FREEZEPOP FOREVER

last nite i went to see freezepop. when i lived in boston, i saw them a few times and i always have fun. my friends weren't into them, but i like them because their fans are nice and no one cares about being a hipster. it was nice to be with just real people who wanna bop around. i mean how many guys and girls can we see every day wearing black eyeliner and miss sixty jeans?

i met my friend shannon for drinks before heading over to the show. freezepop has not been to philly since i have been here, so i was quite giddy to see them. they are a cute electro synth pop band that writes songs about pop music, crushes, science, etc. my outer and inner geekdom is always satisfied by them.

we missed the first opening band. prolly because we were out and i insisted on ordering a grilled cheese and bacon samwich. what can i say, i graze. i eat like every 4 hours. so if you see me out and about, don't be surprised if i have food on me or in my mouth.

we caught the second opening band, boy in static. . this band is also from boston. it was two dudes, one white guy and one asian guy. there was a drum machine and then the asian guy whips out an electric viola! my jaw dropped and i was excited to see an electric viola! i mean come on. that is like super asian. i was all eager to talk to him after the show about it since i play and i was listening to his pick up on his viola, etc.

turns out the asian guy, alex chen is also a member of freezepop. he goes by the stage name french ghost. there were peeps there who were chatting with me and told me this info. they were convinced they had seen me in pittsburgh the night before. i told them it was my clone.

anyhow, after the show had ended and it was a fun one. freezepop is good at getting the crowd clapping and reminds of what happens to ravers and the big pants crowd. they come here to get their dose of techno/electro. freezepop is friendly and funny and honestly just down to earth. i think i stood in the first row with a big ass grin.

as the show ended with their pop cover of journey's "don't stop believing" and then closing out with a favorite, foreigner's "final countdown" i made sure to find the asian viola player. i totally scoped him out so i could chat him up about string instruments. i know. geeky.

he is a nice guy and when i told him i play violin/fiddle and that my electric violin looks like something prince would play. seriously, it is hot pink and modern looking. anyhow, he laughed and he told me he uses the pick ups for his viola for live shows, not for recording. then he was checking his iphone and both he and my bff, jonathan, were talking about their iphones. i responded that i was not giving into this iphone epidemic because i would look super asian with an iphone. alex laughed. i told them i was happy with my tank/sidekick3.

after the tech/shop talk, i asked alex if i could take my pic with him. (gosh, who is acting all asian now?!) and he said yes. ok, so i took about 3 pics. i threw down my gang signs and put on headphones to make it even more asianlike kitch. after the photo op, alex asked me if i had a flickr account. i said i was going to post it on my blog. he laughed. i dont know if it was from amusement or sympathy or due to the late hour, who knows. dude, it's a blog party. get with it!

i think i should email him the pic. but perhaps that is way too creepy?

oh also, the other guy in the band, i think his last name is diamond. i wanted to tell him that if we got married, my name would be "pearl diamond." hot. omg, another prince reference. whoa.

oh yeah, my renewed pet peeve. why is it the tallest people and i am talking about like amazon tall peeps gather together and stand right in front of me? one guy stood in front of me and i sighed loudly and then i said in a soft voice, "can you not stand there please?" but he could not hear me from the bottoms of the bar floor. he was up in the clouds. grrr. do i have to wear high heels out now?! seriously, cut this little mushroom a break!

all roads lead to..cake?

i am not from a big family. the typical nuclear family. my childhood memories are filled with aromas of pho, spring rolls and hot dogs, flan, and frozen orange juice popsicles. i remember going to other kid's homes and their families didn't eat pho. they didn't eat rice everyday or snack on shrimp chips or cold lychees. i was a freak. what kid's mom packs them lychees and mangos for dessert along with tuna fried rice? oh mine did. i remember sitting in the cafeteria in first grade with a hello kitty lunchbox that smelled of spilled milk. my mom put milk in my thermos in hopes perhaps that i would sprout and not always be the shortest kid in class. i would sit and not drink this warm milk and look longingly at the other kid's pbj and capri suns. i would think, wow, their parents buy the cool foods!

lunch was difficult for me. the kid who eats shrimp chips does not attract friends. so i would usually quickly my lunch and take walks outside for recess, collecting acorns and looking at ants. (wow, how the hell do i have friends now?!)

when i would go home, my dad would be home already since he worked the night shift. my dad to me is john rambo. he can do no wrong. he would often sneak a pack of hubba bubba blueberry bubble gum to my sister and i when he returned with my mom buying groceries. he also bought us the thriller album and got me a loverboy folder so i could store my violin music. my dad is the top of the pops.

summer vacations were slow for me. we didn't have money to vacation so my sister and i would enter every library reading contest and win. i would read all the recommended reading the teachers suggested. twice. summer was a time when we both got to spend more time with our dad since he would come home from work in the mornings. he would make us cereal and we all would watch get smart and marine boy. it was lovely. i would think to myself, i love summer vacations!

one day, i recall sitting on the bathtub's edge watching my dad shave. it was amazing. he had whip cream on his face and he would comb it with some stick and then his moustache was gone. i was in awe. i asked my dad what happened to his face. he laughed and said, "daddy more handsome now." "i liked the moustache!" "no, daddy no need. better now."

the next day, i entered the bathroom and i wanted to comb my face. i found the "comb" and in grandiose manner began brushing it in quick strokes on my face. no sooner had i done this feat, did my face start to burn. the razor had cut into my chin. red blood started to drip from my face. i screamed. my mom ran up the stairs to see me in the bathroom dripping blood onto the black and white tiled floor. i started to cry. that is what you do as a kid. you cry when you are hurt, confused, angry. i was all of the above. my mom cleaned me up and even blew on the cuts as she cleaned it with antiseptic. she kept saying, "why you do this? you need to do more schoolwork. then you don't get into trouble." i didn't say a word. i was rehashing what i did and why it hurt. it didn't hurt my dad. i was like columbo, i was examining clues.

that nite i didn't get dessert. my mom told my dad what i had done. i could tell they were upset with me. we weren't allowed to leave the dinner table unless we asked to be excused. i asked and i went to my room. i shared this room with my sister. it was a small room that had bad red carpet. it was not a relaxing colour and in fact the ugliest carpet i had ever seen. i sat on my bed and my dad came in and put a plate of flan cake i looked up and my dad just waved off my reaction and said, "ok. eat cake. no tell mom."

the following week, my mom burst into my room to put away clean clothes when she caught me reading nancy drew books and not practicing my violin. in fact, i was practicing. ok ok ok. i figured out that i could record myself doing scales and playing minuets on this clunky tape recorder. i would lie on my bed and read, keep my door shut, and let the tape run for an hour. i am such an evil genius. this stunt lasted for 2 months, until the incident above. this time, my dad did not bring me cake.