Attending the Los Angeles Digg Meetup (Live Diggnation) at the Knitting Factory and seeing the Knights of Monte Carlo at King King
Last night after work, I managed to walk the dogs, get a workout in, attend the Digg Meetup, have dinner, and see The Knights of Monte Carlo! Whew. I’m surprisingly not that tired.
Details and more pictures later, but just wanted to get a few up. Here’s one of the Digg Meetup:
The main room was packed!
Despite the long lines reported earlier on Twitter (people had lined up 2 - 3 hours before the doors even opened), I got in with no hassle and no line. I guess all the hardcore fanboys (and some girls) really wanted to secure a place near the stage, which was a good idea if that was important to you since the main room was packed. I hung out for maybe 15 - 20 minutes and caught the beginning of the live Diggnation, where Kevin and Alex from Digg talk on stage about the top submissions and such. All in all, I found it pretty boring. I can see how others would have an enjoyable time, but it was just too weird and cultish to me. I had been really excited about going, but once in, it was just people standing around and cheering on and laughing at two guys on a stage that I really don’t know nor care about. It was kinda scary what a mass mentality the audience had, going “chug chug chug” in unison or laughing right on cue, etc. The highlight of the evening was that Levar Burton was there (Geordi!) and I was dying to get a picture with him but couldn’t find him in the crowd. Being rather bored, hungry, and feeling so awkwardly out of place, I finished my Amstel and high-tailed out of there.
I made it down the street to King King just in time to see the Knights of Monte Carlo. It was so much fun. I danced the entire night, despite the fact that most people weren’t. I could tell that a lot of people wanted to dance but were holding back. It is L.A., after all, and a lot of people want to look cool. I didn’t care if I looked goofy dancing my ass off in front of everybody; I had a blast! Definitely must make this a regular thing.
I took a ton of pics and video throughout the night. Here are just a couple of the dashing Knights of Monte Carlo:
Last week, I went to the gym every day after work. I want to make that a regular part of my life, however it’s only week two and I may be faltering already.
I think I’m getting sick. All day, my nasal passages, throat, and back of my mouth have felt irritated. They feel kinda raw and exposed, almost like the feeling you get when you accidentally get water up your nose, but that’s not the case here. Usually, when I do get sick, my sinuses are the first to be affected.
However, I don’t feel that sick yet and, normally, I would still go to the gym. However, there are two events happening tonight that I really want to attend, and with one starting at 7 PM and me needing to walk the dogs before I get dressed and head out, I don’t see the gym fitting into my schedule this evening.
So what is it that’s going on that will make me miss the gym?
Well, first, Digg is having a meetup! For those of you not in the know, Digg is a very popular social news website where anyone can submit links to cool web finds and the community votes on it. The more “diggs” a submission gets, the more visibility it gets. Usually, if a site is “dugg” and made popular, it experiences what is known as “The Digg Effect” meaning the site’s servers usually crash because of the enormous amount of traffic. I visit Digg every day, several times a day; it’s a great source for news, information and even fun, trivial stuff. Some of my favorite sites right now I only discovered through Digg.
Anyway, the people behind Digg occasionally host a gathering of Digg users. They’ve met in NYC, San Antonio, and San Francisco among others. Now they are coming to Los Angeles, and not just Los Angeles, but right in my neighborhood! I really want to go.
Also happening tonight, the Knights of Monte Carlo are performing at King King, which is only a few blocks away from the Digg meetup. I only saw the Knights once before and I really would like to see them again. They don’t go on until 10 PM, so if I aimed for it, I could make both the Digg shindig and catch the Knights on stage.
Now how do I fit the gym in there? I walk in the door to my apartment at 6:15 PM. Doors open for Digg at 7:00 PM and I do expect it to reach capacity. They strongly recommend early arrival so I want to get there as early as possible. I have to walk the dogs, which is usually at least 30 minutes, and I have to get dressed and do my hair and makeup. Though that never takes too long, I don’t see myself leaving my apartment earlier than 7:30 PM. Bleck. My regular gym is literally above the club where the Digg meetup will be. Maybe I should walk the dogs, pack my gym bag, and then head to the gym and get ready there… can I fit in a workout? Do I want to? Oh wait, what about dinner? When am I gonna eat! I don’t plan on drinking tonight because I do have to work tomorrow and I’ve cut back on drinking anything but wine as part of my “get healthy” plans, but a girl’s gotta eat.
This is why I am not a social butterfly. Give me slippers, food and my laptop any day over a busy social calendar. Man, I’m getting tired and lazy just thinking about it.
What do you get when you have a keyboardist who looks like Chuck Norris, a bassist who plays with a tobacco pipe in his mouth, a drummer and a bongos player, plus a show equipped with a horn, saxophone, triangle, chimes and even a cowbell?
The Knights of Monte Carlo!
Although when we walked into the Viper Room around 11:30 p.m. and I was asked who I was there to see, I accidentally said “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Oops!
I saw them before at The Key Club a couple months ago, and I knew I would have to see them again. They were such a campy-looking act: 6 men dressed like Mr. Howell from Gilligan’s Island and handing out roses to the ladies, quite an appropriate look for the music they themselves call yacht rock. It actually is soft rock, with songs whose names always escape me but with lyrics everyone knows:
…I got such a long way to go (such a long way to go), To make it to the border of Mexico, So I’ll ride, ride like the wind…
…As he rises to her apology, Anybody else would surely know, He’s watching her go, What a fool believes…
…You go back, Jack, do it again, wheel turnin round and round…
And so many more really fun songs. One of my favorite parts of the night was when they transitioned from the end of the song “How long, has this been going on?” and the lead singer said:
“You know, I don’t know how long this has been going on, but I can tell you how long it will go on… ALL NIGHT LONG!”
Of course, they then sang Lionel Richies “All night long, all night, all night long…” They even did the whole Caribbean chant thing perfectly (Tam bo li de say de moi ya…)
It was so much fun! There were a lot of people there and everyone was dancing and singing along. The energy was fantastic, and it wrapped up perfectly with the last song of the night:
…everybody here is out of sight, they dont bark and they dont bite, they keep things loose they keep it tight, everybody’s dancing in the moonlight…
By that point, everyone was dancing, singing, and smiling. You know what, it actually was like a party on a yacht out on the Carribbean Sea. Just a great energy.
I wasn’t ready for it to end, no one was, but it was 2 a.m. and time to leave. I was so energized from the whole thing that I ended up just walking home from the Viper Room, a full 5 miles that just flew by.
They’ll be playing at the Viper Room every Saturday in October, and I’ll be sure to try to make more shows out there, but I’m really looking forward to November when they’ll be doing a show just down the street at King King. I can’t wait!
Here’s a very sucky video I took with my camera phone of “Do it Again.” I was moving and dancing the whole time, so excuse the poor directing skills, and though my phone distorted the sound a bit, you’ll get an idea of what they’re like:
The [mis]Adventures of Vuthy is a clever name for a blog that is usually filled with anything but. (Cleverness, not names; that sentence didn't quite work now did it?) About me. Feeds:Entries | Comments
to the ladies, quite an appropriate look for the music they themselves call yacht rock. It actually is soft rock, with songs whose names always escape me but with lyrics everyone knows:
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