Thursday, December 31, 2015

my favorites of 2015

Quotes 

I'm sure this quote is not from 2015, but 2015 is when I saw it on the Word Porn Facebook feed, which I also love...



And for my new personal mantra... expanded this year as I've become of lover of more teas than just chai (shocker, I know, but "Mauritius is delicious" ;)

Memories of loved ones lost, in my happy place (aka my garden)

Lucky's painted rose
Granny's Cactus' Flowering



















Entertainment: 

Music...



Truth. It's the thing this introvert goes to when I need something no one else can give... time with my thoughts.

... or when I need an amazing communal experience. I saw a lot of concerts this year. But these three by my two fave bands were the most amazing.

U2 i+e Tour live @ The Forum 


Foo Fighters #brokenlegtour + Love Ride 32



Adele "25" 
The new album I (and the world) had been waiting four years for made me feel happy, sad and sassy. It's amazing and has been on repeat in my car and office iTunes for weeks. And her promo appearances on SNL, her NBC special and this Tonight Show Classroom Instruments performance with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots made me love her and the album that much more.


Movies...

Brooklyn
I new very little about this film when I put the screener in the DVD player. It made me laugh, cry, swoon and cheer. Great performances. Great screenplay by Nick Hornby. A great emotional movie experience. 


The Martian
I didn't see this in the theater, but rather on my TV via screener on a sick day, months after everyone I know had already told me how great it was. I wish I had seen it on the big screen. It's big, bold, exciting and magnificent. Great performances. Great special effects. And a great STORY. I haven't seen everything yet, but right now I think this is my pick for Best Picture.

Most 

Most Pleasant Surprise ... (in that this was really good, but most definitely not pleasant)

The Revenant
I had no desire to see this movie. Every time the trailer came on in a theater I counted the minutes till it was over and a "better one" came on. But about week ago, I started to read the reviews. Then one night I decided to put the screener in to see if they were true. Wow. It's brutal, beautiful, sweeping, sad, enraging and excellent. Leonardo DiCaprio could finally win his Oscar for this amazing, heartbreaking performance (as long as the Academy refuses to give Eddie Redmayne two Best Actor Oscars in a row... he's Leo's only competition in my mind right now.)

TV...

This is the year I became a true binge-watching aficionado. I started the year finishing Breaking Bad, started summer with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and have spent the fall and winter with Mad Men -- I have four disks left with Don Draper. As f'ed up as he is, that makes me sad.

This is the year I also decided to no longer waste time watching shows I don't love... so I added exactly one half hour of new television this Fall, and deleted "How to Get Away with Murder," "Sleepy Hollow," Once Upon a Time" and "New Girl" from my Tivo season passes. My "Should I add a new show?" rule this TV season was: "Will I enjoy this as much as or more than another episode of Mad Men?" If not, then I didn't bother.

In the New Year (after Don and I say farewell), I will be focused on reading the pile of unread books I've accumulated in the last two years. (Anyone want to start a Book Club so I'm forced to do this? ;)

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

my joys of 2015

Long time, no write. I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but I didn't know it had been almost two whole months. Oops. Well, it's almost a new year, so I can once again add "write more" to my list of New Year's resolutions... maybe 2016 is the year it will stick. I have a good feeling about next year... numerically, it's got two of my birthday numbers in it (2 and 16) and I'm already feeling a pull towards it. This year was sad and stressful. I'm ready for a change in a warm, fuzzy, happy, laughing way next year.



That's not to say all of 2015 was bad though.... at the start of the year, at the urging of Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert (who I now follow on Facebook), I created a "happiness jar." I started with a small jam jar because I knew there was no way I'd remember to toss a piece of paper in there daily... and I didn't. BUT, I am happy to report that as of December 30th, "Kim's Jar of Joy" is pretty full. Maybe next year I will graduate to a pickle jar ;)

Here, in random order as I pick the dumped-out slips of paper off the sofa, are things that brought me joy in 2015:

  • 1/15/15: Molly's going away from Disney drinks and seeing Molly, Lisa, Jason, Gino, Dana and Johannes again.
  • 5/16/15: Lucky's liver numbers back to 49! Dr. Pitt says he's doing better (ed note: now this makes me cry :*(
  • 5/6/15: Gorgeous hike with Marleine at Solstice Canyon, followed by food and cocktails on the beach :)
  • 2/16/15: My bday Burke Williams massage and yummy dinner with Mom and Dad at Tuscany
  • 11/22/15: Foos website countdown finally opens to new FREE 5-song EP, St. Cecilia. Woot! 
  • 1/2/15: I just bought a RED washer and dryer!! Crazy!
  • 6/23/15: Just bought Duran Duran tickets for the Bowl on 10/1/15... soon-to-be reunited with my first rock star crush named John. 
  • 1/17/15: Mom and Dad's 45th wedding anniversary
  • 8/13/15: Portland bound! Long vacay weekend with JZ and RZ! 
  • 1/25/15: Finished Breaking Bad. SO GOOD!!!
  • 5/30/15: U2 Innocence + Experience concert with Qball. Two+ hours of love, joy and music. 
  • 6/19/15: Travel to Taos, NM for Josh and Emily's wedding. Stopped in Santa Fe for sopapillas. Fried dough heaven. 
  • 10/18/15: Foos at the Love Ride with the Jorgies. Dave's throne updated to a motorcycle :)
  • 2/21/15: Kings beat the Sharks in the the Stadium Series. Win #7 in a row! Back in 3rd place.
  • 6/5/15: Finished binge watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Love it!
  • 8/1/15: Grillin' Saturday with James, Daryl, La Lizz, Juanita, Susie, Bhavani and new friends Pinky and Scott
  • 8/17/15: Six cactus flowers blooming upon my return from Portland. A sign from Granny :)
  • 11/20/15: New Adele album out today.. now on repeat in the car and my office iTunes. 
  • 6/15/15: Finished throwing out a TON of old articles/papers from my office closet. Simplify! Purge! 
  • 1/24/15: Five hours in the garden with roses, flowers.. and chicken manure - lol = Bliss!
  • 9/13/15: New car! Zoom Zoom!
  • 12/12/15: Christmas cocktails... I simplified this year and actually got to talk to people. Yay!
  • 1/28/15: The Kings, who've sucked lately, beat 'da Blackhawks 4-3. Awesome game!
  • 5/1/15: Avengers: Age of Ultron ... 2x in one day!
  • 7/18/15: It thunder/lightning rained today!!
  • 12/26/15: Updated the OS on my MacBook Pro for the first time in five years... and it still works!
  • 7/27/15: RZ's Hermione Granger wand arrived today. Can't wait to give it to her :)
  • 9/4/15: E.T. @ the Bowl!! LOVE. 
  • 3/11/15: Just finished two days at Disneyland with Denise and Emily.. her first time. So fun! Met most of the princesses. Win!
  • 4/11/15: Walk MS 5k with the whole family. Raised $8,502!
  • 11/28/15: Brooklyn... loved, loved, loved this movie!
  • 6/20/15: Josh and Emily's lovely wedding
  • 9/11/15: Lenny Kravitz @ the Greek with Qball... and a guy who JUST turned 21. LOL
  • 5/8/15: Awesome card in the mail from RZ about purple cups, Harry Potter and fun facts about cholera. Love that kid! 
  • 6/3/15: My Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt screener finally arrived!
  • 3/7/15: Luc Robitaille statue unveiled! Saw Luc, Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Blakey and Matthew Perry (who did not look good :(
  • 9/21/15: Foos @ the Forum w/ Christina, Niki and Lisa. Still in love with Dave Grohl's baby blue guitar.. even tho he broke it tonight. Also love the throne. 
  • 12/18/15: Kings destroy the CaSucks 5-0. Tyler Toffoli hat trick #2 of his career!
  • 5/4/15: Lucky gained weight and is seeming okay after almost dying a week ago (ed note: more tears now)
  • 5/17/15: Got a TON done! Painted garage trim, gardened, cleaned black gunk off mailbox
  • 10/4/15: Van Halen with DLR at the Bowl. Concert bucket list item = done!
  • 5/14/15: Aveda Rosemary mint body wash - opened the BIG bottle! Love this stuff!
  • 1/17/15: I've now seen by two favorite hockey players' numbers retired by the Kings. Tonight #4




Saturday, October 31, 2015

this is halloween! this is halloween!

And this is my Franken-Pumpkin... all ready to go out on my porch tonight to welcome little trick-or-treaters!

I was inspired to create Franken-Pumpkin after getting an email to a pumpkin decorating event at Orchard Supply and Hardware (aka Osh) earlier this month. It was a "no carve" event and I thought it was BRILLIANT for many reasons: 
  1. I hate getting all those pumpkin innards everywhere. 
  2. I have very little patience for creating a perfectly carved pumpkin yet...
  3. I'm a perfectionist
  4. I have a TON of unused nails and screws and hooks and metal stuff in my garage, left by the previous owners who did my lovely remodel.
So this was perfect for me! Literally, the most time was spent digging through plastic bins looking for a variety of metal stuff...and that took about 7 minutes. 

Then I took my hammer and knocked them into the pumpkin. 

No mess to clean up and he's super cute! I think this is the first of MANY Franken-Pumpkins to come :)

Sunday, October 18, 2015

foos in the afternoon


Okay, first things first. I am not a biker. I do not ride motorcycles.. never have, never will. 

However, I AM a huge Foo Fighters fan. So when it was announced that the Foos would be performing at the finale of the 32nd Annual Love Ride event at Castaic Lake -- a mere 30 minutes from my house -- there was no way I was not going to go see them and my favorite baby blue Gibson guitar on the planet. (Especially since riding a Harley there was not required for entry.)

So early this morning -- in order to beat the caravan of motorcycles cruising up the 5 North -- I headed for Castaic, and then waited and waited and listened to opening act Social Distortion and then waited some more before Dave Grohl -- still on crutches -- along with Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Nate Mendel took the tiny stage in front of the lake and start rockin' out.... Taylor on a pink Andy Gibb-adorned drum kit, and Dave on a motorcycle-modified throne. (I love these guys!)













Since this was a special event, the band played around with their (shorter) set list, opening with "Learn to Fly" and "The Pretender."


Then they got into a pattern of a Foos song, a cover song, a Foos song, a cover song. The covers included Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down," David Bowie's "Under Pressure," and Tom Petty's "Breakdown"... enjoy a #snippet ((c) Dave Grohl, September 21, 2015) here:



Dave was his normal chatty self, still dropping f-bombs here and there, even with his 6-year-old daughter "Harps" dancing around on the side of the stage, with giant lime green headphones on. (He also informed the crowd he would be paying her in lots of jellybeans later for all the bad words he'd said.) Towards the end of the show, he also hilariously spotted a guy out "by that tree," dancing up a storm, doing the "sprinkler" and "running man." So, Dave Grohl being Dave Grohl, he pretty much stopped the show to call attention to him.... and then started calling out wacky dance-move requests.

While it was a shorter set than the Foos' normal 3-hours of awesomeness, and it was really hot when the sun wasn't behind a cloud, (and the bikers will complain that the event ran out of beer..whatevs), it was a super fun show! And best of all, it was for a great cause... all proceeds from the Love Ride go to the Wounded Warrior Project. Feel free to click that link and make a donation if you are so inclined :)



More Foo Fighters Fun:


Monday, October 12, 2015

missing lucky

It's been a week since I had to say a sad goodbye to my sweet, loving, majestic Lucky boy, and I'm still so sad, especially today because a) it's been exactly a week since he passed and b) because I picked up his ashes tonight. I haven't I've cried as much as I have in the last week in a long, long time. :(

I think part of the reason I'm so sad is because I had to make the decision to say goodbye. And while I know in my head it was the right thing to do so he wouldn't suffer, it still broke my heart. We'd been fighting his failing kidneys for four years, and he'd been such a strong fighter for so long. But after he developed asthma a month ago, and continued to lose weight, I sensed the end was near. Then last Sunday, he started vomiting a lot and his blood tests looked pretty bad when I took him to the vet. Late that night he had another asthma attack, and I knew his little body was failing him. The next morning, I called my dad to go with us to the vet... yet as we drove there, I was still hoping maybe they could just give him a shot for his asthma. But when the vet walked in, he informed me Lucky's white blood cell counts from the day before came back in the "terminal" stage for his kidney disease and I knew that was it.... yet I still made the vet show me the lab report so I could see the results with my own eyes. 



He was the best cat ever for the 15 and a half years I got to be his "person," and I really miss seeing him sitting in the front window when I come home, and his nightly cuddles during TV time. I also miss him keeping the peace / acting as a silent yet all-knowing mediator between me and his crazy sister Lily -- my other cat I adopted just to be Lucky's friend, who hates all people, and who's been living in a donut bed under the dining room table for the last week... with the occasional dash to the litter box or her food bowl in the kitchen. And while that's not that out of the ordinary for her, I can tell she misses Lucky too. 





When my grandma passed away earlier this year, I became acutely aware of certain things that were connected to her, like the cactus plants she'd given me as a little girl. When their pink cactus flowers started blooming this summer, right after her birthday, I felt like those flowers were her way of saying hello to me from one of my "happy places" -- my garden. 

So this weekend, I decided that would be a great way to remember Lucky... by planting something in his memory in my garden. I found this beautiful unique, red and white rose bush, and have planted it in the center of my corner garden. 

It's now Lucky's rose bush, and I will think of him every time it blooms, hopefully with a smile on my face, like the one I get when Granny's cactus flowers bloom. 



Sunday, October 11, 2015

bowl concert-palooza: show #3 - van halen

Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl. 

Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave." 

But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :) 

Here's the scoop on Show #3:

October 4, 2015 -- Van Halen - Final Night of North American Tour

So I've loved Van Halen since about 1984 (the year and the album). But was too young to see them in concert then. 

By the time I was (in 1992 and again in 1995), David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen hated each other, and "Diamond Dave" had been replaced by Sammy Hagar singing songs with lots of synthesizers like "Dreams" and "Right Now," which I also loved. (I play no favorites between Sammy and Dave.. they were two very different singers and Van Halen is two very different, yet both great, bands depending on who is singing lead. Please note: I do however agree that the whole Gary Cherone era was a joke, even though I loved him in Extreme.)

I've always regretted not getting to see the band with the showman antics of DLR. When they last got together a few years ago, the tour was cancelled almost as soon as it started. (There were rumors of fighting, but also Eddie's health took a bad turn.) So earlier this year when they went on Jimmy Kimmel and announced they were back together again (again) and were going on tour (again), I was not optimistic. I didn't buy tickets to their two shows at the Bowl when they went on sale in March because, quite honestly, I was pretty sure the tour would be cancelled waaaaaay before October. 

However, as summer went on and they hadn't broken up yet, I started to wish I had tickets. Then one day I got (of all things) a Groupon offer for Van Halen tickets... for $35! Um, sign me up! I was even more excited when my seats that were supposed to be at the top of Bowl in section U, ended up in the middle of the Bowl in section L2. Thank you Groupon Rock Gods!

However, as the day of the show rolled around, so did these magnificent rain clouds....

And as the opening act (the amazingly awesome blues rocker Kenny Wayne Shepherd) played, a few tiny rain drops started falling on our heads.... please don't rain on my Van Halen concert I begged through social media hashtags and silent pleas to the weather gods. Miraculously, they all listened, and the sprinkles stopped and the show went on, allowing me to check "Van Halen with David Lee Roth" off of my Concert Bucket List!

The band (Eddie, Alex + Eddie's son / my fellow Kings fan Wolfgang Van Halen) sounded awesome and tight, as one of the most excellent rock guitarists and rock drummers who've been playing together for 40+ years (plus the son / nephew who got their musical genes) should.

Then there was David Lee Roth. When the crew was setting up after Kenny Wayne Shepherd, they were laying a lot of wood planks down on the stage. "What's that for?" I wondered. Well people, Diamond Dave (or "The Dean Martin of Rock-n-Roll" as my concert buddy Lisa dubbed him halfway through the show) needed a dance floor so he could slide around and "dance the night away"... in between changing his outfit about 20 times. ;) He was the true showman everyone paid to see, and even managed to replicate his high kicks from the "Panama" and "Jump" videos, at the mere age of 60! As for singing, well, let's just say he doesn't have the pipes that the previous singers on my Bowl "concert-palooza" (Simon Le Bon and Idina Menzel) have, but he probably never did, and when Eddie Van Halen is playing guitar, do you really care?



(Note: These videos aren't mine. Like at Duran Duran, I only had my camera phone. So instead of torturing you with bad video, I've found videos on YouTube from people with much better cameras and/or seats. Thanks to these people for uploading :)


Here's the set list, and then video (again, not mine) of the last three, most fun songs of the show. Enjoy! Being as this was the last show of the tour, these just may be the last songs Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) ever perform live :(





bowl concert-palooza: show #2 - idina menzel

Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl. 

Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave." 

But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :) 

Here's the scoop on Show #2:

October 3, 2015 -- Idina Menzel - Final Night of Her World Tour

Night #2 of Bowl "concert-palooza" was the Tony Award-Winning Idina Menzel, with my dear friend Jenny Z, who came down from Portland for the show, and her cousin Erin. This was the first time at the Bowl for both Idina and JZ (aww ;)


I was curious to see what songs she'd perform, as the only albums I own with Idina on them are the Broadway soundtracks to Rent (which I was lucky enough to actually see Idina and the rest of the original cast in on Broadway) and Wicked (which I've seen three times, but never with Idina.) She won her Tony Award for playing Elphaba in Wicked, in large part because she hit these notes eight times a week for months and months and months.... 


(Note: These videos aren't mine. Like at Duran Duran, I only had my camera phone. So instead of torturing you with bad video, I've found videos on YouTube from people with much better cameras and/or seats. Thanks to these people for uploading :)


Her set list covered the Broadway hits she made famous in Rent, Wicked and the just-closed-but-soon-to-be-on-National-tour If/Then. The show was very interactive and she was extremely humble for someone who has earned the right to be a Broadway diva if she wants. 


She went into the audience looking for duet partners for Rent's "Take Me Or Leave Me" and found some really talented people who rose to her challenge. She also told a lot of stories.. some funny, some sad, such as the tragic story of how Rent's creator Jonathan Larson passed away just before seeing his brilliant musical open, then sang its beautifully poignant "No Day But Today" ....



The show also featured her interpretation of some rock hits such as The Police's "Roxanne," (which was part of her "prostitution medley" as she jokingly called it, along with "Love for Sale") and Radiohead's "Creep." And, of course, it had to include the song everyone under the age of 12 came to hear, "Let It Go," aka: the song that got Idina on the Oscars twice.. once to sing it and then a year later so John Travolta could apologize to her for royally screwing up her name. This was her final song before encore and she invited all the kids rush the stage and sing the end with her, which was super-cute. 


Saturday, October 10, 2015

bowl concert-palooza: show #1 - duran duran

Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl. 

Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave." 

But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :) 

Here's the scoop on Show #1:

October 1, 2015 -- Duran Duran "Paper Gods" Tour

To kick off my Bowl "concert-palooza," I went to the sold out Duran Duran concert Thursday night. 


I don't think I've ever been to the Bowl when it's been completely sold out before. This is something I NEVER want to experience again (ie: this is the night I almost starved because the lines were insane and I had a minor claustrophobia attack going to the bathroom). But I powered through in order to relive my tweens, screaming for the first rock star named John I ever loved :)

------- Minor Sidebar ------
Because I meant to post this as a #tbt photo on the day of the D2 concert, but was too crazed and forgot, may I now present two-thirds of the one wall of the Shelton, CT bedroom my parents allowed my 13-year-old-self to put posters on... proving my former obsession with all things Duran Duran.. well mostly John Taylor ;)  (Hey, I was only allowed to decorate one wall, so I picked the biggest one and used every inch of it! And now, looking at this eons later, I think this is where my OCD started... look how lined up everything [other than the two photos I just badly cropped together] is. That took planning people! :P)
                                                     ------- Back to the Concert Stuff ------

The original JT and and his Duran Duran-mates performed a few songs from their new Paper Gods album and then so many of their hits (but not "Wild Boys" or "Save a Prayer" HELLO!?!?) that Simon LeBon checked in on the crowd halfway through the show to make sure we weren't starting to suffer from "hit fatigue." 



Um, the answer to Simon's q, would be a no :)  
(Forgive the crappy images.. only had my cell phone. But it still sounds awesome!)





In fact, I could've done without the few non-hits toward the end of this set list ("White Lines," "Danceophobia," "TMI") ....
.....in exchange for some "Wild Boys," "Save A Prayer" and "Is There Something I Should Know" (just for you Erin ;). Please, please tell me now why you would play those bleh songs instead of "Wild Boys" and "Save a Prayer" Simon, John, Nick and Roger?!?! 

I'm kinda sad. D2, you're just lucky you ended with this...



PS: There were two opening acts, one of whom (Clean Bandit) we totally missed due to the traffic, lines, crowds of people trying to get to the Bowl by 6:30 on a Thursday. But we did get to see the funk-alicious Chic, featuring Nile Rogers, who helped write and produce "Paper Gods" in addition to a billion other hits, many of which they played. They were a pretty awesome surprise :)


PPS: For those who wanted to be there but couldn't be, YouTube just suggested this video of the complete concert to me. Those people had much better seats that I did. I hate them. 


Saturday, September 26, 2015

new tv show time

It's officially Fall, which means there are a ton of new TV shows hitting the networks, all vying for attention and ratings. Sadly, after flipping through my Entertainment Weekly Fall Preview last weekend, I wasn't that excited. And after recording two new shows this past week and watching them, I'm now officially not impressed.

Granted this year -- since I just started binge-watching Mad Men a week before the new TV season started -- there is a new standard all shows (old and new) must meet to earn a space on my Tivo One Pass list: Is this show SO good that it's worth NOT spending this time watching another episode of Mad Men?

The answer for these new shows sampled last week is no:
  • The Muppets -- I gave it a shot for sentimental reasons. The sentiment is gone.
  • Scream Queens -- Reminds me of American Horror Story: Coven, minus the good acting from Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates. And I don't like any of the characters, which is the kiss of death from me. 
The only other new show I'm giving a shot is Grandfathered, because it stars John Stamos, who I've loved since I was 9. I might also stick around after it to watch The Grinder with Rob Lowe and Fred Savage. But that's it. Tuesdays are the only night with space... which means I could get 2-3 episodes of Mad Men in that night (barring Kings games, concerts and Tivo backlog ;) 

Here's my current Tivo To Do List:
What are you watching this season? Have you seen Mad Men and think there's a new show out there I should be spending my TV time on instead? Let me know! 

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

a night of foos, thrones, legends and the demise of my favorite baby blue gibson guitar

In November 2014, on a Saturday morning, I drove to Inglewood, CA to stand in the parking lot of my least favorite concert venue in LA (aka The Forum) with about 4,000 other Foo Fighters fans, all putting on numbered bracelets and waiting and hoping for their lucky number to be called. Once that lucky number was chosen (by a cute red-headed four-year-old), everyone lined up in bracelet order to purchase #beatthebots tickets at the box office. I ended up approximately 200 people behind lucky person #1. :)

Ten months later, I -- with my gal pals Christina, Lisa and Niki -- finally got to use those tickets. For a while in June, I was scared we wouldn't (#brokenlegtour2015). But in the end, it was worth every second of the 304 days of waiting and hoping and waiting.... and waiting ...

If you've ever seen Foo Fighters live, you already know why it was worth the wait, and should just skip down to watch the awesome videos I've posted below.

If you haven't, what the heck have you been doing on your musical adventure through life?

The Foos are one of the best live rock bands you will ever see/hear. And I'd say that even if I didn't love Dave Grohl, who is -- without a doubt -- the coolest guy in rock-n-roll. 

Dave, btw, also happens to play the most beautiful baby blue Gibson guitar you'll ever see/hear. I first fell in love with that guitar in June of 2007, when I first saw Foo Fighters live, opening for a little band called The Police. Ask me what I remember of that Police concert today and I'll say, Dave Grohl running around, jumping on top of speakers ... and wailing on that beautiful blue guitar before The Police came out. I'm more than a little obsessed with the guitar... so much so that when surprise guest Dave showed up six feet away from me at a Rick Springfield concert at The Canyon in Agoura in September 2013 to do a song with Rick, my comment on my YouTube video was, "So friggin' awesome! (even though Dave didn't have his gorgeous baby blue guitar ;)." But I digress....

Last night, Dave played that beautiful blue guitar, while perched atop his broken-leg-protecting, rock-star throne, until almost the end of the night (more on that later). And from the opening chords of "All My Life," he, drummer Taylor Hawkins, guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shifflet and bass guitarist Nate Mendel where "on." They sounded amazing, performing all the Foo hits you'd want plus three of the eight songs from the awesome newish Sonic Highways album. The production (video backdrop, lighting, rolling rock star throne) were really cool. And there were surprise guests... including one rock-n-roll legend, who reduced cool dude Dave Grohl to a backup singer ;)

The show opener:


When he snapped his leg in half in Sweden at the end of June, I was really scared I'd be getting a refund on these concert tickets. Thank the rock gods for pain-killer-induced dreams of rocker thrones, and (as Dave said) a tour production crew cool enough to pull it off!
(Please also note the image of John Travolta from "Stayin' Alive" on Taylor's drum kit. LOL) 

Camera phone flashlights and twinkle lights in the sky.

Special Guest #1 Jack Black jumped out on stage and sang two verses of the band's "#snippet" of Rush's "Tom Sawyer," climbing off the end of the ramp in the middle, but not breaking his leg... cuz he's not as cool as Dave Grohl.

This is called "A Grohl on His Throne"

Performing "Outside" -- the LA-inspired song from Sonic Highways

Towards the end of the show, Dave introduced special guests #2-4, Haim (a band of musical sisters), and after cutely bantering back and forth about Dave's three daughters and Haim offering to babysit, they started to perform a cover of the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Well, what's the point of that song without Stevie Nicks on vocals... ahhh! Witness the awesomeness of special guest #5...


Then Dave refused to leave without the jam band doing this song... (excuse the shaky camera towards the middle... I was multi-tasking. It was a long song ;)


After the rocker chicks left, the Foos went back to Foos tunes. Towards the end of either "These Days" or "This is a Call," Mr. Grohl got a little too excited with his guitar playing, and I learned one of my favorite bands runs just like the teams in my favorite sport. 

The first thing I noticed was a guitar-less Pat Smear rushing off stage for a new guitar. Apparently, being in the Foos is like being on a hockey team.. when your most important player (ie: the goalie ... or an incapacitated Dave Grohl) breaks his stick (or the neck of his beautiful baby blue Gibson guitar...sniff sniff), the closest player (like a defensemen... or Pat Smear) quickly tosses said important player his guitar to play so the show can go on. Then Dave Grohl proceeded to tell the crowd his signature guitars must be pretty cheap and you shouldn't buy one now. Um, hello! They're still pretty to look at!

The band didn't waste time going off stage and coming back for an encore, because per Dave, that's a waste of time that should be spent playing more music. (Note: Dave also can't climb off and on that throne very easily ;) But when it was finally time for the last tune, Dave said, "We won't say goodbye, we'll just say this...." 

Enjoy!


Saturday, September 12, 2015

things that make me smile

So I've been lazily cleaning out my personal emails today and following up on random things I need to do (print Groupons so I remember to use Groupons, making reservations, organizing bills, etc) and I found an email from U2.com with a 25% off coupon that I get every year when I renew my subscription (to guarantee awesome pre-sale concert ticket priority and therefore seats.. example below..)

I never use the coupon because I don't need more concert t-shirts. But out of boredom, I decided to go check out the online store today.

They have a lot of expensive lithographs, one of which is from the 360 Tour show at the Rose Bowl on October 25, 2009.... a.k.a. the concert they filmed for YouTube and a DVD release. Oh, and also a.k.a the concert where I was one person away from the barricade at the foot of the front left stage "leg" and had the most awesome (if not painful) concert experience of my life. 

Here's the lithograph image... Bono and Edge reaching out to each other across the bridges:
photograph by Otto Kitsinger

So as I'm looking at that, I think to myself, "That image seems very familiar... I wonder if my hand is one of those hands below them." But as I'm thinking that, I don't remember there being two bridges near me.. just one. They kind of flew out from each corner / leg, into the middle where the main stage was.

So I go back to my rather large collection of photos from that night and -- low and behold -- it's familiar alright, just from another not-so-great angle (unless you like looking at The Edge's butt.. LOL).

Photogragh by Me :)

If I can't be a professional photographer, at least I know I have a professional photographer's eye for capturing amazing concert moments... from hilarious angles :)

Now I might actually have to buy that lithograph, and print my photo out the same size to hang next to it, just because this thoroughly cracks me up.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

labor day weekend tradition... slightly altered

Every year, I plan a group outing to the Hollywood Bowl on Labor Day weekend to say goodbye to summer with wine, cheese, and the movie music of John Williams. Usually, there are a ton of Star Wars nerds (myself included) with their light sabers at the ready, waiting for John Williams to conduct the LA Philharmonic in the playing of the Star Wars theme. This year though, John Williams is off writing and conducting new Star Wars music for The Force Awakens, so he was only at the Bowl in a videotaped intro (and in spirit, of course). 

Instead, this year, David Newman conducted the the LA Philharmonic as it played the entire score to my favorite movie ever, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, playing above on-screen. I was in movie music heaven because -- as everyone who goes to the Bowl with me each year knows -- if they don't play music from E.T., I consider the evening a bust, no matter how much fun I may have had pretending I was conducting the orchestra with my purple light saber. 

If you've never been to the Bowl, and love movies, these Movies "In Concert" nights are the perfect introduction to the Bowl experience. I also had a blast at Back to the Future In Concert back in June.


The two highlights of the evening (other than the Reese'e Pieces cookies my friend Linda made. Yum!) were both in the last 10 minutes of the film. 

First, my favorite scene tied to musical score in all of film history... the bike chase. The climax, as Elliott fears the end and E.T. saves the day, makes me both tear up and smile wide at the same time, every time. (Here's a link to the video Linda recorded and put on facebook.) It's just perfect -- especially now that they're back to showing the original version where the cops are trying to stop the kids with threats of rifles instead of walkie talkies. (Not that I'm for threatening to shoot kids and sweet aliens on bicycles with rifles. The walkie talkie "edit" just looked dumb.... like really, really dumb. Thank you Steven Spielberg for realizing this and restoring the scene to its original awesomeness / level of fearfulness followed by elation for its 30th Anniversary.) 


And then the finale, (spoiler alert) where E.T. goes home... I dare you not to tear up. This is why I love John Williams and Steven Spielberg.

Monday, August 17, 2015

welcome home

I came home from my four-day mini-vacation in Oregon late last night. This morning, I went outside to water my poor, parched plants and this is what I found....

SIX cactus flowers blooming! Apparently my blog reaches heaven :) Hi Granny. Love you too!


Thursday, August 13, 2015

happy birthday granny

Today would have been my Granny's 86th birthday. It's been six months since she passed away, and I miss her so much. But I'm also constantly reminded of her by some of the most random things, which always make me smile. I like to think those reminders are her way of telling me "hi" :)

Watering My Cactuses
My cactus farm started with one tiny cactus Granny gave me when I was 12, and we were leaving El Paso to move to Connecticut. That one tiny cactus survived in Connecticut (inside the house, obviously), and then came to California, where -- especially since I've moved into my house and have a ton of outdoor space -- it has multiplied and multiplied and multiplied into more than 30 cactuses living in planters and pots and now permanently in the ground in my front and back gardens. I call the original cactus (below) "Mama Cactus," even though some of her "babies" are now bigger than she is. If you even need some plants that don't need a lot of water, let me know. The "baby" cacti are multiplying now too :)


I also love that the bigger members of the cactus family bloom in the summer ... as a pretty pink-purple flower. Purple was Granny's favorite color. The blooms only last for one day, which I think makes them even more special. Here's a bloom from the cactus in my front window-box from late July:



Mixing Ketchup and Mustard
When I'm running errands in Northridge, I am sometimes tempted to stop at Wienerschnitzel across the street from my alma mater CSUN for a corn dog (and the best french fries on the planet!) When I was a little kid, Granny taught me to mix my mustard with my ketchup. It's a little sweet, and a little spicy. In other words, the best condiment ever! And the one time I've been to Wienerschnitzel since February, I had the mustard ketchup mix on my corn dog, and thought of her.

Looking at the States on the Back of Quarters
Granny was not a coin collector. But I do think she was trying to find all 50 states on the quarters at some point in the late 90s-early 2000s. And while I don't think I ever gave her any of my quarters, I do subconsciously always flip them over to see what state they have etched on them before I spend them.

Her Purple Tea Set
I've only had tea from her purple-flowered china tea set once (because I'm a klutz and don't trust myself) but I see it when I open that cabinet and always think of her. The dress I picked to wear to my cousin Josh's wedding in June had purple flowers on it that reminded me of this tea set, and therefore Granny :)

Hummingbirds
Granny loved hummingbirds. When she moved from her apartment into assisted living, she dispersed her huge mug collection amongst all the family members (filled with candy) that Christmas. I got her "New Mexico" hummingbird mug... mostly (I think) because it was purple. But I have that sitting out on my counter, still filled with candy. And whenever I catch an actual live hummingbird out at my feeder, it makes me think of her.

Happy Birthday Granny! I love you!   

Saturday, August 8, 2015

words of wisdom: whatever's good for your soul..

I need to heed these words of wisdom more often. Note the pen...

Thanks for the reminder Pinteerst :)


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

so simple, yet so not


Check out my new pretty metal flower decorations (purchased for 50% off at Pier One Imports!) that only took me 1 month, 3 different drill bits, help from 2 friends, advice from my mom and 4 wall anchors (2 mangled, 2 not) to hang on the solid cement wall of my patio.

At least it's not all gray and boring anymore :)

Oh no... I just realized the spiders are gonna love those... ugh.