See you in two years, Dave Matthews.

Every June, in Darien, New York, as Dave Matthews fans gather, so do rain clouds.

For the past few years, it's been a consistent drag to check the weather forecasts and learn that one of the best nights of the year will be somewhat ruined by torrential downpours.

This year was no different. It held off for The Felice Brothers' set and the first few songs, and even Dave remembered the previous years' storms and commented,

"It's not even raining yet. Hopefully it'll pick up later, it's like a tradition here."

They played "JTR," which goes, "rain, rain, rain down on me," and the sky must have heard. During "Everyday," the crowd got soaked.

But when people ask me, "How was the show?" I answer with "awesome," only to quickly add, "Well, it poured, but it was awesome."

It's quite possible that the rain itself makes those concerts even better. I've been to dryer shows, and had a great time dancing... but there's something incredible about being completely soaked and uncomfortable, and finding joy and reason to dance and celebrate anyway.

That's exactly what many Dave songs are about. As I danced on the lawn and watched it quickly turn to mud, I heard the lyrics:

Jump in the mud, aw,

get your hands dirty,

love it up, everyday.

So there we were, in a bad situation, and making the best of what was around. Because you can wait forever for the prime weather conditions to enjoy a concert; OR, you can take whatever you get and love it anyway.

Dave Matthews Band has announced they are not touring in 2011, which has broken many of our hearts and began rumors that they are done forever (I do not believe it). So I'll see you in June, 2012, Dave, at Darien Lake.* I'm sure rainclouds will be there as well. I'll pack sneakers, ponchos and zip-lock bags for cell phones; you supply the jams and it'll be a great time. Bring it.

*Well, after I see you at CMAC July 6th, 2010!

Bon Jovi: The most exciting thing to almost happen in my hometown

About 24 hours after arriving home from college, my mom tells me:

"Oh, by the way, Bon Jovi might be playing a concert in Le Roy."

...?!

Le Roy, NY is the microscopic rural town that I call home. It's the epitome of the American small town: everyone's related, football games are a way of life, and when you get in trouble as a kid, your mother knows in less than four minutes via word of mouth. The biggest concert we've ever had here was the male acapella group Ball in the House, who's claim to fame was recording a song for a Cool-Whip commercial (ironic because Le Roy is the birthplace of Jell-O).

According to The Batavia Daily News online, Bon Jovi is playing at Darien Lake PAC (about half an hour away) on August 13th, and agreed to play in LeRoy on 14th as a fundraiser for the

village. Apparently one of our own has worked security for the band and asked Mr. Bongiovi himself, who agreed to play for a low price if the details can be worked out.

Could a town this size successfully host a Bon Jovi show? It seems any location that would be able to hold a large crowd, as well as parking, would be easy for the Le Roy native to

easily slip into unnoticed, or listen to without buying a ticket.

Every night my mom and I take a walk around our 5 mile block, and my new favorite game has become "where in Le Roy could accommodate a Bon Jovi concert?" So far, the leaderboard reads: Mercy Grove (home of the Mercedarian priests), my best friend, Ciera Carhart's farm (although in Stafford), or one of the countless gigantic, empty fields around here. I think it's fairly obvious that holding a concert on a farm is an ingenious idea -- in 1969, someone decided to have a concert on a farm and 41 years later, people haven't stopped talking about it.

It seems though, that at some point, these plans were misunderstood. Maybe we were halfway there, but more than a prayer was needed to make this event happen. There will be no Bon Jovi concert in Le Roy this summer, according to WBTA1490. All the excitement has been shot through the heart.

Maybe we were wrong, maybe Mr. BonGiovi hasn't gotten tired of selling out the biggest venues in the nation. But don't let him fool you - I think he desperately wanted to play a small-town show. Afterall, he revealed to the world a few years ago that he's just a simple country boy (from Jersey).

So I'm going to make a Bon Jovi mix to drive around to this summer, and I suggest my fellow LeRoyans do the same... it would just be wrong not to. And look on the bright side - now you're free to go to the first of Tom Petty's TWO Darien Lake concerts this summer (which for some reason, kind of creeps me out.... but that's for another blog.)

Killing for God: The Hutaree and My Favorite Film

On Monday eight individuals were indicted for plotting an attack against the government. The Hutaree is a Christian militia from Michigan who plans to fight against the anti-Christ and the government.

From their website (www.hutaree.com ...no joke):

"We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ...Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment."

Their plan was to first, kill a policeman. At his funeral, they would then attack the many attending policemen - who, in their eyes, are footsoldiers of the evil government.

Shocked and disgusted at this American Christian version of jihad, I heard my mother say:

"Amazing. They're killing people just because 'God told them to.'"

This is the premise of my all-time favorite movie.


One might say Boondock Saints is different. These adorable Irish vigilantes only kill criminals - murderers, drug dealers, rapists - because God tells them to. They are essentially carrying out capital punishment that the law fails to, and therefore, are just in their actions.

While it's my favorite movie, the subject matter is perhaps taken much too lightly. Because in real life, some people actually think God tells them to kill... and in this current case, it's not criminals being put to death, it's any cop they come across, or anyone sporting a uniform or a badge.

One frightening resemblance between the Saints and the Hutaree is the language they use to describe themselves and their missions:

We will reach out to those who are yet blind in the last days of the kingdoms of men and bring them to life in Christ.
-hutaree.com

And Shepherds we shall be, for Thee, my Lord for thee. Power hath descended forth from they hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out they command. Flowing like a river forth are we, and teeming with souls shall it ever be.
-Boondock Saints

Boondock Saints makes it easier to understand, I think, how a group of people could believe they're right in killing others. But I think it's still amazing and shocking to see exactly the idea we've been fighting against overseas for years - holy war against the "evil" American government - happening right on our own soil, from our own people.

Looking beyond the cock: The positive side of Chatroulette

If you take away the masturbating men and the frequent requests for shirtless females, Chatroulette can be a channel of cross-cultural education and bonding.

The idea of the site is simple: you log on, hit a few buttons, and you're communicating with another random Chatrouletter via video, audio, and text. This was created by a 17-year-old Russian boy who wanted to make videochatting a more interesting experience for himself and his friends.

He could not have forseen the ways people would use this site: from broadcasting live porn to live concerts, college kids thousands of miles apart putting off homework together or smoking weed together, or Americans and Canadians arguing over certain things Americans and Canadians like to argue over.

My friends and I decided to check out this site and we met Rafa, a 19-year-old Spanish insomniac, waiting for morning to come so he could take an exam. He spoke to us in broken English and we typed to him in elementary Spanish, using hand signs and drawing pictures to fill in the gaps between our words. He described his view of Americans and our culture; we told him about typical American perceptions of Spain & Europe.

This is not a conversation I'd normally be able to have at 2 a.m. at UAlbany.

We met other characters that night: a guy pretending to be a cat, another who performed original rap songs for us, someone who rated us on a 1-10 scale of how entertaining we were.

Every "next" button is taking a chance. You might run into a naked creep, or a group of students hanging out, or Ben Folds live in concert with 2,000 people.

Blame It On the Pop

For a music snob, I enjoy this 2009 mash-up much too much. For the sake of honesty, I'm willing to abandon all that makes me a cool indie music guru, and confess that I think mainstream music in 2009 was not complete crap.

Degrading, overly sexual, explicit songs is what bugs me most about mainstream music, and I feel 2009 seemed to stay away from that, at least a little. Songs like Jay Sean's "Down" and Cobra Starship's "Good Girls Go Bad" surprised me by how clean they were, once I actually took a conscious listen to them. Our leading ladies, Lady GaGa and Beyonce are bold and sexy without being slutty - something I think women can really appreciate. Sweet, innocent Miley Cyrus is holding onto her place in the public eye as well as our common room wall without acting like a hussy.

As for this mash-up itself, the music theory junkie in me goes crazy over the continuous melody created from 25 different songs - did he change the key? Was it a miracle? Or are all pop songs in the same key? DJ Earworm earns my utmost respect for this creation.

Here's to the feel-good music of the past year, that makes me question my own indie cred.

For Mom: Love Story

note: This blog is for my mother, who brought me into the world, raised me, and is currently paying for my education. The least I could do was write a blog at her request.

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."

Before it was a widely-used phrase, it was just a sentence, written by a man, in a book.

Erich Segal, author of the best-selling novel turned hit film, Love Story, died Sunday of a heart attack.

Love Story, for anyone who has not read or seen it, is mother of all tear jerkers. Two young lovers get married despite a family's resistance, and then one of them falls ill and passes away much sooner than expected. Every time I watch Titanic, I think that perhaps the ship won't sink this time. Every time I watch this, I hope that she'll survive. (Both always end the same way.)

Segal's daughter spoke at his funeral, "That he fought to breathe, fought to live, every second of the last 30 years of illness with such mind-blowing obduracy, is a testament to the core of who he was -- a blind obsessionality that saw him pursue his teaching, his writing, his running and my mother, with just the same tenacity. He was the most dogged man any of us will ever know."

So if you can take anything from that movie, or from the author's life, take the simple message that none of us know if we're going to have 23 years or 72; either way, do your work and love your family with fierce passion, and have the tenacity to do so all your days.

How to Help Haiti Without Being Anderson Cooper

For a while now, I've had a deep adoration of CNN's Anderson Cooper.

The past few days, he has been traveling around Port-au-Prince, flying in a helicopter above the city, going to make-shift hospitals, watching people bury loved ones in mass graves and unorganized cemeteries, picking through the mass chaos in the aftermath of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

I know this because for the past few days, I have been sitting, injured, in my house watching him, while periodically checking Twitter and drinking gallons of green tea... feeling useless.

We can't all be Mr. Cooper, who I'm quite sure has not slept since Tuesday, or Dr. Sanjay Gupta, treating infant's head wounds on live TV. But it's not very hard to lend a hand in this crisis.

Some genius, taking into consideration Americans hot love affair with text-messaging, came up with the idea to link texting and philanthropy:

• Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Haitian musician Wyclef Jean's charity
• Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross

Both will charge to your cell phone bill. It literally takes a few seconds. Or 5 minutes, if you're technologically challenged like my parents...

If you're looking to donate online, try:

• UNICEF
• Doctors Without Borders
• World Food Programme
• Check out CCN's list for more organizations to donate to (if, for some reason, you don't like the ones above).

Be sure to check out the organization first though, don't get caught by a scam. Donate only to organizations you are familiar with, and make sure it's them.

That evil, life-possessing game of Farmville is now also allowing users to donating to Haiti, along with Mafia Wars. Despite my previous blog about the evils of online games, Farmville has now been (at least temporarily) redeemed in my eyes.

If you are one of those people that has an ipod, you can also donate through your iTunes.

If you're one of those people who would rather help with actions than just donating, well, you'll need to sit tight for a bit (unless you are also a Marine). The Red Cross is not accepting volunteers to travel to Haiti right now, as the place is already crowded and chaotic. Although it's early to think about, I think donating a Spring Break to volunteer in Haiti, helping to build it back up, might be a great thing college students could do to help, come March and April.

In the upcoming weeks I'm sure there will be many food, clothing, and supply drives. UAlbany students can check out what the school's Haitian Student Association is doing to help here.

On CNN tonight, Anderson Cooper will be reporting live from Port-au-Prince at 10pm, check it out, and see what's really going on; it's really something to watch, and not just because I love Anderson Cooper.