I’m currently working my third and last shift preparing for the show, providing another opportunity to catch up on work and downloaded TV shows while I wait until someone wants to use a tape in my cabinet. Earlier this week, I worked a twelve hour shift and one person borrowed one tape for ten minutes. But hey, that’s why I’m here. I managed to get through nearly the entire second season of “The Wire,” which was engrossing but somehow felt smaller-scale than the first, perhaps because I was watching it continuously rather than over a period of weeks.

I’m waiting for something else to break today, as it’s been a rough week in that category. As I was getting gas on Tuesday morning, I somehow managed to break the lock in the driver’s side door of my car. In order to unlock the gas tank door, you have to turn the key a couple of times in the door, rather than popping the door from inside the car. I felt something snap when I did it, and when I pulled the key out, the lock cylinder came with it. I now have to lock and unlock the car from the passenger side, though I’m happy I can still get in on the driver’s side.

Then on Thursday, my computer crashed again, as it has been doing occasionally lately, and it seems like it was for the last time. Now when I turn it on, all that happens is the fan starts going full blast, and I get no picture, and can’t even insert a disk to start the recovery process. Time to take it in somewhere, I guess; I’m glad I’ve been backing stuff up lately.

Last night, I finally caught Jon Brion in one of his once weekly, now monthly shows at Largo. I’ve been trying to get tickets since we moved here, but his shows sell out lightning-fast, and the Largo ticketing setup (call, leave a message, get a confirm message, confirm the confirm message) is a little convoluted and irregular. Charming, though, of course, and highly preferable to the scalping that Ticketmaster does every day. Brian from work and I went to the show, and we had great seats at a table right near the small stage. It’s a tiny room, with no more than 120 people or so, mostly seated at tables, with some at the bar. We got in around 9:00, ate dinner ($15 minimum, all entrees $15), and the show started around 10:15. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but I was blown away by Brion’s multiple talents. Keyboards, guitar, drums, sampling, singing, he did it all, and often all at the same time. He played a bunch of originals, a number of great covers, and, with the help of founding Heartbreaker Benmont Tench and later Fiona Apple, put on a two and a half hour show. I was amazed first by the way he laid out a long and complex drum track, which I assumed was just improvisational, and then looped it and began playing piano and guitar, also then looped, until he had an entire band of himself backing his vocals and lead guitar. I can’t imagine how he could keep it all straight. Fiona Apple sang four songs, including “Paper Moon,” “Crazy,” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” all of which were great. I imagined a lot of people I know who would really appreciate Brion’s show, so I’ll have to go again and try to bring them with me.