2nd Verse/Same As 1st

I know everyone wants more out of me than just a blog about a panther. For everyone who I don't get to bug on a daily basis (a good 98% of the people I know), here's some stuff.

I hate apartments. More like, I hate the process of getting an apartment. Credit checks, faulty faxes, landlords, security deposits X2, it's such a hassle and a very complicated process. Just give me a key! I want to live in Astoria!

Me and my roommate met our real estate guy last night and he took us up to an office, leading us straight through the Democratic Party of Astoria's meeting. Nothing like going up stairs and opening a door to see a room full of people listening to one person speak about real issues. Or something, I didn't hear what they were talking about, I was attempting to bury my face in the floor while walking to the office. Our real estate guy was then yelled at by some dude in the office for disrupting the meeting. Crazy awkward and it moved us along a centimeter in the mile that is getting this apartment.

Last night was probably the most fun I've had in a long while. I met up with Jessica and her travel buddy Cubby to go see a very enjoyable show at The Magnet Theater. This was my third time there and it was indeed a charm. Cage Match followed at UCB, where two more of my 201 classmates were waiting in line. I'm liking this "seeing people I know" thing. Who knows, maybe I'll give up sitting by myself? Reuben Williams was half there, but Joe, Sanders, Eric and King were a fantastic foursome. Beverly Hills gave a solid show as well; I really enjoy seeing them and see them grow every time. It seems like they've really started to hit a stride in their performance.

The post-show events were even better; I love meeting new people (that's a change) and the people I met were indeed great. I'm going to see the Yes Andersens (Magnet team) again on Saturday night. Definitely looking forward to it.

Sunday is my 201 improv practice session and class, so it'll be an eventful day. I'm starting to get more involved in UCB, asking questions and actually talking to people. This is quite possibly the best thing to happen to me since being up here and I feel like I'm starting to come into my own. I realized, well I realized it a long time ago and this is just proving a point, I realized the other night that I need something to get lost in and something to devote all of my waking hours to.

In high school I did this with my circle of friends; we were all so incredibly tight and it seemed like we spent an enormous amount of time together. Serious jobs and adult obligations being nonexistant in high school, this was easy. I did this with the Features heavily for the first year of college and then less so throughout. Promoting them, going to all their shows, making mix CDs for friends. The movie theater became my obsession when I worked there only because it was impossible to not become obsessed, working there as much as I did. I blogged about it, wrote two episodes of a sitcom based on it, and documented my life there with my wee little spy camera. This did not happen at Payless or Books-a-Million. Moving on. MTTV became my primary focus and will forever be the obsessive thing to which all obsessive things are measured against. My work there got me to New York, so the days where I would do three or four live broadcasts on top of going to class and working paid off. UCB is becoming this and I know it's going to provide as many opportunities as MTTV did.

Now for the namesake of the blog, conversations I had last night have rekindled my love of a certain era of music, one that I immortalized in an iPod mix back in January. It's called "2nd Verse/Same As 1st" and features 20 highlights from 1976-1981.

1. The Ramones "Judy Is A Punk"
2. The Jam "In The City"
3. Talking Heads "Pulled Up"
4. Television "Marquee Moon"
5. Wire "Ex-Lion Tamer"
6. Devo "Uncontrollable Urge"
7. Elvis Costello & The Attractions "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea"
8. The B-52's "Rock Lobster"
9. The Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love?"
10. The Clash "Clash City Rockers"
11. Gang Of Four "I Found That Essence Rare"
12. Squeeze "Slap & Tickle"
13. The Undertones "Teenage Kicks"
14. XTC "Making Plans For Nigel"
15. Echo & The Bunnymen "Do It Clean"
16. Liliput "Split"
17. The Pretenders "Tattooed Love Boys"
18. Pylon "Feast On My Heart"
19. The Soft Boys "I Wanna Destroy You"
20. Mission Of Burma "Outlaw"

I listened to this today. And all of Marquee Moon. Good times.