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In other news, today I went to my cousin's house for dinner and a visit with him, my sister, my BiL, and the baaaaaby. We got to see Chris's new house he's been fixing up, and he fixed us some awesome Midwestern fare for dinner (steaks, green beans, mac & cheese, corn on the cob...mmmm.) Also he took us downstairs and showed us a bit about how his DJ equipment works (he DJs in Adams Morgan every weekend). That was totally fun.


Super-baby Benji:



Smiling up at his auntie (and hey I sewed that ball for him! He loves it!):



Mommy and Benji:



Mmmm, dinner!



D'awwwwwwwww:



Benji loves me yes he does!



Silly boy:



Maybe he can flyyyyy!



Chris and some of his DJ equipment:



Silly me (the horns were a Halloween favor from the club. THEY LIGHT UP. AWESOME.):




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And now, linkspam, in great part from my Twitter Posse. (YO!)

Random Stuff Vaguely Related to Me

This is bizarre, but kind of interesting:

TheWhuffieBank.org - A New Social Currency

Apparently I am worth 95 "Whuffies" per month: OK then! (By way of comparison, Neil Gaiman is worth 25,775 W per month. Cleolinda is worth 1,845. (Heh, ask_deadpool is only worth 57. Ironically, on Twitter (which seems to be one way they measure), "he" has 4 times as many followers as I do, and is listed 3 times as much. So...not sure how accurate this thing really is.) I am not entirely sure of the point of this, either, although it appears eventually people with high standings could get, like, real stuff for it. Weird but interesting idea.

My grandma sent me this e-card. It is cute. Yay, pumpkin pie! I looooves it.

Via geekgirldiva: the Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test (Apparently I'm a "Modern, Cool Nerd; 61 % Nerd, 74% Geek, 17% Dork" I'm rather puzzled as to why it came out Nerd when I scored better on Geek, but not puzzled enough to try and figure it out. HEE. Here's the text:

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgeable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!)

Comics Nerdosity

The Merry Marvel Marching Society: The Voices of Marvel/Scream Along with Marvel" records re-mastered

You guys, this is freakin' awesome! It's audio files of two short records that were sent to the Marvel fanclub in the 1960's, with Stan Lee and a bunch of Marvel folks talking, plus songs. It's like a little bit of Marvel history. Seriously give it a listen.

Speaking of comics, Incorruptible, with Mark Waid, looks great.

Copyright Issues Again

Also in comics, Copyrighted comic book cover art used without permission:

A website called the Home of the Green Arrow, which supports the far-right British National Party in its "fight to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia," has co-opted Jock's art from the DC Comics miniseries Green Arrow: Year One for its banner. "This is leaving a horrible taste in my mouth," the artist wrote this morning on Twitter. He has contacted DC's legal department.

NOT COOL, BNP.

And speaking of copyright infringement, Shaun of the Dead director ripped off by The Times

Oh no you di'int! I love Edgar Wright. YOU DON'T STEAL FROM EDGAR WRIGHT.

Here's the original tribute.

The Guardian covers the story

And speaking of infringement:

Completely ridiculous UK government plan to create "Pirate Finder General"

These changes will give the Secretary of State (Mandelson -- or his successor in the next government) the power to make "secondary legislation" (legislation that is passed without debate) to amend the provisions of Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988).

What that means is that an unelected official would have the power to do anything without Parliamentary oversight or debate, provided it was done in the name of protecting copyright.

See the follow-up as well: Britain's new Internet law:

[The Digital Economy Bill] consists almost entirely of penalties for people who do things that upset the entertainment industry (including the "three-strikes" rule that allows your entire family to be cut off from the net if anyone who lives in your house is accused of copyright infringement, without proof or evidence or trial)

...

£50,000 fines if someone in your house is accused of filesharing. A duty on ISPs to spy on all their customers in case they find something that would help the record or film industry sue them (ISPs who refuse to cooperate can be fined £250,000).

But that's just for starters. ...

Writing and Publish-y Stuff

From blackholly (I think it was), Wall Street Journal article on "How to Write a Great Novel" (authors sharing their methods of writing).

Speaking of writers, Biographer Talks Ayn Rand and Her Hollywood Days

J.C. Hutchins discusses How the internet will change--but not kill--the tradtional publishing model.

Random Leftover Links

clockwork_zero, maker of faaaabulous steampunk jewelry (I have a great necklace and there are some earrings that will perhaps be in the works soon; ellen_datlow pointed me towards her in the first place and has several earrings I believe) has posted some Tips for Etsy Sellers (and it looks like she may be posting more) on her blog.

Gateses Give $290 Million for Education

A separate $45 million research initiative will study 3,700 classroom teachers in six cities, including New York, seeking to answer the question that has puzzled investigators for decades: What, exactly, makes a good teacher effective?

They should really just go study my mom, who is the MOST AWESOME TEACHER EVER. Really, she is. See also, my grandmother, back in the day.

And via alliancesjr, this made me laugh.

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And now? BEDTIME!

Tags: afp: fierce fabulous, alliancesjr, amanda, chris, cleolinda, comics, concerts, copyright, ellen datlow, family, jeff, law, linkspam, little ben, marvel, music, picspam, publishing, terry pratchett, twitter, wonderful neil, writing
Trixie feels: sleepy