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Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Post with hope in some bad stories
In college I had a writing class where we needed to write a review of some kind. We were given categories we could choose from. The category I had was restaurant review. So I wrote this paper about the chain restaurant Red Robin. However I wrote not so much a review of the place but rather of the entire dining experience there and how it corrolates with other chain restaurants. It was entitled, "Eating Good in the Constructed Neighborhood."
The point of the paper was this. To often we rely on going to places like this that position themselves as friendly hometown type restaurants. Meanwhile we ignore the truly hometown restaurants that serve you better food, most times at better prices. It's a high price you be for the sense of comfort and sameness.
However, it looks like maybe the recent economy and hopefully some smarter consumerism is starting to swallow these places up.
A few weeks ago Starbucks announced it was shutting down a bunch of underperforming stores and stopping any expansion for the time being. Not being a coffee drinker I have never understood the love affair with a place like Starbucks. The coffee is high priced. The company is so stuck on themselves they make you order in their own language. Why does anyone feel the need to drink the stuff over a cup of joe you can get at a local joint?
Tuesday Bennigan's suddenly closed all their owned & operated stores. I've been to Bennigan's a few times and it's not that their food is awful. I really liked their Monte Cristo sandwich. But let's not fool ourselves. They were high priced and the food wasn't THAT worth it. They prided themselves on their beer but is some big selection of beers worth the price and wait at a place like this? As it turns out Bennigans biggest problem according to Market Watch was exactly what I wrote about:
"These restaurants share many subtle and complex challenges that extend beyond this difficult economic climate," says Ron Paul, president of Technomic. "To some extent, they've become victims of their own success--a mature category with too many units and not enough differentiation, at least in the eyes of consumers."
According to Technomic, the top 20 casual dining chains in the category in which Bennigan's operated had unit growth of 45 percent during the most recent five-year period, well beyond the growth in demand.
Recent Technomic research on the segment also identified factors that have helped some casual-dining operators remain successful, while others have stumbled. Those factors include strong unit economics, excellent execution in food quality and service, and the ability to convey a strong price/value perception with consumers, regardless of the total amount spent.
"In terms of achieving differentiation, it's hard to underestimate the importance of the food element," says Paul. "Consumers are naturally drawn to unique, signature menu items. When the chain can also layer in excitement through new or limited-time offerings, they help create an environment where consumers want to come back. A good experience can generate all-important buzz around the concept."
I think what the report is pointing out is- you either need to have a niche (Red Lobster, Olive Garden) or be able to switch your menu up (Friendly's, Applebees). Bennigans was finally figured out by consumers as having nothing to offer in either category.
I implore you all to start or keep searching out those local places. Give them your money. They are the real neighborhood joints, and in most cases- the food is just plain out better.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Post with me reviewing The Damned Thing
Because I have nothing to really blog about today I'm going to do this mostly for me. Also as I do this over the next couple weeks or months it will kill 12 days for me.
Back in 2005 Showtime debuted a series entitled Masters of Horror which was music to my ears. Mick Garris, who has directed a bunch of genre films, came up with the idea. The concept was- let's get together some great horror writers and have them write scripts that will be directed by some great horror filmmakers that will run an hour long and they will be free of studio control and have very loose censorship (Showtime's only note was no full frontal male nudity).
It aired for two seasons on Showtime before they decided to drop the show. Lionsgate then bought the rights to it and Garris began shopping it around. NBC picked it up for this summer (it is airing now in a third season under the name Fear Itself). However, Mick Garris left the show becasue the network was trying to exert more control over the show then he wanted it to have.
So for a stripped down version horror NBC is where to go, but the original intention of the show is alive on DVD with both Showtime seasons being available. I recently picked up Season 2 on DVD which comes in a skull collector case.
The first episode of Season 2 is entitled, "The Damned Thing." The script is based on a very short story by 19th century poet Ambrose Bierce who was most famous for "An Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge." The story was adapted by Richard Christian Matheson who wrote a seaosn one episode, and a couple horror films. For you fans of 80's television who also wrote episodes of The A-Team and Knight Rider.
The film is directed by Tobe Hooper who is most known for directing genre classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He also directed Poltergeist.
As a violent thunderstorm rages outside, young Kevin Riddle and his family are enjoying dinner when the mom and him excuse themselves to get a birthday cake for the dad. While in the kitchen a strange black goo starts falling onto Kevin's hand. At that moment the dad walks in looking and acting strangely. He says, "The damned thing found me." Then he raises the shotgun he is holding and fires two rounds into the mom. Kevin goes running outside being chased by his dad. Just as his dad finds him he is mutilated by an unseen force that disembowles him.
Twenty-four years later Kevin is the sheriff of the town and living with the emotional scars of what he witnessed as a child. He still lives in his childhood home but has security cameras and spotlights mounted everywhere so he can be on the lookout. His paranoia has driven away his wife and youngest son who now live in a trailer park on the outskirts of town.
People start violently killing themselves (including a grusome scene with a claw hammer) in town which draws parallels to what happened 24 years prior. Kevin knows evil is enveloping the town and people start to get mad at him for not protecting them. Even the local priest looks at Kevin with a certain level of disdain.
Kevin calls his wife to try and get her and his son to leave town but the wife becomes wrapped with evil and starts after the kid which Kevin stops just in time.
Kevin has uncovered his family secret which involves his dad along with other oil drillers in Texas released a monster that had been buried underground for hundreds of years and the curse of that evil is being passed down through the generations.
Towards the end Kevin, his wife, son, and a group of people from town are holed up in his old childhood home when the storm gets ugly outside. People start fighting with each other and Kevin, finally giving in, blows away two people with his shotgun.
Before he can get after his kid though the monster finally appears and it swallows up Kevin who has given his wife the keys to his police jeep. As the wife and son speed out of town they run out of gas and then the monster catches up with them as the story ends.
Hooper directs this to be very violent and the story moves along at a nice little clip. It had to be hard to adapt the short story but Matheson gives it a nice story and it never comes off as filler. Sean Patrick Flannery and Marisa Coughlin are good in their roles. Coughlin especailly is good in the scene where she begins to go mad. Ted Raimi also pops up as the priest of the town and adds a nice touch to the role.
Masters of Horror like any anthology series is prone to ups and downs. Some episodes work better than others be it the directing, script, or the acting. The episode is one of the high points of the series as it's generally creepy (although the monster reveal at the end is a little cheesy) and is downright gory with some really ugly death scenes.
One of my favorites from the whole series.
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Post with my weekend recap
Friday was my last day working 9-6 (for now) so it felt like it took forever to end. Friday night I hit the gym on the way home and then got home and took a shower before heading out.
Actually before that: fashion question. I went out rocking the sandals with jeans look. Not that it matters to me one way or the other but I think that's a hip look. Am I correct? Does it take certain people to make it work?
Anyway- Joel and I headed to Alley Gators for a little bit to listen to some people sing karaoke for a change of pace. Most of them were pretty typically bad karaoke singers. The one girl sang a pretty good rendition of "Eternal Flame" though. I was impressed at the sound quality of the karaoke though. Most times it is set up to sound like you are singing into a soup can underwater. Not the case here. Also the beer was fairly cheap. And I could've ordered pizza had I wanted to- at like 10 pm. I still say we need a group to go down there some night so I can drink cheap and eat pizza. Who's with me?
After that we headed to Red Hills for 90's Beach Party night. You were supposed to wear beach attire but since I haven't been to the beach in roughly 7 years I said nuts to that. So did most people- although I can't speak as to the last time they've been to the beach.
Late in the night some dude get the boot for being in a fight. Then when he went to leave he hit a car in the parking lot. Awesome.
Also the night ended badly for me (and maybe Joel- but you'd have to ask him). I have more questions about women and the official "Douchebag Male Uniform" but that stuff will have to wait until next Monday when the other blog I promised opens up for shop. That's right. August 4th people.
Got ~6 hours of sleep before waking up Saturday. I tried to hit the gym for some work and did what I could but my tank was empty. Saturday then was kind of a lost day. I cleaned my car out some and swam in the pool for a while. Also got sunburnt a little bit. Ate dinner, got some Rita's and then hung out and watched Elite XC before getting into bed.
Sunday morning I woke up and went for my 6 mile walk/jog back to Redner's. I say walk/jog becasue I jog roughly 4-5 miles of it and then walk the rest. Yesterday was closer to 4 miles of jogging. Then I watched the rain storm and hoped it would pass before softball. Thankfully it did.
Softball we won a close one 8-6. I went 0-4 which has mired me in an 0-8 slump. Who the hell goes on an 0-8 slump in fucking slow pitch softball. After I started 0-3 I did what I usually do and turned around to bat left handed. I absolutely scalded a pitch- right at the first baseman. With the muddy first base line it stayed down to so he made the play. I hit a similar ball 2 weeks ago that was laced like that. It bounced once and flew past the first baseman. This week- weather prevented that. I made up for it in the field though making some nice plays including a sweet double play. I was at second and there was a runner on first. The guy ripped one through the middle that hit our pitcher's glove and then his shorts. It kicked behind me a little bit so I reached behind me, gloved it as I was going to second, and then made a perfect off-balance throw to first to completel teh double play. I actually got more on the throw than just about anything else I threw all day.
Sunday night then I came home and relaxed taking in my normal shows and then got up at 6:30 today for my 8:30 start time. Hooray!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Post with me taking some parents to task
This morning while I was making breakfast I was listening to Good Morning America that mom had on in the dining room. They had on one of the silliest stories I've ever seen.
The story was about the summertime being a great time to take your kids to the local playground but how that playground holds some hidden dangers. The story came about because a playground in Texas that was on wood chips spontaneously combusted a few weeks ago hospitalizing some children. (That would've been neat to see had there been no children there).
So the reporter said they went to a playground in Maryland and brought along some fire department there to take temperatures and alert parents to the dangers that the playground presents.
Here is where the story went downhill.
They started taking temperatures of things on the playground. The rubber matting. You know the black rubber matting. GUess what? That's pretty hot. Well into the triple digits.
Then they mesaured the blacktop around the playground. That was even hotter- I for one was shocked.
Lastly they said how that slide looks like fun but parents would be surprised to know how hot it can be. (126)
Let me tell you this. If you're a parent, and conceivably an adult, and don't know that a METAL SLIDE sitting in the BLAZING HOT SUN all day is going to be hot then you should probably have your kid taken away from you. This is not really hard stuff to comprehend. Have you never in your life tried to pick up something metal?
Your kids rely on you to teach them these things, if you're relying on GMA to teach you things than you were failed along the way by someone.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Post with me being bothered by ads
Everytime I log onto MySpace or a similar site I'm greeted by those ads that hang to the side for something like "Match.com"
By far my favorite ads though are the ones that say you can webcam talk with people online at this very time. Then they have video of some hot chick just out of the shower, or in some nightie sitting therir talking and having a fake conversation with you.
My question is: Is anyone fooled by these stupid ads. Is there a guy out there who would see that and be like, "Holy shit! Look at this chick in the towel. I need to sign up and talk with her." We all know the people doing that are for the most part just there to goof on others or they look like the offspring of the monster from Cloverfield and a garden gnome.
If unintentional comedy and bad acting are what they are going for then Mission Accomplished. I just failt o see hwo they are succeeding at their intended purpose.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Post with my Weekend Recap
Friday I hustled out of work so I could go see The Dark Knight. This may sound like hyperbole but- THE MOVIE IS FUCKING AMAZING. In just about every way conceivable.
Christian Bale is great again as Batman. The Bat voice gets a little goofy towards the end but the way he plays the role is superb.
Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are excellent in their roles. As is Aaron Eckhart. Maggie Gyllenhall is fine but it's a thankless role for a woman.
And then there is Heath Ledger, who owns this movie in so many ways. He plays the role perfectly. From the way he licks his lips omniously as he speaks. To the way he talks and carries himself. To the delight he takes in creating anarchy. To the mannerisms and ticks (see The Pencil Trick). He just owns this in every way. I know he burst into the mainstream as a great actor with Brokeback Mountain, but even as far back as 10 Things I Hate About You he showed he has good timing and chops.
I think even if he were alive he would be getting some Oscar buzz because of the way the role is handled. It's a shame he is no longer around to give us more great performances.
Saturday then I headed down to Philadelphia with friends for the Kenny Chesney concert. We arrived in the parking lot about 10:50 which left us plenty of time for tailgate. We set up the canopy and the grill and unloaded all the coolers. Soon after the beer started flowing. After some time I grilled up some burgers and hot dogs for everyone and we ate. Some craziness ensued which included me trying to slide down the front of my Blazer and tearing up the weather stripping temporarily.
Around 3:30 we headed into the concert and that was where we were parked for a very sticky 7 hours.
Gary Allan went first and he is one of my favorites in country music right now. For me he is very much like the country music I grew up on. Full of strong men with even stronger flaws. Full of heartache and regret mixed with traces of hope. "Learning How to Bend" is such a great song that he has out right now. I made the comment that 30 years ago Allan would've been a much bigger star than he is now. Partly that's hs fault becasue he won't change his old style sound. But if he did it would make him less than what he is.
LeAnn Rimes was next and she was very good. She was also quite the looker too. She has a great voice on her and she showcased it often and really did a good job of playing to the crowd.
Sammy Hagar was third and even though I'm not a huge Hagar fan he was fine for the hour he was on stage. There are three songs I can tolerate by him. One was "I Can't Drive 55," which he sang first. "Heavy Metal," from the movie which he sang second to last, and "Mas Tequila," which he sang last. All in all it was a fine set.
Keith Urban was 4th and he owned the stage for an hour and 15 minutes. I recommend to everyone who reads this. If you get a chance to see Keith Urban in concert do it. Even if you're not a fan of country music. The guy transcends genres. He writes really good melodic stuff, that vareis from being rooted in bluegrass, classic country, and the newer country. Then on top of it all the guy can just flat out play guitar. He's as good as any of the great guitarists out there now. The guy puts on a fun show too. I made the comment when he was playing the guitar during one part real non-chalantly but it's true, "The guy already gets to see Nicole Kidman naked, he doesn't need to be that good to earn my respect." Even if you like rap or death metal you would find something enjoyable in a Keith Urban show.
Kenny Chesney came on around 9:30 and played for about an hour and 45 minutes almost non-stop hitting ~23 songs. I don't always like his music. I've said in the past- I want him to sing and write more songs from the point of view of a mature man. A lot of his songs are written from the point of view of a 17 or 18 year old kid just living it up between high school and college or in college. I want to hear more from a guy who has gone through life and lived through some trials. His new song, "Better As A Memory," is a perfect example of that. As the guy sings to the girl that he broke up with explaining how she would be better if she got away from him. That's a mature sentiment.
Outside of that minor quibble though, the guy puts on an energetic show, and it is a lot of fun. He closed up shop around 11:15 and we then treked to the parking lot. After we got home I rolled into bed around 2:30 just completely exhausted.
Sunday morning I woke up at 7:30 which pissed me off royally. I thought a rock had busted my windshield on the way home but it turns out with the dim light it was just some tar that had streaked down the window. That cleaned off easily. I then went to cut grass and water plants for our family friends while they are away. Got home around 12:00.
After I ate lunch we went to a graduation party for a little bit for Strawberry Shortcake (that's a nickname for this girl Stephanie I have..great girl) I couldn't stay long becasue I had a softball game to go too.
Went to softball and we won 8-2 which made us 7-0 on the year. I played left field for the first 4 innings and gunned a guy out at the plate. He was on second with two outs and the guy hit a one hop single to left center. I came in from left and it took a slow enough hop that I could cirlce behind it some and fired a strike to the plate that beat the guy by 7 feet to the plate. Moved to second base for the last couple innings and in the 9th started a picture perfect double play with the back-handed flip towards second. I'm so hoping I can get in this adult baseball league next summer. I'm psyched for it.
Came home and ate dinner. I tried to watch some tv but around 9 pm I just crashed and went to bed.
Yesterday was sluggish all day long and I ended up falling asleep early last night too.
TOday sucked at work big time, and I am more and more frustrated.
All caught up now.
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Post with some Pictures saying 3,000 words
Guess what movie I'm seeing tonight. I'm so fucking stocked right now for this.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Post with me being Wistful
In our lives we go through stages. Periods of time- usually spanning years- that define our experiences. Not only in that particular time frame but also as we move forward and that time frame gradually fades in the rearview.
One of the longer periods is when we're born until we're roughly 15. During that time we are sponges. We soak up every bit of knowledge and wisdom passed down to us by parents, family, teachers, and friends. We're multi-layered but at the heart of it all we are learning what we can from who we can.
Once you enter 15 you enter the next 10 year phase. When you hit 15 a switch flips that tells you, "I Know It All." You still learn but that is at a much lower level than it was the previous phase. You start looking to make your own rules. You intentionally try to piss off your parents. Friendships change. You try things at least once. The mischeivous side takes full control during this time as you challenge authority and rules.
That's only part of the phase though. Around the time you hit 22 you start spending as much time looking ahead as you do looking for trouble. You still have your flashes of looking for trouble but they are fading for the most part. As you get towards the end of that phase you probbaly have found the girl you're settling down with. Maybe you already have settled down, and are awaiting your first kid. Trouble is found sometimes but it is much less frequent than it was.
After that you hit a new 5 year period from 25-30. If you're married or a new parent you are trying to re-learn life skills. You aren't just fending for yourself anymore. Depending on how long you've been married you might be hitting a groove. You start trying to figure out how you can move into the next 30 years of life as you approach the end of the majority of yuor learning experience.
So why am I saying all this? Well I was thinking about this Saturday night at the bar. What can I say I'm a wistful drunk. (Sometimes I'm a happy drunk, sometimes wistful- sometimes both)
I'm firmly entrenched in this phase of life. But since I'm single it takes on a weird effect. You have no counter-balance so you find times where you are close to see-sawing out of control until that little voice inside your head pulls you back. More importantly, you really do start wondering if maybe you missed some chances. You start thinking, "Maybe this is what I'm destined for." I know you're not supposed to think like that, but the longer that thought is allowed to fester the worse it gets. It's almost like a weed. You can pull that thought out but you can't get rid of it until the root is gone. That is the thought I'm living with right now.
Being 27 now and with no real prospects in my personal life you start to panic a little bit. Not greatly but that thought is gaining strength. So as I sat there with a beer in my hand I reflected on this, and came to this conclusion. I need to stop trying to be reactive and start being proactive about this. It's not something you'll see right away. It might take some time. But as I'm hurtling closer to 30 I need to be better planned to move onto the next 30 years. I'm in an ok spot everywhere but romantically. That won't last. It can't last. I don't want to be one of those who spins into 30 without knowing where to turn.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Post with my weekend recap
The recap is a day later than normal because I had to post that story yesterday.
So Friday was my birthday and with it being the second Friday of the month that meant 80's night fell on the day. So we hit up Red Hills and drank some alcohol to celebrate. I actually had people to dance with so I showed some fancy moves, then quit. I had some Jim Beam too so my stomach felt burny. All in all it was a good night, although I didn't get to bed until about 3 am.
Saturday I had to go do some house work for friends of ours who are in Germany til the end of the month so I headed down there a little before lunch time. I got about 45 minutes in and then decided I need to eat lunch because I had not eaten anything yet (breaking my cardinal rule of drinking) and was feelin sick.
Ate lunch and finsihed up everything inside then. As I was finishing up I got a call from my friend Tracy and she sadi a bunch of people were hanging out at my friend Travis and Angie's. So I got home, showered and then went up there to hang out and drink some beer. We got food from Snuzzle's and that was great as always (FWIW- I had a Buffalo Chicken Sub and fried cauliflower). Then we just sat and shot the shit for a while. I laughed as hard as ever at Travis, "Roll Me Over" comment. I thought Chris was going to pass out. Sorry Angie but Travis is funny.
After I left there I stopped off and drank until closing time at the bar- bemoaning things. Came upon some realizations and talked with some people I know in passing. The realization made me more confident in my course of action upcoming.
Sunday morning I woke up at 8:30 and felt ambitious so I went a walk/jog back to Redner's in Bally to get the Reading Eagle. That's a roughly 7 mile round trip. Took about 1 hour 40 minutes, including the time spent buying the paper and cooling off in the AC.
Sunday afternoon I put together the grill at home, and swam in the pool while watching the Phillies win. Relaxed the rest of the night then.
Yesterday was much of nothing and now here I am.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Post with another story off my concert countdown
FOr those that may have missed it I added the rest of the countdown last night to the blog. I planned on doing it Friday but got busy at work with stupid shit and couldn't do it. Saturday I had no time so yesterday was the first chance I had.
I wrote about the Tom Petty concert and my buddy Todd who went along recounted some of his memories as well. So read the posting from yesterday and check out the comments section there as well.
I remembered a story from the drive that I touched on briefly in the comments section but it warrants its own entry to flesh out some details. So here it is:
Back in the summer of '99 Will Smith was in his typical 4th of July weekend movie. This particular year it was that awful Wild Wild West movie. As per usual he released a song as to be the official song of the movie. It was conveniently titled "Wild Wild West." He sang it with Dru Hill I think.
Now Dombrowski (who we always called everything but his last name "Dumbshitski" "DomBrewski"- etc) was a big football player guy. Also IIRC he was one of those people who would wear like hard rock/heavy metal shirts to school once and a while. For the record he was a super nice guy as well. So Will Smith wasn't really down his alley.
Anyway, we are on our way out to Hershey and at certain spots the reception on the radio just was horrible. Also from going to school out that way the number of stations you can get is kinda limited and very across the board. Basically you either get country, heavy metal/hard rock, or top 40. So we were probably about 15 minutes down the road from Pete's house when he starts scanning the stations. One of the first stations he hits is playing "Wild Wild West," and it's right after the first verse.
Now I knew pretty much all the words to the song so I (trying to be mischievous) start singing along. Todd joins in- I don't remember if he knew all the words or just certain ones. Actually I think it's funnier if he was just joining in at parts. The song ends and Dombrowski is like, "Why would you know that song?" Pete hits the stations scan button and the DJ goes, "Here's Will Smith." So we get the song a second time and this time the whole way through. Todd and I are sitting in the back seat just laughing like crazy singing this goofy ass song. Dombrowski is steaming in the front seat becasue he passed his threshold for Will Smith music aout 30 seconds into the previous playing of it. Pete is laughing too becasue he thinks it's hilarious how pissed Dombrowski is getting.
So about an hour later we are driving around Hershey about 10 minutes from the lot when he hits the button again and the song comes on a third time. Dombrowski explodes, "We're not listening to this dumb song again." He then reached down and angrily changed the station. The other three of us just laughed like crazy.
That of course meant that everytime someone would start a song at the concert one of us would be like, "Is this Wild Wild West?" Dombrowski would just shake his head and get pissed everytime.
I may have some minor details wrong but that is pretty much the story as I remember it.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Post with my Favorite Concerts # 9-1
Sorry for the confusion on two avenues from Thursday. I only had time to do 15-10. Also the Feastival concert was Everclear- not Everlast. I was thinking the right person but wrote the wrong one.
On with the countdown:
9. 09/08/07, Sovereign Center- Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, & Ray Price
I grew up listening to country music. The kind that everyone mocks. The heartbreak, the pathos, the fiddles, the steel guitars- all of that was play from my grandmom's record player when I was a youth and staying with her. These three guys were spun many times and there are so many memories for me tucked away in their songs. I finally got to see Willie and Merle in concert (Merle Haggard is my favorite country singer ever) which was surreal. There was Ray Price singing a song that my grandmom used to sing along too. Merle Haggard was singing a song that I remember singing sitting in the backyard of my grandparents place while we were picking mint tea leaves. Willie sang all these songs I remembered and then turned Reading, Pennsylvania into a gospel revival to close out. Three legends doing what so few people do anymore in country music- letting the songs sell themselves.
8. Summer 2001, Tweeter Center- Y100 Feztival: Barenaked Ladies, Weezer, Lifehouse, Our Lady Peace, Vertical Horizon, Good Charlotte, Tenacious D, & Richard Cheese
I'm not huge fans of all the bands (Good Charlotte I could do without, Vertical Horizon was cool for a few months, Lifehouse & Our Lady Peace are fine, I love the rest) but as far as concert festivals go this was almost perfect. You had a young bad (GC) out and rocking and you could see the traits that would eventually lead them to the success they have achieved- and young starlets they rack up. Vertical Horizon, OLP, and Lifehouse did what any band at the beginning of their career should do- rip through the hits and give an energetic show. Richard Cheese was great with his goofy lounge takes on popular songs. Tenacious D had the crowd rolling with their frantic, highly entertaining 30 minute set. Then the two headliners (one an engimatic band from Canada, and the other one of the most critically and commercially successful bands of the 90's) played great sets and played in great contrast to each other. From top to bottom this was a great show.
7. 10/01/05, Hershey Park Stadium- The Rolling Stones
One of the best bands to ever grace the music world and I finally got to see them on one of their many farewell tours. The set design was fantastic with box seats behind them which made for a really cool visual. They ripped through all their hits (opening with Start Me Up, and closing with Satisfaction) In the middle the covered the entirety of their career focusing heavily on their blues influences which was a surprise, but a very welcome one for me. They also mostly avoided the new CD and gave people what they want when they go see a band with the catalog they have- greatest hits.
6. 06/03/00, Tweeter Center- WXTU 16th Anniversary Show- Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Lonestar, Travis Tritt
There were other littler acts there but that was the headlining quartet and how great does that look to a country fan. Lonestar used to be really cool until they decided to go full throttle down the sappy pop country road. Montgomery Gentry was really cool at this time as well as they seemed ready to swipe the Best Duo in country music mantle from Brooks and Dunn. It was an interesting contrast to see the challengers to the throne and then see the Kings. Brooks and Dunn showed why they are the best by commanding the stage for an hour and 45 minutes playing til almost 11:30. This was the first time I had seen them live and it only cemented the fact that they were one of my favorites in the business. However, above all three of those acts was Tritt's set around 2:00 that day. He was added within the last two weeks after a spot opened up and he played a fully acoustic set going through a bunch of his hits and giving them new twists. It was an unexpected, amazing hour long set.
5. 07/11/00, Tweeter Center- Red Hot Chili Peppers w/ Foo Fighters
Two of the biggest bands in alternative music touring together and just rocking the hell out of the stage for over 3 hours. That is my idea of music. The Foo Fighters ripped through all their hits and gave some classic hits new twists. "Big Me" became even more of an introspective song with the adult contemporary take on it, with Grohl accompaning himself with chords played every 4th beat, and the rest of the Foos offering harmony behind him. The highlight of the set was Dave Grohl playing the guitar solo to "Monkey Wrench," while he worked his way through the lower level of fans. Eventually he made his way to the railing leading to the lawn, jumped up on it and played the rest of the solo out there in front of the fans. He then dropped off the ledge and disappeared as drummer Taylor Hawkins made his way off the drum set and to the main mic. About a minute after Taylor got to the mic Grohl popped into view again- behind the drum set- and rifled off a drum solo leading into their cover of, "Have A Cigar." It was a 10 minute stretch of some of the best music you'v ever heard in your life. AS Grohl appeared behind the drums (for those who might not know he was the drummer for Nirvana) the eruption from the crowd was insane.
On top of all that then the Peppers came out and played one of the tightest sets I've ever heard live. Musically they were top notch but Kledis sounded like he was suffering the after effects of a cold as his voice was somewhat off which dropped the concert a little. Also the experience was awful as the friends I went with gradually dropped out and left us with a hodgepodge group and a plan that was poorly put together to party.
4. 10/01/07, Wachovia Center- Van Halen w/ Ky-Mani Marley
One of my absolute favorite bands as a kid back together and playing rock music good and loud. They hit every big song they ever sang. I'd be willing to bet if you liked a song by them you heard it. They even covered some of their lesser known hits like, "Somebody Get Me A Doctor," and "Ice Cream Man." Eddie Van Halen sounded amazing on the guitar. David Lee Roth was what you would've wanted him to be. Even opening act Ky- Mani Marley (who I liked more than most in the crowd) served up a perfectly fine setlist.
3. 09/08/98, First Union Center Garth Brooks w/ Trisha Yearwood
If you liked even one country song in the 90's it's a good bet it was a Garth song. He was the country singer who made it cool for people to like country music when his concert ended up on NBC where he showcased a performance that was usually reserved for just rock singer acts. His spastic gyrations, along with stage productions of numbers won over legions of fans. His rollicking song about a man who escapes into drink to get over a woman became an anthem in every bar across America and was everywhere. People latched on and country music for the first time in ten years was cool. If you've seen clips of his stage shows you know what to expect. However, nothing touches seeing it live. Nothing. He was swinging off rope ladders, sliding down the glass case they had the drummer in and playing to every row in the building. His set was a two hour sing-a-long which was fun to be a part of. From the first notes of "Calling Baton Rouge," through the closing notes of "The Dance" everyone in the audience knew all the words and did everything they could to turn this personally written pieces into 20,000 people choruses. It was just an amaing moment, and I will never forget that concert.
2. 08/16/03, Hershey Park Stadium- Alabama
The biggest selling country band ever, and the biggest selling band ever, were hanging up their touring boots in 2003 and the tour rolled into Hershey on a hot, steamy Saturday night. Knowing their was a chance of rain and thunderstorms my cousin Shane and I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Ephrata and bought rain ponchos so we were protected. Our seats were at the very top of the bleachers but with a great view, and Hershey's per usual great acoustics, you felt like you were there. They hit a ton of their songs and a good portion of their 41 #1 hits. There were songs they missed but for a chance to see a band like them in their final days on the road it was all you could ask for.
What made the concert so much fun was what happened about 40 minutes in. For those that have never been there the Stadium at Hershey has a great view where you can see the sky roll in over the hills behind the stage. Being at the top of the bleachers we could see a massive thunderstorm rolling in. Eventually it got to us and with lightning strikes hitting hard Alabama had to leave the stage and promised to come back and have fun when it blew through. There was an announcement made for everyone to seek shelter under the two sets of bleachers. My cousin and I being as far away as we possibly could be saw probably 12-15,000 people make their way under the bleachers which only have so much room. We discussed our options, weighing the size of the light posts around us. I offered up that concrete (the bleachers there are strictly concrete) isn't really known for being a conductor of electricity and we were 20 feet from the nearest light post which would effectively kill any current that might run through there-as unlikely as that would be. So we, along with a group of 7 people in front of us decided to not fight with the wet, crowded masses and kept our seats. Over the 35 minute delay members of the group dwindled and finally the one young girl came up to get her grandpop to come under the bleachers as grandmom instructed. My cousin, me, and the 3 other guys sitting there did our best to convince him to stay and keep partying with us. After a minute of hassle the old man finally said, "Ah fuck it, you tell grandmom I ain't moving." We erupted in cheers and some of the goofiest high fives ever. Within 10 minutes of that the storm blew through, Alabama took the stage and the entire bleacher section was amped up. When Alabama finally launched into "Mountain Music" there were 25 of us standing on the top seat in the bleahcers dancing and playing air fiddles along with Jeff Cook. Atmosphere, and a great show- it was just an amazing experience.
1. 07/05/99, Hershey Park Stadium- Tom Petty w/ Lucinda Williams
I could go either way on 1 and 2 here. Some days I would rank Alabama #1, other days Petty. This particular day in 1999 was brutally hot. We were in the midst of a heat wave that had temperatures licking 100 degrees. I remember coming home that morning and looking at the paper to see the heat index for the today was 108. Early that afternoon me, Andy Dombrowski, Todd Gaucker, and Pete Albitz loaded into Pete's Chevy bomber with a cooler full of water and headed off for Hershey. We got to the concert venue hours before it started and quickly realized it was way to hot to just stand in the parking lot and hang out drinking water and fruit juices. We ended up taking a few tours through the Hershey Chocolate Factory and scored free candy.
We then headed into the venue and as hot as it felt out in the parking lot, it was that much hotter on the field crowded together with a bunch of people. One saving grace was our seats were the front of a section as I recall so people weren't crawling over us all night. I would venture the temperature on the field was somewhere close to 120. Just sitting there resulted in buckets of sweat.
Lucinda Williams opened up and played an extended set as Petty was taking his time getting ready for the show. She played almost twice as long as a normal opening act would and she absolutely killed it. At the time she was still touring behind the album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (if you stil have not bought that album 10 years later go seek the damn thing out. ) She also played a bunch of songs she wrote for other artists, most notably Mary Chapin Carpenter's hit, "Passionate Kisses." Towards the end of her set the crowd started to grow restless but that didn't diminish the sheer musical nirvana of it all. Towards the end of her set too I came the closest I ever did to smoking pot as I passed a joint to another person.
After an extended break (maybe it felt longer because of the heat) Petty came out and tore the place down. "Breakdown," "American Girl," "Refugee," "The Waiting," "Into the Great Wide Open," you name it the dude sang it. He also sang a few songs from The Traveling Wilburys days. I think there was one major hit he missed IIRC, but it didn't change the fact for me that it was an amazing set. The highlight to me, and many, was contained in the encore. AS Petty finished up his first song a lone spotlight shone on a chest that had been on stage all night long, but barely noticable. Petty approached it cautiously and opened it reaching inside. He then pulled out the Mad Hatter hat which had the crowd erupt into some of the most insane cheering I've ever heard in my life. He placed the hat on his head and then guided the audience through, "Don't Come Around Here No More." It was as perfect a music moment as I witnessed live.
What still strikes me to this day about the concert and atmosphere is this. You know how you watch those movies where a bunch of friends go on a road trip. Many times it's a movie from the 90's or 00's about something that happened in the 70's or 80's. They pile in a car and roll windows down just looking for adventure and a good time. This was that type of moment, just three weeks after we had stepped foot in our high school for the last time. This was my moment out of the 70's era (the car didn't hurt the theme). That more than anything stands out to me and is why the more I think about it the more comfortable I feel about this first place ranking.
So that's it. That's the list to me of the best concerts I've ever had the pleasure of seeing live. I hope as I see more concerts (although financial responsibilty is starting to push me away from constantly going) the list gets expanded. Some might fall off- I'm sure seeing The Boss in a few weeks will so that to Tim McGraw, but forver will these events be burned into my memory.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Post with My Favorite Concerts #15-10
I've decided to go with the first six and then top nine tomorrow. These are the ones that were great- but not quite top ten great.
Now what makes a great concert? To me it's a combination of a few things:
the music component- obviously. This goes for everything on the bill. A bad opening act can affect my feelings towards a concert
the atmosphere- the time spent with friends, the crowd, the time of day. Everything that surrounds you during the experience.
the unpredictibility- did someone unannounced show up? Did they do something different? Did they sing a song they don't normally sing?
15. Summer 95, Mann Music Center- Tim McGraw w/ Little Texas & Blackhawk
This was the only concert I remember that my family attended together. On a Friday night in late June we hit the venue in Philly to see Tim who was on the cusp of super stardom. He was there with Little Texas who was extremely hot at the time, and Blackhawk who was touring behind their second album. A neat little venue that hardly gets used anymore as the bigger Tweeter Center opened soon after and started swiping the big acts. We were in the last row of actual seats and all three acts just rocked the house.
14. 12/18/00, First Union Center- Y100 Feastival- Live, Everclear, Wallflowers
There were two other bands but I'm blanking on them (I think one was Good Charlotte). A great concert with all three headlining acts playing really good sets. The night was sort of ruined for me by the John Lennon love fest all night long, and the kids in the row in front of us smoking pot all night. However, the music was enough to elevate the atmosphere. The highlight for me was Everclear and The Wallflowers ripping through a cover of "Song #2" by Blur.
13. 01/10/08, Wachovia Spectrum- Ozzy Osbourne w/ Rob Zombie
I've always wanted to see Ozzy and man was he good. Zakk Wylde playing guitar was just incredible throughout Ozzy's set. The only downside was the opening video package with Ozzy basically playing the goof he has become because of his TV show. The highlight was Rob Zombie's visual assault on the eyes. It was like a demented pep rally for a little over an hour. Along with lots of pyro and fire.
12. 01/27/06, Wachovia Center- George Strait w/ Tracy Lawrence & Miranda Lambert
This concert would've placed higher had I seen Miranda but all we caught was her last song because of a helacious traffic jam getting into Philly. Tracy was great as he ripped through his catalog of 90's country. The King George came out and covered almost 3 decades of songs singing to all 4 corners of the arena throughout. What upset me some was the fact that you could tell some fans knew who George was not because he is one of the greatest country singers ever, but rather because he is mentioned by Kenny Chesney and whatnot. That was disappointing.
11. 07/27/02, Hershey Park Stadium- Wild West & Neon Circus Show- Brooks & Dunn w/Dwight Yoakam, Gary Allan, Trick Pony, Chris Cagle
Brooks & Dunn used to run a show every summer where they brought in people who did card tricks and rope shows beforehand. Once the show started we got up and coming act Cagle, upstarts Trick Pony. One of my favorites Gary Allan putting on a great set. Dwight Yoakam running through all his greatest hits and then the headliners kicking ass for almost 2 hours. From start to finish the concert was top notch
10. 08/25/06, Tweeter Center- Counting Crows w/ Goo Goo Dolls
Two of the better alternative acts of the 90's touring together and just playing really killer sets back to back. The Goo Goo Dolls are my favorite of the two but Counting Crows blew them out of the water on this night. Nothing stands out as being the highlight of the night but it was solid for 3 hours and that's all I ask for.
TOP 9 coming tomorrow
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
The Post with me just getting something in for today
Nothing really special happening but I figured I'd pop in (late tonight I know) and talk about two different things.
First off, we're coming up on my 27th birthday and I've been thinking about music and concerts I've been to lately. I went through all my tickets to concerts and have made a countdown of my favorite 15 concerts I've been too. It was too hard to cut it to 10. So tomorrow I will drop the first 5 or 10, and then Friday I will hit the remaining ones.
Secondly, becasue I have fun writing about the relationship scene I am going to start a whole new blog dedicated specifically to that. That will give me time in this blog to focus on more me stuff and more pop culture and current events commentary. Not sure how I'll run the new blog exactly but for certain days I will just take posts that you've seen previously on here and move them over there. So there will be some duplicates. Some days I will just look at articles about relationships and try to put a different spin on them. Not sure exactly when that will happen. I'm hoping on Monday but it might take some time to get the blog set up and looking ok. So it might wait until August depending on how ambitious I feel on it. But it will most likely, 95% chance happen.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The Post with me Returning
Well that was a much larger break than I anticipated. A very busy 6 days.
Wednesday I went to leave work and my car wouldn't start. The lights and radio and everything worked but it would just click when I tried to turn it over. So I needed to jump it to get home. On my way home as I was stopping at red lights the car would flicker real bad like it wanted to shut off. Thankfully it didn't. And I basically blew through the few stop lights I encountered on the way home. So my weekend started with needing to buy a new battery and bolts for the vehicle.
That also inhibited my plan to buy a new book or two. I've run out of things to read.
After work on Thursday I went up to the cabin with my parents. The plan for dad and I was to try and get a bunch of work done which was inhibited by the rain over the weekend. First off, on the way up it was pouring. Just ridiculous rain until we got through the Lehigh Tunnel. Watched some TV Thursday night (which is terrible when you have 5 channels and 2 are ABC affiliates, and 2 are CBS affailates).
Friday it was still raining so that meant time to do nothing. We ended up driving out to Wal-Mart to get food for dinner that night. We just missed an accident that had occurred at the light going into Wal-Mart. It had to have been maybe 2 minutes before we got to the intersection. I kind of wanted to see it because it was one of those accidents that involved 3 cars but you aren't sure how the one was involved. Looked like someone blew the red light.
Also I was proud in Wal-Mart becasue the one lady knew where my Polk High T-Shirt was from. Hopefully you know as well.
By about 4 pm it stopped raining so we started the fireplace outside to cook on (There is a metal plate we put on the fire to cook on. It's great). Sliced up some potatoes and threw two steaks on the grill. Friday night it started to drizzle again so we called it a day and went inside. Boy am I glad I do other things on Friday nights because there is nothing to watch. ABC had this horrid show called Dance Machine on which was won by a 62 year old guy who danced to "Push It."
Saturday morning it was overcast but not raining so that meant we could do some work outside finally. We rounded up some of the wood that was already cut and then started chopping through some more stuff. Dad said he wanted to cut down the one tree which was dead and leaning towards the cabin. So he started to and I said, "Yeah that's going the wrong way." Luckily the notch pop cut held it long enough to get a rope around the thing to pull down so it wouldn't fall into the camper. After some time I cut the grass and then finished stacking wood in the port outside. By about 3 pm it started raining again which put a damper on the rest of the day.
That night we went out to Barley Creek Brewing Company for dinner which is at Camelback. Food was good as was the Chocolate Ale I had. Also the hostess girl checked me out when I walked in. It was really noticable too. I attribute that to her having a head injury of some kind. Or else mountain girls are more accepting. If so, I will announce now I'm moving to the Poconos.
Came back and sat under the pavillion for a while drinking beer and entertaining all the guests who stopped by, (The road our place is on is basically a big dirt road cul-de-sac.) Eventually people left and we went inside to avoid getting bit up the mosquitos. I watched Eli Stone Saturday night- now I have to find time to watch that show every week.
Sunday we got up and came home which was good for me since it gave me time to hit the movies and see Wall*E and Hancock. Wall*E is a fantastic movie. Heartwarming, touching, and just visually stunning. It deserves a Best Picture Oscar nomination big time. Hancock was fine. There is a moment about an hour or so in which will determine how you feel about the film. It kind of comes out of left field. I loved the movie up til that point. After that, not as much.
Yesterday I finally got back to the gym after a week away and was happy that I basically put on no weight despite eating badly over the weekend. Now time to get back on track. That's it, I'm all caught up
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The Post with me responding to some comments
After yesterday's post we got some comments. One having to do with the topic, and one not.
Let's start with the not:
Marie first
sooooo......my friend carolyn and i went to see sex and the city Monday night b/c she just got back from India. it was good...i laughed a lot....but overall it was a bit too fairytale, wrapped up in a nice neat package, which wasn't what the show was about. i mean it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what we loved about teh show. when we walked out of the theater the convo went like this
Me: "I think i need a beer to recenter myself from all the girlyness"
Carolyn "we need a beer to get our balls back"
so off to the bar we went. i don't mind chick flicks, i enjoy them, but not when i'm expecting to get a more gritty reality-
so you liked the SATC movie or didn't like it. Sounds really middle of the road too you. I heard it was really long too. The one review said it was like 5 episodes of the show in one. That sounds awful.
However, you avoided my initial question on the popularity of the show. Does it really represent the entirety of the female thought process? If it does, I'd be disappointed. Also I think men should study it if it does. Also why when she cheated on Aiden was he the bad guy?
Todd hit us with a comment on the dude from the bar.
First off, I'd like to say that may be the best graph I've ever laid eyes upon. Anyway, the whole story about this character getting his 'mack' on (yo) at the bar reminds me of a discussion I once had when differentiating the various levels of stupidity. This scale includes the classifications of 'knobs' and also 'tools'. The difference between the two being that the 'tool' has heard the snickering and knows that they are ridiculous, but stubbornly keeps right after their gameplan, a la the cocky bar guys, or most Italian males from NJ. The 'knob' however is what you witnessed. Although the 'knob' shares the ridiculousness of the 'tool', he/she has no idea of it.
Yes my graph was awesome. More of a linear thing than a x,y thing.
You said better what I was going for. However, I'll further explain in case anyone else was confused.
There's a subset of guys who think if they just show up in the bar girls should talk to them. For a portion of these guys it's completely rooted in cockiness. They feel they are above the hunting process and it's there right for women to talk to them. Ones like the guy from Friday are just there doing their thing and in their mind if they work the moves, "a girl will just come to them." It's more rooted in naivete. In fact, it's endearing in some ways. They aren't cognizant of how they look to others, perhaps they don't care.
Whatever works for them
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The Post with my night at the bar
As promised here are the two more things I thought about that would be worthy of my book if I ever write it.
1.) There was this one dude in the bar who was kind of ridiculous. He was wearing a basketball jersey, with the big baggy shorts, oversized sneakers, and the sort of sideways hat (kind of sitting at 10:30 on his head). He stood there by himself for a majority of the night with a drink in hand dancing by himself. It was sort of dance steps mixed with some pop-n-lock moves.
This guy represents the opposite end of the spectrum to me. In fact let's pretend you have a line in front of you of the types of guys you'll meet in a bar, or better yet:
_____________________________________________________
There's your graph. I won't go full scale breaking this down but I'll give you the three extremes of men in a bar.
To the far left you have guys like me: Afraid to go talk to women in the bar. Might be fear of rejection, lack of confidence, inability to talk to women, etc.
To the far right you have people like the dude from Friday night. He's in there "dressed up" looking a certain part. He's doing his moves, showing his game. In his mind he's thinking, "Dude I'm working it. A chick is going to have to come talk to me." Basically he doesn't see a need to go to a girl becasue they should be coming to him. Some of the guys in this group are completely cocky and just pricks. Some are how this guy appeared- genuine in their thinking. There is nothing conceited about him.
In the middle you have guys who will approach women but will also get approached by women. Things could work in any conceivable direction for them. This are the ones that almost assuredly could leave at the end of the night with a woman or a number at the very least.
There are other groups of guys that fall along that line but those are the main three groups. Maybe someday I'll go through and fill in the gaps a little more.
2.) There were these two girls I kept checking out all night. One was cuter than the other but they were both very much worthwhile. They knew I was checking them out because I'm not very good about that anymore, and well it was obvious. Throughout the night they kept ocnstantly looking where me and Joel were. Also they were there looking for at the very least attention. Their body language gave them away. So did the move at the end of the night.
They kept passing where we were (mainly becasue we were between them and the bathroom.) The last time they came out they stopped right in front of us- which wasn't very subtle.
Ladies- assume that guys are like me in a bar. It's not that we are afraid of having a conversation but we aren't sure as to how to start the conversation. Also, I need more than subtlelty. Something like a neon sign reading, "I want to talk to you," would suffice. Believe me I wish I was better than that, and I'm working on it.
At the very least I was sort of flattered.
