Saturday, August 1st I had the privilege of attending the Paul McCartney concert. I went with my boyfriend, Dan, and the rest of his family. It was an amazing experience, and I am glad I got to share with Dan. He's a big fan of Paul McCartney, and when the venue was announced there was no way he was going to miss it. I remember him texting or messaging me about it, with a "squeeeeeeeee" tacked onto the end. *smile* I myself am not much of a Paul McCartney fan. Or maybe I should say was not much of a fan. I didn't know much of Paul's solo stuff, heck I don't even know a whole lot of the Beatles music, although I do enjoy it overall. I am open to almost all kinds of music though, and I enjoy concerts as well. So it was nice that I was automatically included in these plans. *smile* It felt good that he wanted me to come along.
Our understanding was that the concert started at 7pm. So we picked up his sister at about 5 and headed out. We gave ourselves extra time because undoubtedly traffic was going to be more congested than normal. That's an understatement. We were barely moving while on the beltway. It was horrible. The mood in the car was also going downhill awfully fast. Around 6:30 I checked the tickets and they said the concert started at 7:30, so we had an extra half hour - awesome! Only that didn't matter because traffic still wasn't moving. We ended up playing tag with his parents, as we'd pass them and then eventually they'd pass us back. Our chosen music ran out and we ended up sitting in silence. The traffic had stopped completely and we weren't moving. The mood in the car was kind of sour at this point. I was so upset I was almost to tears because I knew how much Dan had been looking forward to this and now it seemed we were going to miss it.
Becky fired up the GPS on her blackberry and found us an alternate route. Just getting the car moving improved everyone's mood. We made an illegal turn (following a bunch of other cars doing the same thing) and made it to the stadium parking lot. Yay! Of course we had to go get in line for a park, so we were really just sitting around some more. Becky hopped out and headed up to the stadium while Dan and I waited to be directed to a parking spot. After driving around to the other side of the stadium, we finally got to park. I texted Dan the lot number where we were, that way we could look it up if we forgot. Then we walked to the stadium. We were frisked on the way in, but it wasn't really a big deal.
Once inside we found Becky and then hopped in line for some food. It was about this time that we found out the concert didn't start until 9, and we hadn't actually missed anything (when we arrived inside we had thought it might have been an intermission). This lifted our spirits tremendously. *grin* So we grabbed some chicken tenders and bottled water and headed up to our seats. Once we moved some people who had sat there mistakenly we sat down and were ready to enjoy the show. Our timing couldn't have been any better, as it started right after we got settled. Dan's parents hadn't arrived yet due to the traffic, but they showed up not long after the first song, and therefore didn't miss much of the show at all.
The concert itself was awesome! For being as old as he is, Paul McCartney still knows how to rock. And he enjoyed it too. It was so much fun to see so many people having a good time. The ages in the audience were the full range. His music can be enjoyed by all ages. I didn't know all the songs, but I sung the ones I did know, and picked up on the chorus for ones I didn't. I grooved along and just had a really good time. I loved seeing Dan so happy, he was grooving right along with me.
Towards the end of the show we had some pyrotechnics. And since we were in an open stadium we got a good show there, with some fireworks. Not the ones that actually explode once in the sky, but more like streamers. It was amazing. And like I said earlier, you could tell that Paul was having such a good time too. After about three encores the concert was finally over and it was time to head home.
But first we had to brave the souvenir stand. I scored a cute little t-shirt, which got comments when I wore it yesterday. Unfortunately Dan wasn't able to get the shirt he wanted, as they didn't have it in his size. We said goodbye to his parents and then headed back out. Finding the car wasn't really that hard, but it was amusing to see how many people were having trouble finding theirs. Of course I think a lot of them were intoxicated, which probably made it even harder. Which we just found amusing.
The trip home seemed to go better than the trip there, but I was actually asleep for most of it. It was late and I was tired. I coudln't keep my eyes open.
I had a great time, so thank you Dan for letting me share such a wonderful experience with you.
I wrote up this really great post about the concert and every that happened, but Vox is a bitch and ate the damn thing when I accidentally clicked on a picture I had inserted.
The concert was good but now I'm not in a mood to write about it again. I had fun. There you go.
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As you can see from the next post I decided to write about the concert again. While it's not exactly what I wrote before, I think it gets the same points across. I decided to just write, and not try to remember everything I had previously written. I'm glad I did.
*smile*
Who is your oldest friend?
I think this really depends on how you define old and how you define friend. Although either way I think Meiran wins. I've known her for almost 15 years now, and we've been best friends the whole time. That's not to say we don't drift back and forth some, but our friendship is here to stay. *smile* And I think she actually is the oldest friend I have. At least not counting more casual friends/acquaintances. There are people I have known longer than I have known Meiran, but overall I don't talk to them much anymore so they don't really count as friends.
Ice Song follows the story of a woman named Sorykah (such a pretty name) and her travails to recover her kidnapped children. She is unique though, because she is a Trader, someone who can switch genders. This presents it's own advantages and disadvantages as she travels in search of the man known as the Collector who has taken her twin babies. Throughout her journey Sorykah and her alter-ego Soryk, meet all manner of people/creatures who have been affected by something simply known as The Change. Mixed in with the overall plot there are twines of friendship, romance, lust, passion, jealousy, faith, and simple survival.
The world created is vivid and the characters bring the book to life. Sometimes I feel it's hard to find a book or a story that feels new to me, and this one stood out. The myraid of characters were things my imagination found new and wondrous. Their stories were all different, and usually touched with sadness. I felt for all of them, only in different ways. Some characters I did not like at all, some I grew to understand more as their story unfolded and my opinions of them changed. Some of the characters themselves grew and tried to be better than what they were before. I find characters who can change, or characters who cause my opinon of them to change to be the most engaging.
Fans of fantasy should definitely check this out. It's not the kind of story I am typically drawn to, but it was a good read, and a very enjoyable story. I was caught up in the life of Soryk/Sorykah, as well as the other characters involved in their epic quest to rescue the babies.
It is definitely a movie off of the beaten track, and it's weird and quirky nature is why I like it. I was intrigued by the idea of it being a musical and an out there sci-fi/horror-eqsue movie. It also stars Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), which was easily enough of a reason for me to give it a try.
Overall I felt that it was a well done movie and it had several plotlines that worked together to forward the major plot and unwind the story. The singing was also well done, and worked into the movie's natural dialogue quite well, although some of it did bother me. There were parts where the dialogue and singing mixed and that was a little offputting. It just didn't flow very well to me.
This is a very weird movie, and not one to just watch on a whim. Or maybe it's exactly that. Dan and I had a hard time trying to find a night to watch this, because we just weren't in the mood for something we knew was going to be weird and kind of wacky. So we simply picked a night and decided that we were watching it and that was that. I think with this kind of movie you either do like Dan and I did or you simply grab it and go for it. It's not a movie to wait around for the "right mood" because I don't think it exists.
If you like quirky offbeat musicals that also have lots of blood and guts, and organs in it, I say go for it!
Who do you tell your secrets to?
I have a bunch of paper journals that I have kept, and between them they hold most of my secrets. Otherwise, I spread them around. Meiran probably knows the most, Dan knows quite a few too, and then my mom knows plenty as well. Overall though, I tend to share stuff with people. There's not a lot that I'll try to actually keep secret. Depends on the nature of the secret though, I guess.
Would you rather have one best friend or ten acquaintances? Why?
One best friend, hands down. I have known my best friend since around August or September of 1994. We've had our rough spots, we've drifted apart and closer at different points in our lives. No matter what though, I know that she's there for me and vice versa. I know that even if we drifted so much that we hadn't talked in years, if I needed her, she'd be there. Acquaintances will never measure up to that.
Now that's not to say that I don't have other friends, great friends who would also be there if I really needed it. I am lucky to have a nice group of friends, who are definitely more than just acquaintances. And my boyfriend has been there for me from the very beginning when he got introduced to most of my family because my grandma was hurt and then my grandpa passed away. He's a best friend to me in a different way, and that's how it's supposed to be.
Life throws curveballs, and makes it hard to keep things going exactly the way you'd like. I don't see Meiran as often as I'd like, I miss the random talks about random things that we used to have. But we're growing up and doing different things and it's not quite as easy to spontaneously hang out like we used to. Darn this whole being adult thing! *laugh* We're still best friends though, and I know that in some way she will always be in my life. She's a large part of me, she helped to become who I am, and I am so thankful to her for that. My life would be very different if I hadn't met her, and I can't imagine life without her.
I think it's time to plan a get together, what do you say Meiran? In all that free time we both have. *grin* We should go out shopping or to a movie or something. Maybe just wander the mall sometime, looking at random things and talking and buying ice cream for lunch or something. What do you say?
I like the first two Resident Evil movies quite a bit. I really like Milla Jovovich as an actress. I really wish I hadn't bothered watching this movie. Such a disappointment. Anyhow, I took some notes as I was watching, and I'll share them with you now.
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I was confused by the beginning of the movie. I couldn't figure out why they were replaying the first movie. Then I thought that it was probably a dream sequence. And there there was a pit of dead Milla Jovovich's and a bunch of zombies. Nice.
Hicks and zombie dogs. Nice.
The zombies eating people is just a little gratuitous in this movie. Bleh.
ANd now Alice has telekinesis. And little Red Queen doesn't look nearly as cool anymore. She's way too sweet looking. The red holograph was a lot better.
And now it's the birds. If you can't tell I'm not overly impressed so far.
Is there an actual plot in here somewhere?
Milla is a superwoman. Wheee! She has awesome mind power abilities. Un-huh. Yeah. Right.
Of course there were zombies in Vegas.....and they're still fighting them....and still fighting them.
*sigh* I didn't think this movie would be this bad.
He has tentacles. WHy the hell does he have tentacles?
And now Milla/Alice is on the hunt for the big bad.
Great - Mutant Zombie is all mind-powerful too.
I'm still wondering, where's the plot?
And Alice #2 saves the day! Or at least saves Alice #1. Although #2 is probably really like #50 or something since there's a bunch of them in a ditch.
Wheee! A whole army of Milla-Alice's! That makes perfect sense for the end of this movie.
I'm glad I netflixed this and didn't buy it based on my liking the first two movies.
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So those were my thoughts as I watched the movie. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it, as I was also playing Eggbreaker on Facebook. I think Eggbreaker was more interesting. I think I'll just pretend this one doesn't exist.
None of the new characters were very well done. Actually none of the characters were very well done. None of them had a purpose, there was no real story in there except that they had to avoid zombies. That was it. And they didn't do it very well.
They could have taken the new abilities that Alice had and explained them better, then used them to better advantage. Some of the stuff there was kind of cool, like her shorting out the circuit in the satellite. Very far fetched, but kind of neat. Only they just threw these abilities out there and didn't really do anything with them. They just wanted to make her look cool I guess. It didn't add to the story, there was no reason why she suddenly had mind powers. The only time they actually worked was when she shielded Carlos from the fire. Otherwise they were pointless. And after she woke up and dropped her bike and all the rocks she had this look on her face like it had happened before. The audience should have been in on that. If it wasn't a surprise to her then it should have been introduced to us that way.
I think there might have been some potential to this movie if they had explored Alice's character better, maybe showed us some of what she did out there on her own, and if they had developed a better villain. This movie was a mashup of zombies, gore, death, and superpowers that just didn't work.
*sigh* I am disappointed. Don't bother with this one, especially if you like the first two. And to leave you with a really bad pun - this movie needs to be extinct.
Go ahead and groan. *laugh*
While interesting, I also found the movie to be confusing. Some of the dialogue is very technical and I had a hard time following the story line that was driven by that dialogue. By the end of the movie I did understand what had happened, and how events had played out.
Primer is a quiet movie, there's not a lot of action or over the top scenes. It's very simple and straightforward, which I found to be a good way to tell the story. I would say this is a more intellectual movie as you really need to pay attention to keep up with the story (something I didn't exactly do while watching).
I believe watching it a second time might be interesting because I know the story. That would allow me to pay more attention to the characters and the details of the science used in the movie. Perhaps I'll add it back to my Netflix sometime in the future and see how a second viewing goes.
The first thing that struck me about the book was the odd writing style. The names of the cats and the places took some getting used to, but once I was able to not concentrate so much on the distinctive writing I was able to get sucked into the story.
The story centers around a cat named Fritti Tailchaser (who is referred to by both names throughout the book, something that was mildly confusing for me at first) and his quest to rescue Hushpad, the fela (female cat) that he likes. While on the journey to find where Hushpad has gone, Tailchaser ends up confronting all manner of fun, crazy, and dangerous adventures with a young kitten sidekick named Quickpounce. I was drawn into the story and enjoyed finding out what would happen to the cats next.
There were several other supporting characters, and all added their own flavor to the tale. The descriptions of the characters were well done, although I sometimes did have a hard time picturing them in my head. Tailchaser seems to be a normal housecat, while some of the other cats are described as being very large comparitively. For those cats I had more trouble because I was unsure of just what kind of cat they might be. Not a big problem though, and it certainly didn't draw me away from the story for long.
Tailchaser's Song was definitely a fun read. I was reading the book while on a train ride, and it definitely helped me to pass the time. It's a fun fantasy romp, and I highly recommend it if you think it sounds like you're kind of thing. I believe I may check out some other books by Tad Williams, just to see how they compare. This one feels like it has a distinct style to it, so I'm curious.
If you do happen to pick it up, share your thoughts!
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cecile said:
i m french melissa is a very good guituarist have she something new? read more
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Cyn said:
I'm not sure I'd wipe out any of my memories. Memories are a large part of what makes a person... read more
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