My First Pet Shop Boys Autograph!

I thought I would talk briefly about my first autograph!  I'm not bragging but I still find it hard to believe I actually have an autograph of one of the most awesome bands in the world! I never thought it would happen to me! Especially at a probability of a competition like this! I got to tell you, I'm not a huge fan on pre-ordering items online, it's just feel odd for me but when there was mention of postcards....My goodness they know how the reel their fans in on a fish on a hook! I pre-ordered the CD immediately! Those days were treacherous because I thought my package wasn't going to come in! Plus I was already excited on hearing Electric but I did hear most of the songs via BBC specials and from the videos and what not. I was actually going to buy the CD at Amoeba but I felt I should wait another week and my God, it came in! When I was opening the pack I saw the postcards and the CD! I flipped through them and at first, I didn't see nothing but when I flip the x2 one that's where the autograph was!! I was like OMG!!! I really couldn't believe what I was staring at!! I'm 21 and only been a fan for a few years and obtain something that I never thought would be in my possession! I knew others gotten personalized ones and that's grand too but the fact, I won it at those competitions they have and I never win those! I just felt like something is up or a little connection! I'm totally grateful about it and just still shock every time I see it! I took this photo from my iphone via Instragram! I was one of those 500 lucky fans! And some of my fan friends won them too which made me even happier because they deserve it! Sometimes I really do wonder if the Boys can see what fans be doing!?!

Also forgot to mention about the concert, I really enjoyed seeing the Boys' reaction when the fans were excited to see them! I can tell they might have to do another concert tour next year! Even on the radio the love the fact the fans are giving them such high reactions! They deserve it though, they are probably the last few artists I can say that stayed mostly true to themselves!

My Discussion About the Electric Concert

Greetings everybody! I know this have been  long overdue for a blog post! Well as promised, I was going to slowly but surely start blogging again. SInce I am in college, I can also help myself how to write by blogging. I had a stressful week prior to the concert, but after seeing the Electric concert, I feel better than I was last week! I hate to say but I am rather jealous of other fans seeing it more than once, it was a very spectacular concert!

My mother and I took the train to get to the Shrine Auditorium and we came actually rather early, but it was good because the lines were filling up so quickly! While waiting, we met some really sweet cool fans! One happened to be African American like me and my mother! We started chatting it up about PSB info like regular fans and then another couple of fans chimed in the conversation. My mother told me that were very stunned that I knew a lot than they did, which is ironic because they are longer fans that I will ever be, yet I knew a lot of information and they probably also expect my mother to know more because they are in her era and not mine. They were also homosexual but I don't judge, they were sweet and respectful and that's fine by me! Discrimination isn't my interest so I'm open to anyone as long they respect me as a person too. Anyway, as we got in, we had to wait more time because there was a DJ by the name of Jason Bentley that was going to DJ for a few hours before the concert began. I was kind of nervous about a DJ being an opening act because I was quite nervous that the music wasn't going to flow or anything. I went to a fashion model show and this DJ was horrible and I had that upbringing ever since! But this DJ was really, really good! I mean he was so excellent it was like I was in a nightclub or a rave! A lot of the songs were familiar to me because the Boys had a BBC Special and they had their favorite songs that they hear around the country and would play them for other fans to know about what they listen too. I was so impressed by the artists they chose too! 

These are some of the songs the DJ mixed before the show! I totally recommend them some are mainstream and some are indie artists! But they have some gemstones in this treasure box of songs! I was looking for a particular song called Inspector Norse by Todd Terje, because that song is so addicting! I literally can't stop playing it! It had this disco feel to it that I love a lot about it. 

When the concert began after Gui Boratto's Arquipelago finished playing and that's when we waited for a few minutes, I saw stage crew walking back and forth behind the curtains; and the lights started to dim and then Axis played, that's when I had to stand up for the concert because the people in front of me were tall and my mother and I had to switch seats. I was also talking to other fans about the manchester scene and everything and about Joy Division, my info is still a bit scarce but I knew enough to keep a conversation going. When I saw them behind the curtain/screen, it felt so surreal!! It's like wow, I'm here at this concert...seeing the Pet Shop Boys!!! My seat wasn't as bad as I thought because it could have been farther away! It was just so freaking awesome! They played 23 songs and it was brilliant! I had to keep waking my mother up when her favorite song was playing like "Domino Dancing" She loves changing the words so instead of "Watch them all fall down", she says "Watch their ass fall down" I couldn't stop laughing while I was singing with the crowd. Before that even happened, my mother kept telling me to go into the aisle, and I was hesitant at first, but something in my mind kept thinking, what if this is the only concert I ever go to?! So I walked quickly to the aisle and walked until I was behind the pit of fans and snapped photos like you see above this paragraph! On top of that, I didn't and couldn't afford the VIP tickets and I thought I might as well do this much! I know it probably was wrong of me, but other fans did it so why not me? I couldn't get good shots because the zooming was bad and then Neil kept moving so that was going to be impossible so this is one of my best probably my best shot of the band. Then I filmed some of it and started dancing too! I felt like part of me had an odd connection or something! I guess because when the dancers started dancing to the Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky was playing, I thought immediately was this the Battleship Potemkin soundtrack they did previously or was it from Fantasia the Disney movie that consist of randomization of visual animation while classical pieces replicated by the Philadelphia Orchestra (at that time) were playing. Even if they never heard of this particular movie or anything it felt like they are reading my mind or something. I did also mention on one of my blog posts that their experimental work they've done recently such as the soundtrack for the silent film Battleship Potemkin and The Most Incredible Thing really does remind me of Fantasia, all it was missing was some animation! 

Here's the setlist from the Shrine!  I copied from the setlist site. 

1. Axis 
2. One More Chance / A Face Like That 
3. Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) 
4. Memory of the Future 
   ('New Single Mix' version)
5. Fugitive 
6. Integral 
7. I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing 
8. Suburbia 
9. I'm Not Scared 
10. Fluorescent 
11. West End Girls 
12. Somewhere 
    (Leonard Bernstein cover)
13. Leaving 
14. Thursday 
15. Love Etc. 
16. I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) 
17. Rent 
18. Miracles 
19. It's a Sin 
20. Encore:
20. Domino Dancing 
21. Always on My Mind 
    (Brenda Lee cover)
22. Go West 
    (Village People cover)
23. Vocal 
    (with "It's Alright" snippet)
    
    
    
    
    
    I love the fact that they played other songs that weren't too popular that they have done such as Fugitive, Somewhere, I Get Excited, You Get Excited Too, Integral, and I'm Not Scared. I don't like two of the songs but the fact they played those were really cool. I think I remember they didn't want to play all their popular songs, they also want to play other songs that had little to no success on the charts. It's like going to a concert of a really renown artist and all they play are their famous hits without playing their other songs. But for the most part the concert was absolutely fantastic! I love how "Domino Dancing" sounded! It had this catchy African American sound and of course the Latin sound. I also enjoyed the combination of the songs too like "One More Chance" with "A Face Like That" and "Vocal" and "It's Alright". I enjoyed the colors in the concert too, me as being the artist as I am, how could I not enjoy the colors and the costumes?! It had this vibrant party type feel like a remix of their Pandemonium tour. Only because they worked with Es Devlin again and thought that was a cool idea to do! I wished the concert would have lasted longer but after having a drink and then it was getting late, as soon it was over, we left. I personally wanted to stay and see the band but I understand it was almost midnight and then they had to be back in Mexico for the tour. My mother even said she was truly impressed and the Pet Shop Boys really know how to put on a show. She even now know the artists' names so I won't have to recapitulate it to her again. She also stated that Neil should do more of the sleeping than Chris because Neil does most of the moving, poor mother, she got a lot to learn about them! I told her about the sleeping part because that's what she loves to do is sleep! I think now my aunts want to go to the next one when they come back to Los Angeles and I hope they do! I also forgot to mention I love how Neil does the maestro thing especially when after "Domino Dancing" was playing the fans couldn't let it go, I know I wouldn't. The fans was right, the concert really did feel short! I didn't get any merchandise unfortunately because they were costly and I couldn't find the area where they were selling them. It's fine though, I think after winning an autograph of theirs during a pre-order competition, getting my own shirt online, and (which I need to do eventually) renew my fan club status soon, I really didn't need to spend money on merchandise, if I did I would have gotten the tour program because it was really artsy! Oh I'm not sure If I mentioned this but I did wanted to get an autograph for a friend of mine all the way from Malaysia so that was one of the reasons I wanted to do the Meet and Greet. 
    
    
    
    
    
    

Pet Shop Boys - Love Comes Quickly (fan video edit)

Well I am back! I know it's been a long while right?! Oh yes, well I went through a pretty rough time with people on and off line and I literally had a writer's block because the only time I can really blog or critique is when I'm around college time, because it does help me with my writing; henceforth why I gotten a 43 out of 50 on my English essay few weeks ago. When that being said, I also have more posts on the way, and I also would like to reveal my "edit, amateur creations" I did over the summer. I haven't really been drawing much either since of a lot of things going on, so if you looked on my deviantart site, it's drawings I previously done already for competitions, upon requests or just drawing for leisure. I also have expanded my art adorations through all aspects (will explain in further detail soon enough). Which is the reason why I'm conveying about this video. I was messing about with an application called iMovie on my Mac Book Pro, and I recorded Pet Shop Boys' Love Comes Quickly video and I had this crazy idea with the cartoon versions I drew of them being part of the animation idea but since I need to learn about that, I just used the video instead. I got to tell you, it was pretty fun editting the video. I thought it seriously needed a spark for the video, for any sad love song, you always need a sparkle to capture the emotion.  That's what I attempted to do anyhow, this video have over 100 views! I'm still shocked because it is my first edit on a video really. Editing isn't as hard but it does require time and a lot of it. This video took a good seven hours to do because I was sick and stuff. It also gotten 4 likes which I'm totally happy about! I don't like doing slideshow videos or try to avoid them because I love movement, unless I'm using the frame by frame to make a movement. Also with that being said, I also have some good news. One is that I will attend the Pet Shop Boys Electric concert in a few weeks, so that's very exciting! I'm taking my mother with me since she loves them. Two is that after that couple more weeks I will be seeing Danny Elfman at the Nokia Theater! My aunt won tickets on K-Earth 101! I'm too ecstatic about that! Basically he's composing the music he did for the Tim Burton movies! Seeing two main artists you highly adore in the same month is almost (dare I say) surreal?! Few months back, I also won a PSB autograph on one of the postcards after pre-ordering Electric. I wasn't going to pre-order but when they said postcards esp. an autographed one, I had to jump on that immediately but still no gurantee but that made me so excited! Even if I don't see them up close, at least I got an autographed that I won. It may not be personalized but it's still something I won! I will post about that as well on how that happened. In all, I really have a lot to discuss and it's been a long while but I am back. I will discuss more about my other edit videos. Like I usually say on the video description, I'm always up for a crtique and comments. IF they are negative a least be smooth about it. Okay I have to go since I am blogging from the Spanish Lab computer, more posts coming up!

Quick Update

Hello everyone, I've been really busy lately, although I've been on Facebook and twitter, but I've been doing art projects, so I haven't really have time to blog at the moment but I will I guess soon, I'm not really sure, because I'm so exhausted but I will keep updates on here as well as my other blogs. I do have drafts I need to post on here though so I will do my best to come on here often. I think once I get back into blogging mode, I will do more than I should. Because I really do miss blogging about Pet Shop Boys and Soft Cell/ Marc Almond. 

Something original and hilarious!

Salutations readers! I'm quarter to a halfway done with drafting posts! So you will see some posts real soon! Things gotten a lot better this week. Like the Linkin Park song "No More Sorrow"! I was on Facebook yesterday, like I'm always online anyway and came across something quite humorous! It's already been posted as a Pet Text on the PSB's official page, but I would like to make a few points out on the video. I thought the video was quite hilarious, only wished there was an extended version of that, it seems the Mexican petheads were having a blast! I like the fact the main guy was dancing and then few seconds later, everyone joined in using either photo head cut aways or album covers as heads and started dancing to the "Harlem Shake"(I think that's the name of the song and dance, I'm not too familiar to newer songs) I love creativity and originality, you don't have to or need to try and dress exactly like the artists, it's all about having fun and enjoying their music. I only wished some people would understand that but not everyone are mature and have to learn the hard way. Anyway since I can't post the video link where you can the video on the blog, I linked it on here so the link underneath this post. But I know you all probably have seen it already! Keep the creativity and original coming!!

The Pethead Harlem Shake

Hello Readers again!

It seems that every time I post it's always an updated post, it seems I've gotten more busier than I thought. I've been currently working on scriptwriting, book illustrating and also of course college. There's two things I want to focus on, one being that the last issue of Classic Pop Magazine, I will also discuss this on my collections blog, this particular issue I truly believe is a nice one because it focus on more brilliant artist and bands and furthermore, I don't think any pop magazine that I know of, have focused on a life of a deceased artist. There's a nice description on Eric Watson, I feel like I understand who this artist was and I always love when anyone show respect for an artist behind the scenes, it really shows how they care. I gotten this about two weeks ago but I've been having writer's block and again been busy with other things. I have more items for my collection but since I've not finished observing them, I can't really discuss them yet. Sorry for the quality of this photo, it's my instragram photo I took from my iPhone. I know that's very unprofessional but I'm okay with it.

Also breaking news is that Pet Shop Boys have left Parlophone after 28 years!!! I SERIOUSLY COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!! But I was glad for them, honestly I wished they would do their own label  Spaghetti Records, but I guess this is still as good! Now as I see this happening, the single choice for Elysium made sense! And in the following sentences I will explain what I thought about that!

Well "Invisible" wasn't the single but it was the leaked song that a lot of people were wondering was it a demo or what. But I think the symbolism for it was that to Pet Shop Boys, they were "invisible"  to Parlophone, meaning that whatever they wanted to do, the company didn't care or whatever the reason. That was like a prequel to strike 1 on this "leaving"

"Winner" I think they felt victorious rather they released the album or not, with the chosen singles or what have you. They I guess knew that they was going to get the upper hand soon enough. The selling out part, I didn't understand, and I still believe it was the company's fault for that but who knows maybe PSB wanted the exposure, but I honestly think that's going against their own ethos if that makes any sense.

"Leaving" a lovely single, I guess it does have to deal with death and "memory" but I think it also was subliminal on their official leave and break away from Parlophone, they are artist for crying out loud! They have to be liberated and not control, well in today's society, you really can't make a choice can you? And the tempo itself it seems like it was in a positive tone so it might have been a good sign they were really well on their way!

"Memory of the Future" or should I say "Memory of the Past" since personally it's a good track but not really a single track in my opinion, I think this was another subliminal message that all of what they done in the past with Parlophone will be nothing more than a mere memory and they are starting off fresh, I heard that Kylie Minogue left Parlophone too, so who knows what they have done to wonderful artists!! And have anyone noticed that the Boys didn't really stay too long with the Elysium era? it was so rushed off, it's barely an era! I mean no video for the third single?? I was actually kind of ticked off. A good friend of mine, told me previous they should but unfortunately didn't, but now I can understand the reason now. They had something better planned in mind! And the last couple of videos minus the "Invisible" one I actually like that one, "Leaving" video was so much better than "Winner" I still believe they could have done something better because, it's kind of insulting for someone in the LGBT community, it's not a strong message and honestly I can't really feel like a "winner" when I hear it. 

I don't know if this make any sense at all to you guys but that's what I'm getting from all of this! By Pet Shop Boys choice, I think they are liberated from this and are releasing a brand new album also with the tour name called "Electric" I heard the teaser and I heard a clash of Kraftwerk and bit of their older demos and previous Disco compilations in other words, vintage and modern are into this chemical bond and will create a special work of art. I know they are working with Es Devlin that also did their previous concerts Pandemonium and the Fundamental tour and the album is produced by Stuart Price ( which also worked on other artists similar to PSB and and associate acts of them) that also did producing work for them and if I'm not mistaken did the new single mix and/or produced it. Sorry if my facts are rusty, it's been awhile. But now as this came out, I really can't wait for the new tour, hopefully they will release the US tour dates soon, I still want to take my mother to see them. I don't know but some reason this new tour sounds like it's going to symbolize one of their previous tours and add a new zip to it! Can't wait! 

Salutations Readers!

Hello everyone, I am truly sorry for my long absence, I've been really busy lately on some art projects for two lovely African American ladies. One is about health in the colon and what not, it haven't been fully discussed but she have connections and will have more details on that soon and also will do art for her book and my name might get to be published and if God willing, to have some more jobs in the works! With that being said, I also am currently back in college. Yay! I've been on a good vacation learning more about myself and my elements and also hanging out with friends and chilling on the internet and actually seeking jobs. Well I am currently working on art pieces for one of my older teacher's novel called The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy) and it is really really good! It's so amazing it feels like God does have a sense of humor because last year and a bit of the year before, I was working on art pieces for some peoples' story turned "novel" about vampires we had our fall out; I guess it was somewhat my fault but the way they are is just too creepy and wasn't for me. Plus it's not all that creative, not saying it's not creative because it is a good read but compare to my teacher's novel, her's is fantastic and remarkable! It's really well thought out and well put! It's a clash between wizards and Vampire Nazi warlocks set back into the 1940s. I have been doing research and art pieces which will be posted soon both on my blogs and if I'm not mistaken on her website but I'm not too sure. I didn't want to leave my viewers and possible readers wondering where I have been! This will also assist on the projects I want to do on my own, and on top of it, I'm getting paid to do it. If I was rich (which I'm not) I would have said I can do it for free but when you're at college, when opportunity knocks, I go for it. And furthermore, I will be updating more on my collections since some items came in actually few weeks ago but I gotten lazy and didn't post them. But I will be more active as soon as I almost finish with these projects. I seriously love being an artist, it's fun to use the skills needed to make another person happy and I'm truly content because I thought the horror would never end but things are looking up and I couldn't be more happier! Oh and one more thing, I also believe I convinced my mother to go with me to a PSB concert, I got a shirt for myself and since she does like a lot of the songs I play by them, I think she wants to go, just hope they release the dates soon so I can tell her. Other than that, life is seriously grand! Thank you God!!!
If you want to check out my teacher's book, you can! :D
CLICK HERE!

and also thank you for reading my blogs, I never thought my numbers would increase! Love you guys! if you want requests for an art piece, let me know! my email is jaleen81@gmail.com
my deviantart is www.jaleen81.deviantart.com

Love, peace and hair grease,
Jaleen81

Happy 66th Birthday to Mr. David Bowie!!!

I’ve listened to David Bowie’s “Where Are We

Now?” from his new album The Next Day on the computer today, what a way begin after ten years! A friend of mine on twitter told me something quite interesting how this song and another song from the movie The Ice Storm called “I Can’t Read” have a similar if not the same mellow tone as “Where Are We Now?”  There are some intriguing references and similarities that I also noticed. One being that the cover art of The Next Day was a subvert of Heroes which was back in 1977, not only that it looks similar to Pet Shop Boys Elysium cover art, the square in the middle of the portrait.  “I Can’t Read” the video was directed by Tim Pope and Soft Cell was one of the bands he directed and if I’m not mistaken Marc Almond liked the new single as well, but was sad he didn’t see it sooner or something.  Two is that “I Can’t Read” and “Where Are We Now?”, have Bowie’s face in an oval shaped facial expression like a mask. Another thing is that both videos have to do with surrealism and expressionism art and a vintage or desolate and abandon them. Which will bring to my next similarity I’ve noticed Bowie mentioned about “walking the dead” and how Pet Shop Boys “Leaving” is a theme about a subject about being “dead and fading away” and I’ve read Clare McCreesh’s blog about the similarities between Bowie’s new single and Pet Shop Boys’ Elysium about how the two videos had a black and white footage of Berlin. And it could be a high possibility that Bowie referenced The Pet Shop Boys, in fact if that’s the case, that would be really cool and astounding because they did collaborated with them for “Hallo Spaceboy” and he is one of their inspirations. Not only that but if it was like "Leaving" and the "Where Are We Now?" on the same album, then it would be like a continuation on a journey of some sort. There’s also a photo of David Bowie on the official Pet Shop Boys site, it reminded me of the Pandemonium where Neil and Chris with the cubes for heads. I find this quite amazing!  I’m glad David Bowie is back with music, also really cool to start the New Year and his birthday! I think there's a tiny reference of "I'm With Stupid" on "Where Are We Now?" because of the heads being on some dummies body.