Friday, April 29, 2005

Stinking Bush!


The Bad News: Since
The O.C. got preempted on the East Coast for Bush's speech, we didn't get it on the left coast either.


The Good News: We'll get back-to-back episodes next Thursday night!


And did I mention that this guy:

Is going to be on the May 12th episode?

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Great Question...


On his blog, Chris asked a very important question:

You know in the Meatloaf song, when he sings: "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that"?

Well, what is "That"?!?!?

Monday, April 18, 2005

Thank you TiVo: Top 12 Shows on Television

When I first started this blog, I set out to do a bunch of stupid lists of stuff I like and I guess it's time to get back to that. Here are the top 15 shows I'm watching right now.

1. 24
2. American Idol
3. Survivor
4. The O.C.
5. The Amazing Race
6. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
7. Joan of Arcadia
8. Viva La Bam
9. Robot Chicken
10. Without a Trace
11. CSI
12. Saturday Night Live
13. The Bachelor
14. Numbers
15. Punk'd

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Muerta Las Vegas


Ticketbastard couldn't get us into the Vegas show on Melissa's birthday (Nov. 5th). We'll have to try and get a few tix cheap through a broker close to the show date. What a bummer.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Concert Marathon Continues


Yeah, so this time it wasn't U2, but it was still pretty darn fun. Melissa and I took Abby to see the Wiggles live at the Anaheim Convention Center on Thursday. It's a pretty well put together production. Abby was excited all day, knowing we were going to see the Wiggles, but I don't think she quite got it. NOTHING will ever compare to the wonderful beautiful excited look on her face when she saw Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog on stage and finally 'figured it out'. Except for her being REALLY tired, she had a great time.

They even keep try and keep it somewhat fun for the adults, having Captain Feathersword sing a song in different "adult" styles like Mick Jagger, Barry White, Britney Spears, etc...and then one of the Wiggle guys starts playing his guitar with Stairway to Heavan and I Can't Get No (Satisfaction).

The other cool thing at the concert was John C. McGinley from Scrubs sitting right near us. The guy looked like he had just gotten out of rehab. Shaggy hair, scruffy face. He was there with his son and his wife. He was singing along with all the songs (just like I was).

It was really cool to see so many dads there.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Long Week

Haven't updated in a while. Work is crazy and Melissa's grandma is in the hospital, not a lot of time left. Please keep her and the entire family in your prayers!

Tuesday, April 05, 2005


The Fodgers

Opening Day


Here's to another AL West Championship!

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Rest In Peace


Last night, Bono dedicated "40" to the Holy Father, mentioning that he was a great supporter towards the cause of human equality in Africa and around the world and "He looked great in my shades"

Vertigo//Night Three//Anaheim



Time will only tell how the boys switch things up over the course of the tour, but for a U2 fan that has been to all three shows so far, It was a breath of fresh air (and a genius move) to completely rearrange the show. From the first moment to the last, this was by far the best show of the three.

The boys opened up by walking around the catwalk in a darkened arena, all carrying the traditional spot-lights. The "war protest" part of the show will be right off the bat?!?! Sweet, since that's the highlight of the show. They open with "Love and Peace" the best live song so far this tour. They move directly into "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" and I'm just floored that these two songs are being played early. Followed as on the first two nights by a beautiful Running to Stand Still.

The Boy segment has been abandoned for the better on this night. Nothing wrong with the songs or the performance, it just brought the entire show to a stand still in San Diego. Instead, they skip past is and move into .... I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For! 60% of the show has been Joshua Tree!!! Great performance of a great song. They've gone back, but not as far back, and that's ok. Next up is New Years Day, followed by the Miracle Drug/Sometimes combo. Then Beautiful Day. Everything is just fitting into place in perfect fashion.

Now it's time for the next major change to the set list. The standard encore opening combo of Pride/Streets and One will close the regular set on this night. It works well. Bono has a much better introduction to the One campaign. New media elements are included (Where they saving them or had they not been fine tuned yet?). The band is now projected on the backdrop during Pride.

The best new element was during One. The front screens and divided into three, with each focused on Bono. The middle one turns into a pixellation and you just say, "wow that looks neat". Then, the camera zooms in to reveal that the pixellations are all make up of crowd shots. It's a moving version of one of those pictures where a million little pictures make up the bigger one. The camera zooms in and out twice, ending with a close up of crowd shots. So cool.

The encore (which, apparently judging by the crowd reaction at the end, most people didn't realize already began) opened with the Zoo TV/Fly combo and moved into Elevation, just as on the first two nights. From here I'm expecting to close the night out with Vertigo, All Because of You, Yahweh and 40. Nope, we get another song not yet played, Mysterious Ways. A very sexy performance, almost too sexy. On the backdrop comes a cartoon similar to the one representing Bono's dad during Sometimes. Only now, it's a nekkid woman. Bikini bottom, but no top. Boobies hangin' out. Not neccesarry! There are kids in the audience for goodness sake. The sexiness countinues as he pulls a woman out of the audience who dances the entire trip around the catwalk with him.

From there they boys play City of Blinding Lights. I didn't like the placement of the song. Same effects with the confetti. I like it better either opening the show or perhaps opening the encore. The show moves from there into the closing set that I mentioned above. Vertigo was great. All Because of You powerful as always, Yahweh and 40, just as good, but not as worshipful as opening night.

Best night of the tour so far. Makes me wish i could "pull a Craig" and go again tonight. I just can't believe I have to miss two straight shows. Maybe there's a small chance we'll be able to hit the just-announced Las Vegas Show (MGM Grand Garden Arena) on November 4th....

Friday, April 01, 2005

Night//Two

Thank God for a second night to see the band in San Diego. Thank God for seats. Thank God for the INCREDIBLE lighting they produced for the stage. Melissa doesn't have a blog, so I will post her review of the show. She hits the nail on the head:

"Well, we experienced our boys second show last night. I have to say it was better over all than opening night. For any of those who don't want to know anything about the set list, skip down. Un Cat Dub was mercifully taken out and replaced by Gloria! This helped things to flow much better. We were also blessed with a bonus song, With or Without You! Nothing was taken out in it's place. Bono pulled a Spanish speaking guy onto the stage to translate to the fans that had come up from Mexico that, "Dublin is full of love. Love is a drug." Then they played miracle drug.

The best Bono quote of the night came when the boys came back onto stage for the second encore when he asked the people in the inside of the "Egg" how the people in the "Bomb Shelter" were doing. What a great name for the pace that most of us GA ticket holders will never see! Bono had also said toward the beginning of the concert that "they had a great night the night before, it was called practice! He went on to say that they are trying to become familiar to the new music and each other again on the stage. This got much applause from the audience who attended opening night that was full of songs Bono couldn't seem to remember the lyrics too. As last night's show went on Bono forgot major lyrics to Elevation, the Fly, and 40. During 40 he asked the Lord for forgiveness as he messed up the psalm! Larry was laughing at Bono and shaking his head as he messed up on Elevation. But over all Bono's energy seemed to be up from Monday night and the show flowed much better. It is still obvious that he is not his normal self due to the back issues he has been having.

Love and peace was still by far my favorite song and performance of the night. Having seen the show on Monday night I knew what was coming but I was still SO excited to see Love and Peace again. All of you who aren't a fan of the song must be smoking some bad crack. Hopefully seeing it live will bring you into the light. I still can't seem to get over City of Blinding Lights opening the show. Nick thinks it works but I still feel that it's not pumped up enough. It feels like the show doesn't begin until Vertigo is played. It was such a different experience to see the show from the seats than from the floor. When we were on the floor we could not see the lights that ran along the stage and cat walk. This element really energized the show, especially Vertigo. Vertigo sounded much better last night too.

The worship section of Yahweh and 40 that closes the concert was broken up last night by Bono making sure the audience noticed that Adam was playing the Edge's guitar and that the Edge was playing the bass. He make a joke by going over the Adam and showing him how to play the right A chord for the song during 40 . This broke up the feeling of the song making it not quite the worship song it was Monday night. Bono seemed to not know what to say to transition into this section of the night. It was a bit awkward. They did solved the problem of the show ending and the audience continuing to sing on and on only to be left out in the cold by running "credits" on the big screens. Who the people are and what their names were doing up there was never clear. They said thank you a few times during the song that really made the audience know the show was coming to a final end.

The show was so much fun and improved from opening night. I am looking forward to seeing them a few more times on the tour to see things really take shape. I can't wait to hear what you guys think as you see them the end of this week and next week. "


Here's hoping that Anaheim can live up to San Diego. Our seats are further away and the Pond is so much bigger than the San Diego Sports Arena that my expectations aren't great. Maybe we'll get some minor diversion from the set list...

Opening//Night


Now that I'm back in the office for a day and have my head above water with work, I have time to review the two shows of the tour so far. Opening night was a mixed bag. I'm not sure how much of it was situational, but I walked away with a bad taste in my mouth from the show. We didn't get into the Bomb Shelter and we were about seven people deep on the outside of the egg, despite getting there at 6:45 am. We only lasted about 20 minutes before my poor pregnant wife needed air. Getting smushed and not being able to see anything didn't make for a good show. We went to the back and enjoyed the rest of the show from there.

The boys truly didn't seem ready to begin to me. Bono screwed up lyrics in a number of songs, including Elevation and Yahweh. I did, of course, enjoy most of the show. The opening works well to me, with City of Blinding Lights. I know that others disagree, saying it isn't fast enough to get th energy going. I think it's a perfect musical intro for a show, similar to how I imagine the J-Tree tour might have been with "Where the Streets Have No Name" opening a show. Going into Vertigo right away was the right choice to pump things up. On opening night, the show stalled after that with the "Boy" segment. With AnCatDunh the show was nearly boring. The highlights of the night were "Love and Peace" and the Worship to close the show. The six-song Encore was the best I've ever seen. I also enjoyed the new 'version' of Bullet the Blue Sky, throwing in some unspoken protest and some spoken protest "Johnnie comes marching home again, hurrah, hurrah"..."These are the hands that built America".