Back to the grind

Started my new job this week. I am working for a small company in Cambridge. The contrast to my last job is extreme. The people are pretty young, everyone seems very bright, everyone seems pretty social. It reminds me a lot of my second to last job, which I liked a lot. The only issue is that this seems to be the standard response when I ask people how they like the job "Oh, it's great. We're doing great things, and having a lot of fun. And I've never worked harder in my life!

So the hours might be more than I had anticipated. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for working hard, when there is work to do. I just don't like the culture of "well, I'm going to stay late because Jim and Joe are staying late." If I am being productive, and I get my shit done, then I want to go home. Life beckons kids. (And yes, by "life" I am referring to life as depicted and available for me to watch on my tv.)

Went to a couple of good concerts recently. We had tickets to see Wilco at the Wang Theater here in Boston. It's like a big Broadway theater. Nice molding, gold-leaf painted things, frescoes, etc.... Very nice theater. The staff was their usual staff, though, and it didn't work well for a concert. All the ushers were little old retired ladies, like at a Broadway show. It was pretty funny. And we ditched our four balcony seats at the last minute, because the day before the show they released some great orchestra seats, so I was able to get a pair in the 12th row, center. (We didn't need another pair, because Champy and H-Bomb had to bail.)

The Fiery Furnaces opened. I enjoyed their set, though I wouldn't necessarily listen to them a lot. A little too avant garde for me. Their drummer was really funny though, making crazy faces, and at one point playing with two over-sized plastic toy battle axes. We got a good chuckle out of him.

Wilco was great. They had great energy on the stage, and seemed genuinely happy to be playing, to be playing together, to be playing in Boston, etc... Jeff Tweedy made a lot of good crowd small talk, cracked a lot of jokes, and generally won everyone over. And their set was long, and good. They covered their catalog well, and threw in some things I hadn't heard before. Unfortunately, the theater had a strict cut-off time for their show, or they would have extended their already two and a half hour set. Great show. Here is the review.

The other show we caught recently was the Killers, at a small club in Boston called the Roxy. There were two openers, Surferosa and Ambulance LTD. We didn't catch Surferosa, but Ambulance was decent. They had been described to me as mellow, so I was surprised by how rocking they were.

The Killers played very well. They only have one album out, plus a couple of b-sides, so it was no surprise that their set lasted only about 50 minutes. Still, they were tight, and sounded really good. I would have liked a little more deviation from the studio versions of songs, or maybe some soloing, to get a better sense of their ability. My only complaint about the show really, was that there were no surprises.

And that's the update kids. New job means a lot less free time. But I am excited about the work, and the people, so it should be good. Tomorrow night we are going to a wedding. Nothing wrong with getting drunk and dancing to Hot Hot Hot. As long as it only goes down once or twice a year, I can get into it. Hope you all have a great weekend.