Long Weekend Plans

I haven't had a good three-day weekend in forever, so I'm looking forward to some time off. Of course, it seems like every minute of the weekend is booked solid, so it'll be no rest for the weary, but that's cool. Here's the schedule for the weekend, starting when I get off today at noon (or earlier, since none of my bosses are here).

FRIDAY
3:30 Taking Abby to her first movie ever: Madagascar
6:00 dropping the kids off at the pool (er, I mean, my parents house)
6:02 Hauling butt up to Biola to try and get to the school of ed/rosemead graduations before the read off Cyndi and Chris' names.
8:00ish Dinner with Cyndi's fam-damily. Haven't been to Bobby McGee's in a while, can't wait!
10:00ish Pick up the kids and head home

SATURDAY -
All-Day: Shop and get ready for Couples Bunco/Poker party
Time Permitting: Work on putting Eliptical machine together. I bought it for Melissa for Christmas. I finally got it out of the box on Monday night.
7:00 Couples Bunco/Poker Party.

SUNDAY
10:15 Church
Afternoon: Rest, Relax, Work on Eliptical machine and other honey-dos
5:30 Church - The Gathering at Woodbridge Community Church. I haven't been to WCC, other than for Mark's wedding, since 2002. I've only been a few times since my sophomore year in college. I was there from age 0-18 at least twice a week. It was my second home growing up. I'm looking forward to going!

MONDAY -
No official plans yet, but weather permitting (read: Not too hot) we might go to the Beach or Sea World or some other big fun event.

Bo Bice: American Idol?

After a very weak performance night on part one of the American Idol season finale, I think Bo's chances of winning have slimmed down. Neither performer really stole the show last night, thanks largely to two CRAP songs that were written for the finale. Carrie was better able to put a country flair on them, than Bo was able to put a southern-rock flair on them. Bo hit a grand slam with his third song "Vehicle" and Carrie was lackluster in her take on Independence Day, a song I love and a song she nailed the first night.

The clincher, I fear, is the simple fact that Simon told her she "did enough to win it" last night, and the legions of red-state voters will lean her way. Bo will get the blue state vote for the most part, but I fear Carrie will win and it won't be as close as everyone assumes.

Don't get me wrong, I love Carrie and I think she is the perfect mold for an American Idol, and will be a HUGE country music star. I just LOVE Bo and want to see the southern rocker win this show, just to see to see it turn the audition process on it's ear for the next season.

They said last night that the vote was a 2% difference between them last night, meaning 51%-49% of those not voting for Vonzel. I figure Bo had the lead a week ago, but Vonzel's votes will mostly stay with the fairer gender and last night will swing some other votes her way. I figure it will be a larger margin in favor of Carrie, say near 55/45.

Interestingly, this will be the first time I am rooting for the loser. I wanted Kelly, Ruben and Fantasia to win, and they did.

Movie Season is Upon Us

It used to be that Memorial Weekend kicked-off the summer movie season, but this year we get an extra jump on things tonight at midnight. So here is my list of the top-15 most anticipated movies for 2005 (after Ep. III tonight).

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (7/15)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (11/18)
3. Fun with Dick and Jane (12/21)
4. Winter Passing (TBA)
5. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (12/9)
6. The Longest Yard (5/27)
7. War of the Worlds (6/29)
8. Jarhead (11/4)
9. King Kong (12/14)
10. Batman Begins (6/15)
11. The Corpse Bride (9/23) - Why is this movie being dumped in September, instead of right before Halloween?
12. Walk the Line (10/18)
13. Wallace and Gromit (10/7)
14. Madagascar (5/27)
15. The Fantastic Four (7/8)

The End

On Wednesday night, Melissa and I will be heading to the Corona Crossings Regal to see Revenge of the Sith, keeping my streak alive of midnight showings. Back in the Biola days, we camped with all the table-nine Star Wars nerds for the rereleases and for Episode I in the middle of Finals week. Episode II was a last-minute decision and we ended up seeing it at the Ghetto Main Place 5. Now, we have one last chance to pretend we're young and irresponsible on Wednesday. Might be the last midnight showing I ever do. I've only done it one other time, for Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.

Hutchins Drool!

So every season, The Hutchins, Fords and Askew's do a Survivor Pool. With five players left in the game, the last Hutchins hope was eliminated which leaves:

Moe: 2
Mark: 2
Nick: 1

Interestingly, the Askew's have the three women and T-Boy has the two dudes.

Go Katie (my last hope, above), Caryn or Jen!

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?

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"?!?!?

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

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.

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.

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!

The Fodgers

Opening Day

Here's to another AL West Championship!

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....

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".

Vertigo//Tour//Countdown// <48 Hours!!!!!!!

My final post before we leave Sunday night for San Diego. I still can't believe that I'll be on the floor for the first night of the world tour of the greatest freaking band in the world. Here's my proposed set list. It probably sucks and I am probably no where NEAR accurate, but I have to try!

1. Vertigo - (Not where I'd put it, but it's the "Virtigo Tour" after all)
2. Original of the Species (Two new album cuts to open)
3. Beautiful Day
4. City of Blinding Lights
5. Electric Co. (Or another old song, this was in rehearsals, and I think it'll fit well)
6. Miracle Drug (slowing it down a bit)
7. Love and Peace (I think this will be one of the best live songs...)
8. Sometimes You Can't... (..followed by this, the breakin'-it-down section)
9. 40 (why not, it's the worship portion of the night)
10. Yahweh (worship continues)
11. Where the Streets have No Name (speeding things up with a little J-Tree)
12. Running to Stand Still (More J-Tree, because this album truly propeled them to their recent HOF induction)
13. One (Because it isn't perfect to open the encore this time around, and it HAS to be played)
14. Stuck in a Moment - (Awkward placement, I just gotta hear it, though)
15. Crumbs from Your Table
16. All Because of You (if it won't open the show, it should close the regular set)
ENCORE
17. Elevation (Great to open the encore)
18. I Will Follow (after SNL, this is the new "With or Without you", i.e. the older song in the middle of the encore)
19. Walk On (I'm probably livin in the past, but I want this song to continue to close their shows. If not, it'll be perfect in the middle, spritual/emotional section. Truly, a song from this album belongs in the encore. If All Because of you doesn't close the regular set, maybe it'll be in the encore?).

Also might be played:

* With or Without you ( I hope it is, I just don't know where I'd fit it in)
* One Step Closer (lul of the album, would be lul on the tour)
* Man and a Woman (could be good and sexy live)
* Sunday Bloody Sunday (they revived it last tour and might keep it alive)
* Bullet the Blue Sky (A live staple I would LOVE to hear, I just have a hunch it's taking a breather this go round

Other notes:

>>Maybe opening night will see an extended set? Why not?!?!
>>They'll probably sandwich City of Blinding Lights with New York when I go see 'em in Madison Square Garden. That'll be pretty sweet.

The Bob Dylan Show

I took a break last night from sitting around wetting my pants in anticipation of Monday night, long enough to go the Pantages with my dad for The Bob Dylan Show. The opening act was Amos Lee. He's signed to Blue Note Records (home to Norah Jones) and the comparisons to her are pretty accurate. He's got a voice very similar to that of the Train lead singer and musically, he fuses jazz, blues, folk and a little bit of country into a very cool sound. He's sort of in the same category as Jack Johnson and John Meyer. I REALLY liked him.

Next on the bill was Merle Haggard. Yup. I sat through 50 minutes of redneck country. Amazingly, though, it was probably the highlight of the evening. Merle is a very good song writer. He had some sweet war protest songs back in the day and he has a new one called "That's the news" which was pretty cool. He also covered Nat King Cole's Unforgettable and apparently it's on a new standards album he's put out, ala Willie Nelson's Stardust album.

Don't get me wrong, here, I love Dylan. It is amazing just to be in his presence. He IS the history of Rock and Roll (along with a few others of course). I've now seen him perform four times, all with my dad, and this was probably only the third best show. The first time I saw him has to rank on top, simply for senimental reasons. Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison opened for him and I got to taste a true slice of American Music History. Next would be when we saw him at the Grove in Anaheim. We were much closer to him and could be a much better part of the concert. The worst was the show with Paul Simon at the Pond. Our seats were terrible (at the back of the floor) the sound was terrible and it was just a miserable experience compared with the other three.

Last night was very interesting, to say the least. Dylan diverted greatly from his standard set list that he's used on the 12 previous shows on this tour and the songs he chose were new to me and some, new to my dad, who's been a Dylan fan since he was an 18-year old draft-eligible hippie. Dylan hid behind his piano for the entire 14-song set, with a perfectly good acoustic guitar sitting right next to him. Dylan was also very distant. His only interaction with the crowd was saying thank you towards the end of the regular set and introducing the band. He played five or so songs off the newest album, Love and Theft (A fantastic piece of music). But he left out Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, probably the biggest "hit" off the album, for the first time of the tour. With a 40-album (400+ song) catalog, it's hard to hear all of your favorites, but the ones we did get were all "alternate" versions. I understand the need for him to do this after 40 years, but I would have loved to hear an original version of All Along the Watchtower, his closing song. For years when he's been performing this song it's been Dylan-Doing-Hendrix-Doing-Dylan. On this night he took it a step further and was almost doing an out-of-body imitation of himself. Very Strange.

It wasn't terrible by any means, It just wasn't as great as I expected. The band was awesome. His fiddler is INCREDIBLE. The musicianship has never been at a higher level. Most of the songs were well known, and appreciated. I enjoyed hearing classics such as Mr. Tamborine Man, Forever Young and Highway 61 Revisited, even if they weren't in their original forms. If nothing else, it set me up for an even better concert experience on Monday night!

AND, we got a great dinner, too. I've always wanted to go to The Stinking Rose, a garlic restaurant on Restaurant Row in Beverly Hills. It's across the street from where Ed Debevics (RIP) was once housed. We had this appetizer spread for their garlic rolls, which was basically full garlic cloves bathed in olive oil. Then I had a neon ravioli pasta dish, stuffed with cheese, garlic, potato and carmelized onions, topped with a creamy basil sauce. Then for dessert, Garlic Ice Cream.

Vertigo//Countdown//Six Days to Go

Opening Night of the tour is just six days away. Melissa and I will be leaving our children in the care of her sister and our babysitter on Sunday night to drive down to S.D. Monday morning, we will be waiting in line bright and early for our General Admission spot on the floor. First night of the tour. On the Floor. HOLY CRAP! I can't wait. There just aren't words for the anticipation of this first night of the tour. I'm seeing Bob Dylan tommorow night and I'm pretty stoked about that, but I'm almost looking past it.

Here's our Dead-Head like itinerary for the first leg of the tour:

3/28 - San Diego, opening night
3/30 - Back to San Diego
4/1 - Anaheim
4/6 - Staples Center

The one thing I keep thinking about is the fact that they haven't released the stage set up for the tour. We still don't know if they'll be any sort of inner circle on the floor (ala the inside-the-heart area on Elevation). My gut feelings all along have been that the stage will basically be set up in the round with the bullseye theme so that there aren't any bad seats. I just don't know what this will mean on opening night on the floor. It's just odd to me that they haven't come out with any design stuff just six days before the show opens.