0146:



0181:

Because I just updated it, this is the list of bands I've seen live since the summer of 1998 in alphabetical order, and organized by the number of times I've seen them.

UPDATED August 12, 2007

30 Seconds to Mars (11)
We Are The Fury (7 + 2 acoustic shows)
Envy on the Coast (7)
Men, Women & Children (6)
The Audition (6)
Atreyu (5)
Head Automatica (5)
Aiden (4)
Avenged Sevenfold (4)
Cobra Starship (4)
I Voted for Kodos (4)
Street Drum Corps (4)
Catch of the Day (3)
New Atlantic (3)
Coheed and Cambria (3)
The Bled (3)
1997 (2)
Anti-Flag (2)
American Head Charge (2)
Bedouin Soundclash (2)
Boys Like Girls (2)
Chiodos (2)
Disturbed (2)
June (2)
Kaddisfly (2)
Kill Hannah (2)
Less Than Jake (2)
Marilyn Manson (2)
Motion City Soundtrack (2)
No One (2)
Rock N Roll Soldiers (2)
Saosin (2)
System of a Down (2)
The Graduate (2)
Thrice (2)
My American Heart (1 + 1 Acoustic show)
18 Visions
A Static Lullaby
A Wilhelm Scream
Against All Authority
Alexisonfire
All Time Low
Adair
Agent Sparks
Alice Cooper
Backstreet Boys
Big D and the Kid's Table
Blink 182
Buckcherry
Bullets and Octane
Calling All Destroyers
Cheap Trick
Chevelle
Chimaira
Circa Survive
Cold
Cradle of Filth
Crossfade
Cynergy 67
Damone
Danger: Radio
Dark New Day
Death By Stereo
Deftones
Dope
Dredg
Dropkick Murphys
Emery
Every Time I Die
Flaw
Flogging Molly
Flyleaf
Godhead
Great Northern
Green Day
Hanson
Hella
Hour Cast
Il Nino
It Dies Today
Just Surrender
Keating (now Paper Rival)
Kirkland
Kittie
Korn
Krystal
Lockjaw
Mahp
Monty Are I
MXPX
New Found Glory
No Loving Place
Nonpoint
Norma Jean
Of the Opera
Olympia
Orgy
Over It
Ozzy Obourne
Paucity
Powerspace
Rammstein
Rock Kills Kid
Saves the Day
Scars of Tomorrow
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Seether
Senses Fail
Set Your Goals
Shades of Fiction
Shock Stars
Silverchair
Sisqo
Slipknot
Society 1
Something to Do
Stone Sour
Suburban Legends
Sugarcult
Time Again
The Absent Star
The Bronx
The Casualties
The Devil Wears Prada
The Electric Shoes
The Flatliners
The Hush Sound
The Mars Volta
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The Starrs
The Used
Thursday
Twisted Method
Underoath
Unearth
Veda (now Vedera)
Vox Demonna
Young Love

Local Bands
The Skamikazes (11)
RMA Divided (3)
4th and Michigan (2)
Boxhead
Contents Under Pressure
Dawn of Apathy
Deals Gone Bad
Duct Tape Mustache
Hired Geeks
Offend Your Friends
Partly Cloudy
Sorry About Your Couch
The Know How
Tusker
Umbrella Bed
Urizen
(a lot of others I can’t remember)

I will update the information here regularly to keep people posted on my progress, so check back from time to time if you are interested.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I am currently working on games #1-4
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To-Do List (for game #1)
1. Buy supplies
2. Print money ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500)
3. Cut apart money ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500)
4. Print the fronts of the Phoenix and Trinity cards
5. Print the backs of the Phoenix and Trinity cards
6. Print the game board design
7. Cut apart/assemble game board design
8. Cut out the game board backing
9. Laminate the game board
10. Print the song rights
11. Cut apart the song rights
12. Mold music notes
13. Mold discs
14. Mold pawns
15. Paint music notes
16. Paint discs
17. Paint pawns
18. Print instructions
19. Print box design
20. Cut out/assemble box design
21. Make a proper box for the game
22. Apply design to box
23. Laminate the box cover
-------------------------------------
The Donators:
Erin
Jamie
Sarah
Cassie (WhereIsMyBuddha)
Amanda (minara)
Vanner (nxdrxoc)
Camy (Tag)
Elizabeth (GarnetJ)
Daniella (dunz)
Casta (siena)
Ally (beachbumm)
(athenas owl)

Potential Donators:
Melina (EchoesImmortal)
(Schitzoid)
(RiskyFilly1)
----------------------------------
I HAVE
Paper
White Paper—120 sheets
Pink Paper—104 sheets
Yellow Paper—100 sheets
Green Paper—87 sheets
Blue Paper—84 sheets
Ivory Paper—40 sheets
Purple Paper—112 sheets

Modeling Clay
2 bags

Paint
Silver—1
Paint pens (white, black, red, brown)

Laminate
1 roll

Card Stock
36 sheets

Business Cards
45 Sheets (450 Cards)

I NEED
Paper
White Paper—0 sheets
Pink Paper—16 sheets
Yellow Paper—20 sheets
Green Paper—57 sheets
Blue Paper—0 sheets
Ivory Paper—15 sheets
Purple Paper—0 sheets

Molding Clay
4 bags

Paint
Black—5
White—3
Red—1
Brown—1
Silver—4
Clear—3

Laminate
7 rolls

Poster Board (for boxes)
24 sheets (22”x28”)

Card Board
6 stand-ups (2 boards from each)

Shannon: Hey. This is Shannon Leto from 30 Seconds to Mars and here’s Matt.
Matt: Hey, what’s up? This is Matt from 30 Seconds to Mars. Here’s Tomo.
Tomo: This is Tomo from 30 Seconds to Mars and here’s Jared.
Jared: This is going to be the first episode of our On the Pulse Podcast here is cyberspace. We’re ready to chill in the cool afternoon to the sounds of them crazy, crazy Mars boys.

Shannon: Wait. What the hell is that piece of paper on your chin with the blood on it?
Matt: I cut myself shaving this morning.
Jared: You look like Clark Kent a little with those glasses and the thing on your chin.
Shannon: He does. Matt totally looks like...
Matt: Conveniently enough, I packed all of my contact lenses in my bags…
Tomo: I don’t know. He is somewhat of a Superman.
Matt:… so I gotta wear glasses today.
Shannon: He’s our Superman.
Matt: It’s weird how…
Jared: Was that a burp, first of all?
Matt: Yeah it was.
Jared (with his mouth full): Do you ever… Do you say excuse me?
Matt: No.
Jared (with his mouth full): I talk with my mouth full, I mean…
Matt: You do.
Shannon: Yeah.
Jared (with his mouth full): I was just wondering if you were as impolite as I am.
Matt: Yeah, I totally am.
Jared: I don’t have time for manners.
Matt: No.
Shannon: Too busy.
Matt: So. To bring everyone up to speed, we’re on our way to the airport.
Shannon: Yep.
Matt: Going to Indiana to start our tour with Chevelle. Tomorrow.
Shannon: Tomorrow night.
Jared: Chevelle… Where are we playing?
Tomo: The Egyptian Ballroom. Very exciting. Beautiful venue. Thank you.
Shannon: Yep.
Jared: And then there were two.
Matt: And then there were two.
Shannon: Yeah… yeah.
Jared: So. LAX. Beautiful day. We’ve been home for a week and a half which is nice ‘cause we’ve been gone for about three months from L.A. and it was good to get home and see some people. Friends enemies.
Matt: Sad leaving again.
Jared: It’s hard to leave L.A.
Shannon: It was nice to be home. I’m ready actually.
Tomo: I’m ready but it’s hard to leave L.A. But I love being on tour so it’s all good.
Jared: I’m not ready yet.
Shannon: I feel like so much has happened since we’ve been home. For me I guess.
Jared: I feel like I’ve been home forever.
Shannon: That’s how I feel. Like, forever. I feel like it’s been a long time.
Tomo: It feels like it’s been a long time but it also felt like it went really quick if that makes any sense.
Shannon: Yeah.
Jared: What, what… How long have we been home? Two weeks?
Tomo: 13 days.
Jared: 13 days. That’s a long…
Tomo: Actually it’s two weeks if you consider… yeah, we got in on Friday morning and we played the next night.
Jared: And you think… the show seems like forever ago. The show… at Roxy. That’s like a lifetime ago to me.
Matt: It was actually.
Shannon: That was a great show though. The Roxy show was amazing. 600 people singing. That was insane.
Tomo: Yeah. It was good.
Matt: Quite good.
Tomo: Attack was the whole time.
Shannon: So cool.
Interviewer: So you guys talk about the record. When it’s coming out, favorite songs on it, the recording process…
Matt: When is the record coming out?
Tomo: Yeah. When is the record coming out?
Jared: Summer.
Matt: Summer 2005.
Jared: I’d say late August. Right now it’s August 16 it might be a couple weeks later.
Matt: Now that seems like forever ago.
Shannon: What?
Matt: The whole… Recording.
Tomo: Oh my god…
Shannon: Oh yeah… Africa… where else?
Matt: How long ago was that? That was… was that October?
Tomo: That’ll be a year ago.
Jared: When the album is released it’ll be around a year because we were there in August.
Matt: Oh, that’s right.
Tomo: That’s crazy. I’m ready to go back to Africa.
Shannon: That was fun, huh?
Tomo: South African tour. Anyone interested?
Jared: We should go there and play a show.
Tomo: Yeah
Matt: Well said
Shannon: That would be cool.
Matt: Let’s work that out. They can air-drop us into the jungle. We can play on hollowed out tree trunks.

[Random African chanting and laughing]

Matt: Tomo, on the pops!
Shannon: That song…
Jared: What if we can edit that. It’ll be a hit on itunes.
Shannon: That’s definitely not going to be on the album.
Jared: That’s a ringtone. That’ll be the hottest ringtone in Zimbabwe.
Tomo: Hey. What happened to the air conditioning?
Matt: It was off. It’s off now because it’s too loud.
Shannon: Hey, can you turn the A.C. back here? Just a little?
Tomo: Just a little.
Jared: I think the noise is…
Shannon: Oh…
Matt: Just a little…
Jared (with a southern accent): Just a little thang you learn, bein’ around production…
Matt: Matt sweats a lot.
Jared: …You have to take the…
Shannon: Matt does sweat a lot.
Matt: I actually had a girl, that girl in Boston, tell me one time to my face. We were signing autographs. She came up to me and she said, “You sweat all over me and it was gross.”
Jared: Hey Matt…
Matt: And then she goes, “Can you sign this?” That’s a little confusing. Mixed signals.
Jared: You should have just sweated all over it instead of signed it.
Matt: I should have.
Jared: That would have been your signature.
Shannon: And you know what’s interesting is Tomo, Tomo sweats inside.
Jared (while Shannon is talking): Winners never tolerate the losers, Matt.
Matt (while Shannon is talking): That’s true.
Tomo: Yeah. It’s very strange.
Shannon: It’s that weird?
Tomo: Yep. And then you gotta pop me with a pin.
Shannon: Yeah. Masonic temp.
Jared: We’re passing the Masonic Lodge.
Matt: We’re in L.A. traffic. For all you people who live in L.A. you know exactly what we’re talking about. For those of you who don’t, it’s hell.
Tomo: Are we allowed to say that?
[random talking to the driver]
Matt: Paved hell.
Shannon: Lots of traffic.
Matt: Traffic. That’s one thing I won’t miss about L.A.
Interviewer: Where you at? Did you go to (some place name that I don’t know how to spell)?
Shannon: Well we’ll be touring ‘til the end of the year.
Tomo: Yes we will.
Jared: We’re going out with Chevelle right now and then The Used. Might be in Iceland for four weeks.
[someone snorts with laughter. I would guess Tomo]
Matt: We’re going ice fishing for a while. Figured we’d catch up on that.
Jared (with his mouth full again): Doesn’t matter. We’ll play a couple shows in Iceland, hop over to England.
Matt: I can’t understand what you’re saying.
Shannon: …hop over to England…
Matt: Where is Iceland on the map?
Tomo: Up.
Shannon: It’s upper left.
Tomo: Up.
Interviewer: It’s up there.
Jared: Here’s how you describe it. Picture New York. Picture England. It’s in between and up. Iceland’s green. Greenland’s ice.
Shannon: Oh it’s up to the right I thought it was up to the left…
[Matt laughs]
Shannon: …oh that’s Alaska.
Jared: Iceland is green. I mean, it gets white and snowy as well but…
Matt: I did not know that.
Jared: And Greenland’s white.
Tomo: Mmm hmm…
Jared: Vikings.
Shannon: I know. It’s the geography…
Matt: That’ll be the geography lesson.
Tomo: The geography class.
Matt: Yeah. Maybe we can do an interactive, like, world map with this kind of thing.
Jared: Do you think if you call Vikings rapists there’d be some who’d call you up and get really mad at you?
Matt: Probably. Someone with Viking decent.
Jared: Someone with a big beard and a furry coat on.
Matt: Big horns.
Jared: A big red beard.
Matt: That’s what we should do for this next tour is do a Viking theme.
Shannon: Yeah. Mel Gibson comes out. Gets really pissed. Was he a Viking in that movie?
Jared: He was a Scotland guy.
Shannon: Oh…
Jared: A Scottish man.
Shannon: Well he looks like a Viking
Jared: (Scottish accent) Minus horns.
Matt: (Scottish accent) Yeah.
Jared: Our new single Attack is available for download on itunes.
Matt: Click over to your left on the music store. That’s right, drag your cursor over, up a little, click on ‘music store.’ Under search type in ‘30 Seconds to Mars.’
Jared: Either with a number or the letters.
Matt: Either the number or letter.
Jared: Number’s probably better.
Shannon: That’s convenient.
Jared: Yeah so you type it in. You’re waiting. You’re waiting now.
Matt: 99 cents, man. That is a deal!
Tomo: A deal!
Matt: Come on.
Jared: Consider all the work, consider all the work that you get, just the amount of man hour and the sweat that Matt sweated.
Matt: Yeah. As, you know, as I said earlier, I sweat a lot so…
Shannon: He’s sweating now.
Jared: Just think of all the sweat, think of all the cells that died from your body trying to make that song that you can buy for a dollar.
Matt: Ew. On E-Bay.
Jared: Think of the brain power that went out…
Matt: After you’re done buying it click over to E-Bay.
Jared: I’m gonna give you a question.
Shannon (to Matt): That’s not funny.
Jared: When you work out you sweat, your body gives off toxins, you burn calories. When your brain imagines a song, where is the, where’s the, ah, the residue of that?
Matt: The waste.
Shannon: The sweat.
Matt: I don’t know. In the toilet.
Jared: It’s that bizarre? Maybe it’s opposite. Maybe the residue is the emotions that you’ve experienced in your life…
Shannon: That’s what it is.
Jared: …and then the result is the song.
Shannon: That’s what it is.
Jared: It that…
Shannon: Yep.
Jared: Strange.
Matt: That makes sense.
Jared: But when you work out are you… you burn energy…
Matt: It that supposed to be Kurt Cobain?
Jared: Who’s Kurt Cobain?
Tomo (in response to Matt’s question, I think): Yeah really, who is that guy?
Shannon: He was the lead singer of Spinal Tap.
Jared: Nirvanna? (which he pronounces Ner-van-uh)
Tomo (after snorting in laughter: Nir—(laughs)
Shannon: Nirvanna…
Matt: Just a little one
Jared: You guys remember where you were when you first heard Nirvana (pronounced correctly this time)?
Tomo: Yes I do.
Shannon: I do.
Matt: Yep.
Jared: How often does that happen in your life? You remember where you are the first time you hear a band?
Tomo: I remember where I was.
Shannon: They were on Saturday Night Live. Saturday Night Live. He has red hair and honestly I was looking at the band and I was like, ‘what the fuck is that noise?’ Like, you know?
(Matt laughs)
Shannon: And then I slowly began to appreciate them.
Tomo: I was young.
Shannon: Nevermind album. Unreal.
Matt: I was in the lunchroom at school.
Jared (with his mouth full again): Were you?
Matt: Yep. My friend had the tape.
Jared: I was in New York City. Someone popped in a tape and then they went to go pull it right back out and I stopped them and I made them put it... keep playing it. Didn’t even turn it off. Something immediate… as soon as I heard the first chord I knew there was something different about it. There was something… just the minor key quality of a lot of the songs. There was something striking, unique.
Tomo: I was 11 years old.
Shannon: Wow.
(Matt laughs)
Jared: You’re not allowed to talk.
Matt: We’re not gonna talk about that one…
Shannon: No, but that’s… I was around 8.
Matt: Because I’ll feel old.
(Tomo laughs)
Matt: Youngest drummer ever.
Shannon (with his mouth full): I am. I’m a little kid.
Tomo: Hey! I’m the kid.
Jared: I’m glad that I was a fan of them before I had, kind of, the access that I have now to seeing shows or meeting people ‘cause you end up meeting a lot of your heroes and I’m glad that I never had that experience of seeing just as a performer behind the curtain.
Matt: Yeah.
Jared: Nirvana. You know. I’m glad I can be objective.
Shannon: Yeah. Good point…

On May 5, 1993 three eight-year-old boys, Michael Moore, Christopher Byers, and Steven Branch, were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. Their bodies were found in a man-made stream running through a wooded area known as Robin Hood Hills. All three victims had suffered a great deal prior to death; each had been brutally beaten, and Christopher Byers had also suffered severe lacerations. Two of the boys had died due to drowning, and Christopher Byers had died due to blood loss. There was no physical evidence recovered at the crime scene.

Almost a month passed and the officers of the West Memphis Police Department had yet to make an arrest. They had questioned Damien Echols, a local teenager who outspokenly enjoyed heavy metal and was rarely seen in any color but black, Jason Baldwin, Damien’s best friend and fellow heavy metal fan, and Jessie Misskelley, a friend of both teens who also shared their color and music preferences. The three friends told officers that they knew nothing about the crime except for what they had seen on the news, but because they were considered outsiders in the community, and because of circulating rumors that Damien was a Satanist, the boys were added to the police department’s suspect list.

Jessie Misskelley, who was seventeen and had an IQ of 72 (which is low enough to consider him mentally handicapped), was held and interrogated by the West Memphis Police for over twelve hours. Only the last forty-five minutes of the interrogation were recorded. During the recorded session, Misskelley ‘confessed’ his involvement in the slayings of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steven Branch. He also implicated Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. Jessie recanted his statement that evening, claiming that the police had forced him to confess by harassing him and telling him that he failed a lie detector test. Damien, Jason, and Jessie were arrested on June 3, 1993 and charged with three counts of capital murder. Misskelley found out later that he had actually passed the lie detector test, and that the police had used it as a means to get him to tell them what they wanted to hear.

Two separate trial dates were set. The first was for Jessie Misskelley on January 26, 1994. With no physical evidence at his disposal, the prosecutor used Jessie’s coerced confession as the main point of his case against Misskelley. The defense put an expert in coerced confessions on the stand to testify in Jessie’s behalf that the confession had, in fact, been forced, but it was to no avail. Jessie was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Michael Moore, and second degree murder in the deaths of Christopher Byers and Steven Branch. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus forty years.

The second trial, that of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, who would be tried together, began on February 28, 1994. Since there was no physical evidence left at the crime scene, prosecutors introduced items like Anne Rice books found in Damien’s room, Metallica recordings, black T-shirts found in the boys’ closets, and Damien’s journal containing ‘satanic’ poetry.

John Mark Byers, the stepfather of Chris Byers, also took the stand. Less than a week before his house was to be searched by the West Memphis police, he sent a used hunting knife to two filmmakers (who were making a documentary about the case) as a gift. When the filmmakers discovered what they thought to be dried blood on the knife, they sent it to the police to be tested. Upon testing, it was found that the blood on the knife matched both Christopher Byers and John Mark Byers. During his initial interrogation, Byers told police that he had never used the knife. His story changed when he was told that blood had been found on the knife. He then claimed that he had used the knife once to carve some venison. He was told that there was human blood on the knife, and his story changed again. This time he stated that he had cut his thumb while carving the venison. He offered no explanation as to why he had waited so long to inform the officers of such an occurrence.

During his closing arguments, prosecutor John Fogleman had this to say: “Is there anything wrong with wearing black, in and of itself? No. Anything wrong with the heavy metal stuff in and of itself? No. The Book of Shadows, anything wrong with that in and of itself? No. But when you take the all black, sucking blood, the tattoos...” He had summed up his entire case against Damien and Jason in those few simple sentences, but even this was not completely true: None of the witnesses, nor Damien himself ever mentioned sucking blood.

Even with the lack of evidence, the jury found both defendants guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Chris Byers, Michael Moore, and Steven Branch. Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Damien Echaols was sentence to die by lethal injection.

What has happened to America’s fine justice system? Three innocent boys were murdered and three more innocent men sit in jail convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted simply because they were different; they were easy targets. The public wanted an answer, and the police were forced to find one. When there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution claimed that Satanism was the motive, and used music, books, and clothes to ‘prove’ it.

If this case seems to be of interest, more information can be found at http://www.wm3.org. There are two books written about the case: Devil’s Knot by Mara Leveritt, and Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel and Marc Perrusquia. Two documentaries were also made: Paradise Lost, and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. These sources offer much more in-depth information about the crimes, the trials, the circumstances, and the convicted.

END OF ARTICLE. Now I rant.

Thinking about this case does two things to me. First, it makes me angry. Second, it makes me more motivated to help in any way that I can. I hope that there are others out there who want to end the injustice committed against Damien, Jason, and Jessie, and find the REAL bastard who killed the three little boys. Any system that allows a sadistic child-murderer to walk free is in desperate need of realignment... I am too bitter to type any more right now...

(Saturday April 8 3:08 AM)

Okay guys. Get ready.

I just got back from the concert at about 1:45 AM. Kristen and I got to the venue at 11:20 AM. We were the first ones in line and 30STM’s bus was already there. After a little while, the top blew off of my Marsopoly game and all the money went flying down the road. One of their techs was walking by looking at the game, and he helped me chase down some of it. Then I had to climb around in some thorny bushes to get the rest back, but I did get it all back so no worries. Two other Echelon joined us in line at a little before 2:00 PM. Then James and Jayme got there and we had some good conversation waiting for the time to pass. It was fucking freezing outside too. James asked one of Aiden’s techs if he wanted to cuddle, but he was denied. It actually snowed on us for a little while, but the security guards decided to let us in a little early, at 5:50 PM. Doors to the actual stage area were opened at about 6:20. My friends and I were right in front, on the barricade, between Jared and Matt. 7:00 Shades of Fiction played. They were alright, I guess, but the lead singer reminded me of Wilson Cruz (Ricky on MSCL and Angel in Party Monster) so that was a little strange. Then Keating played. They had me worried for a few minutes because they were really mellow and whiny sounding but they got slightly better as their set continued. Not great, but not too bad either. Aiden started at around 8:30. I liked their show a lot. They were really energetic and got the crowd involved. WiL was jumping back and forth from the stage to the barricade practically nonstop, and at one point he actually walked on the audience. He was holding on to a light fixture on the ceiling, and as he was going back to the stage, he broke it. “Sorry about the light, Rave, but this is a rock concert!” It hit Jayme and me in the head when it fell, but luckily it wasn’t too heavy. The bassist crowd surfed a little bit. He jumped off the stage and landed right next to me, on Jayme’s head. Finally at 9:50 O’ Fortuna started playing. Shannon came out on stage, then Tomo, then Matt, and then Jared. They played:

A Beautiful Lie
Capricorn
The Kill
Buddha For Mary
The Story
Battle of One
The Fantasy
Was it a Dream?
Attack

Edge of the Earth and Fallen were on the set list but they weren’t played. Eric and Tomasz were right behind me, and we started a “We want End” chant. At one point, Matt took out his ear monitor so that he could hear us yelling and just smiled and shook his head. Jared came out on stage alone for Was it a Dream? and before he actually played the song, he asked for requests. Rather than play any one song in its entirety, Jared played the beginning of End of the Beginning, The Mission, Edge of the Earth, and Echelon. The rest of the band came out and played Was it a Dream? after all the little intros, and they cut in a verse of Echelon, which was really cool.

In between A Beautiful Lie and Capricorn, they also played a little bit of Praying for a Riot. During The Fantasy, they kind of paused and Jared introduced Tomo, Matt, and Shannon. When he introduced Matt he said, “And this beautiful virgin to my left it Matt. Have you ever seen anyone sweat so much in your entire life? He’s working hard for you guys!” and Matt smirked evilly and blew Jared a kiss. He introduced Shannon as “my brother, Shannon, the animal.” He also ‘introduced’ the “best fucking family in the world: the Echelon.”

Jared didn’t leave the stage during Buddha for Mary, but during another song, he did jump to the barricade and then he kind of side-stepped along it, so I got to help hold his legs so that he didn’t fall over. He also jumped to the barricade during A Beautiful Lie. He said that they had all been pretty sick, and there is some virus infecting their bus, which was why they weren’t as crazy as usual. ‘Tonight, we thought we’d let the music speak for itself.” Attack was so intense. Jared didn’t sing 80% of the song, he just let the audience sing it. He also had us sing a lot during The Kill, but I was singing the whole time anyway. The Echelon took over the first two or three rows of people, and it was amazing to hear so many people singing along.

In short, the show was great. Shannon played shirtless during the encore (Was it a Dream? and Attack), and James almost fainted. All of the songs sounded unbelievable.

During the show Jared told us that they would be taking pictures and such inside since it was so cold. A nice gesture, but I had left my camera and the gifts in Jayme’s car. So I went through the autograph line and had the guys sing the setlist that I had convinced a tech to give me. Shannon was first. He pointed at me and said, “That is a GREAT shirt!” and then he said the same thing to Jayme but she was zoning out so Shannon just kept pointing and saying “I like your shirt” until I poked her and she turned around. James had made a shirt that said ‘SHAN MAN” on the front, and Shannon saw it and said, “And I LOVE your shirt!” with a nice mischievous smile. He signed James’s CD, and then he wrote “I love you” on it and drew a heart. He is so sweet. I told him that I had a gift for the band, and he told me not to worry since they would be outside. Matt was second. He signed my setlist and I told him that I had a gift for him. He seemed pleasantly surprised, and when I told him that it was outside he just shook his head at me, smiled, and said “Uh oh.” Tomo signed the paper and shook my hand. When I thanked him, he got a huge grin and said, “You’re WELCOME!” in a really high-pitched, strange accent. Jared was last. He complimented my shirt, saying, “That shirt is fucking awesome!” and then walked over to Shannon and told him that he needed to take pictures of shirts (I like to think that I helped him make that decision). I was going to leave then, but Andre ran after me and grabbed my arm. He told me that I had to wait because Shannon wanted a picture of my shirt. I went through the line a second time with my dad and he talked to Shannon for a little while (about some drummer, whose name I can’t remember but when my dad told Shannon that he was still playing and had done a reunion tour with Cream, Shannon made a really great “Holy shit, how could I not know that” face. I laughed and he knew why so smiled at me) and had all the guys sign the back of his shirt. They all said that they liked the shirt, and my dad told them that I made it. Shannon looked at me and said, “Great shirt… again! Do you want that one signed?” so he signed the back of my shirt too. When my dad and I got to Jared, he was talking to someone from Keating so we waited for a minute. Then I called his name and he didn’t hear me, so my dad called his name and then he turned around. He signed the shirt and said, “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for coming out, bro.” And he locked eyes with me and gave an approving nod.

Shannon took pictures of people’s shirts. It was also amusing to watch Andre sign Katie’s ‘I love Andre’ shirt, since the heart was right on her boob. He was trying to be a gentleman about it, but it was fun to observe. Then our little group left. Jared came running out after us and said, “Thank you guys so much for coming!” and he gave my sister a half-hug. Jayme and I were already outside since we were on a mission to get the gifts from her car so I missed Jared’s little chase. Before he could scamper away, Kristen pretty much grabbed him and said, “My friend has a gift for you. She’ll be out by the bus.” He smirked and said, “I LOVE that!” Shannon came outside first, so I gave him the Marsopoly Game. He looked at it, laughed and said, “This is the most awesome thing ever!” But he was visibly freezing (even though he was wearing that crazy fur hat, and a big coat) so he got on the bus. Then Matt and Jared came outside. I gave Jared the card. He thanked me and I had slide it between his fingers for him because he was carrying something. He wiggled his fingers at me and said, “Here! Put it here!” He had walked over to a couple other girls who wanted pictures so I said, “Jared, do you mind if I harass you a little more? Can I get a picture of you with the card, please?” He said, “Alright. Last one. Last one.” But he did hold the card up for a picture. Jayme wanted a picture with Jared. When she asked him, he said, “Why didn’t you do this inside?” so she explained to him that she didn’t want to risk loosing a camera by sneaking it in and the security guards wouldn’t let us go get our cameras and come back inside. He shook his head, laughed, and said, “You fucker!” So he posed with her and he was busy being witty about something so when I took the picture he was smiling. After I took it, he looked at me and said (with false anger), “Ooh. You got a smile in that one.” Then I gave Matt his shirt. Walked over to him and said, “And this is your gift.” I unfolded the shirt and held it up. His jaw dropped and he said, “Oh my god! That is amazing!” He was really happy about it. He said that he used to have a WM3 shirt but he lost it. So he was super excited about the shirt. He kept saying, “Thank you! That is so cool!” and then hw gave me a nice hug. Then Jared started yelling at us about how “You’re all crazy. It’s fucking cold. Go home! Shit. It’s so fucking cold…” Shannon had gone back inside and he walked by us again, and told us to keep warm. How considerate of him. Andre walked by and alsoinformed us that we were nuts.

After all the guys got on the bus, we retreated to the car. We left the Rave at around 1:30 AM.

I will stop rambling for now, but I’m sure that I left things out or will think of ways to elaborate on things later. Right now, I should probably try to sleep.



EDIT (Saturday April 8 12:49 PM):

When I gave Jared the card I said, "It's from some of the regular posters on your message board. Even though you don't come back any more, they all still love you and they wanted to send the band some messages." He kind of laughed and said, "Okay. Thanks." and then he smiled at me before he was asked to be in a picture. And then when I asked him if I could take a picture of him with the card, he held it up and kept asking, "Did you get it? Did you get it? Did you get it?" I was going to just let him keep rambling, but I was nice and took the picture so that he could get on the bus.

Since Shannon had already brought the Marsopoly game onto the bus, my friend and I had our game board out and we showed it to Jared and Matt. "This is a little preview of what's waiting for you on the bus." Jared was happy and said, "Holy shit. That's cool!" and Matt pretty much freaked out. He was smiling and said something about how awesome it was. They both seemed really excited about it. So even though Shannon had agreed with me that they wouldn't have an extra six hours to sit and play a game of Monopoly, I think Jared and Matt are going to try.

They broke their accident free streak last night too. When they were backing their bus into the parking lot they apparently hit a sign or something and one of the windows broke. So one of the techs came over to us and asked for someone to go buy black duct tape. They taped the entire window since they won't be able to get it fixed until they are in Canada. I'm not sure where in Canada though. Hopefully they can get it fixed tomorrow and it's going to cost around $3,000. Apparently these boys can't make it through a whole tour without some kind of bus trouble.



EDIT (Saturday April 8 1:43 PM):

When Jared saw the game board he said, "We're definitely playing that later!" and Matt agreed with him. I was so happy that they liked it. And Matt loved his shirt too. I was seriously euphoric. They are so wonderful.



EDIT (Sunday April 9 1:27 PM):

A couple other things:

Jared's belt said "DIRTY WHITE BOY" on it.
When Jared walked out on stage he was waving the bat around, pointing it at the Echelon, and I freaked out. He made eye contact with me while he was holding it above his head.

The tech tuned Artemis, but Jared didn’t play it.

I have decided to make a fully customized 30 Seconds to Mars version of Monopoly. It is going to be quite a task, but I am prepared to take it on. I will have it finished in time to give it to the guys on April 7 at the Milwaukee show.

EDIT (April 10, 2006):
The game was finished in time. Read my review for reactions and such.

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So, I am really excited about the poster. Really excited. It's so wonderful of them to even give us the opportunity to be part of it. If they continue on this route, there will never be a poster with the guys on it. I'm not going to complain though, since with the new poster I will be able to gaze upon the beautiful [ECHELON].

Thirty Seconds to Mars honestly has the coolest fans in the entire world. I have made more new friends through the band than I have since moving to Milwaukee for college. Pathetic to some. A blessing to me. It's kind of a challenge to meet new people at college when you don't drink, smoke, do drugs, or party in general. Maybe it doesn't help that two of my best friends go to school with me, but I have no real desire to expand my social life when most of the people I would meet are in school to get away from their parents' rules. No thanks.

The Echelon, on the other hand, seems to be full of awesome people. It is amazing to me that people with one shared obsession also share many others. I have met a lot of people who have music tastes similar to mine (other than 30STM), and like the same movies. Many of us seems to share a very sarcastic sense of humor. I have also met a lot of people who love Dane Cook, Johnny Depp, and Jake Gyllenhaal. A few West Memphis Three supporters have surfaced as well. Now, I know that there are a lot of people like this that I could meet in Milwaukee but their drunkenness hides whatever intelligence they may have very well and I would rather not waste my time. I also know that I am generalizing. I don't care. One of the best experiences that I had last year was meeting some fellow Mars soldiers at the show on November 11. It is so much easier to talk to someone new when there is a common interest apparent. Talking to them seemed natural... there was no awkwardness or shyness within our little group and that is an amazing feeling. Meeting people for the first time and having it seem like you have known them for years (kind of stupidly worded, but I don't really know how else to convey it).

The fans are a huge part of Thirty Seconds to Mars. They know it, and we know it. A lot of people seem to think that I am lying when I say that I felt completely comfortable meeting the band, and Jared in particular ("OMFG! He is soooo hot!"). I can understand why people would think that though. There is no better time to be nervous than when you are meeting someone who seems inhumanly perfect in every way. I was nervous before the show, but once I got to the autograph table and said hello to Shannon, all the feelings of nervousness just vanished. There is such a familial atmosphere when you are talking to the band members or other fans that it is almost impossible to feel uncomfortable. Maybe that's just me though. Apparently I don't get starstruck. Jared's day job really doesn't matter to me. I mean, no one seems to care what Shannon, Matt, and Tomo do outside of Thirty Seconds to Mars and Jared shouldn't be treated any differently. Yes. I am completely in love with the films that he has made, but Jared's acting does not define him as a person. At all. I don't even think that it is possible to define Jared at all. He just... is. Intelligent, complex, insane, talented, beautiful (inside and out) and too charismatic for his own good. The man could take over the world and he knows it.

The fact that I just rambled for 638 words about this kind of serves to prove my point. You might be asking yourself, what is my point. It's simple really. I love the Echelon. I love Jared Leto, Shannon Leto, Matt Wachter, and Tomo Milicevic. I love everything about the Thirty Seconds to Mars universe.

Popped. This place finally sucked me in. I don't know how often it will be updated since I update on Xanga every day. This might just turn into a ranting journal because none of my 'real life' friends will read it. People can't handle it when actual emotions are posted for them to read.