Radiohead - Berkeley Greek Theater

Once, my dear cousin drove eight hours to see them in Boston; proudly proclaimed how awesome a show they put on.
Once, they played the Shoreline on my birthday, the first I saw them live.
Once, New Order was my favorite band...
"Green plastic watering cans"


Radiohead, Berkeley Greek Theater, June 24, 2006.

Hard to describe Radiohead live. Add the Greek Theater as the sixth man, and I'm doubly at loss of words. I just remember tonight a welling-up smile that never left. Thru anthem, guitars, piano and two encores. Then after, tongue-tied.

Set list:
Airbag
2+2=5
Where I End And You Begin
15 Step
Kid A
Dollars And Cents
Down Is The New Up
Nude (Thom stops mid-song, re-starts "let's take it from the top.")
Paranoid Android (Possibly the best crowd energizer.)
No Surprises (My highlight)
The Gloaming
All I Need
Climbing Up The Walls
Go Slowly (Thom: "Some of our new songs are sketchy, Very sketchy.")
Myxomatosis
Bangers 'N Mash
How To Disappear Completely

Encore
Fake Plastic Trees (Another highlight)
Arpeggi
Black Star (Surprisingly beautiful live!)
True Love Waits
Everything In Its Right Place

Encore 2
Bodysnatchers
(Thom: "The fog's come in. Its time to go home. If you invite us into your apartments, we can keep this going.")
The Tourist

Thanks to green plastic radiohead.

Missing: Lift, My Iron Lung, Creep

The Futurist - James P. Othmer (2006)

A book (of fiction) about a futurist that's very much about today, honestly critical of the blind optimists, embarassingly familiar to the materialists, and self-validating for the realists. A swipe on American arrogance. A satire of cool.


A book (of facts) about very familiar instances, about the history of our extravagant selves, lately.

J.P. Yates, sage, authority on trends, peddler of cool.

...his real talent was holding on to...information until the time was right, knowing the exact moment at which to drop it into the flabby lap of a mass-market, mall-addicted America that wanted to be a fraction of an inch above average...when it was the absolute best to deem that-which-had-long-been-cool-to-cool-people cool for the rest of us.

J.P. Yates, master of ceremonies, master of bull.

...not necessarily true, but [that's] what they wanted to hear.

J.P. Yates, our vigilant inner voice that reminds us to think for ourselves. Reminds us that the guy with a stock proposition that can't miss is a futurist. The all-promises political candidate is a futurist. The time we lay our discretionary income down for Black Jack, we're futurists.

So, whenever we play the role of early-adopters, are we being duped by futurists within Apple or Sony or Microsoft's marketing machine? Are we always foolishly in line for Version-Dot-Next?

Ponder the questions. Enjoy the book.

Business Week's '06 Industrial Design Excellence Awards

Now, back to the future.... link here