Anna's Excellent Portland Adventure: 30 Odd Foot of Grunts in Concert

Edited 8/22/01 8:58pm, 8/23/01 6:55pm, and added to Livejournal as a backdated entry 5/15/03

Russell Crowe has got the most incredible blue eyes I have ever seen in my life.

One would think that it would be difficult to tell this in a crowded bar with crowded bar lighting, and one would be right. As it happened, I got a very good look at the eyes in question in broad daylight -- but more on this below.

Much more. This is going to be a long story, so as Russell has been heard to say in front of a certain song, "Calm down and have a listen!"

This here is the legend of Anna the Piper's Excellent Portland Adventure. ( Read more... )

TOFOG in Portland (Part 2)

Edited 8/22/01 8:58pm and 8/23/01 6:55pm, and added to LJ as a backdated entry 5/15/03 -- herein being the description of passing Russell Crowe on the street, and of general wackiness in the line and before the show

Opportunity Knocks But Decides I'm Not Home, or, "Egads, Who Was That Masked Gladiator?"

We were crossing the street, a stone's throw away from the 24-Hour Church of Elvis, when this small crowd went past us in the other direction. I spotted a guy wearing a dark cap on his head and a blue and white jacket in the middle of them -- and was struck by the vivid blue shade of his eyes.

Then my brain went, "Wait... I know those eyes. Was that--"

And Mimi turned to me and said, very dryly, "You do realize, that was him that just went by, don't you?" ( Read more... )

TOFOG in Portland (Part 3)

Edited 8/22/01 8:58pm and 8/23/01 6:55pm, and added to LJ as a backdated entry 5/15/03 -- herein being the descriptions of the opening acts leading up to TOFOG's performance

The Comedian, or, "No, You CAN'T Have a Hershey's Bar!"

Russell Gilbert, the Other Russell of whom I'd already heard via Gruntlanders, was first on the stage. He came out with his pants riding down his backside, made a joke about "30 odd centimeters of crack", and got rowdier from there. ( Read more... )

TOFOG in Portland (Part 4)

Edited 8/22/01 8:58pm and 8/23/01 6:55pm, and added to LJ as a backdated entry 5/15/03 -- herein being the description of the Grunts' performance

The Grunts, or, "Austin Was Great, Can We Have The Unedited Version?"

Wow.

I mean, wow.

As I write this, I have a pretty jumbled impression of the order of things throughout the Grunts' performance, so I'm going to organize my thoughts here in categories of what I remember observing rather than actual chronological order. ( Read more... )

TOFOG in Portland (Part 5)

Edited 8/22/01 8:58pm and 8/23/01 6:55pm, and added to LJ as a backdated entry 5/13/03 -- herein being the post-show silliness, and what happened the day after

After the Show, or, "What, Wait, There's MORE?!"

Exhaustedly, Cyn and Rhiannon and I rejoined the others, regained our belongings, and went outside for fresh air and to meet under the Roseland sign in a vague hope that Karen and the rest of the Gruntlanders expected to be on the scene would find us. They did not. But we did at least all get together without hindrance.

We parted company with James and Dana at this point, leaving the rest of us to go pile into Rhiannon's borrowed car, since she'd volunteered to take us back to our hotel. Some debate occurred about whether to crash or whether to eat, and the latter option won out since many of us hadn't actually had any dinner. ( Read more... )