5 Random Things

In lieu of sleep, I present 5 random things that have nothing to do with the 11 week recap I previously mentioned...

1. Do you ever wonder how things would be now if you hadn't broken up with your ex? Every now and then I wonder. It's only just a thought, not a "OMG what did I do?!?!" type of thing... granted, it's been years, but it's curious to think what paths I would've taken had we lasted longer than we did (which was only a few months).

2. Why have I still not seen "E.T." or any of the Indiana Jones movies yet? This would be an easy goal to remedy. I'll make this #12 on my "365" list.

3. I think one weekend I should just drive out to the Grand Canyon. Just because. Never seen it. Think it'd be fun to do so. And it is right there... kinda.

4. I'm really glad that there are some selections of sushi that I can actually enjoy now, since my friends like it. Mmm, crunchy roll! Maybe that's what I feel like for lunch tomorrow...

5. Aaaaaaand per Kristina's request, here's a link to the music video to "One Day", that I previously blogged about.

11 Weeks Later

I think I'm going to be doing a little "Lost" like story-telling with this here blog, as over the next few entries I think I wanna go over some of the happenings over the last 11 weeks... since it's been 11 weeks since my last blog. Quite a long time. I'm a bad busy little blogger, but there has been some awesome things since I last updated that I feel should be discussed/ranted/raved, etc... and much like "Lost", I'll probably be jumping back and forth in the timeline.

WEDNESDAY - NOVEMBER 4, 2009

I see a lot of concerts, but this night was definitely one of my favorites. I went down to the House of Blues to see Boyz II Men! Kinda old school, right? I was only 7 years old when they first came on the scene with that fun song "Motown Philly", so I mean it's not like I was their target demographic in those days. By the time "I'll Make Love to You" was released when I was 10, I was old enough to enjoy the music of it, and yet feel slightly uncomfortable hearing it on the radio with my parents in the car. But songs like "Water Runs Dry", "On Bended Knee", "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday", those were the ones where I knew all the words.

When I heard they were still touring last year, I was pretty surprised, considering they aren't really popular anymore. And they're old - I mean, imagine if NSync were out on tour in 2017. Strange idea, right? But some friends and I were excited to go see them, since they were part of our childhood.

I was initially supposed to go with Kasey, Tiff, and Sarah... and all three couldn't go for different reasons. So I debated not going, until I found out Colleen was going and she could rally three of her friends to go... so I went down with them, and they were all big fans too, so it was awesome. They sang all their hits, and we were singing along, watching them do all the Motown-style dance moves.

At one point during the show, I wondered if they would sing "One Sweet Day", which was their hit collaboration with Mariah Carey. Considering it was really her song and she wasn't there, I quickly brought myself back down to earth. But when the show was finally over and the house lights came on, the house started playing the song over the sound system. And as the audience started to slowly filter out, you could hear people singing along to the very first lyric - "Sorry I never told you..." And then more people started singing it, until soon it felt like everyone was singing along. Our group kept was about to head up the stairs to exit the concert hall, but then we turned back and saw that people were back on the dance floor, slow dancing! So we went back and joined them... definitely a fantastic experience.

"One Day"

Earlier this week, I got an email from the college pastor at my church Flood, as he was looking for volunteers to be part of a music video that they would be filming for an upcoming service. I was intrigued by the idea of being part of it, but didn't think I could fit it in my schedule.

On the day of filming, I saw a message from him seeking a few more volunteers. This time I responded and said that I could make it out. He replied to meet the crew down in Mission Beach, over at Canes, and that I would be playing the role of a boyfriend who is having a fight with his girl. And with just that little bit of info, I made my way down to the beach.

I like being in these quick little video shoots. I did a few with my old roommate Ben, some of which can be found online, but it's been awhile since I've "acted"... today's shoot didn't really require much acting, but it was fun to be out there and part of the process.

The video is set to the song "One Day" by Matisyahu. The concept behind it is that the camera follows this figure from behind, walking down the boardwalk. Filmed in one continuous shot, we come across four "scenes", if you will. Each scene represents an emotion discussed in the song, and I'm in the first one: anger. In our 26 second part of the video, my fake girlfriend is angry and yelling at me, and I'm angry in return, until the figure comes up to us and we realize our fighting is trivial and peace is restored to the relationship. The figure walking down the boardwalk is (if you haven't kinda figured it out) Jesus, and he comes across a few other people representing moments of loneliness and despair.

The above description probably doesn't do the video justice, but I think it will be rad when it plays out on screen. The neat part is that while the video is playing on the speakers, there will be a dance performed on the stage that pairs up with the music and the scenes. If you've ever seen a video/dance at Flood in the past, you'll know how creative and cool these moments can be.

It was funny while we were filming too, because I was paired up with a girl I hadn't met before, who also got recruited at the last minute. As this was a music video and we're not the singers, it didn't matter what we were fighting about, as long as our body language represented anger. While the finished product will be one long flowing shot without cuts, we did need to do a few takes for it to all work out right. So she was yelling at me for funny things, and I was trying not to bust up laughing. A few tidbits:

"I called you 1 and a half minutes ago, and you're just now showing up two minutes later?! How dare you!"

"Why would you not decorate using concentric circles? I hate squares!"

"I told you not to wear blue!"

"You made me lactose intolerant!"

Anyways... the dance and video will be performed/aired at Flood on Sunday the 27th. And I wouldn't be surprised if the video of both are uploaded somewhere, as Flood does have previous videos/dances available for viewing on their Vimeo page. I will post a link when it's available.

Sayonara!

Simple Saturdays

Song of the moment: "Heartbeats", by Jose Gonzalez... very soothing and mellow.

The last two Saturdays have been relatively peaceful, which has been good... Various thoughts have been weighing heavily on my mind during the last two weeks and while I'm able to enjoy some nights out (dinners with some friends or concerts) as good distractions, I think I've needed the one day to keep mostly to myself and rest. Like taking afternoon naps in the quiet of my parent's house. Not that my apartment is bustling on the weekend, but I just need to get away and be still somewhere else. I could've gone to the racetrack tonight with some of the guys and enjoyed yet another concert (a free one, too) but I'm glad I took the quieter route today.

Quick highpoints of the week though: two straight nights of awesome rocking concerts at Viejas Arena (which will be discussed in length in another blog entry) and my first time having Korean BBQ. I went with some coworkers and it was a fun experience. They give you the raw meat and there's a little grill in the center of your table! We also enjoyed some soju and Sapporo, haha... Here's a snapshot of the meal's remnants...

Anyways - tomorrow morning is the StayClassy.org Fire Run. It's a 4 mile run/walk from La Jolla to PB, and I'm running it. Or some mix of jogging and walking. I'm taking the Barney Stinson approach to training though.

Step 1: Start running... and there is no step 2. ;)

Glee / Fray Tuesday

Currently listening to: "Look After You", by The Fray

Lyrical highlight:

There now, steady love, so few come and don't go

Will you, won't you be the one I'll always know?

When I'm losing my control, the cities spin around

You're the only who knows, you slow it down

Thoughts: This was their first encore song on Tuesday, and it was the song that me and Colleen's friend Ashley were most dying to hear all night. It's definitely a sappy love song, and I remember loving that particular verse when I first heard it. Hmmm, this song might have to go in my 3hree 6ixty 5ive book...

So, the story of Tuesday actually starts out on the previous Friday night. I was reading at a Borders bookstore when I got a text message from my good friend Jess. She had won a pair of passes to watch a musical performance taping of our new favorite fall TV show, "Glee", and that it was taking place Tuesday morning in Glendale.

Considering this was "Glee" and that this was another opportunity to perhaps, just maybe, meet (and woo) the amazingly talented and beautiful Lea Michele, I was so stoked that Jess asked me to join her. I got the approval to take the day off, and we started making our plans.

We needed to be in Glendale by 8am, and since that was a two hour drive, we left San Diego at 5am to allow for traffic. We were a little tired, but made it up safely, only to be informed that because they had a long shoot on the previous day, they pushed Tuesday's start time to 10am. So the large group of us waited around, got some Starbucks and relaxed. Jess and I made a new friend, Michelle, who also happens to be a huge Spring Awakening fan! She even posts on The Guilty Ones, and hoped to meet Lea and Jenna.

Once 10am hit, we were finally let inside the nice theatre and led up to the balcony. We managed to snag front row up there, so we could peer downstairs into all the commotion. The cast and crew were down there getting ready to rehearse. Having worked on a TV set a good deal before, I knew that it was kinda like watching paint dry, waiting for the crew to set up everything before starting to shoot. But it was all worth it to see them. Lea sang a solo, "Don't Rain on My Parade", and then the Glee club joined her on stage to sing a song that I really don't know...

Jess and I left at 2pm, but we later heard that they kept shooting until past 9pm. We could've stayed until then, but Jess needed to work on a paper and I had The Fray concert to attend. I met up with Colleen and her group and we caravaned down to Cricket Wireless.

I really wish I had my camera so I could've taken a picture of the lights/staging for The Fray, it was one of my favorite that I've ever seen. There was a nice backdrop of lights that could display screensaver-ish backgrounds that fit the mood of the song, but above that was a film-strip looking bar made up of four black and white screens, that focused on each member of the band. The band sounded great, played their hits, and we all left feeling quite jovial.

Once I finally got home after midnight, I passed out. It was a long day, but a good one.

Catching Up

Currently listening to: "Wild Wild Horses", from Atmosphere's new CD: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh*t Gold. I'm not a big rap guy, but I wanted to check this one out after hearing his name for the past few years... I dig.

I haven't kept up well with writing on here this month... between work and going out to various things (mostly concerts) and there being no more real coffeehouse outings, there just hasn't been a good time to sit and write my thoughts out.

But guess where I am... a coffeehouse! On a chill Wednesday evening. Initially I was supposed to hit up Flood's bonfire with Mindy, but I wanted some time to myself. Us introverts need that time to relax. So here I sit at The Living Room, and perhaps heading for a drink later with Weez.

July is about over, and it's been a good one.

The final tally of concerts/shows:

• Incubus
• Dirty Sweet / Get Back Loretta
• 311 / Ziggy Marley
• Ray LaMontagne
• Coldplay
• StayClassy Tailgate (w/ Cage the Elephant)
• William Fitzsimmons
• Demetri Martin
• The Fray / Jack's Mannequin
• Bedouin Soundclash

And now to plan ahead for more concerts this year... seeing The Fray live last night solidified my love of going to all these concerts. It can be tiring, for sure. But it is so exhilarating to see a band/artist that you love perform songs that you love with music/lyrics that resonate with you. To be in that audience, to bask in all the lights and the staging and all the cellphones swaying in the air with certain songs... for me it's a rush. And I'm glad to be getting my highs from all of that than from other sources. And I'll be sure to keep enjoying them while I still can.

Halftime

Current status: Sitting at the dining table, having just finished the dishes, while that infectious song of Beyonce's plays on my laptop. Darn you, Beyonce, and your catchy tune ("Halo") that make me sing along. (Although, I kinda feel that I like this song more since it's going to be featured on "Glee" this fall... can't wait!)

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and I'm in total relaxation mode right now. I'm currently in the middle of Summer Concert Fun, the 2009 Edition. Here's a quick recap of the first two concerts of the weekend...

Thursday night

Chris, Jordan, Johannah and I were supposed to go another of those free Hornblower concert cruise events (courtesy of KPRI) to see Andrew Bird (an amazing artist that blew Chris and I saw perform earlier this year). Then a short series of unfortunate events happened that led to none of us going on the boat, and I ended up taking a coworker's offer for cheap tickets to see Incubus, who I've never seen but always wanted... so I took my friend Ria and met up with Ann (coworker) and her friends down at Cricket Wireless Ampitheatre in Chula Vista. My cousin also happened to be there with her boyfriend, so we chatted with them for a bit. Incubus put on a good show - not much in terms of stage intricacies, but they sounded fantastic and opened with some of my favorite songs. Two personal highlights: the audience all singing along to their uber-hit, "Drive", and then once Incubus left the stage and the PA system started playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", the audience started singing along as we all left the ampitheatre. Good times.

Friday night

After visiting my parents and then my cousins for the evening, I journeyed out to rock the Casbah and see Dirty Sweet. I went by myself to this one, and almost didn't go because I'd be flying solo and I was already tired and this was going to be a late show (as it always goes at the Casbah). But I'm so glad I came out! I was initially disappointed that Get Back Loretta (another local SD band) was opening, because I've seen them before and have never been impressed. But they completely won me over tonight with their energy and melodies. They've really polished up their live show and looked like they were having fun. During their set, there was this trio of cute blondes right in front of me, drinking their Pabst Blue Ribbon and posing for plenty of pictures. I laughed to myself thinking, "I'm sure Andy would've made some new friends tonight." LOL.

I almost left after GBL's set, because it was already 11 and my feet hurt and I just wanted to go to bed. Just can't hack it like I used to! But I was resolved to see the band that I came out for, even though I really didn't know a single lick of their music. I thought I'd seen them before (way back in 2004), but it must not have been the same band because the frontman I remember seeing was a pretty-boy blonde. When this band came out, I thought "hmmm, definitely not the same guy." Long brown hair, tattoos, and kinda grunge-y. But once they started rocking out, I was like everyone else in the small crowded room - banging my head with the music and having a good time. I almost had beer spilled on me, as the guy next to me was dancing along with a 3/4 full pint glass in his hand that was held up too high for my liking, but thankfully I was spared. Another drunk guy bumped into me a few times - I didn't drink anything there and was getting annoyed but kept my cool the whole time - and towards the end, when he bumped into me again, he put his arm around me and slurred something about how he was sorry for everything but that I was such a good sport. He said quite a bit more than that, but it was really loud and dark, so I just tried to smile and nod along and say "yeah it's all good, man." I did catch that he claimed to have been on the road with the band before and has known them for four years, and he was excited for them and thought that they're on the verge of blowing up. I hope they do - and now I'm glad to be able to say that I saw them "way back when." The concert finally finished up at 1am. Tired as I was, they were just so great that I didn't want to miss a single moment of it - and I think that's the mark of a truly great concert.