This is a pretty uneventful weekend.
Next Friday I'll be flying to New York. The whole trip is something that's just fallen into place very suddenly. I only knew I'd be going for sure on Monday. Of course I couldn't be happier about visiting the birthplace of rock and roll, comic books and Bill Murray, but the downside is, this means I have a bunch to do, and very little time to do it in. The most hectic thing is getting 3 weeks ahead at work while still dealing with my normal workload over the next week. This means I need to come into the office and work all day Saturday and Sunday, which is a bummer, but so totally worth it when I imagine seeing Bill Murray eating a bagel on some New York sidewalk.
So considering I'll be working so much, and then be gone for 3 weeks, Anja and I are trying to squeeze in as much hang out time as we can before I go. On Friday I go to her place from work. Cue drinking sundowners in the garden with Cam, Lindi, Jar and Rox. We have an awesome time hanging out, then head through to the Boh to watch Night Sky Empire. This is totally the best of the three shows I've seen them play. Anja and I get really into it, start freaking out. We're joined by Gordon, an old friend that's been way too scarce for way too long. While the rest of the Bohemian stands around we get down on a little 3 person dancefloor. Occasionally Thato steps off the stage, plays guitar and dances with us bring the number up to four.
This makes me think of the earliest Kidofdoom shows. In the outside world nobody knows this is even happening. Little dancefloors with a handful of people moving around to the sounds of this exciting new band.
Anja and I had planned to head home and rock some Heavy Rain after the gig, but we're having to much fun hanging out, drinking Zamaleks and catching up with Gordon.
As explained, I'm stuck at work on Saturday. Still, I take a break to head through to North Gate for geek-o-mania. RAGE, the countries biggest gaming expo is happening.
An event like this, in a county like this, is a little pointless. Nobody in the gaming industry really cares about South Africa. Nothing major is unveiled or announced or shown off. I must see about 50 screens showing Halo Reach, which, besides some richer graphics doesn't really seem any different from Halo 3 which was showcased here 3 years back. X-Box also have a few TV's showing off their new Kinect system, but other than having Lady Gaga as the soundtrack and making people use their arms as well as legs, it's not much different to a Dance Dance Revolution machine in a mall ten years ago. There are a bunch of games with people driving cars, kicking balls or wrestling, but how any of these are different from last year's drive-around, kick-balls, cuddle-men-in-speedos games I have no idea.
Beyond BT and Look and Listen nobody even seems to be selling games. Some colleges are trying to convince kids to study with them. People sell computer hardware. There are a couple anime stores. A place called "radical fashions" is selling shirts with skulls and wolves on them. The most amusing/ horrifying thing at the expo is the EA Sports area. They've got people wrestling in those giant sumo-suits. Between each fight some dude is promising the crowd free copies of the latest soccer game and getting people to chant "EA SPORTS! EA SPORTS!" like the nerdiest group of jocks on the planet. He also tells them things like "Who's your favourite games publisher, EA Sports." While checking out Vanquish I hear a husband and wife team about to face off.
"What's you're name Red Sumo?"
"Red fire!"
"And what's your name Blue Sumo"
"The Wife!"
*MC-man laughs*
"I guess we know who's gonna win this one!"
A few minutes later I'm walking past the EA stand while a group of men stand around a motionless sumo wrestler.
"Don't worry everybody, she's all right. She's just lying still so we can make sure everything is okay".
Cue awkward silence. And all i can think is "EA SPORTS! EA SPORTS!"
Besides running into Jarred Tennyson (who seems to have become my new partner in all geekfest related crime) the only other really exciting thing that happens is I buy myself a Nintendo DS. Which given the amount of traveling I'll be doing to, in and from the States, makes all kinds of sense to me right now.
In the evening Anja comes to hang out at my place. We spend most of the night playing Heavy Rain. Taking a brief break to rock some Chineese food and two episodes of Undeclared.
Sunday is work and work and sea and cake. Patrick and I hit Cafe Mexico for dinner. Ri, Coleen, Cale and Jason come by later in the evening. We watch Burning, the new Mogwai film.
Someday I'll finish writing about the second half of our last day at "T in the Park". Then you'll be able to read about how incredible it was for me to see Mogwai, in Scotland, closing their country's biggest music festival. For now let me just say that, watching Burning, I'm even more in awe of this band than i was when I saw them live. No doubt it has a lot to do with the beautiful shot, and fantastically edited footage. Mostly I guess it's hearing only the band, not the hundreds of people watching them. After burning we take a wee brake. Then rock the 2005 DVD "RGB" focused on the Japanese post rock superheroes Toe.
Toe are quite possibly my favourite instrumental band this side of Godspeed, and this DVD is something I've been wanting to see for ages. I've listened to RGB's sountrack countless times and finally getting to see it is just great. While the production value doesn't hold a candle to Mogwai's perfect "Burning", the rock and roll is just as (if not even more) awesome. Honestly, I feel like I have to see this band live, preferably in Japan.
Right now you may be wondering why you're reading a blog about some guy's not very exciting weekend where he just watched a live band, played video games, went to a gaming expo and then watched post rock DVDs. The answer is; maybe, you're a geek like me!
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