imported from Blogger – Page 8 – WIL WHEATON dot NET

Nugget

Well, someone has been out of town.
Someone has been too busy to update his website.
Someone has been spending time with his wife, instead of his posse.
I think we all know who I’m talking about…
Damn you, Adam Curry!! Write a damn story about Ace of Base, already!
So I’m back from outerspace, and I just came in to find you here with that sad look upon your face. I changed my stupid IP, I even changed my URL. The only thing left to do is put up pics of naked girls!!
Yes! Rhymin and stealin.
Enough with the vague references, Wheaton. Get to the point.
Yes. Sorry about that. I bet you’re wondering where the hell the Star Trek updates are, and why the hell you can’t comment on these little perls of wisdom that fall from my mouth behind the firehouse, to say nothing of the absence of Soapbox and galleries.
Well, first things first: The Trek updates are being *gasp* edited by me. They’re important, and I want them to be just so, and that means it’s taking time. Hey, it was worth the wait for the slashdot interview, right? (wasn’t it? ::fret::)
The comments will be returning when I get Movable Type all configured to my liking, and I import all the old entries from Greymatter. Soapbox will return when we get the server issues worked out. I think we’ve moved now, but I haven’t had a chance to talk with loren, so I don’t know.
What I really want to talk about today, is Amway. But I won’t. What I will talk about, though, is the KWOD Boomer and The Dave’s Twisted Christmas concert last night, where I got to sit in with the band “Nine Inch Males” and play my harmonica, and stuff.
How’d all this come about? When I was going to be on Weakest Link, NBC asked me if I’d do some press for them, to promote the show. I told them that I’d dig that, and they gave me a HUGE list of radio stations to call for some live interviews. Normally, I’d link to the old entry about this, but…yeah. Broken. Sorry. Take my word for it.
One of the stations I called was KWOD in Sacramento. I used to listen to the morning show on KWOD (That’s pronunced “Quad” not “Kay-Wad”) when I’d go to visit my brother up in Hella (which is what we called Sacramento back then) while he was working and living up there. So I sort of felt an affinity for Boomer and The Dave, and I told them that. We had a GREAT interview, and The Dave asked me if I’d be interested in coming up on December 10th to be part of the Twisted Christmas show. He mentioned that Cake would be playing.
That’s all it took. Cake is in my top 3 bands of all time. The only reason they’re not number one is because I have this sad attachment to Depeche Mode from when I was a kid…but I’m getting help for it.
So, long story longer, I piled me, my wife, my brother and his fiancee into a rental beast, and we drove to Hella on Sunday. I did the morning show with Boomer and The Dave on Monday morning, and then attended the concert last night.
It was so goddamn cool.
We got to go backstage, in this big arena. Now, it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten to do that, and it was exactly like “Almost Famous”, as totally lame as that sounds. But it’s true. Anne, Jen and I ate dinner backstage, with the roadcrew, and sat at the same table as the guitarist for Cake. Now, when we were sitting there, I didn’t know that he was who he was, which I guess is okay…if I hadn’t been going on and on about how much I love Cake and that I can’t believe I’m getting to see the best band ever…fortunately he didn’t say anything, which is good, because I would have been pretty damn embarassed. I mean, it would be like me sitting within earshot of some Trekkie completely freaking out about TNG, or something. But it was totally cool. Eating beef stroganoff, which I normally hate, but, hey, it was Rock Food (TM), so it was okay by me.
After eating, we got to go meet some of the bands who were playing the show. Tantric was really cool, even though I’m not crazy about their music, while 2/3 of Alien Ant Farm was really cool. Let me tell you something about AAF: The lead singer was really nice, the bass player was beyond cool (even gave me an autograph for Nolan, who is crazy insane for them), while the guitar player was a complete dick. I was stunned at what a complete A-hole he was, and how badly he treated all these kids who were waiting to get his autograph. Made me glad that I really go out of my way to make people feel good when I’m doing autographs for them. Also made their music less enjoyable for me to listen to, knowing what a jerk that guy was. I sure hope he was just having a long day( I know they’ve been on tour awhile).
Now, here is how much I love Cake: I actually waited in line so I could meet them, and tell them how much I love their music. It was funny, because with each passing moment, I got more excited, and more nervous, fearing that they would be lame, like the AAF guy was…and, again, it reminded me of what it’s like to be on the other side of that autograph table. It was some nice perspective.
Finally, I get to the table, and I tell the first two guys, “I don’t have anything for you to sign, but I just wanted to tell you how much I love your music, and how much it means to me.”
I was trying my best to not sound like a freak…I mean, there’s a fine line between “I really love your music” and “I’m a complete freak who drove 6 hours to see you”. I know, because I’ve met both of those people, many, many times, at conventions.
I guess I didn’t come off too badly, because I met the whole band, and they were all cool to me! Even the lead singer, who I’d been warned could be kind of a jerk from time to time. They were so nice to me, and totally made me feel like they cared that I liked their music. I was so moved, that after I walked away, I ran back, to tell them thank you for being so cool and nice, because I’m always afraid that the people I admire will be dicks when I meet them. The lead singer told me that it really meant a lot to them, that I went back there and told him that, because he worries that people think he’s a jerk from time to time. So that was really cool.
The show starts, and I play my harmonica with the Nine Inch Males, and I was told that I “wailed”. Wailed! YES! ROCK!
**METAL FIST**
**DEVIL HORNS**
I totally got to tell a guy to “rock out with your cock out”. It was hellarad. Hella. Hella. Hella.
Tantric played, and they sounded really good, then AAF played, a great show which I would have really loved if that guy hadn’t been such a dick. Then it was Sum 41, who were amazing, even though I’m not really into them. They also came off as really nice guys, too.
Then, it was time for Cake.
Oh.
My.
Farking.
God.
They are even better live than I could have ever hoped for. They just owned that place, and their stage presence was incredible. They were just beyond cool. They played nearly all of my favorite songs, including “Stick Shifts and Safety Belts”, “Nugget”, “Never There”, and “Sheep Go To Heaven”. They closed with an amazing, haunting, beautiful version of “Jolene”.
If Cake is ever coming to to a show within 6 hours of your house, you simply must go.
Matter of fact, if you don’t have them already, you MUST get their new CD Comfort Eagle, and my personal favorite, Fashion Nugget.
It was a GREAT 36 hours, which I got to spend with my wife and brother, and future sister-in-law. A huge thank you to my brother’s friend Bill, who let us sleep on his floor, to Boomer and The Dave at KWOD 106 for inviting us up, and, especially, to CAKE for not being dicks, and giving me the most memorable concert experience since I saw the Concert For The Masses back in 1989.
I gotta take more road trips like this one.
All that other stuff will be worked out in the next few days, promise. 🙂

A sort of Homecoming

It’s 1:15 in the morning. The crew is tired. I am tired. Most of the cast has been released, and it’s only me, Patrick, and Gates left, along with about 30 background actors. It’s the last shot of the night, and we’re finally doing my scene.
We block it, rehearse it once, and then we shoot it. It’s a pretty complicated shot, camera-wise, and I can tell that the director is getting frustrated with the constant re-takes, and we all know that the studio will not let us go past 1:30., so there’s a touch of urgency in the air.
Late on a Wednesday night. Long hours. Most of the cast has been released, because they’ve got a long doy tomorrow.
It’s like I never left, and I love it.
There’s much, much more, but I have to go back to the studio in a couple hours, and I’ve got other work to do, so I’ll write more tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ve made notes, so I won’t forget.
A few highlights of the day:
*Hanging out with John Logan, who is as excited to me me as I am to meet him.
*Talking with Rick Berman, realizing that we are “cool” with each other.
*Having dinner with Brent.
*Racing about the lot with Jonathan in his golf cart.
There is so very, very much more. Check in tomorrow.
I hope everyone is having an awesome day.