Buffy Returns

Just got back from picking Buffy up from my parents. She had a great time out with them, visiting her best bud, Sadie. I thought I'd post these old pics of Buffy when she was still a puppy with Sadie. 

Ryan Adams Does Not Like the House of Blues

You know, after three days of non stop music you'd think I'd be ready for a few days of no shows, but you'd be wrong.  Today, my first day back I had tickets to go see Ryan Adams at the House of Blues.

 

We were waiting in line to see Ryan, to make sure we got close to the stage, I hate standing in the middle of the crowd, and were talking to these two guys behind us.  Now what would the odds be that there is someone else as crazy as me that would drive back from Bonnaroo and go to a concert right away?  Well, pretty good I guess, cause one of these guys had just come back from Bonnaroo.  He still had on his arm bracelet.  They had seen Ryan like three or four times, drivng all the way to Tennessee to see him.

 

Now normally I would not have went to a concert right after coming back from Bonnaroo, but it was Ryan Adams.  After Wilco he was one of my top performers that I had not seen that I wanted to.  (And don't ask about tommorrow night when I go see John Fogerty.  I know, but it's John Fogerty at the House of Blues, how can anyone pass that up?)

 

I've read that Ryan can be tempemental at shows.  And also that he has stage fright pretty bad.  Well it was pretty obvious about the second from the moment he came  out.  He wears his hair long and keeps it in his face.  And he hardly ever looks at the audience.  Even when he steps to the end of the stage for a guitar solo he keeps his head down or turned away from the audience.  As far the second, well read on....

 

He put on a great show.  Doing a lot of stuff from the new cd, but going back and doing older stuff too.  No Whiskeytown, but from what I've heard he refuses to do anything from the group.  He did So Sad(To Be Young), the first cut from his first solo cd, so he went back a ways in the song selection.  He did New York.  He did Magnolia Mountain from his new cd, my favorite song from Cold Roses.

 

The band took a break and Ryan did a song on guitar by himself. Strawberry Wine, he messed up once and muttered an apology than went back, but ended up making up a lot of lyrics as he sang, even smiling as he did it.

 

Than he went over to the piano and did a song.  After the song he started talking about when he was down here in New Orleans to record the Love Is Hell cd.  He mentioned a few times that people talking while he was singing was a pain and he didnt' like it. He finished the song and said he was taking a ten minute break and would be back to do another two hours.  He had already did about two hours.  He said that he was going to go find a concert where he could talk while the group played and walked off stage.

 

He came back and did his first song.  Than he stopped, you could tell he was pissed off.  He started talking about how he hated singing while people where talking on their cell phones, or to other people, etc.  Especailly he said people that got comp tickets.  He said this was always a problem when he played the House of Blues.  He was really getting himself worked up.  Finally he said that he would give the people that really didn't want to be at the concert five minutes to get out, than he'd be back.  And with that he walked off stage.

 

True to his word, he was back in five minutes.  He started trying to explain himself.  He said he just wanted to make his music and not have to put up with all this other stuff.  He said after he finished this tour he would never play a House of Blues again.  Than he did a song, something new I think, I didn't recongnize it.  Than he did a Phil Lesh song, no idea, cause I'm not familar with Phil Lesh's songs.  But it was a long one.  After he finished he went towards the back of the stage, putting his guitar down and it looked like he was going to get another one, but he turned and walked offstage.  His band was not expecting it, they were all standing around waiting to start the next song.  They looked after him and realized that he wasn't coming back so they left after him.

 

I would probably have been upset if he had did this at the start of the concert, but he had already played for over three hours, which is longer than most acts perform.  And I really don't blame him.  It is very annoying to be at a concert and have to listen to someone yell in the cell phone while talking to someone else.  I'm there to listen to the music, not your coversation.  At a R.E.M. concert my brother and I listened to these two guys behind us complain that all the songs R.E.M. were playing was just sell outs to the crowd and they wanted to hear Radio Free Europe, everything after that was basically just a sell out.  Why did they even come I wondered?  And I imagine it has to be hard when you're performing and trying to do a softer song and hear someone yell for some other song, or hear someone talking about something not even related to the music.  I think he would be happier just making cds and not having to go out and promote them or anything.  I'm glad I got a chance to see him now, who knows what he'll do in the future.

 

Two Pics that have absolutely nothing to do with Bonnaroo

These two pics have nothing to do with the last week, but I took them right before I left, just to make sure the camera I had was working. I like them and thought I'd post them before I get into all the music stuff. 

Did Anyone Miss Me?

I've been gone since last Wednesday.  Just got back from Bonnaroo, literally just walked in and what's the first thing I do....get on this computer, am I crazy or what?  I meant to leave a message before I left saying I was going, I even typed it up but forgot to push the button that sends it to the blog.  This is just a quick return message, you'll be getting more posts about Bonnaroo than you'll want to read in the coming days, for now I think I'll go head to bed, it took us ten hours to get back home. 

Buffy at School

This was from about two years ago, when Buffy was going to doggie school. This was her graduation day!  

Happy Man

Just an update on my Dad.  Went to see him Saturday.  He was sitting out on his porch, eating a creamsicle, his oxygen tube running under the door to the tank inside, just as content as could be.  He sounds like his old self, able to talk.  He still won't be doing any hundred yard dashes but he's getting around, slowly but surely. 

When I got there my Mom was mowing the yard. They have a riding mower so she loves mowing it, driving around the yard like a mad woman. She had a towel tied around her head like she was some Japense warrior. I have a strange mother

I think just being home is helping him.  Thanks for all the good wishes from everyone out there, it's meant a lot.

Cleaning

Not much to post this weekend.  I've spent all day today cleaning.  And I'm still at it.  I swear I've swept up enough dog hair to make a small dog.  Buffy should be bald.  Well, back to cleaning.

Meet Archibald

I've got a new pet, shhh don't tell Buffy.  Look on the sidebar and you'll see Archibald the penguin.  Click on him and you can play with him, make him dance and if you're not careful he'll fall off his little chunk of ice and fall into the water.  What can I say? It's been a sloooow day.

He's Home!

My Dad got out of the hospital today!  He's eating and breathing well enough that they let him go home.  He has to use oxygen right now, but they said that should only be for about a month or so.  I got off work and got to the hospital just in time.  When I got there he was dressed and the nurse was just coming back with a wheelchair for him.  I followed them home, so I help him get in the house.  He can't walk very long at the moment, just walking from the car to the porch he had to stop and rest twice.  But when I left him he was sitting on his chair on the porch, as happy as could be.

This Time Next Week

Today being Wednesday, this time next week I will be somewhere on the road to Manchaster Tennessee.  What is in Manchaster Tennessee I hear you all ask?  Why that's where the Bonnaroo Music Festival.  A friend, Nick, and I are traveling up there and spending three days camping and listening to some great music.  Who will be there you ask?  Well just let me check my listing right here and I'll tell you some names. 

• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Joss Stone (one of my favorite performers, saw her at the House of Blues and she is awesome)
• The Gourds
• Alison Krauss
• Allman Brothers
• John Prine
• Drive by Truckers
• Ray Lamontagne
• Kings of Leon
• Black Crowes
• Iron & Wine
• Rilo Kiley
• Widespread Panic
• Old 97s
• Heartless Bastards
• My Morning Jacket
• Modest Mouse
• Earl Scruggs

 

Ok, that's just some of the many acts that will be there.  There's so many there that I want to see, there isn't going to be enough time in the day.  And there's some that of course are performing at the same time.  But life should be so difficult that the biggest concern is who to see.

Good News!

Ok, I hope I'm not jinxing this by saying it before the fact, but it looks like my Dad will get to come home tommorrow.  They took the tube out the day before yesterday and let him start eating somewhat real food.  The last time he had trouble digesting it and had to start over.  This time it seemed to work, his stomach was digesting it.  Tonight they gave him a whole baked potatoe and some salad to eat.  Tommorrow his breathing doctor has to see him, but the one doctor today said his breathing was allright.  He might have to take oxygen home with him for awhile, but all that has nothing to do with his surgery (except for it effecting his breathing) but with his former pack a day habit.  So everyone cross your fingers and let's hope he comes home tommorrow.

Hieronymus Bosch

No, not the painter.  If anyone reads my currently reccomends list on the sidebar you'll see a lot of books by Micahel Connelly there.  They are detective stories, police procedules, about a L.A. detective named Hieronymus Bosch.  I read one of this novels a few years back and didnt'care for it that much.  About a month ago I was at my parents and picked up one of his novels that my Dad had read.  I was hooked this time.  I don't know what it is, sometimes I won't take to a book and than later when I try it I love it.  This happened the first time I tried to read Gore Vidal's Lincoln.  I couldn't get past the first chapter   A year or so later I picked it up to try again.  I loved it, it's one of my favorite books now.  I ended up going out and reading all of Vidal's American History novels.  It also got me interested in Henry Adams and John Hay, going out and buying some non fiction books about them, one of them the Five of Hearts a great book itself.  Ok, this is getting off the topic, but after I read the book of my Dads, City of Bones, I was hooked.  I love when I find a new series that I haven't read that I like.  The last time it happened with a character that has been published for years was from a book I picked up from my Dad again, Faye Kellerman's novel of Peter Decker.  So now I've been reading all the Harry Bosch's novels.  I've only got two more left to read I think.  No, make that three, he just published a new one recently.  It's great when I have a whole series to read, it's like discovering a new friend, finding out their likes and dislikes, everything about them.  I'm reading the first one now, The Black Echo.  It's kind of weird reading them out of order, I already now what happens to a lot of the characters in the first novel, their future history.  If anyone enjoys mysteries or detective novels, I suggest you pick one of Michael Connelly's novels up, they are some of the best.

The Longest Yard

Just got back from seeing the remake of The Longest Yard.  The original is good and the remake was pretty good too.  I enjoyed it.  It followed the original pretty close, mtving it up some, but they didn't get crazy and make it a stupid remake.  It was funny and when you thought it was just a comedy they go and do something pretty drastic in it that you don't see coming.  I recommend it.

I want a Laptop...eh, what do they call them now, a Notebook!

Yes, I do.  I really don't need one.  My excuse is that maybe I'll write more if I have one.  I can use it in the living room or any room of the house.  I can go to the local cafe and sit out in the open and write.  (Yeah, yeah, I know I can do all this and a lot cheaper with a pen and a notebook.)   But lately the bug has been there and I really want one.  Today as a break from the hospital I went brousing laptops, eh I mean notebooks.  When did they go from being called laptops to notebooks?  I figure that I want one in the thousand dollar range or cheaper.  I want one with a big memory for the harddrive and fast.  I found one at CompUSA that had an 80 gb memory and was 3.2 ghz processor.  I think it was last years model, cause it was on managers special.  For the same price, the same company offered one with a 2.0 ghz processor.  So what I want anyone reading this to tell me is what should I look for in a notebook.  Any suggestions on some good ones, remembering the price limit.  Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Austin City Limits Festival

Larry (Larry is a friend from work and you might remember him from some of my Jazzfest writings, he's also into a lot of the same music I am) and I are talking about going to the Austin City Limits Festival in Sept.  It's towards the end of Sept.  It lasts for three days and has some great musical guests.  Wilco will be there (this will be the third time this year I've seen them), Lucinda Williams (one of my favorites that I haven't seen in concert yet), Dave Alvin and a lot more that I can't remember right now.  This will be the third fest I'll have gone to this year, with Jazzfest and Bonnaroo before it.  If I win the lottery I know how I can spend my money, just travel from music fest to music fest.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Today's been a long day.  Thursday my Dad had his tube taken out of his stomach, this is the tube that is basically taking his waste products out of his body.  He was started on solid food, solid being soup and jello, but it was a step forward.  He was also taken out of bed and was able to walk some.  On the wall of his hospital room is a chalkboard where the nurses write down information, one the things they always write is what the goal is for my Dad for the day.  At first it was things like Breathing, Sit up.  After thursday the goal they wrote was Home.  Yesterday though was a set back.  Seems his stomach isn't digesting the food.  They had to put the tube back in him.  He didnt' sleep much last night.  I don't know if it's the pain medicine or what, but at night he hallucinates.  He said he was talking to his sister last night, she was sitting in the chair by his bed.  She's in New Jersey.  The nurse ended up sitting up with him most of the night.  Today he kept drifting in and out.  He'd be talking and than just fall asleep.  He couldn't talk well, the tube goes down his throat.  It was obvious he was in a lot of discomfort and pain.  So not a good day.

I have a weird dog

Ok, I have to admit, Buffy is a little strange.  Whenever I go to take a shower, she goes bannas.  Buffy will follow me into the bathroom, she has a habit of following me whenever I move from one room to the other.  I'll start the shower and than she'll run into the living room and grab one of her toys.  The shower means it's time to play.  I have to go out in the living room and chase her around for a few minutes before I can take a shower.  Like I said, a very weird dog.

Venting

As I start to write this I don't have a title for this post.  I'm not even sure what I'm going to write about.  This week has been hectic.  Work has been very busy.  Customers are worse than normal.  Most customers are nice and come in without looking for a fight  But than there are some that come in with a chip on their shoulders and figure that since we have to wait on them that they can treat us like dirt.  I hate the customer that walks in and the first worlds out of her mouth (like today) is "I'm in a hurry, can we rush this up?"  If you're in such a rush, don't stop to shop.  Do what you've got to do.  We don't sell anything that you need to live, so you don't need to be here shopping if you are in that big a rush.

 

I'm tired.  More than just physically.  I think with my Dad coming out from the sugergy, everything looks good so far.  (He started walking today and they took him off the feeding tube and he actually is eating solid food.)  But it's like an emotional roller coaster.  I think my car is just going down the loop, I feel drained. 

 

I want to do something, but don't know what.  I want to start writing, but it seems like I never can find the time.  I know it's not a matter of finding the time, it's a matter of making the time.  When I used to write I always found the time.  I felt guilty if I didn't write something everyday.  Now I think about what I want to write, but that's about as far as it goes.   I just can't find the energy to sit down and put words to paper. 

 

I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen in my life, but I dont' know what it is. 

 

Ok, I just found the title for this post.  Sorry to come across as down in this post.  I'm ususally a fairly happy person that takes life as it comes, but every now and than I guess I just need to vent a little.  Dont' worry, I'll be back to normal soon. 

Quote of the Day

"As God is my witness I thought chickens could fly."

                                                     - Les Nesman

Season Endings

Well 24 and Lost have ended for the seasons.  This seems to be my week of disapointment though.  24 was good, but it wasn't the ending expected.  Meaning it wasn't the unexpected.  24 always throws a curve at the almot last minute.   The last episode this season was basically just a set up for next season.   It was kind of a let down, they ended up shooting the missle down and the head bad guy was actually the head bad guy and he ends up jumping off a building and killing himself to escape capture.  I kept waiting for Jack to discover there was someone pulling Mauone's strings.

 

Lost was a different problem.  As in individual episode (actually two since it was two hours) it was great.  It added more secrets and weird things going on in the show.  But the creators had said that they were going to answer some questions in the finale.  Now I know they can't answer all the questions, than the show would be over, or at least not as suspensful.  But I really didn't see any answers in the two parter.  Just more questions.  Like I said, it was a great two episodes...Walt getting kidnapped, blowing the hatch open and that final shot as the camera just pans down the tunnel and the ladder until it fades out.....Reall good, just not any answers.