Fancy Dress Ball 18 October 2001

11:10 PM: So we went to see Bjork at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland last night, and I must say, I felt distinctly underdressed. Knew I should've worn my suit. Many, many people dressed to the 9.9s, in the semi-wacky, imaginative way of my tribe. As Lana put it, "The assembled knowledge of Photoshop in that place tonight was probably incredible." (I paraphrase, she said it better.)

Bjork herself was all snazzed up, too. First act - after Matmos! The Band of Fate finished with their musical endoscopy - she came out in a white outfit with what is I guess the now-traditional swan's head draped over one shoulder. Second act, a big red flouncy ostrich-type-feather skirt - she looked like a plant. Lana bought a pair of binoculars, so we could see details a little more clearly. Bjork is a very tiny person. The orchestra and the choir sounded great, though with the Matmosians chiming in with the bleeps and the boops, and the orchestra itself miked for sound, some of the effect of having all of those live musicians was lost. I mean, how do we know that's who we were hearing? Difficulties of the modern age.

Bjork's singing was, of course, amazing. I found that the songs were much more distinct when performed live than they seem to be on the recent albums. Not sure why that is - maybe a greater dynamic range, maybe just me paying more attention.

Afterwards, Lana and Eddie dropped me and Saul off at the bar. It seemed like the thing to do, even though it was a tiny bit early. But it turned out that getting there early wasn't the real problem. It was more the leaving part. Which we didn't do for a long time, because we were hanging out and talking to Theresa until, oh, late. Very very late. Ow. I woke up around 4:30 PM Today and there was no question of going to work or anywhere else that was further away than the bathroom for many hours more. I just had to hope that if anything really urgent had come up, they would call. Ow.

Willfully blind self-indulgent nebbish or amusingly quirky old coot? And how bout that local sports team? Discuss among yourselves.

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