Never had I had a happier day than the day Quinn said two of the most exciting words I’d ever heard in my life … “styling budget.” Unfortunately … not long after that, as I sat in the chair at the salon, I uttered two words that I would soon regret… “Gwen Stefani.” Unfortunately the colorist didn’t understand that I was referring to a particular style and not particular color (ie, platinum). Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been blonde before … I love having lighter hair … But when I walked out of the salon and immediately blinded three people - I realized that I might need to tone it down a bit. So I did … and the people at the salon were super … and everything was made awesome again. So after quick trip to the make up counter and several stores that were quite “hip” I returned to Ourstage triumphant, blonde and ready to hit the ground running … but not too fast, cause I’m in heels here folks.
Monthly Archive for February, 2007
So, as we start our jobs as EJs we need to make a bunch of preparatory videos that help explain the site. We need videos on how to vote, judge, win, explaining overall how it works, explaining what an EJ is … I mean we have a LOT of stuff to do. But the first thing we need to do is figure out how to film in our cozy little studio. We need to figure out what works and what doesn’t. So we decide to make a “Welcome to Ourstage” video … where I welcome the fans and artists. As we proceed with an audio test our beloved video guru, Andy, says “Okay Alyssa can you say your welcome?” … and to be honest … I thought it was sort of a silly thing to ask for such a short audio test … but ok … well I’m going to say it perfectly loud and clear then. I stand up straight, I look the camera dead in the lens … I flash my pearly whites and I say, with supreme confidence, “YOU’RE WELCOME!” … (brief pause) … (inquisitive look) … (I think for a second) … (cheeks get a little red) … (Andy laughs) … (Quinn laughs) … (Alyssa laughs) … apparently I was a little too literal in my presumption that Andy wanted me to say the words “You’re Welcome” … and not “Your welcome to ourstage speech that you prepared for today.”
Ha ha ha … whoops … well I hope you guys appreciate at that warm welcome!
What really goes on behind the scenes…
EJs Quinn Strassel and Alyssa Jayne Hale take a road trip to the 2007 Plug Awards in New York City. David Cross hosts while bands like Tokyo Police Club, Deerhoof, and Silversun Pickups entertain. And former Pavement frontman, Stephen Malkmus, gets the Impact Award. A good time is had by all.
But with good reason! Because this past Saturday Quinn, Andy and I (after only having known each other for a couple weeks) packed up together and headed down to New York City to attend the Plug Awards for independent music. It was wild … so much passion for music, such an incredible vibe if independence and pop retaliation … such style and rebellion. The Plug awards pull at the heartstrings of indie music because … well, like David Cross said … there aren’t really any awards. It’s just a big, bad arse, concert / comedy show / behind the music / iPod dance off. And NOTHING was cuter than seeing Quinn chatting it up with one of his musical heroes Stephen Malkmus (little help here) from the band Pavement. I mean I thought I got excited about Christmas … I was nervous he might pee his pants a little … but he held it together.
We shot some great footage, we met some cool bands, we got the word out about ourstage, we hung out with the phenomenal guys from Paste Magazine (without which I wouldn’t have been able to get in at all) and we were in and out of the city in less than 24 hours! So on the way back (after Quinn got us lost for the second time … in the Bronx … cause “he’s from New York and knows the shortcuts” … ha ha love you Quinn) … yeah, so on the way back … I was freakin exhausted … and passed out in the back … and when I’m tired and I sleep my jaw relaxes … my mouth opens … and I occasionally drool a little … and sometimes, I get really relaxed … and I drool a lot … and so I was, and so I did and Andy’s car hasn’t been the same since.
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