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’nuff said.

I’m in the middle of Khaled Hosseini’s sophomore novel A Thousand Splendid Suns and have been compelled to learn more about Afghan life. Flipping through photos on Flickr, I found this gem of a shot.

Image via Natalie Behring

As previously mentioned, Radiohead came to Charlotte last night. Having sold my soul for somehow managed to score a pit ticket, I was incredibly hyped for the show. Calculating what food to liquid ratio would best prepare me to claim my spot in the crowd and not urinate for 2½ hours, I stood nervously anticipating the start of the show. After a rather disappointing performance by the Liars – the hundred or so ceiling to floor vertical lights were rolled out and I was immersed in auditory and visual euphoria… Their performance was absolutely brilliant.

Couple of highlights:

1. They played a mix of old and new material – see below.
2. Thom having everyone “stand still” so Colin could take a picture of the crowd.
3. Them playing Talk Show Host from the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack.
4. The crowd instantaneously breaking out into cattle noises when stuck in pedestrian traffic after the show.
5. Taking some pictures I am quite proud of:

Set list (Courtesy of At Ease)
1. All I Need
2. There There
3. Airbag
4. 15 Step
5. Nude
6. Sail to the Moon
7. Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi
8. Myxomatosis
9. Idioteque
10. Morning Bell
11. Videotape
12. Optimistic
13. Where I End and You Begin
14. You and Whose Army?
15. Everything In Its Right Place
16. Bangers and Mash
17. Bodysnatchers

Encore 1
18. Go Slowly
19. Talk Show Host
20. Exit Music (For A Film)
21. Planet Telex
22. House of Cards

Encore 2
23. Paranoid Android
24. Reckoner

Great series of short videos advertising a new file hosting site drop.io. The service itself is a pretty interesting and well developed concept. Take the content sharing features (image, video etc.) from social networking sites, minus any notion of social networking and voilà; drop.io.

Watch ‘em all!

So the band I have obsessed over for the majority of my music listening life is not only coming to the state I currently reside in for the first time in my life – but also the same city. Yes, Radiohead is coming to Charlotte NC. At first: OMFG Hellz Yes! Secondly: WTF? Charlotte. Really? Charlotte isn’t typically one of the hot spots large music tours grace. But then again, Radiohead isn’t a typical band (sorry – I cant resist interjecting cliché fan speak). Though their decision to come here does confuse me. Shortly before it was announced their 2008 tour locations, the band blogged about research conducted around the carbon footprint they leave behind when on large tours. Not surprisingly, the largest contributor to carbon emissions are the tens of thousands of fans transporting themselves to each event. As a result, the band said they would choose locations that would make sense from a fan transportation perspective. Particularly, large cities with effective public transportation systems. Charlotte, more a sprawling suburbia than a major city, just doesn’t fit that mold at all. Not only is it an automobile centric city – but the venue that they choose, Verizion Wireless Amphitheater, the nearest CATS bus stop is 3 miles away. To the band’s tour planning credit – there are some interesting incentives in other cities for people to use more eco-friendly transport. Charlottians on the other hand are “encouraged to carpool.”
Regardless of why they chose Charlotte – I applaud the green tour effort and I crap my pants in excitement that I will finally get to see them live. Anyone out there with pit tickets willing to barter/sell?