my aussie adventure (from 7 months ago... )

So back in May (yes, I've been busy since then) my boss sent me to Australia to a conference. We are starting the story here, because this important fact means...

1) I got to fly 14 hours there, and 15 hours back in business class with a sleeping pod, good food, free alcohol and an amenities kit full of fancy lotion, lip balm and ear plugs on someone ELSE's credit card and....

2) I didn't have a TON of time for touristy stuff, but I still saw the important things one should see when visiting Sydney PLUS had time to catch up with an old friend.

Here's a photo retrospective with a bit of commentary here and there (that I can remember from 7 months ago :P)

Sydney Opera House and Harbour

My first glimpse of Sydney was the sun rising over Sydney Harbour from the plane as we arrived around 6:30am Sunday morning (after leaving LAX Friday night).

Here's my first photo of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House out of window of the plane..

After an early check in at my hotel in the business district near Sydney Harbour -- the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, which was lovely with the exception of the fact my room was too close to the loud elevators -- I took a brief nap then headed out to explore the Harbour and see the world famous Opera House, where I remembered what I'd forgotten to pack: Little Green Alien :(  

The Opera House was not what I expected.. I think I expected the entrance and stairs to be facing out towards the harbour, and it's not. It faces downtown, and you get to it by walking along the water past restaurants, stores and the Dendy movie theatre where my work conference was held... the area is known as Circular Quay.  But the opera house IS huge and is fascinating to look at...

I had my first meal in Australia at a crepes restaurant run by French people in Circular Quay - the Four Frogs Creperie. I honestly did not know there were as many French people in Australia as there are (which is a LOT). But like most of the Aussies, the French in Australia were also really nice. And my crepe was delish! 

After eating there I also discovered a coffee shop nearby that had chai tea lattes, which became my daily pit stop before work to feed my chai addiction, as there are not a lot of Starbucks in Australia... the Aussies actually consider Starbucks a symbol of American commercialism and waste. Imagine that.  (One of the speakers at the conference shocked people when talking about loyalty programs and he told them that in in America, people actually load money on a mobile app to buy their Starbucks with each day and earn points. I was like... "Uh, and the problem with that is???") 

I also discovered a few other interesting things wandering around... they still have ancient things called "pay phones" in Sydney. And I apparently have long-lost, bad spelling Australian relatives who play in a bar band :)

Work and my never-adjusted-to-the-time-difference sleep schedule took up most of my time from Monday through Thursday. But I'd decided to stay the weekend on my own time to see the sights. So Friday became the start of my 2017 International vacation around Sydney...

Taronga Zoo

My main goal going to Australia was to see Koala Bears and Kangaroos. So I booked a ferry ride across the harbor to the Taronga Zoo. 

On the ride out, I got to see the other sides of the Opera House...

And once in the Zoo, I got to see the kangaroos and wallaby up close... they put them in fenced in areas with walking paths, so you can walk through the enclosure and see them hanging out and hopping around...

Fun fact I learned: Kangaroos are pretty lazy during the day... not as lazy as koala bears, but lazy...

Speaking of koala bears, I paid a mere $20 USD* for the Koala Encounter experience, where I got to go into the koala enclosure and talk with a zoo keeper to learn about the koalas, who sleep about 19 hours a day. I also got a souvenir photo.

(*That $20 would've covered four people if I'd had any Aussie buddies with me, but alas... still, it is a good deal. In LA they'd charge like double or triple that!)

Below are photos of the two koalas I encountered, one of which was kind enough to wake up for awhile... they were soooo cute!

Then I saw this koala roaming in the trees above the kangaroo/wallaby enclosure :)

     

Other fun animals I saw at the Zoo included this photogenic emu:

Giraffes, whose enclosure overlooks the harbor:

And a family of elephants, who have scheduled playtime and activities with their keepers to keep them active, alert and intellectually challenged:

There was also a cute family of chimps..

Bondi Beach

After the Zoo (which I got on the wrong boat back from....oops!) I took another nap (did I mention I never fully adjusted to Australian time?) before hopping in an uber out to Bondi to meet up from my former Disney Videos co-worker, the awesome Paige, who moved back to Australia a few years ago. She and her family are lucky enough to live in walking distance of the famous, gorgeous beach and Paige gave me a tour of the area, including her gym on the cliffside of the beach, and a great gelato place we walked to after a yummy dinner with a great view of the ocean!

The view looking back at Bondi from Paige's gym with the awesome oceanside pool..

St. Mary's Cathedral

On Saturday, I did the ultimate touristy thing and took the hop-on, hop-off bus tour of Sydney..... the coolest part of the tour was St. Mary's Cathedral, which I'd walked near earlier in the week (it's close to the ONE Starbucks I finally found...) It reminded me of the cathedrals in Europe... gothic architecture and tons of religious statues. I even went in an lit a candle to make up for my ex-Catholic guilt of being a tourist in a place of worship :)

View of the cathedral from the park across the street... the statues in the fountain were a gift from J.F. Archibald to commemorate the association of Australia and France in the Great War 1914-1918.

 

This is my favorite photo from the trip... I didn't realize until after I took it that the sun was perfectly centered between the steeples. I just loved the cool clouds...

Saturday night, I had dinner at an Italian restaurant at Circular Quay with this great view of the Bridge. It started raining in the middle of dinner... a quick five-minute downpour like they have in Florida. Luckily my table was under an umbrella so I stayed nice and dry.



After dinner I walked down to the Opera House again to see it at night ... gorgeous!

The Rocks and Royal Botanic Gardens

Sunday was my last full day down under. On my hop-on, hop-off tour I'd driven by an outdoor market near the base of the Harbour Bridge. It was walking distance from the hotel on the other side of Circular Quay in an area known as "The Rocks." I finally found a Christmas tree ornament, hand-painted by a local artist, as well as photo coasters that now sit on my coffee table to remind me of my trip. I did NOT sample the alligator and kangaroo jerky also available for sale. (ICK)



After the market, I stopped for a sandwich to eat as lunch on a picnic in the Royal Botanic Garden up the hill from the Opera House. I took a book and sat out and ate, read and people watched. I was a lovely last afternoon in Australia and I can't wait for the opportunity to go back and see other parts of the country one day :)

u2's joshua tree tour - the 2017 experience

Thirty-three years ago, I fell in love with an Irish band named U2 when I heard the songs "Bad" (still one of my two favorite U2 songs to this day!) and "Pride (In the Name of Love)." 

Two years after that, "Pride" earned me extra credit it 10th grade Social Studies as I played the song for my classmates and we discussed the political relevance of U2 and this song, focused on Martin Luther King Jr's fight for equality. 

A year after that, I wasn't able to see U2 on their new "Joshua Tree" tour at The LA Sports Arena and I was very sad (about not seeing U2; NOT about not going to the suck-ass, now-finally demolished Sports Arena). I loved that album, especially "With or Without You" (duh), and "Running to Stand Still," and the trippy, harmonica-laden "Trip Through Your Wires." 

So in January, when it was announced U2 was going to tour in honor of the album's 30th anniversary AND would play the whole album in its entirety, I was in line online day one for the Rose Bowl show with my U2 Fan Club pre-sale code! 

(Sidenote: Being a U2.com member is, seriously, the best $50 a year you can spend as a U2 fan. Not only do you get first dibs at great concert seats [see my view from this show in photos and videos below, and see my view from the U2IE tour here, and my GA ticket access to be against the railing at the foot of one of the claws on the U2360 tour here] but you get awesome subscriber gifts... usually unreleased or exclusive recordings [Edge's Picks of the Top 22 Live performances from the 360 tour, The Joshua Tree singles on Vinyl] or gorgeous prints or photo books).   

Last night I finally got to use the ticket and hear the amazing Joshua Tree album live! 

Because of the amount of people in attendance, it was recommended we arrive early, and we did.. landing in our pre-paid parking spot at around 3:45pm. People in the lots were tail-gating and having an awesome time despite the 95-degree heat, cuz U2 fans are cool like that. 

Around 5:30 we decided to go inside the stadium. The lines in the front of the Rose Bowl were HUGE, so we went around the side to Gate B and got in the security line for "people with bags," which was going to take 15-20 minutes long from my guesstimate. But just as we were about to enter the windy part of the cue, an awesome HUGE security guard told me to drink my water (in a non-allowed cup size) quick and then ushered us into the "no-bags" security line. This was the equivalent of having TSA Pre-check at LAX on a summer Friday! We breezed through, swiped my credit card for the ticket verification and were inside the gates, in the land of cocktails and merchandise stands charging $45 for an almost plain white tee ;)  

At around 6:45, the Lumineers hit the stage. They were really excited to be there, noting this was the largest crowd they'd ever performed for.

They played all their hits you know, but don't know you know, until you hear them and sounded really good. (I like any band that has a cellist!)

Then as the sun went completely down, and the temperature dropped to like 80 degrees, the pre-recorded music got louder. "Black Hole Sun" from Soundgarden played and the audience lit up, in tribute to Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell who passed away earlier this week on May 17th in Detroit.

Then as The Pogues' "A Rainy Night in Soho" played, a hot drummer (that would be Larry Mullen Jr. for those of you who are blind) walked down the ramp to his drumset on the "B-Stage" (aka the stage at the end of the ramp leading down into the audience), and the show started with this...

This first mini-set consisted of four songs from the pre-Joshua Tree years.

I was really hoping that, like in Vancouver and Santa Clara, song #3 would be "Bad," but alas we got "A Sort of Homecoming" (which I still lovely, but is not "Bad.")

Then they all went up to the main stage for the main part of the show... The Joshua Tree, in its entirety.

The videos on the giant screen behind the band were beautiful, many similar to the photography from the album and its videos.

Then, after "Bullet the Blue Sky," Bono paid tribute to Chris Cornell, dedicating the beautiful and sad "Running to Stand Still" to him, and sending love and prayers to the Cornell family. 

After, that, he simply said "And now welcome to Side 2.." (Those of you not alive 30 years ago have no idea what that means. Le sigh..) and they moved onto "Red Hill Mining Town."

At the end of the album, a disco ball appeared at the top of the screen's giant joshua tree above the stage...

And then we were in the post-Joshua Tree era.... 

They played four songs, all eventually working their way back to the "B-Stage" right in front of my seats.

Then after they played "One," I thought that would be it. But they played "Miss Sarajevo" and then "BAD"!! I was so happy (even though the guido in front of me kept bopping his head [to "Bad." Yes, in case you're wondering, he was very drunk.] and raising his arm into my camera shot. I almost smacked his greasy head, but contained myself. ) They don't play this song a lot.. I think the last time I heard live was one of the "Elevation Tour" shows in 2001. Enjoy...

They then said goodnight... but played one more song after that. Don't leave until the lights come up people!

All in all, this show was worth both the 30 year wait, and the pretty penny I paid for those excellent fan club seats. The band sounded AMAZING!! And the production was beautiful -- both visually and audibly. 

Here's the Full Set List:

On Tape before band came out:

• Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden) — the audience lit up with camera flashes in tribute to Chris Cornell
• A Rainy Night in Soho (The Pogues)

B-Stage 

• Sunday Bloody Sunday
• New Year's Day
• A Sort of Homecoming
• Pride (In the Name of Love)

The Joshua Tree

• Where the Streets Have No Name
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
• With or Without You
• Bullet the Blue Sky
• Running to Stand Still (dedicated to Chris Cornell and his family)
• Red Hill Mining Town
• In God's Country
• Trip Through Your Wires
• One Tree Hill
• Exit
• Mothers of the Disappeared

Encore:

• Beautiful Day (with "City of Stars" vocal interlude)
• Elevation
• Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
• One

B-Stage

• Miss Sarajevo (Passengers cover)
• Bad
• I Will Follow ('The Little Things That Give…)

a rockin' afternoon in... thousand oaks??

Thousand Oaks is my California hometown. The first place I lived after moving here in 10th grade. The place I learned to drive a car. The place I got my first job. The place my parents still live.

Every spring, Thousand Oaks holds Conejo Valley Days. There's a chili cook-off. A 5k run. And lots of carnival rides that, as a teenager, equaled a majorly exciting weekend in boring T.O.

I haven't been to Conejo Valley Days in more than 25 years... until yesterday.

Last year, I learned after-the-fact that Chevy Metal, a cool '70s cover band led by Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins (who lives nearby) had played "CVD"... and his Foo friend Dave Grohl showed up. So this year, when I saw Chevy Metal would be playing CVD again, I convinced my Foo Fan friend Lisa to join me in the hot afternoon sun to see Taylor and his Chevy-crew, and in hopes that history would repeat itself... 

Once the techs came out and started tuning guitars, I knew it would. Dave Grohl plays very distinctive guitars, and I saw his gold Gibson being tuned. But he didn't come out right away. So then I started watching the guitars Chevy Metal's other guitarist was playing as the set went on. They played some Motley Crue, Billy Squire, Queen, Van Halen and AC/DC. (Full setlist is here.)  But the guitarist never played a gold Gibson. 

Then about 40-45 minutes into the set, Taylor started calling, "Dave. Dave. DAVE!!" And out came Dave Grohl.... with his gold Gibson guitar. Apparently he was late, and Taylor blamed him for having to switch the entire set list around. Dave said he was off winning goldfish and puking on the tilt-a-whirl. :)

They ended up playing three more covers from the Rolling Stones, Faces and then ended with David Bowie's "Under Pressure" which I love. Taylor, Dave and Chevy Metal bassist Wiley Hodgden trading vocals. Enjoy... 

(And sorry about the feedback noise. I don't know if that's because of the wind, how I was holding my phone, the fact I was situated in between Wiley's amps and two giant speakers on the side of the stage, or a combo of all three. Just don't turn this up too loud. You've been warned.)