Nerdy picture talk: the cafe was really dark, so I decided to throw my camera up to ISO 3200, which I almost never use. The pics certainly show the noise, but at least in my mind, it is a little less offensive in B&W, which is why I converted most of the shots in Lightroom to B&W.

Rahul and I missed the first band, Metric, but apparently they only played a 3-song set. We walked in to the arena just as Vampire Weekend was coming onto the stage. They played a fun set, though most of the crowd didn’t seem to be very into it. Next up was 30 Seconds to Mars, which was…okay? I told Rahul that it seemed like Jared Leto had read a book titled “How to Be A Rock Star 101″, and a lot of the set seemed kind of forced. He tended to stick to these three rules: 1) Wear a quirky outfit, like fingerless rainbow gloves, and spike your hair. The higher the better. 2) Say the city and/or state that you are playing in as often as possible. 3) Drop the F-bomb at random times. That’s rock. To be fair, his singing was actually quite good, it just wasn’t my thing. The most interesting part of the set was when all the sound cut out completely during the climax of their current single, “Kings and Queens” and didn’t come back up for about 5 minutes. I can imagine some sound engineer or roadie got fired that night. After 30 Seconds to Mars was AFI, which was also not my thing, but they put on a good show.

After what seemed like forever, it was finally time for the headliners: Muse! I’ve been looking forward to seeing them live for a long time, and they didn’t disappoint at all. In fact, they’re probably one of the few bands I know of that sounds better live than recorded. Matthew Bellamy, the lead singer, in addition to being an amazing vocalist, is a really really good guitar player. It’s pretty impressive how much sound comes out of a 3-person band. In addition to the incredible live show, I was entertained by a guy in front of me who kept trying to dance with this girl even after several rejections in a row. Gotta give him points for persistence. Overall, the show was amazing; totally worth it just for Muse. But I really have to start taking earplugs to concerts; my ears were ringing for a whole day afterward.

I recently found out that Muse will be back for a US tour next spring, so I’m going to try to get tickets for that, too! If you enjoy a solid rock show, I highly recommend you check them out, too.

Even after getting Little Bear, not a day goes by that I don’t think about that dumb dog; I’m just glad I got to be a part of his life.

We miss you, Enzo.

Other than Thanksgiving break funtimes, not too much is going on. Little Bear has basically been taking up most of my time and energy, as expected. I enrolled her in a Puppy Kindergarten class which hopefully will help her be less crazy, and we’re taking her to a Puppy Playgroup on Sunday, which I’m looking forward to. Puppies everywhere!

Wow, this jellyfish looks great at 200×300 pixels!

I think this is one of my favorite shots I’ve taken in a long time.

Shifted hours mean late-night boredom. Setup shot here.