Foo Fighters

This was my second time seeing them peform. This time I prepared for the second stage because we got seats right in front of it. Dave Grohl is hot, but his hair was a mess. It was kind of cute how he was bragging about playing for two hours... the night after I saw The Boss play for 3+ hours. But you know, still, two hours is impressive.

"Hero" is my favorite song, which is amazing performed live.

The Boss part 2

Okay, I know you are wondering why I wrote about waiting in line to go to the concert, but not anything about the concert. Soo.... it was honestly amazing. Well, I sort of hate that word since Katie Holmes highjacked it. But, I loved it. What can I say? He played for over three hours, which reminded me of this old bit from the short-lived Ben Stiller show.





Seriously! Three + hours! Twenty-six songs! Some of the things I've read online were people complaining that he sang *only* 26 songs when he did 30 the previous night. Here's the set list:

Out on the Streets

Radio Nowhere

No Surrender

Two Hearts

The Promised Land

Hungry Heart

Summertime Blues

Tunnel of Love

Held Up Without a Gun

It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City

Sherry Darling

Waitin' on a Sunny Day

Because the Night

She's the One

Livin' in the Future

Mary's Place

Drive All Night

The Rising

Last to Die

Long Walk Home

Badlands

* * *encore***

Girls in Their Summer Clothes

Thunder Road

Detroit Medley

Born to Run

Glory Days

American Land

Twist and Shout

One of the benefits of paying a scalper a boatload of money to sit in a good seat (which I would never do) is that you can bring a sign and Bruce will come down and collect it. Then, if you have written the name of a song on it, he will sing that song. That is how it happened that he sang "Held up without a Gun" which is about high gas prices (written in 1980 and he said he has only played this song twice before), "Sherry Darling", and "Saint in the City" (one of my favorites). The highlights for me were:

(1) Thunder Road, which always brings memories of my sister and me on a road trip, (2) Because the Night, (3) The Rising (a surprise, since it's not one of my favorites), (4) Badlands, (5) Drive all Night, a song I didn't know, (6) Saint in the City, and, of course, (7) Born to Run. Here's a link to a few of the songs, but does not include any of those songs, unfortunately. It was such a great night. The only way it would have been better is if I had been with Jill. Maybe next tour! (and yes, I'm going again tomorrow night.)

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccce!

Yes, last night I went to see The Boss at Giants Stadium. There is a lot I want to write about it, and I may or may not ever get to it all. I fear writing about stuff that people don't find interesting, but here goes anyway. I'm going to start today with the line to get on the bus to get to the Meadowlands.

I, of course, never know when I'm going to be able to leave work. If I have an afternoon client, and I almost always do, I never know if they will be on time, if they will be in crisis, if the foster mother wants to talk to me or if I will need to talk to her, if the child will make a gigantic mess, if they will refuse to clean up that mess, if they will ask for a snack before they go, if they want me to walk them out, if I will have to call Child Protective Services because they disclosed they were abused this week (luckily, that one is rare), etc. So whenever I make plans, I have to say, "Well, I should be able to leave at 6:00, but..." and then at 6:45 I'm running out the door calling the person I have plans with to explain whatever ridiculous thing happened that is causing me to be late.

However, last night, I was fortunate enough that my client cancelled. Not good for the therapeutic relationship, but great for me going to a Bruce Springsteen concert. I always feel bad about my life getting in the way of my work. But last Friday, I was at a training and the trainer was talking about one of his clients and how the parent was trying to get her child out the door but she did something and the parent said, "You are going to have to have a time out" and he thought, "F---!" because he was leaving straight from this appointment to go to a Blues Festival upstate and who knows how long this time out will take. So, obviously, it's a problem we all face.

Anyway, last night I was out the door at 6:00 on the dot! But when I got to the Port Authority, the line for the bus was ridiculous and I started to panic. I went in to get tickets, and that line was ridiculous and I started to panic more. But when I came out, Kathy told me she had been talking to the guy in back of us, who went to the show the previous night (and turns out, many other Springsteen shows) and he told us that the bus was pretty fast and Bruce always comes out at 8:30. Since I love to chat up crazy fans, like myself, I decided I'd go ahead and continue to engage him in a conversation.

From now on, he will be called The Spitter. For obvious reasons.

He was a crazy Long Island guy. Picture a guy like George Costanza. He was wearing a concert shirt from another Springsteen show. He had clearly been eating Chinese food prior to getting into the line because he had rice on his shirt. He had a little notebook with him that he had written the set list from the previous night. I asked him if he had the set list of all the shows he's been to, but I didn't get a straight answer on that, although he did refer back to the book later while we were on the bus. He talked about his son, who was, at that moment, at home looking for tickets on craigslist for the Thursday show and also the Boston show this weekend. He asked me my favorite Springsteen song, and I said, "Thunder Road," and he said that was also his favorite, along with "Born to Run." He said that at his funeral, he wants his ashes spread in Asbury Park with those two songs playing. He told me not to worry because Bruce would probably play "Thunder Road" because he didn't play it Sunday, but he wouldn't play "10th Avenue Freeze out" because he opened with it on Sunday. I love it because I take a little flack for being a crazy fan. But then I hear this kind of stuff and realize I'm just fine in comparison.

Yes, I do keep a set list of all the JM shows I've been to and can predict some of the songs he'll play and I do travel around to see him. But remember when I met a woman at a JM concert and she told me she named her daughter Georgia after the song "Why Georgia"? Yeah... I'm just fine.

two new tomatoes

Still nothing that is ready to eat, but two new ones popped up over the weekend on my second plant. (images in the picture appear larger than in real life.)

Panama

Yes, this really happened. I saw it with my own eyes.

Ricky Gervais

I went to see Ricky Gervais twice this month. I took LT for her birthday and then another friend took me for my birthday (just a bit early). Here's my favorite bit.

Maybe the spell is broken

Previously, I reported about all of my outdoor concerts being rained on or rained out. Well, I went to two concerts in the past week... and guess what! Perfect weather! One was JM, about which I already reported. The other was the free Bon Jovi show in Central Park last Saturday. It was a free event on the lawn. Unlike previous free concerts in the park (like Garth Brooks and Paul Simon, both of which my sisters attended), this one required tickets obtained through a lottery. Of course, you know stupid NY people get the free tickets and try to sell them. I heard people paid $1000 for them, but I can't believe anyone would be that stupid. Anyway... We debated whether we wanted to get there early (gates opened at 2 for an 8:00 show) and wait all day in the park so that we had a good view of the stage, or go later and use regular bathrooms all day. We opted for the second one and although we didn't have a good view of the stage, we had a great time.

As we waited for the show to start, I discussed with Dawn which song she thinks is Bon Jovi's equivalent to "Born to Run." I believe, and will always believe, that it is "Livin' on a Prayer." I opened this debate because I said those words after seeing Bon Jovi in November, and then a few weeks later, heard a DJ using that exact phrase to describe "Dead or Alive." She agrees with the DJ. I think they are both on crack. (Still love you, Dawn, and thanks for the ticket!)

Blind taste test

Last year, Pinkberry invaded NYC. The first one was in Chelsea and the first time I went, the line was out the door. Now, there are Pinkberries all over the place, and it seems wherever a Pinkberry pops up, Red Mango is soon to follow. Now there is one of each half-way between my two offices. I make the walk in between a few times a week, so Heidi and I have been to both a few times. She has said that she likes Red Mango better, but I always said that they taste the same to me and I like them both. So yesterday... we decided to do a taste test. We got one of each and sat ourselves down. Heidi even went so far as getting two spoons from Red Mango so that we couldn't tell which was which by the spoon. She covered her eyes and I gave her the first sample and then the second. Next, I covered my eyes and she gave them to me. I was surprised that I could not only tell them apart but I picked a winner! And the winner is: Red Mango!

Seated next to us at Red Mango was a father and his teen-age daughter. They were fascinated that we were going so far in our quest to see which frozen yogurt is the best. They are here visiting for a month while the daughter is in a ballet camp. They have been to both places and decided for themselves that they liked Red Mango the best, but hadn't actually sat down with one of each and tasted them side-by-side. So that's four votes for Red Mango.

Next, we are going to do a cupcake side-by-side comparison.

Turns out I can do something right!

Pretty much, I'm failing at everything in my life at the moment. I was able to grow a tomato, though! I mean, it's not ready to eat or anything yet, but here it is. It's almost the size of clementine. I'm so proud!

Tricked ya!!

I have to write a little something about the show on Tuesday at the Garden State Arts Center (or PNC Bank Arts Center for people new to the tri-state area). We were driving and didn't want to get stuck in traffic like last year, so I made Kathy and Allison take a 1/2 day of work. We got to the venue by 6 for a 7:00 show, so we had a little time to kill. We ate terrible arena food and discussed which songs we thought he would play. I made a list of the things I thought he'd play and we all made our wish lists. (I like to make lists.) They asked me what I thought would be the first song, and I said I really had no idea because although I saw him play last week, he never does all the same songs, let alone in the same order. I did not see this one coming though! John Mayer singing Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey... does it get better than that? (unless it was actually Bruce singing himself and I still could get seats in the 22nd row).




FYI -- Kathy's wish list: Gravity, Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, Waiting on the World to Change, and the alternate: Dreaming with a Broken Heart

Allison's wish list: Daughters, Waiting on the World to change, Gravity

Mine: Clarity, Why Georgia, Back to You and the alternate: Belief

For some reason, I decided that in this game, we should only have three wishes on the wish list, but I allowed one alternate. I knew he'd play Belief so I made that my alternate, but it turned out to be the only one he played from my list! Allison got all three of hers (which I predicted). Kathy got two of hers and not her alternate.

new song

After the concert last week, I decided to go ahead and buy the new JM live album. One reason I hadn't planned to buy it is because, as my friend Dawn said, "He's the master of the retread. The only band that does it better is The Who." (and she should know.) However, I'm glad I did because I'm obsessed with this song, which I had never heard before. And after this, I'm not going to post anything about him for a while. Promise!

Well, unless tonight's show is super awesome.

#22

I have been asked many times how many JM concerts I've been to and, lately, I haven't been able to remember. So, if you are one of those people, it is now 22. That's the official number (until Tuesday 7/15). I have been to tapings of Dave Letterman, the Today show (twice), Good Morning America, and this CMT show as well, and I don't figure those numbers in. You can say whatever you want about it, but I'm fine with it.

Some highlights from the show on Wednesday:
1) He invited his brother to play on stage with him for "Why Georgia". As usual, he gave the audience a chance to sing the "So what, so I've got a smile on. It's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head" part, which I always do with abandon. When Esther comes with me, she does, too, and usually it's just us. Except for the time last summer when we saw him play in NJ. This time, there were one or two girls behind me singing along, too.
2) He talked about how he loved to play in the Tri-state area, in the venue where he saw his very first concert (Dave Matthews, which he then sampled). He then said how he loves being in the Tri-state area because he can watch TV and know all the channels, "You know how you call one of your friends and say, 'Turn on channel 2' and they don't know what you are talking about because it's some weird local channel." I loved this because I say that all the time! I remember doing that to Esther one time and she didn't know what I was talking about. In fact, I actually do call Jill sometimes and say something is on channel 4 and she knows I mean NBC. I don't know... it was awesome, but probably only if you can relate to it, like me.
3) Before playing "Gravity," he said that this song expresses how he feels when he's down... when a girl doesn't like him or when someone calls him a douchebag.
4) He played "Free Fallin'" which was my first time seeing this live.
5) For the last song, "Waiting on the World to Change" he pulled out a bunch of friends to sing with him. He didn't say, but I'm assuming that they are friends from home.

None of these videos are ones that I took, but isn't it awesome that someone did so that I could post all of these moments?

What's the deal?

Last night, I went to the JM concert at Jones Beach and it rained again! That's three out of three concerts for me this summer.

Cape May '08

I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to the holy land of the Jersey shore. We had a great time, as usual.

Somehow, we always get great weather the whole week.

My sister and her family picked my mom and me up at 8:30 am Saturday morning. That means that they had to leave Boston at 5 am, and at that crazy hour, my niece insisted on wearing her bathing suit. She was going to the beach, after all!

Here's me with my nephew on our bicycle built for two.

We rode our bikes to the lighthouse and in the little shop, Thomas saw this

"telescope" and I couldn't resist buying it for him. My mom went back the next day and bought the eye patches. I told him that he was cute one day, and he said, "Girls are cute, not boys." I asked what boys are, and he said, "Boys are precious." They certainly are!

enough said!

Free Fallin'

A few weeks ago, I was reading my EW magazine and read this piece by Oscar winner Diablo Cody about one of my favorite guilty pleasures of all time, 90210. When I read this part, I totally freaked out:


"We've come a long way from Jim and Cindy Walsh, who were so square that they wouldn't let Brenda drive to Baja with Dylan even though they were TOTALLY IN LOVE. (Raise your hand if you can't hear ''Losing My Religion'' without thinking about Brenda and Dylan's breakup. Me neither.) "

Okay, I am raising my hand because I totally think about Brenda and Dylan whenever I hear that song!! When I was at the REM concert a few weeks ago, I even thought of them then!

Well, this is also one of those songs that brings me back to the time in my life when I first heard it. In this case, it's my sophomore year at BYU -- a million years ago. My roommate, Jayne, used to play her guitar and sing this song a lot. I have so many memories about that year. I love the original and looooove this version!