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I must say that I was more excited to see The Mars Volta than I was System Of A Down even though I just saw The Mars Volta twice a couple months ago. Being that I dont know what people are into these days I just assumed that everyone was there for The Mars Volta just as much as they were for SOAD.  Little did I know..

We had VIP general admission tickets and I assumed that as soon as The Mars Volta started that everyone would start pushing forward and it would be a mess as with most big shows, but it wasnt anything like that.  I had plenty of room and no problems getting to the front.  I looked around and people seemed bored.  As usual, they played about 4 or 5 songs and each one was stretched out for 15-20 minutes.  I, personally do not mind that, but it didnt seem to be the case for most of the audience. 

The guitar seemed to drown out everything else, and because Cedric has such an incredible voice, it was very sad that the vocals were very low.  The sound was horrible. This was my fourth time seeing them and it was with out a doubt their worst performance.  Other than the sound being terrible, they didnt seem as into it as normal.  It was almost as if watching a rehearsal.  When they were done, I heard someone next to me saying, "that was the longest most annoying show I have seen, I dont think they realize that we are not even here to see them."  He seemed very young, so I’m not sure how many shows he actually been to, but thats beside the point. 

I respect the fact that they do their own thing. It doesnt seem that they care what their audience wants.  I think they play what they want and dont really care if people are not into it, either that or they want to open up peoples minds and introduce them to something new, even though it really isnt all that new.  Im sure that they did not gain any fans last night.  People either love them or hate them.  I can sit there and listen to their instrumentals for hours, I dont mind, but if they want to expand their audience and reach out to everyone, they need to add two more songs to their set and shorten those instrumental parts just a bit.  If they did that, I’m sure everyone would have been blown away. People just do not seem ready for what they are doing right now. 

System Of A Down on the other hand, were amazing, they were tight and every song was perfect.  They started with the first song off Mesmerize.    They played songs from every record (did I say record?) and I was so happy they ended with a couple from their first album (which is my favorite).  They even played a song from their new album, that is coming out in November which I am super excited about now.  Unfortuantely, by the time the show was over, I think most people didn’t even remember that they just saw The Mars Volta.

Normally I hate big arena shows, but there was something about the show last night that was so perfect.  I felt like I was 16 again being tossed around from one pit to another with sweat dripping down.  It was amazing to be all the way up front and look back to see the arena filled up with thousands of people with their arms up singing along to every word.  I honestly have not had that much fun at a show in a very long time.

Perhaps I played out SOAD a little too much for myself a while back, because when Mesmerize came out, I didnt even buy it right away, but after last nights performance, I just want to listen to it right now, and I cant wait till the new one comes out in three months.

The Mars Volta is still my favorite band right now, but someone asked me after the show, If that were a battle of the bands, who would have won?  My answer, With out any doubt, System Of A Down.

It’s been just over 3 weeks since I have had a cigarette. After about 15 years of smoking I decided…. enough!
3 weeks of chewing straws, always having gum and gaining weight from eating so much. I’ve been irritable and everything annoys me.

I’ve learned this week that I will never plan an event/ party/ get together no matter how small or large, I will never be the one to organize ever again. It is impossible to make everyone happy and no matter what decision I make, someone will hate me when all I try to do is make everyone happy and have a good time. So I’m done!

I have read posts and had discussions with several people about The Gates.
It’s irrelevant whether someone thinks it’s a beautiful work of art or just these ugly orange things that look out of place. It is art, and everyone is allowed to think and feel whatever they want about it.

In my opinion, when I looked at it from a distance, I was like, "so what" no big deal, nothing special, but when I finally went in the park, and saw it up close I was pretty amazed by the size of it, and what it all represents. The curtains represent the curvy- serpentine like sidewalks of the park, whereas the poles being in a square shape are for you not to forget that you are surrounded by tons of buildings just outside of the park. If you look at it from one of the tall buildings, it gives sort of an appearance of a golden river that is broken up by the naked winter branches of the park trees. Then again- this is art, not everyone likes it, not everyone hates it, and everyone has a very different, unique acceptable opinion.

Also, the exhibit created over 1,000 jobs in NYC, and everything was paid for by Christo and Jeanne Claude from their prior art that has been sold, they do not profit on this at all, it is all being torn down and nothing will be sold, it will all be recycled, there are tons of maps and photos and books etc. being sold and the artists will not get any of that, any money that is made from the merchandise is going to Nurture New York, associated with the Carriage House Center for Global Issues Foundation and the Central Park Conservatory. It’s what the artists chose to do with the money that they have earned from their art.

It has become a huge attraction and the park has been packed every single day, people are coming to NY from all over the world to view this which is also creating money for NYC, hotels, restaurants, stores, etc.
But people are criticizing, and saying how dare they spend so much money on this.
The Gates was a work in progress for 21 years. It was only now that they received permission to actually put it up, if you go to their website, they do huge outrageous displays of randomness all over the world, it’s pretty amazing!

How dare they flaunt all this money in NY, people say? There are people dying all over the world. So what does that mean, should they forget their dream that they have been working on for 21 years and give all their money to the dying people all over the world? They have art all over the world, which is probably creating there everything is does here in NY.

No matter where or when people donate anything, not that this is what it was, it should always be appreciated, a donation is a generous gesture. It’s not suppose to be anything but art really and this piece of art work just happens to help out NY.

How can anyone say what someone should and not do with their earned money? We do not know where the rest of their money goes; we do not know how much they contributed to the Tsunami relief effort, or to the children dying in Sudan. If you got a bonus, and decided to do some extra clothes shopping this week, nobody is going to tell you that are terrible for spending it on clothes when there are people starving in the world.

It’s art… that’s all it is, love or hate it. I saw it again this past Sunday with the sun shining and the wind blowing and it was even more beautiful than the 1st time I saw it.