The first season of the American version was originally aired by ABC in 2003. John Lehr was the host, and the ten contestants were Cris Judd, Melissa Rivers, "Stuttering" John Melendez, Bruce Jenner, Tyson Beckford, Maria Conchita Alonso, Downtown Julie Brown, Nikki Schieler Ziering, Alana Stewart, and Robin Leach. Judd won the series, with Rivers in second place, and Melendez placing third.
But I won't talk too much about the show, because you're either watching it too or you don't care. As far as what I've been up to lately, I'll work backwards, because that's about the only way I can think right now. I just literally spent the entire weekend in bed and on the couch. I had a minor cold, but a major backache. I don't know what I did to it, but it hurt to move...at all. Friday was the final straw for the back. It felt progressively worse as the day wore on, but I still had the Doves concert that night. Maybe the worst thing I could've done (standing around for 6 hours and trying to dance/sway with the music), I did. And then I paid for it all day Saturday and all day Sunday. Thank god for heating pads and ibuprofen. I'm feeling a bit better now, though, so it was worth it to take it easy (ie. waste my entire weekend).
So back to the Doves concert...I enjoyed it, but...it was really hard to forget about how much pain I was in. I feel like I would've liked it more had I been feeling better, but you can't always have everything the way you want it all the time. At least I got to go, right? They're a band that I never thought I would see live, so it was a nice surprise. They played a pretty tight set. Not too long, not too short. They gave us a little bit of banter, and they seemed in good spirits. Doves don't exactly play the sort of music that would make you jump around too much, so it was a much more mellow crowd than I've experienced lately. We also made a new acquaintance with great taste in music and talked with some cool people.
In fact, we ended up hanging out in front of the venue until after midnight talking with James, another Gapers Block staffer and friend of Jon's brother Matt. This inadvertantly led to us getting the opportunity to shake hands with the band and take a few photos as they left the venue. They were actually headed to Sheffield's after the show and I totally wanted to join them but it's probably for the best that we didn't. It would have been creepy to follow them and as I said, I was barely able to hold myself upright.
We got to see the new Pixar film, Up, on Wednesday. I feel like I enjoy each Pixar film more than the last and this was no exception. It was touching, funny, colorful, fun, sad, and much much more. From what I've read, lots of people agree, so if you haven't seen it yet, it's a pretty safe bet that you'll dig it. But if you can see it in 3D, please do.
Tuesday, we went all the way back up to our old hood to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Aragon Ballroom. The crowd was young. Really young. It was a little intimidating, considering that I'd worked a full 8-hour day and was still wearing my business clothing. I felt a bit old and a bit tired, but as soon as the music started that all went away. As if Karen O. weren't already the main event, the rest of the band were hidden in smoke for a good part of the show. She was all over the stage, though. It was the Karen O. show all the way, and she put on a damn good one. Her clothes, as always, were as loud as the music.
There was dancing, there was moshing, there was sweating like I've never experienced before. I was drenched head-to-toe when I left, and so was everyone else. Besides almost getting my hair ripped out of my head at one point, it was a really great time. The YYYs only played for a little over an hour, though, due to the all ages show and the two opening acts. I guess the curfew was 10pm, which is good, considering it was a week night, but also extremely limiting. As a side note, if you don't have their newest album, It's Blitz!, you should check it out. It's really excellent.
What did we do last weekend? No, seriously...I can't remember that far back. That's what I get for not blogging, eh? We didn't do anything on Monday, due to the rain and the fact that Jon was pretty sick. Oh, I remember! Patrick's (one of my co-workers) birthday was on Saturday (meaning two Saturdays ago, I guess) so we went to an awesome pub called Galway Arms. The place was pretty big, there's a huge patio, and GREAT music. That might be my new hangout place when I need to schedule a get-together.
I need to get ready for bed (this seems to be a theme in my posts...perhaps I should try to write faster and get this thing done earlier than 10pm), but I have one last piece of news that made me really happy this week. Warn the masses, THE CHARLATANS ARE COMING! That's right, my favorite band of all time will be making an appearance in Chicago this September. Now, while that seems like a really long time from now, I bought my tickets for the show this week. I could not be more excited! Not only are they playing at a teeny tiny venue (which holds about 550 people), this is the first time I won't have to travel to see them. First Reading Festival in England, then Orlando, then back to England at the Hammersmith Palais, now home sweet home Chicago at the Double Door. Tickets still available at the moment.
What more could a girl ask for?
