Happy 50th Birthday, Dave!

May 9, 2012 in Fun

Long time no type, devotees! If there are any of you still reading, LOL. I do apologize for my absence. My work as Associate Creative Director for FanimeCon has had most of my free time consumed, with the event just 2 weeks away. March through May is always the OMGWTFBBQ bum rush. I am SO overdue on reviews and posts!

I was inspired over a month ago to draw something nice to mark Dave’s 50th. When I realized that wasn’t feasible, I wanted to post something wonderfully written. Tonight I realized that it doesn’t really matter that I couldn’t do a fancy tribute; only that I took time to appreciate the awesomeness that Dave has brought so many of us. With the recent passing of MCA (RIP), I was once again reminded how lucky we are as fans that our boys have managed to beat the odds — Dave repeatedly so. Here’s to 50 years of Dave Gahan kicking ass and taking names in the face of adversity, and hopefully many, many more!

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Day 28–30: Wrapping Up the 30-day Challenge

March 1, 2012 in Fun, Memories

So it’s the final day of the challenge! Congratulations to all the Twitter folks who kept up with it. I may have missed being on time for a few days, but I covered them all. In the end I realized it’s really, really difficult to blog every day on top of my daily responsibilities, even for the simplest posts. But the challenge did get me blogging more often, which I think was really the point in the end. :)

My answers for the last three days are as follows: Read the rest of this entry →

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Day 27: Feet on the Ground

February 27, 2012 in Fun

Day 27 – Your favorite song from “Ultra”

I’ve already used up “Barrel of a Gun” and “It’s No Good,” so today’s winner is “Useless.” Song for song, Ultra is the only album who’s entire set of singles land in my personal top 15 or 20 DM songs. I think the attitude and defiance is what I find most attractive about “Useless” – sarcasm toward a person who hurt and betrayed. It’s not a pretty side of humanity but it is there. The song is topped off by a pretty cool video, too. Now if only DM would revisit it live… Dave did in 2003 and it rocked!

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Day 26: Xanax for the Soul

February 27, 2012 in Fun

Day 26 – A Depeche Mode song that “takes you off to another place” 

There are actually quite a few answers to this question – it’s one of the reasons I love DM. Exciter’s “Shine” has to be one of my favorite examples. It doesn’t matter how upset I am, if I plant my arse down and listen to it, I feel better. It lifts my spirits when I’m down, and calms me when I’m angry. It’s centering, somehow, and makes it easy to relax and meditate on my problems. (Though I generally consider the whole of Exciter the best prescription for anxiety, without the bother of one’s liver and kidneys.)

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Day 25, Part Two: Maybe a Stranger, but no Danger

February 25, 2012 in Fun, Travel

Okay, so the more I thought about the more I just couldn’t let today’s challenge go by without my other craziest moment as a DM fan. As the end of the last tour approached, I was feeling the burn of longing for just one more show… My last show had been in Dallas, TX. While it was with some of my best friends, it was not the best seating and not the best note on which to end my personal tour. But it was what it was, and I had no more money. I had started saving for the next tour, and had considered taking on a second job during the holidays to try to raise money for a trip overseas during the last stretch, but I decided that it would be just too nuts and that I should have been happy with all the wonderful experiences I’d already had.

One day in a casual email conversation with friend, I was offered two tickets to each of the last two shows. For free, no strings attached. These were two shows we’d previously been scheduled to attend while in Germany during the summer, but they had been rescheduled due to Dave’s cancer diagnosis. (We had sold ours thinking we couldn’t return.) Not only that, but there was a high likelihood of getting excellent seats, AND our travelling buddies offered to let us crash at their place in Dortmund. Two more DM shows. The last of the tour. For the price of a plane ticket and feeding myself. On two-weeks’ notice, I again dragged Tara out on a wild adventure (this seems to be a pattern…), this time on the promise of tickets from a stranger  – a friend I had never met before then, who to this day I consider one of the most generous people I’ve met. Though some would call me crazy, stupid, or stupid-crazy, it all worked out – we ended up front row for two amazing shows. By coincidence I got to go to the after party at the very last show, because I ran into a lost friend from back home who was looking for the after show room and was able to help her find it.

They say that love makes you do crazy things, and I would venture a guess they are right. At least when Depeche Mode fans are concerned. The stories, the travels, trials and tribulations of DM fans are part of what makes being a fan in this community so wonderful and inspiring. I captured both shows in previous blog posts, which you can read here and here.

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Day 25: A Fine Line Between Genius and Insanity

February 25, 2012 in Fun, Memories

Day 25 – Your craziest moment as a Depeche Mode fan

Somehow on Twitter this evolved to “your proudest/most shameful moment,” which changes the meaning of this question. Being crazy can make you embarrassed or proud, sure. But what I really meant was that time when you did something that made you step back and go, “Man, are you nuts?!” Here’s my case in point:

I am generally a very blessed person, but I am not statistically “lucky” in the traditional sense. I don’t win raffles or lottos, I don’t find crazy deals at the record stores or video outlets (e.g. employee mistakes), and I don’t meet celebrities at random. Meeting a member of Depeche Mode is the dream of 99% of DM fans. For the fans that have met the band, this usually happens from physically being in the right place at the right time, network connections, or through winning contests or charity auctions. Every once in a while, DM or Dave will do a record signing event, but these seem to be fairly rare (you could probably count them on your fingers and toes over 30 years).  Read the rest of this entry →

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Day 24: Hanging on Your Words

February 24, 2012 in Fun

Day 24 – Your favorite song from the Songs of Faith and Devotion era

Since I already used “Walking in my Shoes” for question #1, today’s challenge will go to “In Your Room.” Haunting, entrancing and darkly beautiful, I could listen to this song on repeat and not get tired of it. Still so glad to have been able to enjoy it so many times live, regardless of what mix they chose to play. One of (if not, the) best concert videos I’ve captured is from this song, too. Ah, memories!

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