fragments of memory

Here for this early 2000s VHS realness, as well as the JC/Justin action that starts around 1:23.



To all who celebrate, Merry Christmas!

So, like. Things got off to a rocky start when JT came out and instantaneously called us Las Vegas.

That's...not where you are, J. You can call us Phoenix, or Arizona, or AZ. But not Vegas.

Also, there are three inalienable takeaways from tonight's concert:

1. I find modern-day Justin completely unattractive. I tried, the entire night, to find flashes of the boy that I thought was so beautiful, but there was absolutely nothing. I know I'm in the minority, but I am just not feeling what's going on with him these days.

2. He cannot dance effectively in those pretentious suit thingies he insists on wearing. If you think it's good, you need to watch some vintage NSYNC concert footage on YouTube. You just do.

3. He plays a lot of crap that no one wants to listen to. If I wanted to hear Elvis songs, I'd go see one of those tribute bands at the casinos on the Indian reservation. I wouldn't be at a Justin Timberlake concert.

Apart from all of the judgement-worthy items, though, it was actually a very positive experience. Will have more thoughts + pics tomorrow.

After weeks of wavering indecision, I finally steeled my nerves, pulled a couple of strings at work, and scored some free JT tickets. It was kind of embarrassing, but you know, I never really take advantage of my company or my position within it, so I sort of feel like I've earned some goodwill over the last seven years.

So, I cashed in. The nostalgic pull is that strong, it's kind of alarming. It's been 13 years since I saw NSYNC during the No Strings Attached tour, and since I don't think the band's getting back together anytime soon, this is the next-best thing.

I'm going with a friend from work, and after the requisite flailing on Friday afternoon for a full 20 minutes after receiving the tickets, the question was posed to me: "Who's more excited: 17-year-old you or 30-year-old you?"

I think it'll be hard to top seeing your favorite band of the height of their fame, at the height of your love for them, at the height of your favorite member's physical beauty, on a perfect night in the Mile High City. But, you never know. I'll report back with my findings after December 2nd!

Music post ahead—

I was flipping through my old music earlier today and came across a mix CD that I made in early 2002, when I was a freshman in college. I popped it in and listened to it as I was driving around town, and good lord did it take me back—coming back to my dorm room late at night on the weekends, still slightly drunk, the smell of Auston's fabric softener transferred to my own clothes, happy and confused and just barely an adult. Those really were the days, in hindsight.

It's interesting how certain music almost becomes part of you, imprinted somewhere in your brain in such a way that even after not listening to some of these songs for over a decade, I remembered them all precisely. (If not, in a lot of cases, the exact reason why I thought they were worthy of inclusion on a mix CD at the time.)

Tracklisting and related thoughts ( under the cut: )

Don't mind me. I'm just rockin' out like it's 2000, enjoying the blessed reality of not having to attend yet another industry function tonight. Because after a week of it, I don't think I could stomach ten more minutes of self-congratulatory douchebaggery, even with the free drinks.

Best choreography, btw.



(Not to be confused with the fluorescent chaps-wearing, bull-riding, abominable horror that this song became during PopOdyssey. Because seriously what was that. I saw it with my own eyes for the first time tonight, and just. No no no.)

Well, okay then. I was hoping for a bit more than 1:29 of NSYNC tonight (especially when half of that time was utterly wasted on "Girlfriend," one of the most insipid songs in their catalog), but I guess it shows that you can never go back.

Still, it made me nostalgic, and in hindsight very happy that I saw them during the No Strings Attached tour, when this was basically the best thing I had seen up to that point:



Boy band zenith, IMO.

I tore up the house for a while tonight looking for the floppy disk that contains the NSYNC Mary Sue that I wrote back when it was the height of technology to save such things on floppy disks. I'm a little worried that I threw it away a couple of years ago, but perhaps it's tucked away somewhere in my wreck of a closet. I have vague recollections of the storyline, but I can't remember the details. Searching for it will be an ongoing project, now that I've become obsessed with finding it again. Funny what an anticlimactic little reunion will do to a person.