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Franta Claus Is Coming to Town
My dearest friend in all of Northern Kentucky has been bitten by the WordPress blog, and I think it would be wise if you scurried over and checked out her musings as they’re beautifully orchestrated and put together.
All my interns are growing up. They now get glocks. This is a big day.
George is on the rise.
Hey, Sports Fans:
My good friend Georges Kahn has always been a fountain of wit and wisdom on many a things, but very specifically sports and the sporting world.
So, it is with much pride and joy that I let you in on his awesome blog SportsTsar.com
Check it out, I know I will. Especially when I need advice on my March Madness bracket.
Happy friggin’ 18th Birthday to the best set-o-twins I know, Miss Emily and Mister Clayton Graham!!!
Hope you guys have an awesome birthday filled with things that are now legal (In moderation.).
Love, love, love!
Now that I’ve got not only your attention, but your mom’s, your uncle’s, your sister’s friend’s brother’s nephew’s, too, it’s about time that I explain this pregnancy of Silena’s that’s caused such a stir.
See, it wasn’t a total fib. Just a little one. And pretty much the first of MANY AMAZING, STELLAR, CREATIVE, MIND-BLOWING publicity stunts that I will be pulling once Silena is famous and makin’ the big bucks. And I’ll even do it for free.
Because, you see, our dear Silena is not pregnant in the knocked up sense, more in the theatrical sense. Dear Silena is co-starring in a production of “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at Moorpark College that opens this February 14th! Where she plays a lady who is in fact pregnant.
Here’s the info: Info!
So check it out! Take your sweetie for Valentine’s Day and help skyrocket the next big starlet of Hollywood to eternal success and fame!
So proud.
PREGNANT!?!
More info as it becomes available, Kids.
Hey, Interns.
I’ve been workin’ hard at not workin’ at all in my lovely week long vacation in good old Los Angeles. It’s been fun and exciting and tiring and excellent.
Fun has been had by all parties and I will soon get around to sharing photos and the like.
The past few days have been filled with friends and family in full holiday frenzy and I’ve definitely been enjoying myself.
I’ve been able to see a few movies that have been on my list and must share little snippets of their goodness with you.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street- This was my dad’s pick for a good, wholesome, family fun flick and being that my family tends to have a general appreciation for both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, it seemed to be a win-win for all parties involved. I thought this film was a lot of fun. Not having known the story of the original play, or any of the music, I was spellbound by Burton’s as always creepy attention to aesthetic details. Depp is phenomenally hilarious and, intriguing and Helena Bonham Carter is a psychotic riot. I was a big fan of this flick, and that’s coming from the girl who would rather do A LOT of things before she watched a musical. However, those who aren’t fans of Burton, Depp or musicals beware. If you’re not already a fan of Burton and his cinematic stylings, beware. This might be one excruciating blood bath for those who aren’t already on board.
Hot Rod- Holy crap. You dogged this one in theaters, didn’t you? Don’t worry, I did, too and so did the rest of America and I’m kicking myself for it. Seriously, Hot Rod is one of the most absurdly funny movies I’ve ever seen. At times reminding me of Napoleon Dynamite with a moped and others of a really fantastic SNL sketch (go figure), this movie had everyone in my family in stitches over the funny. Andy Samberg is hilarious and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with Bill Hader. I can’t even really describe the movie in a way that’s going to make you want to see it, but the selling point is that if you’re a fan of Samberg and his SNL Digital Short antics (and really, how are you not?), you absolutely must check out this movie. As in, right now.
Juno- LOVED IT! It’s brutally honest and smart, but equally hilarious and sweet. Ellen Page plays quick-witted-16-and-prego-by-George-Michael-Bluth, Juno. Quick witted and adorable, Juno is the coolest 16 going on 35 year old you could ever imagine knowing. After a late-night armchair encounter with her best friend Paulie (Michael Cera), she finds out she’s been accidentally sperminated through a series of pregnancy tests sold to her by Rainn Wilson. Young Juno faces all the challenges of her teen pregnancy, adoption versus abortion, telling her folks the news and eating obscene amounts of food from her school cafeteria, with grace and hilarity and more often than not proves to be one of the only adults on the screen. Her quick wit and smarts on everything from classic punk rock to history makes her easy to fall in love with and adore. Jenny Garner and Jason Bateman play the potential adoptive parents (Vanessa and Mark Loring) and the relationship that blossoms between the Lorings and Juno adds a deeper shade to this otherwise sweet and quirky comedy. All parties involved, well done. Juno delivers on all fronts and truly should not be missed.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday-Paulie Shore and Mr. Bean are my two greatest guilty pleasures when it comes to movies. I am very well aware of the arguments that people have against both of these gentlemen, but truly cannot help but enjoy myself immensely whenever they’re on the screen. Katrine and I have a special bond when it comes to Rowan Atkinson playing Mr. Bean, or any stupid comedic character, and promised that we’d watch this summer’s Bean installment together upon our next reunion. Well, we did and it was hilarious and incredibly entertaining (for us). So, if you like Mr. Bean, do check out this film. If not, don’t, you probably wouldn’t get it anyway 
Friends!!
On this 24th day of December when only the brave venture to the malls and the strong survive the parking lots, I wanted to say that I hope you all find yourselves at home, traveling safely to whereve this place may be, and enjoy those you love most of all.
Los Angeles is being very good to me and I am having the absolute time of times with my friends and family. Photos/stories/movie reviews/Largo gushing coming soon.
Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to my Gal Pal Numero Uno and Sista’ from another Mista’ (and Mrs.), Katrine Marie!
Celebrate well, even if you’re at work… And have an extra good time tonight for me. I miss you more than I can even begin to explain and love you even more than that.
See ya soon, Girlie!
Happy, Happy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the beautiful girl with the smile that lights up the room and my heart, Silena!
So, apparently my cousin Sari shares a NYC grocery store with Liv Tyler. And I love Liv Tyler!
To hop, skip, jump over to Reganomics! and wish my brother Clayton good luck as he heads to CIF to race the seven fastest men in California, maybe the world. And he will win.
While my Halloween at work has become unexpectedly very busy, I wanted to stop in and make sure that you’re all having the most excellent of excellent Halloweens!
For some Halloween fun, might I suggest:
- Following the Joker around the country on a crazy scavenger hunt that’s going to end in something really cool and perhaps two faced! Keep an eye on that link, guys! It’s gonna get nuts!
- Catching all the cool Halloweek Happenings over on Bob-Net.
- Coming over tonight for Kashi pizza, movies, Phenomenon and sleep.
Also! I’ve posted my D.C. and Scranton photos on my Flickr page! Captions coming soon! Check ‘em out!
Goodness gracious, Gremlins! Where have I gone?
In case you haven’t heard, I got a job working here. I still work for The Siren, so as you can imagine my work week is getting in the way of time to report back here on all things fun, wonderful and interesting. Though to be fair, there hasn’t been much.
So! Here’s a little FYI on all things blog-worthy
1. We’re going to talk about last week’s Office tonight. I’ve managed to get three hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, but I can’t let that sit there any longer.
2. Happy Birthday yesterday to John!
3. One week from tomorrow I’m leavin’ on a jet plane to attend The Office Convention in Scranton, PA with the lovely Tracy Kay! Pretty much, it’s going to be the most exciting week on the blog, ever. Can’t wait! See ya there!
4. I’ve got a crap ton of photos to get up on Flickr, so when they’re there, I’ll holler and you can check it out.
5. Garrison Starr’s new album. Seriously. Get on that. Discussion coming soon.
Big ups to my Baby Brother Clayton who came in first place at his Cross Country race last night!!! And for being the only undefeated runner in Marmonte right now! What a stud!
Congratulations, Buddy!!!
Last night, my friend Anna (who just became a Registered Dietitian! Yay, Anna!) went to the National Fireworks Association Class “C” Competition at Perfect North in Lawrenceburg, Indiana with her lovely parents. I love, love, love fireworks shows, so I was definitely excited for the evening and it ended up being pretty awesome.
There was some low cloud coverage so the smoke wasn’t rising fast and a lot of the fireworks were going off behind a great big cloud of smoke. So, that was kind of dissapointing, but overall it was pretty cool especially because they were going off directly above our heads. Well, pretty cool until were were completely rained with ash and eventually water. As in, rain. But! It was still pretty awesome and you can check out a few pictures here.
The winner of the competition was a man named Jeremiah Smith who used Barenaked Ladies as a soundtrack to his show, so that was pretty awesome. After the competition was over, the finale was done by Rozzi’s Fireworks. Rozzi was responsible for my second* eye-witness experience with a fireworks accident. Which was really scary, but I couldn’t help but watch from a reasonable distance. No one got hurt and it was all taken care of, but still.
(*My dad is very fond of putting on his own small scale fireworks displays in our backyard or at The Hebrank’s beach house in Channel Islands when we go up there for 4th of July. One night, in the backyard, he set one off that was sent straight up into the palm tree that was right next to our house. Everything was fine, no major harm done, but it was a bit startling.)
Happy Birthday to my mom, the very best and awesome mom there ever was! Celebrate good, Mommers! \lm/
Today, my youngest brother and sister, Clayton and Emily, started their senior year at Calabasas High School. Totally awesome and exciting and I wish you guys the very best luck in your senior year. Study hard, have fun and make the most of it. It’ll be June before you know it, I promise!
Wish ’em luck, Unpaid Interns!
Happy Birthday to one of my all-time favorites, Miss Amanda!!
While my Boone County Fair photos are coming soon (and not even close to being this cool), please check out some that my friend Taylor took. They’re freakin’ awesome and beautiful.
Update: My Boone County Fair photos can be found here.
Sea Babble wants to wish a very warm and wonderful HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our younger brother (brutha’) Iain Nathaniel James Acunis Graham!
Ohio ain’t ready for you yet, Buddy. But hurry anyway!
I want to start out this post by giving out a great big “Thank You” to everyone who made my birthday awesome and excellent. And a special thanks to those who have made going to my little mailbox so excellent and exciting these past few days Today, however, we got something very… special in our mailbox.
It was my birthday present from my good friends Eric and Aaron back in Los Angeles. Knowing Eric, it was likely to be something odd and zany. But knowing Aaron, and knowing he just got back from an architecture program in Italy, I thought it could be something Italian. Like a piece of Pope memorabilia, or even some pizza. But knowing Eric…
I opened the package that was sent from a company called “WHERE ON EARTH?” This had to be good. And it was. I think:
It’s a real Cane toad…
Turned…
Coin purse/key chain.
With the item came a small card that described the item in great detail, but I think that this highlight of Eric’s e-mail says it best:
”I wonder if they described the toad in the package? They imported them from Hawai’i to eat a certain kind of beetle, but it didn’t, and when animals ate them, they’d die. So they were covered with TONS of living beetles and dead dogs. There are a million similar Australian gaffes. This is why I love that country. Now whenever they see one of those toads, they kill them, just like with bunnies. Did you know that the Outback, the inner part of Australia that makes the continent completely uninhabitable beyond the coasts, was once green and lush? A British sporting man, for kicks, set free a hundred or so rabbits for hunting and to see how they’d survive the terrain. Next thing they knew, the bunnies sexed and sexed and sexed and before long all of the green was eaten, the plants dead. Fucking hilarious.”
Well, I do love a unique gift.
The website that it came from is pretty interesting, too. So look for a post of some interesting finds on that pretty soon.
Pretty soon, I’m even going to be convinced that my brother is, in fact, myth, because no man could ever be as funny as he is.
I just received my homemade birthday card from my younger and farkin’ HILARIOUS brother, Iain. I’ll include some photos below the jump so you can read it for yourself. I’m seriously on the verge of tears from laughing so hard.
(Note: If you don’t know Iain Nathaniel James Acunis Graham, this might not seem as funny to you, but wow. Definitely made my day.)
My brother Clayton just called to inform me that I completely forgot to call the greatest dog ever, Mook-a-luke/Mooks/The Bear/T-Rex/Mookie Noxema Jackson Graham, who turned 11 today.
Happy Birthday, Mooks. I’m sure Mom made you something special to eat and probably bought you a cupcake, so enjoy it well, ya ol’ grizzly bear.
This past weekend I moved into my very own apartment! As Carla would say, “Nobody lives there but me!” and so far, so good.
But let’s take a look at some pictures to better illustrate Silena and Chelsea’s great road trip and moving in experience.
Meet you after the jump!
Well, I’ve been more than tied up since our last post. Upon returning from Guatemala I, got a car (The Mother Falcon. Photos coming soon. And photos from Guatemala, GOSH! I suck!), discovered that I have way too much crap and have been attempting to to pack said crap into the Falcon for a noonish departure time today. So far, not so good, but I did want to take the chance to make sure that I gave you all a brief update.
Last night a group of friends went to White Harte in Woodland Hills for some goodbye laughs, Guinness and Memory Lane strolls. I had an absolutely wonderful time with everyone, severely hurt this morning from laughing so hard, and I realize that I must be one of the luckiest girls in the world to have such incredible people in my life that I am lucky to call my friends. A group of us decided that we’re not quite ready to say our goodbyes yet, so lunch today on our way out is the plan. And as long as I get one more chance to cry tears of laughter into my food from watching George eat, I am so, so, so happy.
I am not at all looking forward to saying goodbye to my family. Just thinking about it now is giving me aches in my heart. They’re the most important people in the whole entire world to me and it’s going to be so incredibly hard not being able to see them whenever I’d like. I can’t imagine not talking Office or Grey’s Anatomy with Emily, or hurting from laughter thanks to the tag team of comedy that is Iain and Clayton. I’m going to miss Emily and Clayton’s track meets and beaming with pride when they finish a race, or read a story Emily wrote for the Courier on the day she brings home a copy and mom brings home fifteen to mail to relatives. I’ll really miss having to ask Clayton for my guitar back all the time, but knowing that it’s good when he steals it because he is a far better musician than I will ever be, and Lillian deserves to be played by someone like that every once in a while. I’ll miss Iain just popping in my room just to say “hi” but always having some crazy brilliantly crafted story about one of his friends that will put me in stitches. You will never meet better people than my brothers and sister. My parents raised them to be the kind, funny and intelligent people that I am madly in love with every day of the year. I got to be a big sister three times in my life and have tried my absolute best to be the role model and the friend they’re all more than worthy of having, one can only hope I’ve served them well.
Emily and Clayton are going into Senior year of high school, a fact that totally blows my mind, and the experiences they’re going to have and the amazing things they’re going to conquer makes me so incredibly happy and proud to be their sister. In the Fall, Iain starts at Ohio State and will be only an hour North of me, which will be the best present ever. He’s my bad ass of a baby brother and OSU isn’t going to know what hit it. These are the three most important people in the world to me. No way around it. I can’t possibly say it another way.
And I’ll miss talking music or current events with Dad and meeting up almost every night of the week to watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, knowing that we’re both going to start laughing at all the exact same parts. I’ll miss standing around the kitchen with Mom talking about what we’d heard on NPR or saw on Countdown, or going on errands and just talking with my very best friend. I know that they’re only a phonecall away, but there’s something to be said for being blessed with the most amazing family I could ever even dream of having and not being able to see them every single day, or know that no matter what has got me down, that smiles and all around feel-goodery is living right down the hall.
Now that I am officially water working, let’s get down to the facts:
Miss Silena and I are leaving today after lunch with friends for our journey East that will begin by heading North and spending the night in Davis with the wonderful and lovely Katrine and leaving there early tomorrow morning and hopefully making Salt Lake City. I promise you, as much as one can promise, that I will find ways to update you from the road. Possibly with pictures but most definitely with stories.
And on that note, I need to finish packing my clothes and getting off to breakfast at IHOP with Gabby.
To quote one of my personal heroes, Steve Zissou, “This is an adventure.”
To be continued.
(Have you ever heard the song “Living Without You” by Harry Nilsson? Goodness gracious, it’s beautiful. Please get it. Or let me send it to you.)
a) Let me hear the combo of pouring rain and ground-shaking thunder which is one of the most awesome sounds ever.
b) Make me want to be a stormchaser or watch shows about stormchasers.
c) Give me endless opportunities for me and my brother to quote Twister back and forth each time there’s a huge thunder outside. (”And it never. Hits. The ground. ”)
Tonight, my incredibly hilarious baby brother, Clayton, kicked total butt at his Comedy Sportz match. (Comedy Sportz is competitive improv)
He’s “WASC” Certified.
Clayton and his hopefully-soon-to-be-future-co-communications commisioner, Alex.
Also, Clayton will running in the 800 at tomorrow’s CIF Championship! Totally proud.
I’d like to take this opportunity to give a great big “MAISON BIENVENUE” to my very good friend Georges Kahn who is returning home from a long, tiring and fruitful year in France. From frogs legs to Barcelonian Punks, this guy saw it all, but we’re happy to have him back him in the loving arms of the good ol’ U.S. and A.
So, welcome home, Georges. You were missed, ol’ buddy. Especially by Alex and the rest of the gang at El Cap #2. We’re all anxious to see ya.
I want to take some time out to give congratulations out to some of my all-time favorite people who have graduated college in these past few weeks. I am massively proud of all of you and know that you will go on to accomplish great things.
Amanda graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Music Business, and with law school ahead, she’s going to rip Hollywood a new one.
Chanel graduated from University of Puget Sound and will soon be gracing the halls of Seattle Grace with her Biology/Pre-Med degree.
Scott’s Art History degree from Puget Sound is going to make him the world’s most famous _________. But who cares. He’s moving to frickin’ CHINA!!!
Annnnnd Amanda, (photo unavailable at the moment) who is going to use her USC degree in finance to bail me out of all sorts of fun and fantastic trouble I am bound to get myself into.
I am massively proud of all of you guys and know that you’re going to be happy and succeed in all that you set your brilliant minds to!!!
This is my favorite photo I took this week:
Taken in traffic on the way home from a fantastic night filled with food, furniture and fun at:
IKEA with Silena and our good friend Shelley (right).
Happy weekend, loves!
Speaking of weekend… Kind of… this SUNDAY NIGHT yours truly plans on hitting the hay mighty early in order to wake up super duper early for personal hero STEPHANIE MILLER ON MSNBC MONDAY MORNING!!!!
That’s right! Monday through Wednesday of this week, the lovely, smart, hilarious, and ever fabulous Stephanie Miller will be filling in three days of the recently vacated Don Imus spot!
That being said, this mainly applies to my East Coast pals who might be up at 6-9 in the morning, or will remember to set their TIVOs. I, however, lacking TIVO technology and an apparent need for sleep… will be waking up at 3 and powering through at least a little bit of Momma on the TV Monday morning. Expect a fully groggy bloggy to follow.
Stephanie is part of the Air America line up (check your local listings) and offers the perfect balance of fact, opinion and humor that makes digesting some of the political goings on of our days so much easier.
I’m glad she’s getting this opportunity and hope that it may lead to bigger and better things for her! Rock on, Stephanie. We’re behind you 110%.
(Big thanks to Unpaid Intern John for the initial heads up on this one.)
My goodness! Apologies for my lack of any sort of attention to this blog these past few days, but my home time has been minimal. And I’ve missed you all.
Friday saw the Anthropology Adventure of 2007 (Thus far… more on this as I am given liberty to discuss… but there’s something brewing offshore… down Central America way…), which consisted of myself, Lupe and Erica Jean packing up the Highlander and heading East to Fantastic (no… um…) Wonderful (err… no… Ah!) Dirty Las Vegas, Nevada. I’ve never been a fan of Las Vegas. Kind of a suck hole for all the stuff I think is wrong/immoral/unfun. Though it has its highlights, it’s just not my kind of town (Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead, call me a prude).
ANYWAY, after a “brief” shopping stop at Primm (Old Navy AND Gap Outlets? Dirt cheap yet totally rocking clothes? Chelsea’s in trouble), we were on our way into Vegas. Our hotel was out near Nellis AFB and though it stunk having to drive into the strip, it was redeemed by the massive amount of fighters that would be flying overhead. So totally kick ass awesome.
We got to grab dinner with my cousin Greg and his lovely fiancee Stacy at Bahama Breeze, which was lovely and then it was off to the strip for fun, fun, fun. I played slot machines and didn’t win a cent. On the other hand, Lupe played slots and won 77 bucks! Go figure!
We walked around, went to a club called “Roadhouse” but decided that we had better get back to the hotel in order to be up for our Archaeology trip in the morning.
Well, we were supposed to go with the kids from UNLV’s Anthro Student Association, but due to some unfortunate lack of communication, we never got to meet up with them and instead hiked around Red Rock by ourselves. We got to see some pictographs which was totally awesome, and I got sunburned. Which hurts. And is not totally awesome.
After a short stop at Whole Foods to grab snacks, we headed off to home and made it back in plenty of time for me to see Adam and meet his girlfriend who is in town from Iowa, Leah.
Yesterday was a day of work, school and nursery and I grabbed dinner with my good friend Amanda who is in town from school in Boston for a wedding. We ate at The Farm. The food was good, but that was the most expensive salad I’ve ever eaten. Unless I win the lottery, I’m not going back there ever again. Or at least not going back and ordering a salad with chicken which bumps up the already expensive price by $6.50. No, thank you.
And last night my brother Iain and I watched Brick. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the forever young boy from 3rd Rock from the Sun and 10 Things I Hate About You) as a very smart, very daring, old soul who is hot on the case as to why his ex-girlfriend was mysteriously murdered two days after making contact with him since their break up three months prior. Well, what I thought was just going to be a rip on film noir, was written by someone who actually truly understands the genre. The dialogue was perfect and almost awkward being that their high school students, but think along the lines of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and having to get used to the Elizabethan English in Miami, Florida. After a while you stop trying to understand every metaphor and just look for the general plot line. They slow it down and back off on the lexicon when it’s something really important you need to understand. I like film noir, especially the dialogue, but I was thrown when it was coming from the mouths of 17 year olds who act 30 something. If you can get past that, it’s a pretty good flick, slightly disturbing but mostly entertaining and spiced with a few good laughs and fun cinematography. It’s a rental. Check it out.
And big thanks to Iain for making me watch it.
FINALLY, to round up the headlines, you need to go look at this. This chick digs these scars. Especially when you caused them yourself making your creepy grin ten times more creepy. Can’t wait.
It’s old news that I have been making efforts to stick to my guns on this whole “saving money” business.
Sticking to them so much that this week when Glen Phillips played at Largo, I had to say Lar-no and stay home to conserve cash (only to later learn that Glen had Garrison Starr there with him and I missed what can probably be called a once-in-a-loooong time opportunity). I was pretty bummed that I missed that, but knowing that the end of my week would bring partial redemption, I carried on.
And that partial redemption ended up redeeming itself in full as I got to see Garrison last night at The Mint.
I was accompanied by my very dear Anthro buddies Tracy, Erica and Brianna, all of which had never heard of Garrison before last night. I am thankful that they were willing to come along with me, risking losing cash and a Friday night if they weren’t keen on what Garrison was dishing out, though I doubted this would be the case. Before we went to the show we stopped at the ever wonderful Farmers Market, located next to the beautiful and pricey… beautifully pricey… Grove. I ate at Tusquellas Fish and Oyster Bar, and although my shrimp quesadilla took impossibly long to make, when it came out I took it with a smile and sat down to enjoy after the other girls had nearly licked their plates due to waiting so long. The quesadilla was delicious and came with a salsa verde that had whole pieces of ‘cado in it, something I had never tried before but will be trying again, and again, and again.
After our filling meals we headed over to The Mint in plenty of time to catch Garrison and some of the openers, also making sure that Brianna and Erica got in as they didn’t have tickets in advance.
We got in, beverages were purchased, and we watched the end of Shannon Moore’s set. I found it was odd because this was her record release party and there were signs all over promoting her as “being heard on Felicity.” I was pretty sure that the show went off the air ages ago, but I wasn’t sure if I should respect her perseverance in making sure her album gets out years after being discovered, or kind of odd and funny that something like that was her claim to fame. Ah, Hollywood.
Garrison was slated to go on at 10 and by 10 Shannon was just finishing up, and we still had Abra Moore (no relation, I think…) to sit through. She was interesting, but I had a hard time really hearing her as people were talking impossibly loud and we were positioned far too close to a speaker.
The Mint is usually a really cool place to catch a show, but last night it was just awful. No one was listening to the music, everyone was talking as loud as they could trying to compete with the music, and the sound was doing some funky stuff with feedback. I was hoping these kinks would be fixed before Garrison took the stage, and as it turns out they were. Also, they usually let you sit on the floor in front of the tables, but they weren’t last night so you either had to stand in the mob next to the bar in the back or snag a table and oblige their two drink minimum. About halfway through Abra, we opted for the latter. To top all of this off I got beer spilled on me by an drunk older man who was a little bit too apologetic and just made me uncomfortable. No bother though, I wanted no more of this and no more Moores, bring on the Garrison.
She went on at about 11 and opened with a new song that is just gorgeous. I didn’t catch the name of it, but it had that sad sweetness that Garrison captures so well. She looked absolutely beautiful and refreshed and ready to sweat it up rockin’ out on stage, which she definitely did. It was her and a band (Neilson Hubbard and “Jesus” (real name Kurt?), the guys who (I think) recorded the Fan’s Greatest Hits Volume 1 with her) and they completely rocked. I wish the tables weren’t there and there was actually room to get up and dance a little, but I danced pretty well from my seat if I do say so myself.
She played almost everything I wanted to hear with perfection and added some new twists to familiar songs that I absolutely adored.
“Superhero” especially rocked the shit and it was impossibly hard not to sing along and dance around like a crazy person during this incredibly well driven and well constructed masterpiece of a rock song.
And I’ve come to love the song “Pretending.” It’s painful, sadly easy for me to relate to, and gets better every time I hear it.
She played “Unchangeable,” a song from her yet-to-be-released album that is currently on rotation over at her myspace page(Check out “Gardenia.” You won’t be sorry).
Her encore consisted of a cover “Time After Time” (which was missing the Gabriel Mann piano and Adrianne back up vocals but was still gorgeous), and she wasn’t sure what to do for the last one, so those in the know were shouting out requests. I threw in “Wonderful Thing,” she looked at me, smiled and said “YES!” until someone said “Inside Out” which made everyone cheer and it ended up being the closer. Totally stellar and incredible.
As always, her banter was top drawer. Hilarious, charming and often obscure, Garrison knows how to please an audience with her musical gift and her sharp sense of humor and wit making an hour set simply not long enough.
For fans who want to know, she made the same mention of said yet-to-be-released album, that it is currently without label or release date. Sad, I know. If I were a rich girl…
I’ve heard her make this same sarcastic comment before about “wanting to keep her career a secret,” and it makes me laugh but also upset. Garrison has got more guts, talent, and spunk than almost all the stuff that is making millions of dollars by the minute. She’s passionate and writes some of the best rock songs that I can think of coming from, not only a female rocker, but ANY rocker in the past long while. It terribly tragic how artists like this get buried and left by the wayside, and I think once you hear Garrison, you’ll understand. She’s a wonderful thing. Tell all your friends.
My bags are (not) packed and I’m (not) ready to go, but I just wanted to take a quick minute to announce my much delayed return to Southern California this evening.
This has been an absolutely awesome trip and has really given me more reasons to stay than I can think of to leave (one being that I gotta finish up that whole school thing. [Don't worry, I miss you all, too]). I’m harvesting a plan right now that might make a lot of things work for the better and would put me Midwested by Mid-June. More details on this later.
This feels right. And as nervous and scared it all makes me, I know that this is going to be better for everything. Right? Right.
Oh, Midwest, you’ve stolen my heart yet again.
(Unrelated note: Aunt Lynn, Brian, Bradley, Grandma and I ate at Hong Kong Buffet (Reason 28392 I’m moving) for lunch today and there was just the most incredible display of Engrish everywhere you looked. It made me smile and laugh, and for the most part I kept it to myself, but it was difficult. Oh, was it difficult.)
Happy Pesach to all my Jews out there. I hope you have fun *not* eating bread for the next week and sitting through the longest dinners ever tonight. I don’t mind passover. I think it’s an important holiday and I respect it. But the dinner is way too long for such little payoff. I should sneak a giant french bread under the table. When I have my own family and if we do a dinner on passover, I’m making buffalo wings.
Tonight is the final game in the March Madness (bleeding into April) tournament. I don’t follow college basketball and the only reason I very loosely follow professional basketball is because my dad is always watching it. But what I know about college basketball does not go beyond knowing the names of schools and the ranking number that is next to them on the brackets. But my cousin Brandon has done a great job of setting up the past few years of March Madness family pools. So anyway, I am tied for first and it all comes down to tonight in the The Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Florida Gators showdown. Ohio State is my pick and Justin has Florida. If I win I walk away with 32 bucks. I’d love to have that 32 bucks. I will have that 32 bucks. It’s time for Ohio to right the wrong from the Fiesta Bowl (Mitzvah!) and take it to the streets.
So, put on your very best Buckeye costume and cheer for Ohio State for me. Check your local listings. And have a matzo ball while you’re at it.
Eaaat somethin’!
I am 3-ish hours returned from an absolutely lovely day/night in the greater Louisville area and had a truly fantastic time filled with good foods, good laughs and the best peoples. I’m still not ready to eat anything. Cheeseburgers, french fries, sushi, sushi, sushi, eel (!), and banana flavored pancakes. All super good. Thanks to John, the greatest host ever and to Bob, Courtney and Oliver. You were all some of the best company a girl could ask for.
I have to go to a pre-passover dinner tonight at Aunt Mary’s friend Helen’s house. Can’t. Yet. Think. About. Food.
I wish that I could introduce you to Chris Smith.
We could go to dinner, and he would casually walk in, wearing a black button up shirt, jeans and his Ray-Bans that were so cool, so sleek, so Rock ‘n’ Roll. We would sit there and enjoy a meal and a conversation in which every musician or band you ever liked was put to shame by Chris’ knowledge, love and devotion to, what in his opinion was the greatest band that ever was, The Beatles. You would love him. And he would love you, I promise. He would laugh, because he loved to do that best … well, best next to talking music and movies. Maybe we could watch The Graduate or Rushmore. He would tell you that the scene where Brandon Braddock sunk to the bottom of his swimming pool was the best scene in a movie, ever. Or that everyone had a Wes Anderson character that represented them at their very best and their absolute worst.
To know Chris, was to love everything about him and the way he lived his life.
He lived every day to its fullest. He loved his family more than anything in the world. He would talk about them as if they were his heroes, and I knew they were. I don’t think I ever saw him unhappy, or in pain, or without that loveable, goofy, fun smile. And his laugh… the laugh that would make you laugh partially because it sounded like it should be coming from a cartoon character, but because he made the entire room fill up with the most amazing energy every time he would let out that unique chuckle. He truly cared about every person he came in contact with and that was obvious. He wanted everyone to smile, and laugh, and enjoy good music, and believe that “all you need is love.”
The funeral was exactly how I think he would have wanted it. Too many people to even try and count, beautiful speeches from incredible people (including an absolutely beautiful story from the person I am sure was his favorite author, his daughter Gleeson), great jokes, tears and music. Lots and lots of music. I’ve had “Let It Be” stuck in my head since the service and it breaks my heart. Wow. Just thinking about it, what a perfect song for him to have played for us.
Antwone Fisher said in his speech that Chris Smith was the 5th Beatle. It’s so very true.
And I know that he is up there in Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven, sharing drinks with John and George, catching up and laughing that goofy, unique laugh of his. You deserve it, Chris.
What I learned from Mr. Smith isn’t something that is going to leave me tomorrow, or with the next English class I take. What I learned from Mr. Smith will be with me always. He will always be one of the greatest teachers I have ever known.
It’s funny, talking today with old classmates, friends and teachers, I found myself struggling to remember these little details about Chris. Like when he was reading us Dante’s Inferno and he took on the voice and being of the devil in order to teach it better. Or The Doors CD that was pinned with shame to his bulletin board the entire year. Lots of little details slowly have slipped away, and I am sure as years pass I will forget more of them, and the details I do remember will become more foggy. But I know that I will always remember his laugh, his smile, those sunglasses, and his love for everyone and everything he came in contact with. Oh, and of course, the fact that my senior year English teacher was the 5th Beatle.
Rock on, Mr.Smith. Like I needed to remind you to.
