Saturday Nine: Fortune Faded (2003)

This week's Saturday Nine:


(Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.)

1. The song begins with a chess reference. Do you play chess? Not really. I learned to play as a kid because my brother was an avid chess player and obviously I wanted to do everything he did. But I was never good at it and I never really played after elementary school.
   
   
2. The lyric also mentions losing altitude. Often airline travellers complain that their ears pop as the plane loses altitude. When you fly, does this bother you? Nah. I've been on too many flights in my lifetime to be bothered by this.
   
   
3. Four of the original members attended the same school — Fairfax High in Los Angeles. Fairfax High's mascot was The Lions. Do you remember what your school team (grade school, high school or college) was called? In grade school and high school (I went to a K-12 school), the mascot was called the Havergator (it was an alligator that was named after the school). At university, it was Eggy the Ram.
   
   
4. The band has appeared on The Simpsons. Which is your favourite character from the long-running Fox cartoon show? It's a tie between Itchy (from The Itchy & Scratchy Show) and Grandpa Simpson.
   
   
5. Bass player Michael Balzary, or Flea, cofounded The Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit educational organization for under-privileged children. Share a memory from music class in school. I was a first violinist in strings orchestra from Grade 4 to 11, so I had a lot of music classes, but for whatever reason, none of them are that memorable. However, we did play some great pieces, and the one that sticks out in my mind is learning The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by George Frideric Handel in Grade 7.
   
   
6. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have played at massive outdoor festivals all over the world. Do you enjoy listening to concerts outside, under the sun or stars? Or do you prefer air conditioned indoor comfort? I prefer indoors, at smaller venues (as opposed to arena or stadium venues). They're not necessarily comfortable because they're crowded and therefore hot and sweaty (and the smell of B.O. is unreal), but I just find them to be more intimate and personal, which I prefer. I also find people that attend festivals to be way more obnoxious.
   
   
7. Red bell peppers are used in Giada De Laurentiis' popular Italian sausage, pepper and onion recipe. Would you prefer to have your portion served in a bowl or as a sandwich? It depends. For lunch, in a sandwich. For dinner, in a bowl. Ultimately, I'm not that picky as long as I get to eat.
   
   
8. Red cayenne peppers are very hot. Do you enjoy spicy foods? I like savoury spicy that enhance the flavours of a dish, as opposed to tongue-numbing spicy that just masks all the flavours of a dish.
   
   
9. Random question: Are you a spender or a saver? Spender. It's terrible. However, as I'm getting older, I'm hoping to change my habits.