"that was it"
Monday, November 09, 2009 Filed in: random
musings
i'll get back to my
amazing U2 weekend in the next day or two, but i had to
stop and comment on my experience this evening.
tonight, Stacy and i went to check out Michael Jackson's "This is It." i haven't really gathered my thoughts about it into a coherent whole, so here they are in no particular order...
i'm sure i could come up with more thoughts, but those were my first impressions. i grew up on Michael Jackson. i remember my dad playing the "Thriller" album when it first came out. i remember buying "Bad" and "Dangerous" and watching "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker" on VHS in my room. (i also remember locking the door and practicing the dance moves in front of the mirror. i was good when i was in 4th grade!) so, this movie ended up being, for me, a retrospective look at Michael Jackson's career in my life. what a strange vantage that provides. it's hard to believe that he was even the same person. but hearing him sing those songs and dance those moves left no question... Michael Jackson, as strange and wacko as he may have been, was one talented dude. and, like him or not, he changed the face of pop culture, pop music and pop dance forever. like him or not, in one way or another, he influenced what you're listening to and watching. it would have been fascinating to see if he could have made the comeback he so desperately wanted. it also makes me wonder... if he could accomplish all of that with what he had, what could he have been capable of if he hadn't been plagued by so many demons in his life?
- barnes
tonight, Stacy and i went to check out Michael Jackson's "This is It." i haven't really gathered my thoughts about it into a coherent whole, so here they are in no particular order...
- Michael Jackson was an incredibly talented and incredibly weird dude.
- Michael surrounded himself with people who praised him constantly and never crossed him or pushed back on anything he had to say or wanted to do. this made him come off like a demanding child-star. (you know... the one where everyone is waiting for his parents to step in and give him some boundaries or a sense of reality.)
- a Michael Jackson show was the ultimate in spectacle. (i mean that in the best possible way.)
- even when he wasn't trying as hard as the other dancers, Michael moved in such a fluid way that he was just captivating. (seriously... even when he was just clapping along to the beat, there was something about the way he did it that was undeniably great.)
- up close, it was scary to see how much plastic surgery he'd had and how un-human he looked. (tattooed lips, the strange thing above his mouth that was supposed to be his nose and that ridiculous cleft in his chin made him start to look a little Frankenstein-ish.)
- from what i can see from this movie, Kenny Ortega is pretty much a massive tool. ("you missed your cue, MJ." "no... i decided to change the cue." "okay everyone, MJ changed the cue... watch him for the cue.")
- Michael was essentially a very demanding, overgrown child.
- he used metaphors to describe things before trying to describe the actual thing. it was a little maddening to watch.
- a butt-load of money was spent on that show... no wonder they made it into a movie. they had to try and make some of that back.
- i was a little shocked to find that Michael could actually sing and sounded really great even on the old songs.
- he sounded even better when he remembered the words to the songs he wrote.
- the guitar chick freakin' rocked.
- his final speech to his dancers/singers/band/production team was the combining of about twenty-five random phrases that, in the end, meant nothing.
- his personal stylist should be fired. (he or she was listed in the credits and should never be given a job in fashion again. ever.)
- the "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal" videos were pretty cool.
- the rain forest video with the little girl was pretty dumb.
- i'm pretty sure that the black girl that Dixon has been dating on 90210 was one of the dancers. not that i'd know anything about 90210. Dixon? who's that? i mean, obviously Stacy just told me about that.
- even though he appeared to be drugged or just weird at times, it's pretty amazing that he could (seemingly effortlessly) remember all of that choreography.
- also amazing that he had such a specific vision for every part of the production. (he knew exactly when an instrument was even slightly off.)
- amazing that the dancers actually had to practice at perfecting the crotch-grab.
- Michael's choreography was AMAZING on the big numbers, but particularly awkward on the ballads. (note to... well, anyone who ever performs a song like "Human Nature"... just stand there and sing it. it doesn't need choreography.)
i'm sure i could come up with more thoughts, but those were my first impressions. i grew up on Michael Jackson. i remember my dad playing the "Thriller" album when it first came out. i remember buying "Bad" and "Dangerous" and watching "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker" on VHS in my room. (i also remember locking the door and practicing the dance moves in front of the mirror. i was good when i was in 4th grade!) so, this movie ended up being, for me, a retrospective look at Michael Jackson's career in my life. what a strange vantage that provides. it's hard to believe that he was even the same person. but hearing him sing those songs and dance those moves left no question... Michael Jackson, as strange and wacko as he may have been, was one talented dude. and, like him or not, he changed the face of pop culture, pop music and pop dance forever. like him or not, in one way or another, he influenced what you're listening to and watching. it would have been fascinating to see if he could have made the comeback he so desperately wanted. it also makes me wonder... if he could accomplish all of that with what he had, what could he have been capable of if he hadn't been plagued by so many demons in his life?
- barnes
|
"my weekend with U2, part one"
Saturday, November 07, 2009 Filed in: my life
so, it was actually two
weeks ago now, but i'm just getting around to writing
it up. here's how it all went down...
Thursday afternoon (October 22nd), Kit, Tommy, Tyler and i loaded up into the Prius and headed out to Vegas. we had tickets to see U2 on the 360º Tour at Sam Boyd Stadium on Friday night and we were pumped! after a four hour jaunt through the desert, we arrived at the underwhelming "Excalibur Hotel and Casino."
now, this is a bit
strange for me because i remember when Excalibur first
opened and was the cool hotel that everyone was talking
about. now, it's pretty run down and old. however, it
was one of the more inexpensive spots on the strip, so
it was going to be home for a night. we dropped our
things off at the hotel and immediately headed out for
some blackjack.
i've never really gambled before. i mean, i've played the slots once or twice, but that's kinda lame. going into the weekend, i have to admit that i struggled with the concept. i mean... i could go and lose a ton of money and i think i'd feel pretty guilty for that, seeing as that would have been money that could have been used for some good in the world. (or at least for something worthwhile like food or clothes or something.) however, Kit had a great perspective on this the shaped my weekend. basically, the idea is that you go in deciding what a day of entertainment is worth to you. for me, i decided it would be $50. if you lose it, then at least you got the entertainment that you paid for.
(the thrill of the
game, etc...) if you don't, then it's a bonus. think of
it this way... people drop $80+ to ride the rides and
play the games at Disneyland every day and they have no
chance at winning that back. so, $50 a day was my cost
of entertainment. fortunately, i had the luck of the
Larsons on my side!
we headed over to the Tropicana (one of the few places with $5 tables) and i immediately lost my $50. clearly, i had no idea what i was doing. right around the time that i lost my blackjack funding, Timmy Larson arrived (he had to work that day and left a bit after we did). we all grabbed some dinner at New York, New York, watched the Angels win the game, and then headed back to Tropicana. having already lost my money, i just watched. Timmy and Tommy were doing well, but the rest of us were already out. so, Tyler, Kit and i decided to wander the strip. we walked down to Bellagio and saw the fountains and then wandered through the mall at Caesar's Palace. (though, by this time, it was 11.30pm and everything was closing or closed.)
as we were walking back, i was exhausted and all i wanted to do was crawl into bed. (walking down the strip, i had an encounter with a... how shall i say this?... promiscuous lady. there was a 50 yard shimmy involved. needless to say, i chose to walk on. that's all i'll say.) as we approached Excalibur, we got a call from Tommy and Timmy that they were walking toward us. apparently, Timmy had done VERY well at the tables and when we found them, he generously donated $50 to each of our (so far) losing causes. the Larson brothers wanted to head back to the tables and, being that Timmy had been so generous, i couldn't decline. (though i wanted to so very badly.)
we walked back in to the Tropicana and arrived at the same table we'd been at earlier. (it was now about 12.30 am.) the table was full, so we waited for people to get up. i was the last to get a seat. actually, right before a seat opened up for me, i was about to tell the boys that i was heading back to our room. however, the seat opened up and i sat down. learning from my earlier mistakes and taking pointers from Tommy and Timmy, i spent the next three hours turning Timmy's $50 into $860. (and that's after i paid Timmy his $50 back.) yeah... i'm awesome.
around 4 am, we
decided it was probably time to get some sleep.
the next morning, we woke up, had some breakfast, checked out of the hotel and decided to head down to Circus Circus. (crappy place, but cheap tables there too.) i mostly just watched because the dealer was sketchy and it seemed like everyone was losing. after that, we grabbed lunch and hit up the old town Vegas and the Golden Nugget. so cool to see the old town. this is the Vegas you see in those old movies. (it's where the car chase was in "Diamonds are Forever.") very cool. we grabbed some pizza for dinner down there and then headed off to the main event... U2.
while everyone else
seemed to be following the road signs for how to get to
the stadium (and taking over and hour for what should
be a 10 minute drive), we ignored the signs and went
where our GPS told us to. we got there in 20 minutes
and Timmy finagled his way into a pretty sweet spot
right up front. at this point, i was giddy like a
little school girl. (Timmy hadn't bought a ticket
originally, but had done so well that he bought one
that night.)
when i walked into the stadium and caught my first glimpse of the U2 claw (or spaceship as they also call it), i literally gasped. it was amazing. HUGE. pictures genuinely don't do the whole thing justice.
after a bit, the Black Eyed Peas came out and did their opening set. they were actually a lot of fun and a great opening act. i think they really got the crowd warmed up with all their "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Got A Feeling" and whatnot. it was fun. (this was the time when we had a little run in with Professor Bastard. he was a guy sitting next to us with his wife and who was just rude from the first minute he sat down. he looked like a professor, hence the nickname.) but it didn't matter... we weren't going to let some snooty professor type ruin anything!
if you've never been to a U2 show, i'm not sure how to communicate it in words. there's something there that i've never experienced at any other show. i mean, i've been to some great shows over the years, but there's just something different about a U2 show. it's like how church should be. i don't know. anyway, this was my 9th U2 show and it was probably the best one yet. from the moment they came on stage, there was an energy in the stadium that was overwhelming. it was very cool to enjoy it with Tyler, Timmy and Tommy who had never been to see U2 before. (Kit went with me to the last show of the Vertigo tour in '06.) anyway, they tore through their set of amazing songs for nearly two and half hours. it was awesome.
the coolest part was that they had this AMAZING setup, but it was all to enhance what these four guys were doing. the spectacle of it all was crazy-cool, but the main focus was always on this band and their music. Tommy noted on the way out how crazy it was to be able to see on their faces how much they still LOVE playing together after all these years.
anyway, thanks to Timmy's amazing parking spot, we were able to get out of their pretty quickly. we picked up my car from Excalibur and headed out to Stateline where we stayed the night. (there were reports the next day that people were still trying to get out of the stadium parking lot at 1.30 am, by which time we were at Stateline already.)
Stateline is... well, it's an interesting place. probably not a place i'd choose to stay again necessarily. it wasn't bad... but the people there were kinda... scary, to be honest. but, i won a few hundred more dollars, so i wasn't complaining too much!
on the way back through the desert on Saturday, i was cruising along at 83 mph when i got pulled over by a CHP officer. now, when i was in traffic school, we were told that we should never admit anything to the officer when you're pulled over. so, if he says "do you know how fast you were going?", you say "no." if i'd said "yes... i was going 83" then he can go ahead and write me up for that even if he didn't have anything on me. so, when he asked the question, i said "no." he responded with "i got you on radar going 92." this was not true. however, i'd already said i didn't know how fast i was going, so i couldn't go back on it and he wrote me up for 92 in a 70. (jerk.) i'm going to fight it because the whole thing was such BS and i am NOT giving all of my winnings to the state of California!
other than that, it was a great few days and a lot of fun to hang out with the guys. but it wasn't over yet... i still had U2 tickets for the Rose Bowl show on Sunday!
more to come!
-barnes
ps... enjoy the U2 pics below...
Thursday afternoon (October 22nd), Kit, Tommy, Tyler and i loaded up into the Prius and headed out to Vegas. we had tickets to see U2 on the 360º Tour at Sam Boyd Stadium on Friday night and we were pumped! after a four hour jaunt through the desert, we arrived at the underwhelming "Excalibur Hotel and Casino."
i've never really gambled before. i mean, i've played the slots once or twice, but that's kinda lame. going into the weekend, i have to admit that i struggled with the concept. i mean... i could go and lose a ton of money and i think i'd feel pretty guilty for that, seeing as that would have been money that could have been used for some good in the world. (or at least for something worthwhile like food or clothes or something.) however, Kit had a great perspective on this the shaped my weekend. basically, the idea is that you go in deciding what a day of entertainment is worth to you. for me, i decided it would be $50. if you lose it, then at least you got the entertainment that you paid for.
we headed over to the Tropicana (one of the few places with $5 tables) and i immediately lost my $50. clearly, i had no idea what i was doing. right around the time that i lost my blackjack funding, Timmy Larson arrived (he had to work that day and left a bit after we did). we all grabbed some dinner at New York, New York, watched the Angels win the game, and then headed back to Tropicana. having already lost my money, i just watched. Timmy and Tommy were doing well, but the rest of us were already out. so, Tyler, Kit and i decided to wander the strip. we walked down to Bellagio and saw the fountains and then wandered through the mall at Caesar's Palace. (though, by this time, it was 11.30pm and everything was closing or closed.)
as we were walking back, i was exhausted and all i wanted to do was crawl into bed. (walking down the strip, i had an encounter with a... how shall i say this?... promiscuous lady. there was a 50 yard shimmy involved. needless to say, i chose to walk on. that's all i'll say.) as we approached Excalibur, we got a call from Tommy and Timmy that they were walking toward us. apparently, Timmy had done VERY well at the tables and when we found them, he generously donated $50 to each of our (so far) losing causes. the Larson brothers wanted to head back to the tables and, being that Timmy had been so generous, i couldn't decline. (though i wanted to so very badly.)
we walked back in to the Tropicana and arrived at the same table we'd been at earlier. (it was now about 12.30 am.) the table was full, so we waited for people to get up. i was the last to get a seat. actually, right before a seat opened up for me, i was about to tell the boys that i was heading back to our room. however, the seat opened up and i sat down. learning from my earlier mistakes and taking pointers from Tommy and Timmy, i spent the next three hours turning Timmy's $50 into $860. (and that's after i paid Timmy his $50 back.) yeah... i'm awesome.
the next morning, we woke up, had some breakfast, checked out of the hotel and decided to head down to Circus Circus. (crappy place, but cheap tables there too.) i mostly just watched because the dealer was sketchy and it seemed like everyone was losing. after that, we grabbed lunch and hit up the old town Vegas and the Golden Nugget. so cool to see the old town. this is the Vegas you see in those old movies. (it's where the car chase was in "Diamonds are Forever.") very cool. we grabbed some pizza for dinner down there and then headed off to the main event... U2.
when i walked into the stadium and caught my first glimpse of the U2 claw (or spaceship as they also call it), i literally gasped. it was amazing. HUGE. pictures genuinely don't do the whole thing justice.
after a bit, the Black Eyed Peas came out and did their opening set. they were actually a lot of fun and a great opening act. i think they really got the crowd warmed up with all their "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Got A Feeling" and whatnot. it was fun. (this was the time when we had a little run in with Professor Bastard. he was a guy sitting next to us with his wife and who was just rude from the first minute he sat down. he looked like a professor, hence the nickname.) but it didn't matter... we weren't going to let some snooty professor type ruin anything!
if you've never been to a U2 show, i'm not sure how to communicate it in words. there's something there that i've never experienced at any other show. i mean, i've been to some great shows over the years, but there's just something different about a U2 show. it's like how church should be. i don't know. anyway, this was my 9th U2 show and it was probably the best one yet. from the moment they came on stage, there was an energy in the stadium that was overwhelming. it was very cool to enjoy it with Tyler, Timmy and Tommy who had never been to see U2 before. (Kit went with me to the last show of the Vertigo tour in '06.) anyway, they tore through their set of amazing songs for nearly two and half hours. it was awesome.
the coolest part was that they had this AMAZING setup, but it was all to enhance what these four guys were doing. the spectacle of it all was crazy-cool, but the main focus was always on this band and their music. Tommy noted on the way out how crazy it was to be able to see on their faces how much they still LOVE playing together after all these years.
anyway, thanks to Timmy's amazing parking spot, we were able to get out of their pretty quickly. we picked up my car from Excalibur and headed out to Stateline where we stayed the night. (there were reports the next day that people were still trying to get out of the stadium parking lot at 1.30 am, by which time we were at Stateline already.)
Stateline is... well, it's an interesting place. probably not a place i'd choose to stay again necessarily. it wasn't bad... but the people there were kinda... scary, to be honest. but, i won a few hundred more dollars, so i wasn't complaining too much!
on the way back through the desert on Saturday, i was cruising along at 83 mph when i got pulled over by a CHP officer. now, when i was in traffic school, we were told that we should never admit anything to the officer when you're pulled over. so, if he says "do you know how fast you were going?", you say "no." if i'd said "yes... i was going 83" then he can go ahead and write me up for that even if he didn't have anything on me. so, when he asked the question, i said "no." he responded with "i got you on radar going 92." this was not true. however, i'd already said i didn't know how fast i was going, so i couldn't go back on it and he wrote me up for 92 in a 70. (jerk.) i'm going to fight it because the whole thing was such BS and i am NOT giving all of my winnings to the state of California!
other than that, it was a great few days and a lot of fun to hang out with the guys. but it wasn't over yet... i still had U2 tickets for the Rose Bowl show on Sunday!
more to come!
-barnes
ps... enjoy the U2 pics below...