Metric, Metric, And More Metric

A week ago today, on April 17 2008, I went to my fourth Metric concert and have yet to post a review. This is partly because I have been a little obsessed on trying to find more photos or videos of that awesome night. Plus, I have been busy with a few other things but here it comes.

The last time I saw Metric was two years and sixteen days prior, to be exact. Which may not seem that long to wait for some other bands but there was a time there I was seeing Metric roughly every six months. Needless to say when I heard the announcement on the radio for the show I was pretty excited, and maybe had a moment of uncontrollable shooting.

The day started like any other, as I still had to go to work. Most of the day was counting down.

• Till the end of work – which I actually got out of early.
• Till I had to go get the rental car.
• Till the time I had to leave my apartment.
• Till the opening band came out.
• And finally till Metric actually came out onto the stage.

Which was a pretty long count down. Did I mention I had been waiting for these for over two years? Oh yeah I did …

When I got there I was welcomed by a lovely line-up around the block. Which was right when doors open. I was a little surprised as the only other time this has happened was when I saw them the second time at a earlier all-ages show. Luckily I was still able to get one of the final front row spots. Which I really wanted!!

The opening band wasn’t that bad. The bassist was awesome! When he was playing, he was dancing, and when he wasn’t playing, he was for sure dancing. And he didn’t just play the bass, oh no. He had a small keyboard on the floor in front of him – which gives the band a total of three people possibly playing a keyboard. At one point he was adding extra beats to the drum as the drummer was play. Finally he went over to the other keyboard guy and was playing around with a sound effect thing on his keyboard as he played. The drummer had this really cool shirt that lit up based on the sounds around it. So of course when they were playing it was well lit up.

They soon ended their set and the removal of their equipment happened and the set up for Metric began!! It was a little weird that the Commodore – which is known for it’s great vantage points -  has now set up two screens on both sides of the stage which showed five different camera angles (3 still and two guys filming). Really is this necessary at a smaller venue?? And the Commodore none the less?

These is how it all went down … I got the set list off the Metric fourm, it looks about right.

They opened with a new song called “Freddy” – YouTube Video Here. I am really enjoy these new songs and can’t wait for the album to come out. After that song, they lead into “Poster of a Girl” which is a crowd pleaser for sure.

Now I am pretty sure I saw Kevin a.k.a. k-os at the side of the stage. I know he is also a big Metric fan but what is he doing in Vancouver?? Could this mean we are also going to have a new k-os album too?! Then again, maybe I was having a little deja vu as I saw him their before, during the first metric show I went to. Where he took a stage dive into the crowd, pretty awesome. But anyways after “Poster of a Girl” they played a classic “Dead Disco”. Emily went over to Kevin and sang a little bit to him which kind of makes me think it probably was him.

After that they went into yet another new song “Cupid & Psyche”. Emily said this was the second time they played it live – playing it the night before in Victoria. Aren’t we special? Hear and see it for yourself at YouTube right here. I think this song was the one  with the sick bass.

Then they played one of my favorite songs “Empty”. I love how it starts off slow and then totally speeds up and everyone goes crazy then slows down a bit again. Emily also does the whole hands on hips and shakes he head.

Then they lead into “Hustle Rose” which is a typical song they like to play live and always a good one.

After, that they played the third of the four new songs ”Satellite Mind”. Emily gave a little speak at the beginning of the song about how they like to come play at the Commordore. They got to open up for a band once and thought it was such a great venue to play. Then they got to headline there and how awesome that was. It really made me think how things have really changed for them in just the past three years. Selling out shows in no time … lines around the block.  I am happy for them, yet kind of scared for the future. Listen to Emily’s speech and “Satallite Mind” at YouTube right here.

Now outside of the new songs that they played they were all typical live songs you are going to hear in any set. But then they played “Rock Me Now” and “Calculation Theme”. Those were really awesome to hear because your not going to always hear those ones at every show. I also really enjoy “Rock Me Now”. I really wish they would play a song or two more from “Grow Up and Blow Away”.

After that brief moment of something different they went right back into a classic fan pleaser “Combat Baby”. Which is a great song live or not. The fans were totally into it and so was the band. Near the end of song Emily came down from the stage to visit with the fans. I didn’t notice until she was in eye range. Everyone had their hands out to get a touch. My hand was up but not straight out like everyone elses. All of a sudden hear free hand came up and held my hand. It was a completely surreal moment that I wasn’t expecting at all. It felt much longer then it probably was but she had to have stood there for 10 to 30 seconds holding my hand with her singing … me singing … and everyone else around us singing.

She then moved to the person beside me and held her hand. I was so excited and in disbelief she had just done that!! I kept singing and then she came back in front of me and pointed the mic to the crowd. She put it in front of my face for a couple of seconds I was totally shocked. Check the YouTube video out and see if you can hear my voice at the end …

Finally they ended with a lovely acoustic “Live It Out” leaving only Emily and Jimmy on the stage. Hear and see it for yourself at YouTube right here. For a very high energy song it is pretty great slowed down too. Once they finished that they left stage but we sure weren’t done with them yet. The chanting, hand clapping and foot stooping happened and of course they came back. They played another crowd favorite “Monster Hospital”.

Sadly they only played one more song after that, a new song called “Stadium Love”. This has to be my favorite new song I have heard so far. I saw a video of this song before I went to show on YouTube. Loved it then, and couldn’t wait to hear it with my own ears.

I have to say that Metric is for sure my number one favorite band! Not to say that they weren’t before this show. They were probably tied for first but there is no doubt they desever first place in my heart.

More photos here … enjoy!

– Andrea

What will it cost??

Let me start off by saying that I have added a bunch of stuff to my deviantART that I mentioned last post!! Shocking I know, it surprised me that’s for sure. So if you haven’t already looked at my deviantART check it out at momentsstolen.deviantart.com

I have also been working on an identity for my work to go under. Over a year ago I came up with the name “Open Box Creations”. A couple weekends ago I worked on making up a logo that goes with that name!! I have put it up as my avatar on deviantART and will be putting it in my Identity gallery on deviantART.

I just ran across an article talking about what it would cost to develop a website. I thought this would be a good post for the blog. Hopefully it will also help explain a little more about where the name “Open Box Creations” came from.

Each project has a different set of requirements, requires different resources and varying levels of expertise, and takes a different amount of time to plan, execute, and deliver.

If you can appreciate the value of a custom built website, then I should be able to work with you to create something we both like. That is what “Open Box Creations” is all about. Nothing is pre-packaged, it is custom built to what you need. No two projects are exactly the same and are created with you and your visitors in mind.

What makes each project different? Number of pages, complexity of custom programming, and advanced features are all factors that can increase the price.

These days, having a content management system (CMS) integrated into your website is becoming more common because it allows you to update the content of your website without having to contact your web developer or have any web experience or programs. I would say that if you are going to want to make changes to your site monthly or more frequently then this is something you may need.

This is going to also add more complexity to the development of the website which in turn does cost more. It also depend on how much of the site is going to need to be maintained by you. If you simply want a what’s new area on your home page that isn’t going to cost as much if you want the whole website maintained by you.

Are you interested in selling a product or service on your website? I don’t create “shopping carts” but I have built forms that can help you sell your product or service online. Sometimes this will have to work hand in hand with such companies like paypal so  you can collect money via credit card from your customers. Once again this is increasing the work load on developing the website.

Those are some of the basics things to keep in mind. The more you want the more it will cost. Why is that? Because the more complex things get the more time it will take for me to build it. You are pretty much paying for my time and my headaches .

Think of your website as a car. The more you want in your car like automatic transmission, cruise control, anti-theft system that is going to cost more. Once you have your car you are going to have to maintain it. Some people are going to be able to change their own oil and some people will pay a professional to do it.

Don’t expect to get everything for nothing!! Don’t expect to get a Corvette for the price of a Jetta!

Moments Stolen

I really need to start posting more … I know I said I would. I also said that I would start posting some of the websites that I have done as well. And this post I am actually going to do it!

I have started a deviantART to post some of the websites that I have done. Only tell I actually get around to building my own website – [eye roll] yeah right [/eye roll]. I am also going to be posting other stuff I have done like: photography, photoshoped stuff and indentity/logos I have done for clients.

Take a look at my website gallery for some website I have worked on in the past year. I will hopefully get around to post some more in the next few weeks but at least some of my stuff is there for now. I have also put a few things in my identity gallery as well, so have a look there too.

My deviantART … more to come.

Andrea

‘Tis the Season

For today I will bring you my Christmas wish list. (Like I said I am having trouble focusing on things so it’s not as big/good as I planned but there should be some good ideas)

Movies I’d like to have:

• Donnie Darko
• National Treasure
• Russell Peters: Two Concerts…One Ticket
• An Inconvenient Truth
• Memento
• Hot Fuzz
• Shaun of the Dead
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Serenity (Because I’m not getting my copy back – eye roll -
  

Books I am interested in getting:

• The Photoshop Channels Book by Scott Kelby
• Photoshop Classic Effects: The Essential Effects Every User Needs to Know by Scott Kelby
• The Principles Of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird

Things that I could use:

• Stuff for the kitchen/baking (I could use almost everything)
• Organizing stuff for the home or in the office.
• Head phones and/or a micro md card for my phone (Nokia 6275i)

Things I would like:

• Stuff for my camera (Canon Powershot A520)
• Camera bag (a big one that fits lenses and other accessories)

Stores I shop at:

• Old Navy
• Future Shop / Best Buy
• Rogers Video
• Linens ‘n Things
• Home Outfitters
• Winners

I glanced at the calendar and I see that there is only 3 weekends till Christmas. I am a little shocked and a little stressed. I don’t think that Christmas has come so fast before for me.

I don’t see why I’m not in the Christmas spirit yet. In the past week I have done a lot of shopping and even started wrapping!! I have also decorated the office which includes a tree, and even finished doing the office christmas card. I was also in a winter wonderland – well at least for a few hours.

There is still more to come … this weekend I am going to be decorating the apartment building and my apartment! I don’t think I have ever done soooo much Christmas decorating.

I think that I’m not in the mood because I am more excited that I have a week off of work then Christmas itself. It’s been really hard focusing on getting things done lately. My mind seems to be somewhere most of the time. I just don’t want to be there.

Check these out!

I have decided to try out wordpress.com instead of blogger.com …. we will see how these goes but I think I will post to the both of them for a little bit before I make it official.

I’m Starting A Blog … Again?

“Hello world”lol, I’m such a geek sometimes. And I’m sure most of you are thinking that was a little random but let me explain … When you first start learning some programming language for the web you learn how to write something out on a page and you usually start with the phrase “Hello World”. And for those that don’t know me let me do a little introduction.

My name is Andrea and I’m from Vancouver, BC or well Langley and I work for an ISP(Internet Service Provider). I work on website … which includes website maintenance and design. So I’m a little bit of a web geek I guess you would say. I am just starting out and have worked for the same company now for 2 1/2 years.

I have always wanted to write a blog but it has never really become anything. I used livejournal for a while but I was in a bad place back then and decide to leave that behind me and try something a different blog place. I actually started these back on Jan. 30th but have yet to post anything since. Here is my second try on blogger.com and lets hope these time works out!

What will I be blogging about??

• People ask me what kind of websites that I have worked on so, these should be a good place to show off my latest project, I have worked on. I want to set up a website for that but these will have to do for now.
• I’m going to share some of my know how. Such as good website that I have found and what not.
• I may do some venting of some sort. I will try to leave that to a minimum.
  
• Share some of the funny stories from work. We got some interesting clients.
• Funny stuff … websites, videos or emails that I run across.
  
• And whatever else that may pop into my mind.

I am leaving my layout a little plain for now until I have the time to make something myself. Since I am a website designer I better have a nice blog, right? But for now it’s going to be plain so I have nothing to compete with later.Before I go, I wil share these 404 page with you. CLICK ME PLEASE!!

Just in case they change it here is the text:

Oops, you’re a douche bag (404 Error)

 

Sorry chief, but the file you’re looking for just isn’t here. I’m sure its incredibly important that you find this file so what I suggest you first try doing is using our search form to look for it. If you can’t find it that way, hit us up via our contact form.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know, this page you’re looking at (yes, the one that’s calling you a douche bag), is famous!

Andrea

P.S. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. It’s know to happen.