Excellent Online - garbage

Clearing the May Backlog in June...

theajaysharma — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:56:11 +0000

So my life in May was pretty much on hold because I was switching jobs. And as regular readers might be aware, any slight modification in my life results in massive neglect to excellent online (hey, we've been doing this for over ten years, that says something right?). I was contacted by a recruiter for a Seattle-based company back in February and went through several phone interviews. After each one, I'd wait a week then politely ask for the status. Another week would go by then a response saying that I've advanced to the next step. So persistence is their first test. How badly do you want this job? Bad enough for you to keep emailing us?

After four phone interviews (all with their appropriate delays), I get invited for the onsite. I was pretty anxious this whole time but the onsite interview really kicks it into overdrive. Now I'm plagued with thoughts like, "how am I going to find a place to live in Seattle" or "will I adjust to the lack of sunshine." Truely first world problems because obviously I can adjust to anywhere.

While this is happening, I interview with a local company (I'm in southern California, btw) and they offer me the position but I tell them that I cannot accept until I interview in Seattle. I'm not going to bore you with the details of the interview other then to say it was a full day (10:30am-5pm, also interviewed during lunch!) and was the most intense interview I've ever had. They asked if I wanted to stay in Seattle an extra day to check out the city. But I was a big bag of nerves and wanted to get home as soon as possible and get back to my wife and kid. The weekend was more of the same, a nervous wreck. They were going to notify me on Monday evening about the status so I was super pissed that I didn't get a response until Tuesday morning. They declined. Bummer.

So I accepted the position from the other local company and while I'm sad that I'm not moving to Seattle, I think staying down here is good for me for right now. So that's why there hasn't been a post in a while. ;)

Kickin' it Old School: La's, Adam Ant, Beach Boys, Moz updates and my festival rant

theajaysharma — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:40:06 +0000

I talked to my friend Brian today and he lives up in the north west so his festival of choice is Sasquatch while mine is Coachella (I live in southern California). And he told me that Sasquatch is only going to sell 4-day passes. Honestly it's kinda sad to see that this is becoming a "thing". Coachella did this years ago and it sucks for the people that really want to enjoy the festival but can't commit to the whole thing. And I gotta admit, a day or two of Coachella is all you really need. Three full days is a little much (I'm an old guy now). I can't even imagine FOUR days of Sasquatch.

I understand that at the end of the day it's just a business, but there's no reason to exclude a minority of fans that can't do it. What I don't understand is the lame excuse, "there's such a high demand for tickets so we'll only sell 4-day passes". It just translates to me as, "We can force people to pay $300+ for tickets, so why would we bother to accommodate the people that can only go one or two days?" This year's Coachella is in such a high demand that they booked two full weekends of identical bands and sold them both out.

So as the demand increases it's just going to push the more casual fan out. I know people really love the festival (I really do), but there are clear benefits of living in a major town with no festival scene. At least then you have a fighting chance of seeing only the bands that you want to see and not have to put up with parking, dickheads, heat just to see Gotye.

More tours, and I miss Failure.

theajaysharma — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:15:20 +0000

Nada Surf do "Enjoy the Silence". All this reminds me of is Failure's version and after that I went on a huge google adventure trying to see what the bands are doing at the moment. It also reminded me of the last versions of the touring Lollapalooza. Tool were headlining and Failure were also on the bill. Do to someone backing out, Failure opened up the main stage and then 4 or 5 hours later they headlined the second stage. First and last time I have ever seen the same band play twice on the same day.

Still Playing Catch Up. Another Summary of the Last Couple of Weeks

theajaysharma — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:07:41 +0000

Apparently I'm still not back on track but managed to go through my leads and pick out some interesting stories. So if you've been AWOL like me for the last couple of weeks then this should help you get caught up, read on!

Shirley Manson On Paul McCartney's Frightening Resemblance To Angela Lansbury

theajaysharma — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:18:04 +0000

Little did we know when we saw Paul McCartney at Coachella a few weeks ago that Scottish bombshell Shirley Manson was in the audience, too. But according to what she told fellow Scot Craig Ferguson Tuesday night, she was having a little trouble concentrating on the legendary Beatle. Because, naturally, she couldn't stop thinking about Angela Lansbury. Wait, what? - Source

Shirley Manson Set To Guest Star On Sci-Fi TV Show

theajaysharma — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:43:06 +0000

Here are the deets: *Shirley Manson, leader singer of the pop band Garbage, has taken a regular role next season on Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Scottish musician will play Catherine Weaver, the chief executive of a cutting edge high tech company, the trade paper reported. Sarah Connor Chronicles is returning for a second season in the fall after launching in mid season as the highest rated new scripted series of the 2007/2008 season. It stars Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as her son, John Connor and Summer Glau as terminator Cameron Phillips.* - Source

Shirley Manson's Solo LP Put On Hold

theajaysharma — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:42:46 +0000

The Garbage frontwoman explains on her MySpace blog: *"I played some of the stuff to the record label not long ago and they described it as being very noir. At the time, I took the comment as being a huge compliment. That they liked the intensity of my material. But then I realized it wasn't intended as a compliment. But I'm 41, I'm a woman not a kid. I have no interest in making silly pop music and I don't want to wear a silly sexy outfit and sell myself short. I'm sure it will all get sorted out in the end. But I do think record companies, in general, have different ideas about how they promote women. In the end, it is down to each and every woman to fight to be treated as an individual. I just want to be who I am."* - Source