after a two year hiatus, we were back. and i had an awesome-good time.
seriously. i'm tired, though. i just woke up from a two hour nap. haha! TWO HOURS. dude. and i have no idea where my child and husband are. haha! they must've gone for a walk. or to the pool. it's a hot day out there today, yo.
this year we decided we'd take it easy. usually we're out of the house by 12 getting to the venue around 2. getting in no later than 3. what with mia and my dad and sis babysitting and stuff we just decided we'd take our time and we'd get there when we got there...
12:30PM - we pick my dad up.
1:00 - he proceeds to wake mia up. (fine, dad. it's your funeral. she's gonna be super cranky all day! heh.)
1:30 - we pick katie up.
2:00 - we hit some traffic. oh, hey, look, there's a little brushfire. and lots of firefighters. oh, you just KNOW that there was some douche who threw a cigarette out their window. i mean, COME ON. it's HOT. it's the DESERT. are you RETARDED? *rolls eyes* people are SO dumb.
3:00 - hit my parents' home. my dad mentioned something about going to costco. oh, why the heck not? we're in no rush.
3:30 - home, unpacked, and ready to hit coachella. wait. but i'm starving... not sure if i can make it to the food courts at coachella without getting hangry.
3:35 - decide to eat at Thai Smile. a thai place SUPER close to my parents' place that we like.
4:30 - after a delicious meal, back in the car to get to coachella. (apparently, the locals call it coachellafest. because there's an actual town called coachella. and apparently, it's not a good area. or something. whatever. the rest of the world just calls it coachella. so suck it, locals.)
5:00 - car's parked. but it's gonna take us at least 15 minutes to walk to the entrance. WHAT? i have short legs and it's kinduva big ass lot. luckily, we're not parked too far away.
5:15 - at security. she glances at my stuff and lets us through.
5:30 - walk in and check out the merch. sometime around here LE and i were texting about meeting up. i'm not sure when. i could check my text log, but i am too lazy for that.
5:45 - look for LE and her booooyfriend. realize cafe tacvba (or cafe tacUba. heh.) is on. huzzah! have i mentioned that i love rock en espanol? i'm not joking. i do. i have NO idea what they're saying. but 99% of the time they make me wanna dance.
6ish - meet up with LE and boy. chat a little. boy says something about how MGMT was so awesome, he could go home now. heh. we meet up with one of steve's friends (thank god for texting. how else would we ever ever ever meet up with people when there are like tens of thousands of people on a HUGE FIELD?) and we head over to one of the tents to see Hot Chip.
after this, the time's basically a blur. we hung out in the tent for a while, steve's friend didn't even stay for Hot Chip. they came on a little late and he had other things he wanted to check out. LE and boy stayed for a few. and we stayed for maybe another song or two.
then we walked around, checked out some of their freaky art installations. saw some freak show, went to a bunch of the other places to go shopping, check out video games, whatevah. i'll be honest, this coachella for me was actually less about the music. in the past, steve and i have gone hopping from stage to stage to tent to tent fitting in as much good music as possible. but this time i just wanted to relax and enjoy myself. so we did!
oooh, and they had a SingStar tent up. guess who ROCKED the mic? hehehe. that's right. ME. hehe. i got SingStar (the highest rank) and i basically totally ruled. ;P steve sang with me (since i picked duran duran's rio and he can rock those 80's songs like nobody's business). he was SO close to getting SingStar. i kicked everyone's asses. i was all competitive. haha! we got drink tickets for kicking ass. unfortunately, no one takes those drink tickets. oh well. i guess it's the thought that counts? heh.
hrm... what else... oh, we caught part of M.I.A. she was rockin' it, of course. she must feel good. just a few years ago she was in a smaller tent in the heat of the day and now she's in the biggest tent and in a pretty sweet nighttime slot. and there were just people POURING out of that tent. we just saw her in november so we just stayed for a few songs and left.
we hung out just a little more, traded in our empty bottles for free water! (why is it that free water tastes the best? hehe) and checked out the food court. oddly enough i wasn't hungry yet. and it was 9ish. on second thought, we should've just picked up some food even though i wasn't hungry because the next two sets were PORTISHEAD and PRINCE and i knew we wouldn't leave those sets for food... but i digress.
we met up with steve's friend at one of the freaky art installations and headed over to portishead. right when we hit the crowd everyone started screaming and cheering. beth gibbons had hit the stage. that woman is a goddess. she doesn't have much in the stage presence arena. HOWEVER, they sounded amazing. and her voice is beautiful and haunting. i'm fairly certain that while recording albums in the studio, she could probably lay down a track in one take. the portishead fans were pretty chill. we were able to secure a fairly good spot in the middle of the crowd where i had a great view of the screen.
my favorite song that she played was Wandering Star. OH MY GOSH. i totally got chills... it was just her and a guitar.
and dude, he totally played with a needle nosed plier. interesting.
if you love portishead, just do a search on youtube for portishead + coachella and you'll be able to find a bunch of their songs. SO worth it. i loved every minute of their set.
portishead and prince are two of the best concerts i've gone to. and i got to see them back to back. they were so different. beth gibbons doesn't interact with the crowd at ALL. she just sings. she might've said one or two things (along the lines of "good evening" and "thank you").
but prince sure knows how to rile up a crowd. he can get 50,000 people to get up and move. after portishead got off the stage, people started pushing to get closer to the stage. i get claustrophobic, but i figured i'd just go with it. i ended up getting stuck next to a nice kid. he said they'd been camping since thursday. holy cow. 5 days out in the desert heat would be enough to drive anyone crazy. young kids just have more stamina than i do. heh. i've done 2 days before, but i don't think i could do all 3. ufff.
ANYWAY, PRINCE! he was supposed to be on at 10:45. at 10:30 steve said something about it not happening. (i can't remember his exact words but he said something like, "mr. prince doesn't start when the set time says he should start. he starts when he FEELS like starting." haha!) i figured he'd be a little late, but i was afraid the set would get cut short because everything's supposed to be done by midnight. 10:45 hits and nothing. every minute is just DRAGGING. around 11:05 or 11:10 or so PRINCE comes on. and morris day and jerome are there doing Jungle Love and The Bird. and the crowd is chaos. and i'm dancing like a fool. heh. and he brings out Sheila E! and she performed The Glamorous Life and continued to back him up for a bit. and he played just a ton of stuff... little red corvette, controversy, cream, purple rain, let's go crazy, 1999, that's just a sampling. he was jamming away on his guitar... holy crap does he put on a good show. during one of his encores (or what i THOUGHT was an encore... heh.) he covered Radiohead's Creep. i don't even think Radiohead plays that at their own concerts. all i know is that it was awesome with a little extra Prince flair. heh.
oh my gosh, around 11:50 or so i start getting nervous because they're usually pretty anal about the midnight quit-time. so i showed my phone to steve and he knew i was nervous about them cutting the set short and he says as a bookend remark to prince's start time, "prince also ends when prince feels like ending." haha! i love steve. he makes me laugh so hard.
prince played for just about TWO HOURS. yes. a two-hour set by prince. we left around 1:00ish. i just had the best time. funny that the most opposite music can be playing back-to-back... that's one of the things i love about coachella. they have a pretty eclectic selection of music. and it's always a good time.
prince definitely knows how to work the crowd, but honestly, i can't get portishead's performance out of my head. we didn't check out much music this time around, but seeing prince and portishead more than made up for the $90 ticket price.
and in a new twist, we didn't have much trouble getting out of the parking lot due to some fancy maneuvering by steve. unfortunately i was starving and the ONLY place open was jack in the box. and there was a line about 5 cars deep. i didn't feel like waiting so we just went back to my parents and foraged for food there. and then i showered and stuff and then we peeked into the room where we were gonna sleep and mia's sleeping on the floor there and she looked so darn cute!
apparently, she was quite naughty and didn't go to bed until 10:30PM! it's cuz my dad's got a soft heart. mia would cry and say, "why do i go sleep?" (or something to that effect. basically, asking him why does she have to go to sleep.) and my dad just couldn't stand it so he kept going in to get her. thank god katie was there with him. hehe... and of course mia wakes up at 6:30 this morning. *grunt* hehe. poor thing. she woke up kinda confused, looking around, like, "where AM i?!" and then when she and i made eye contact she cried. i think it was a cry of relief. heh. poor thing.
i'm kinda glad we hit coachella on the late-ish side this year... it was nice not having to worry about the heat as much. and not having to use the portapotties. hehe... anyway, it was a fun weekend... tiring, but fun. and i think i'm babysitting mia's friend tomorrow... so i need to get rested up tonight!
*side note... dude, this post took almost 2 hours to finish! i kept getting interrupted! MAKE YOUR OWN DINNER, LITTLE GIRL! hehe. oh. also, they went to the pool. even though it was evening and steve kept her in the shade, she still got a tan. it's those quarter mexican genes, i think. hehehe.*
*EDIT - check out el bicho's recaps on each day. better than my recap...
day one
day two
day three
.:What I'm Watching:.
300. [Zack Snyder directs this faithful adaptation of Frank Miller's (Sin City) graphic novel about the storied Battle of Thermopylae, a conflict that pitted the ancient Greeks against the Persians in 480 B.C. The film, which blends live-action shots with virtual backgrounds to capture Miller's original vision, co-stars Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Rodrigo Santoro and Dominic West. ~netflix] watched it again last friday with LE and lisa... and man, it was even better than the first time. hehe... actually, though i really did forget how AWESOME it looked. 5 out of 5 stars. for sure.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. [The
perfect crime goes horribly wrong when Andy and Hank (Philip Seymour
Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) botch a robbery of their parents' jewelry
store in this wrenching drama from legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet,
who was 82 when he directed the film. Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris
co-star as the unsuspecting parents, while Marisa Tomei plays Gina, who
cheats on her husband, Andy, with Hank. ~netflix] the first of 3
philip seymour hoffman movies i watched. seriously. guess it was PSH week or something... it was all right. some flaws in it and it wasn't great, but
it was watchable. steve thought the best parts of the movie were when
marisa tomei was topless. haha! 3 stars.
- Bloodrayne. [A
half-human, half vampire sets out to destroy her vampire king father in
this Gothic horror film based on the video game. Bloodthirsty Lord
Kagan (Ben Kingsley) wants his daughter to become a full-fledged vampiress, but fanged femme fatale Rayne (Kristanna Loken) denounces her father's legacy and instead joins up with a trio of vampire hunters (Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez and Matt Davis). Billy Zane and Udo Kier co-star. ~netflix] okay... i gave it 2 out of 5 stars... i would've given it 2.5 stars if
i could've, but i couldn't. so i rounded down... because, well, it had
michelle rodriguez in it. and anytime michelle rodriguez is involved
with anything, i have to round down. sorry. i can't stand her. i want
to kick her ass myself. heh. anyway... hrm... the thing is... they were
just being gory just to ... BE GORY. the movie just wasn't good. but if
you go into the movie expecting ABSOLUTELY NOTHING it's tolerable. and
just so you know, i must be a glutton for punishment because guess what
i just added to my queue? BLOODRAYNE 2. yes. the sequel. what is WRONG
with me???
Charlie Wilson's War. [Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) sets a series of earth-shaking events in motion when he conspires with a rogue CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman, in an Oscar-nominated role) to aid Afghan mujahedeen rebels in their fight against the Soviet Red Army. Julia Roberts, Emily Blunt and Amy Adams co-star in this fact-based political thriller directed by Mike Nichols and based on George Crile's 2003 book by the same name. ~netflix] and here's PSH movie #2. hey, tom hanks didn't annoy the living crap out of me! the last movie i saw with him in it was... i think The Terminal or some other overrated piece of crap. anyway, i swore to myself i'd never watch another movie with him in it. i guess i lied to myself. anyway, it's pretty good. can't wait to get my next week's new release... the documentary on the REAL story of charlie wilson's war. heh. i'll give it 4 stars. why not? i'm feeling generous today...
- Days of Being Wild. [After learning that the woman who raised him is not his mother, Yuddy (Leslie Cheung) acts out by manipulating two women -- quiet Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung) and glamorous Mimi (Carina Lau). Su Lizhen eventually catches the eye of Tide (Andy Lau), while Yuddy's friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung) falls for Mimi. Meanwhile, Yuddy learns the identity of his birth mother and heads off to find her. This film won multiple awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards. ~netflix] what the hell? and why was tony leung in there for the last minute. i have no idea what the hell happened in this movie. it's like in the last 5 minutes wong kar wai was like, "oh, shit! my movie's already 1.5 hours long. i'd better wrap it up!" and then just flashed scenes of each person's ending or something. it was just... weird. and i spent most of my time confused. but dude, maggie looks about the same, 20 years later. actually, i think she looks better NOW than 20 years ago! i'm giving this bitch 2 out of 5 stars. although like, EVERYONE on netflix was totally all over wong kar wai's nuts saying how TOTALLY WONDERFUL it was. whatevah. i was unimpressed.
Juno. [Facing an unplanned pregnancy, teenage Juno (Ellen Page) devises a plan to locate the proverbial perfect parents to adopt her baby. But the seemingly ideal couple Juno chooses still has some growing up to do. Now, everyone in Juno's world must do a little soul-searching. Michael Cera co-stars while Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the pair of affluent yuppies anxious for a child in this offbeat coming-of-age comedy, which won the 2008 Oscar for Best Original ~netflix] i really liked it. it was really cute. and i adore ellen page. (have you watched Hard Candy? if you haven't, you really, really should. awesome movie and ellen page and patrick wilson are AWESOME in it.) yes, there were annoying moments, but overall, i thought it was cute and just really good. also, i have that song stuck in my head. you know the one... "anyone else but you." the one at the end. yeah. totally stuck in my head. actually, i like the ellen page/michael cera version better than the moldy peaches version. i was afraid that all the hype would make me not like the movie, but i still liked it. and michael cera was awesome. i love that guy. btw, i read that the hamburger phone is identical to one that diablo cody had as a teenager. hehe. 4 outta 5.
Manda Bala: Send a Bullet. [Documentarian
Jason Kohn aims his lens at Brazil, widely considered one of the
world's most corrupt and violent nations, to capture the ways in which
people make a living -- and try to stay alive. Subjects include a
businessman who invests in bulletproofing his cars; a politician who
runs a suspiciously lucrative frog farm; and a plastic surgeon who
specializes in the reconstruction of mutilated ears. In 2007, this film
won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. ~netflix] it
was kind of graphic in parts. it's heartbreaking to see kids playing at
"kidnapping." they are all laughing and playing... but they're
pretending to chop off ears and stuff. it's... insane, but kidnapping
is just such a regular part of life there. 4 out of 5 stars.
- Reservation Road. [The lives of Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) and his wife, Grace (Jennifer Connelly), are thrown into chaos after their 10-year-old son is killed in a hit-and-run accident. When the case stalls, Ethan makes it his mission to hunt down and punish the person responsible. Violence, revenge and justice collide head on when Ethan finally finds the man who killed his son. Mark Ruffalo co-stars. ~netflix] okay. first of all, it starts out with this scene of a children's orchestra and they are AWESOME. yeah, RIGHT. please. i just saw a children's orchestra and they were older than these kids on the screen and they weren't as nearly as good. it's like they dubbed over a real orchestra over these kids. boo! they should've just let them suck like real children orchestras. heh. mark ruffalo and joaquin phoenix were awesome, though. the story was not so good, though. i'll still give it 3 outta 5 stars, though. because i have a crush on mark ruffalo. heh.
The Savages. [Carrying the emotional scars of an abusive childhood, siblings Wendy Savage (Laura Linney, in an Oscar-nominated role), a long-aspiring playwright, and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a professor of drama, now face the challenge of caring for their ailing elderly father, Lenny (Philip Bosco), despite their emotional disconnect from him and each other. Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) wrote and directed this indie drama. ~netflix] and PSH movie #3. i thought it was really good. i liked it, anyway. i LOVE me some laura linney and she and PSH played just these perfectly flawed creatures. 3.5 stars, but i'll round up to 4.
.:What Mia's Watching:.
Rupert the Bear: Rupert and the Snowglobe. mia looooves rupert bear. unfortunately, he's not available here in the states. he's a little bear and his friends use magic and i don't know. it's cute. and the theme song sure is catchy. i really don't know why he's not here in the states. he's freakin' adorable. :) 5 stars!
Wonder Pets: Save the Beetles. [This edition of the popular Nick Jr. series, set to an original score,
follows the escapades of Ming-Ming Duckling, Turtle Tuck and Linny the
guinea pig as they travel to Liverpool, England, to free a band of
beetles from a yellowish submarine. Bonus episodes include the gang's
adventurous, fun-filled rescues of a variety of animals around the
world, including a platypus, a sheep and even a chameleon. ~netflix]
mia loves the wonder pets. the first episode they save a musical group,
"The Beetles." yes. and they're stuck in their "yellowish submarine."
hehe. it's cute. the wonder pets episodes are basically the same. they
use teamwork to save an animal. the only difference is usually where
they go to save the animal and what animal they're saving. i'm giving
this particular DVD 5 stars for the ability to keep my child
entertained. hehe.
.:What I'm Playing:.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
[DS] this particular game is set between the first and second kingdom hearts
game. so it's kinda like kingdom hearts 1.5. hehe. anyway, i totally
got me a bad case of the carpal tunnel playing this. heh. it's fun,
although i'm having a bit of a rough time getting used to the "cards"
based fighting... which is a different card-based fighting than the
chocobo game. why can't they just make it all the same? sheesh. hehe.
the graphics are pretty good for being for the GB advance. and it's
just been fun. i have been kinda sucking on it, but i think i'll get
better... as soon as my wrist does. heh.
.:What I'm Watching:.
Chancer, Season 1. [When his under-the-table dealings get him fired from a London bank, charismatic con artist Stephen Crane (Oscar nominee Clive Owen, in one of his earliest starring roles) finds work managing the turnaround of a troubled automobile manufacturer. But no matter how desperately Stephen tries to keep his checkered past bound and tethered, it continues to hunt him down. ~netflix] yesssss... cliiiiiive owen. you know what's weird? as good looking as he is, i like him better NOW. 18 years ago, he was cute but there's something about him now that i really find attractive. his character is just slightly annoying. i know it's not him, it's just the character (because i know that it could NEVER be CLIVE'S fault! hehe.) the show's all right. i will still get the next discs. 3 outta 5 stars.
- Dragons: Destiny of Fire. [Raised by a loving family of condors, little John John grows up thinking that he, too, is a condor, despite the fact that he looks nothing like his parents. Turns out, John John is no ordinary bird. In fact, he's really an honest-to-goodness dragon! After developing his fire-breathing powers, John John flies off on an adventure to find the dragon kingdom and his real family in this charming animated fantasy. ~netflix] wow. that was... BAD. i kept hoping that i would be pleasantly surprised by it and i absolutely wasn't. heh. 1 out of 5 stars. and i RARELY give a 1 star rating.
Greenfingers. [A (green) thumbs-up for this affecting true-life tale about hardened con Colin Briggs (Clive Owen), who gets a new lease on life -- behind prison bars -- as an award-winning gardener. Wonderful in support are David Kelly as a prisoner chum of Briggs's who coaxes him out of his shell and Helen Mirren as a world-class gardener who fears for her daughter when she falls for Briggs. ~netflix]
it was cute :) i liked it. 4 out of 5. i gave it an extra star because
it's based on a true story. hehe. what? i love me some true story crap!
hehe.
Hitman. [When a highly trained gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 (Timothy
Olyphant) gets entangled in a political takeover, he finds himself
hunted by both Interpol and the Russian military. On the run, he tries
to uncover who set him up while battling with newfound feelings for a
beautiful woman. The globe-trotting action film, based on a video game,
was shot on location in Bulgaria, South Africa, Istanbul, St.
Petersburg and London. ~netflix]
timothy olyphant doesn't play a very good badass. he was kind of
laughable in the role. the movie actually wouldn't have been so bad if
they had a better leading man. 3 stars.
- Lady Chatterly. [When her husband (Hippolyte Girardot) is paralyzed in World War I, frustration drives Lady Chatterley (Marina Hands) into an affair with a gamekeeper (Jean-Louis Coullo'ch). She finds in her new lover not only physical passion but also an inner kindness, both of which her husband can no longer provide. The second, less well-known version of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover serves as the basis for this winner of five César awards. ~netflix] this one just pissed me the hell off. it was just kind of annoying and full of crap. it was just really long and kinda lame. also, they're all speaking in french, but i THINK we're supposed to believe that they're english. say wha???? yeah. i was gonna give it 1 star, but then i realized that i didn't hate it as much as that Dragons movie up above. so 2 stars out of 5.
Lars and the Real Girl. [Ryan Gosling
plays the title character in this oddball comedy about a delusional
young man who buys a life-size sex doll over the Internet -- and then
falls in love with her. When the besotted young man starts telling
people that the doll is his girlfriend, his brother and sister-in-law
decide it's time to intervene in this film co-starring Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Kelli Garner and Paul Schneider. ~netflix]
i think most of the budget in this movie went to the purchase of this
"Real Doll." yes. it's an actual company that will make you your very
own real life-size (anatomically correct) doll. i don't know if i would
call this movie a "comedy" though... it has some funny/awkward moments,
but it's not a comedy, in my opinion. i liked it. apparently other
people liked it a WHOLE lot more than i did because it had almost a 5
star rating on netflix. i'm giving it 3.
Second Sight, First Series. [Ross Tanner (Clive Owen)
is enjoying a successful run as a top police detective with a
career-ending secret: He's going blind. Officer Catherine Tully (Claire Skinner),
who joins Tanner's team to get to the bottom of the senseless murder of
an innocent college student, catches on to Tanner's deficiency. The two
are thrust into a troubled alliance that will ultimately advance
Tully's career. ~netflix] the premise is kinda interesting.
there are some serious moments of cheese. the only really great thing
about the show is clive. he was awesome... it started getting better
towards the end of the disc. it was good enough that i added the second
series onto my queue. 3 stars.
Slings & Arrows, Season 3. [On the heels of his wildly successful production of "Macbeth," New Burbage Festival theater director Geoffrey Tennant (Paul Gross) begins work on the legendary tragedy of "King Lear." With ghostly mentor Oliver Welles (Stephen Ouimette) nowhere to be found, Geoffrey coaxes his childhood hero (William Hutt) out of retirement to play the title role and finds an ingenue (Sarah Polley) to play the role of young Cordelia. ~netflix] the last season was definitely the best... so you should watch the first two seasons if only to fully enjoy the 3rd and last season. it was a really great series. i enjoyed the heck out of it. 5 stars!
.:What I'm Listening To:.
Roni Size: New Forms II. i didn't think this masterpiece could be improved... but it's all improved! and 4 new tracks! i haven't listened to the first one in so long that i've forgotten how AWESOME it is. and mia loves it, too. she was in the bathtub when steve popped it in and she stood up right away and said, "mia dancing in the bath!" hehe... i love my little junglist! you can't order the import until 4/29, but steve couldn't wait and ordered from amazon UK. i love this album. loved it the first time i heard it and i love it all over again.
.:Where I'm Going:.
Mary J. Blige & Jay-Z: Heart of the City Tour.
we went to the hollywood bowl last night to see them. and i'll be
honest. while i like mary, i wouldn't call myself a HUGE fan. i'm
familiar with a few of her songs, but i don't go to actively seek her
out. and i really only listen to jay-z when steve listens to him... and
really, the last time i really listened to him was when we were in NY a
few years back.
really, i was only going because steve is mary's biggest fan and he also really likes jay-z... and i wanted a date night. hehe. so off we went. we drop mia off at grandma's and head up to hollywood. the drive up wasn't too bad... until we got closer to the bowl. i have NEVER seen the traffic so bad. NEVER EVER EVER. and i've been up there for events quite a few times. it was NUTS.
and i had to go to the bathroom. and it wasn't just pee. oh, no. it couldn't have been just pee. i have been having some stomach issues lately. so.... YEAH. it was bad. finally, i just couldn't take it anymore and i told steve i was going to need to jump outta the car. which isn't nearly as daring as it sounds since THE CARS WEREN'T MOVING. not even an inch. there was NO way i was going to be able to make it up there sitting in traffic. told him i'd meet him at our seat and we split up. of course no one up there lets you use their restroom facility so i speedwalked allll the way up to the bowl. it's not an easy hike. i prayed to the sweet baby jesus to let me make it to the restroom. let's just say that i owe the baby jesus an extra $5 in the offering plate this sunday. phew.
so after i'm all happy let me just say... the crowd was this HUGE clusterfuck of ... PEOPLE! hehe. i could NOT believe how bad it was. crowd control was at its absolute WORST. i have never seen it like that. ever ever ever. i was stuck in an unmoving mass. and i get claustrophobic. and i don't have steve there with his height to tell me where i should be heading. i don't know how many times i cursed. haha! people must've thought i had tourette's or something. heh. luckily there was another ticket entrance. i hauled ass up the hill again and i hear the crowd going nuts. shit. mary just took the stage. but i got in finally.
when people think that you're going to a concert alone, they sure are nice to you! i had people totally bending over backwards to help me find things and make sure i wasn't lost. haha! not the actual concert attendees. the hollywood bowl people. they were all so sweet. :)
anyway, i found the seat. crap. steve's not there yet... i was feeling worried. what? that's what i do. i worry. finally i see steve walking up the stairs. so THEN i can enjoy the concert...
and what can i say? i'm now a mary fan. she is AWESOME. and gosh, has she been working out? she LOOKS FABULOUS. she works the crowd up into a frenzy. and her voice. is ah-maz-ing live. she knows how to belt it out. the sound is superb. nice bass, and a great balance of everything else. all around us there are mary fans belting out her songs. while most of them are SUPER TONE DEAF, i'll give them an A for effort. hehe. also, they know EVERY SINGLE WORD. i'm just grooving along the best i can, dancing in my little 6" X 6" area.
sidenote: i have never been sore dancing like i was last night. sheesh. dancing in a TINY little area that restricts your movement makes for sore calves. i have danced for much longer time periods and not been sore. sheesh. anyway... moving on.
and then mary's done and it's jay-z's turn. instead of a real intermission, it's just a quick several minute interview on the screens where mary and jay-z are sitting there stroking each other's egos and then jay-z takes the stage. and the entire bowl goes CUH-RAZY. even the white dude sitting in front of us who wouldn't even bob his head once for mary stands up and is screaming like a little schoolgirl.
but they mess up the sound. bad. they turn the bass way up. the treble sounds muted. i can barely understand jay-z when he's talking. i'm not sure if it's because he's not enunciating or because maybe i'm going deaf or if the sound people effed up. heh. they really shouldn't have turned up the bass. the bass was actually great for mary's set. but during jay-z's it was actually starting to hurt my ears a little. and let me tell you, my ears aren't that sensitive. hehe.
after maybe 30 minutes we decide to leave. not because the show's not good... but because i saw that clusterfuck to get in (steve missed it since he came in later) and i did NOT want to get stuck in that on the way out.
it was the weirdest hollywood bowl concert i've ever been to. since it was a leased event, they didn't allow any bottles of any kind. so all the people who have been to the bowl before had to throw their wine out. heh. all the kids who HAVEN'T been to the bowl before were wearing stiletto heels. yes. stilettos at the bowl. holy cow. if you're not familiar with the bowl, there's just a WHOLE lot of walking involved. uphill and downhill walking. heh. OH. and security was letting people block stairways and stuff. and steve and i actually ended up walking right into the more expensive seating on our way out just to check it out and they didn't even care. it was... weird.
OH YEAH, and they were seriously price gouging for parking. it was just wrong. it went from $30 to $50 for parking. and PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY PAYING IT! holy cow. what's WRONG with you people???? steve ended up parking at hollywood & highland and paid $2. yes, it's a slightly longer hike, but the walk wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be. it was actually quite pleasant to stretch out my legs after that dancing in the seats.
anyway, i had a great time. and after we got a late night snack at harbor house cafe. (they never close!) chili cheese fries and a peanut butter shake. the perfect blend of salty/hot + sweet/cold. heh. i couldn't figure out why it was called a peanut butter shake. it just seemed like vanilla ice cream with peanut butter mixed in. it just seemed slightly meltier than regular ice cream. they don't even give you a straw. they give you spoons. oh, and there's whip cream and a cherry on top. mmm. whip cream.
.:What I'm Watching:.
Battlestar Galactica, Season 4. [New characters and old secrets are revealed in the fourth season of
this critically acclaimed Sci Fi Channel breakout hit, an update of the
classic 1970s television series by the same name. A mentally imbalanced
officer from the now-destroyed Battlestar Pegasus joins the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, and more details about Adm. Adama's (Edward James Olmos) past are brought to life via flashback. ~netflix]
FINALLY season 4 has started. i am happy because it's back on the
air... but sad because it's the final season... that first episode was
awesome. i just hear the music and i get chills. hehe. if you haven't
started watching BSG, you should.. just get it from the beginning and
enjoy the ride. :)
Doctor Who, Season 4.
yay! season 4 of doctor who! omg. i almost cried at the end of the
first episode... if you've watched it, you totally know what part i'm
talking about. hehe. i actually really liked catherine tate as his new
companion. and i love love love david tennant still. :D
For the Bible Tells Me So. [In this Sundance documentary, director Daniel Karslake goes to the
Bible to examine the ways in which conservative Christian groups have
used -- and sometimes exploited -- holy Scripture to deny basic human
rights to gays and lesbians around the world. Highlights include
interviews with V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the
Anglican Communion, and Chrissy Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of
former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt. ~netflix]
it's amazing to see how much ignorance is in the US. i don't know a
whole lot about much, so i usually try to keep quiet about stuff that
requires any sort of knowledge. heh. but it's interesting to see how
people talk so much about things they have absolutely no knowledge
about. people are stupid.
- The Good Night. [Gwyneth Paltrow's brother Jake directs his sister and Martin Freeman ("The Office") in this romantic comedy he also wrote about a former pop star turned jingle writer who's going through a midlife crisis. A supporting cast of big names from both sides of the pond includes Penelope Cruz, Danny DeVito, Michael Gambon and Simon Pegg. ~netflix] interesting. not a great movie by any means. and it was a waste of simon pegg, but i love martin freeman (Tim from the The Office - BBC). would love to see him get more and more work.
The Life of Mammals, Vol. 2. [Naturalist David Attenborough hosts this fascinating documentary about the earth's most diverse species, from the tiny pygmy shrew to the gargantuan blue whale. Humans -- who are mammals, of course -- also come under scrutiny in this series, which may be Attenborough's finest. ~netflix] this second volume was even better than the first! david attenborough is kinda like the crocodile hunter... but not annoying. anyway, i really liked the rodent episode. what? i have a soft spot for rodents. hehe.
The Pink Panther Strikes Again. [Driven mad by Inspector Clouseau's (Peter Sellers) incompetence, Former
Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) commandeers a doomsday device and
threatens global destruction. His only demand? Clouseau's death. But
Clouseau's dumb luck serves him so well that the 26 assassins hired to
kill him can't manage to get the job done -- though Clouseau may very
well do the trick himself by tripping over his own two feet! ~netflix] crazy hijinks and shenanigans! there were times when it was just too much, but it was good fun and i still really liked it.
There Will Be Blood. [At the turn of the 20th century, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis, in
an Oscar-winning role) becomes a tycoon when he buys the oil rights to
a Texas family's ranch. Meanwhile, as the simple village becomes a
boomtown, a charismatic young preacher (Paul Dano) fights his
community's growing greed. Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds and Russell
Harvard co-star in writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's
Oscar-nominated adaptation of Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! ~netflix] wow.
daniel day-lewis was ... awesome. even if it wasn't a good movie (which
it is) it would still be worth watching just to HIM.
Torchwood, Season 2. OMG. the season finale just about killed me. gosh. what a great effin' show.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. [John C. Reilly stars as fictional pop star Dewey Cox in this parody of
the increasingly predictable rags-to-riches music biopic. On his
hard-knocks journey toward stardom, Dewey crosses paths with the likes
of Elvis, Buddy Holly and the Beatles. Before long, Dewey is writing
hits, making women swoon and doing food endorsements -- in between
over-the-top moments of silliness, which producers Jake Kasdan and Judd
Apatow are so adept at creating. ~netflix] better than i thought it would be. but ... kinda painfully bad at times. there were some funny parts. also, i love jenna fischer.
A Walk To Beautiful. [In Ethiopia, a country with few hospitals and even fewer roads that
lead to them, five women are on a journey to rebuild their lives after
suffering devastating losses in childbirth. When the women survive but
their babies do not, they are summarily shunned by their families. Now,
they must make their way to a hospital in Addis Ababa, where they hope
to receive treatment for fistula, a condition caused by obstructed
labor during childbirth. ~netflix]
it was a great documentary. i know that the synopsis sounds kinda...
well, depressing and grim. but the documentary wasn't that way at all.
here's steve's review.
.:What Mia's Watching:.
Hamtaro: Hamtaro and the Ham-Hams. [Move over, Pikachu, here comes Hamtaro! In this Japanese cartoon series, the titular hamster must make new friends when his 10-year-old owner, Laura, moves to another town. After settling in, the adorable Hamtaro sets off on a string of zany exploits with his new hamster pals, the Ham-Hams, while Laura is away at school. The U.S. version of the hit show originally aired on the Cartoon Network. ~netflix] sooooo cute. i love hamtaro. i mean, MIA loves hamtaro! hehe.
Percy the Park Keeper. [percy is a kind-hearted park keeper who has many animal friends.]
how can you not love it? there are little animated animals. and they're
all so cute! the stories are child-friendly without being juvenile.
good for all ages. :)
.:What I'm Listening To:.
Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple. really good sophomore effort. i don't think i love it as much as the first album, but i really do like it a lot.
.:What Mia's Reading:.
We
have way too many books for me to list out what Mia's reading (we read
all day long every day) but I did want to point out one magazine that
she is subscribed to. It's called "Wild Animal Baby."
and it's by the national wildlife federation and it's just oh, so cute.
the magazine pages are sturdier than typical magazine pages and the
size is just perfect for toddler hands to hold.
.:What I'm Watching:.
30 Days of Night. [When a monthlong darkness sets in on the tiny Alaskan town of Barrow, the locals are visited by a flock of bloodthirsty vampires eager to take advantage of the no-sun zone. The town sheriff Eben Olemaun (Josh Hartnett) and his deputy and wife, Stella (Melissa George), must act fast to save the dark day. Based on a popular horror comic by Steve Niles, the film also stars Ben Foster and Danny Huston. ~netflix] i was all freaked out! i don't think i can read the source material since i was covering my eyes for parts of the movie... can't really cover your eyes if you're reading the comic book or reading the novels, right? these vampires aren't the sexy vampires. oh no. they're the scary, shit your pants vampires. heh. oh, and josh hartnett didn't suck! 4 out of 5 stars. (dude. i don't think i could live in barrow, AL. it's COLD. oh. and there's that month where the sun doesn't rise.)
The City of Violence. [Returning home for his old pal Wang-jae's (Kil-Kang Ahn) funeral, police Detective Tae-su (Doo-hong Jung) reunites with former friends Pil-ho (Beom-su Lee), Dong-hwan (Seok-yong Jeong) and Seok-hwan (Seung-wan Ryoo). But when Tae-su begins to suspect there's something fishy about the death, he launches an informal investigation. He soon finds himself pitted against Pil-ho, whose shady business dealings may have played a role in Wang-jae's demise. ~netflix] i thought it was pretty good. some of the fight scenes are awesome. ridiculous and over the top? yes. but awesome, nonetheless. i'm feeling generous today, so 4 out of 5 stars for this one, too. and as an aside, i'm telling you right now, you can never trust the buggy-eyed koreans. hehe. ;P
The Kite Runner. [Years after fleeing the Taliban and immigrating to the United States, an Afghan man (Khalid Abdalla) returns to his war-ravaged homeland to try to repay his debt to a childhood friend whose trust he betrayed. Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball) directs this touching story of family, friendship and bravery, based on the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini. ~netflix] i thought it was really good. i didn't read the book so i have no idea how close it stayed to the novel. there were some... disturbing parts. katie and i were like, "maaaaybe something ELSE is going on. and they're just not showing it..." if you watched the movie, you probably know which part i'm talking about. heh. 4 out of 5 stars.
Silent Running. [In a ruined future, huge orbiting spaceships preserve the last remaining trees from pollution and overcrowding on Earth. Botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) receives an order to destroy the trees. He refuses, setting himself against his superiors and fellow crew members. Directed by special-effects titan Douglas Trumbull, Silent Running's innovative effects and powerful themes ensured its cult status. ~netflix] uhm... that was... interesting. possibly the only sci-fi movie ever to have bunnies in it. yay, bunnies! steve thinks there may have been bunnies in the beginning of ET, but honestly, i don't remember. i was like 5 or something when i watched it. and another thing... it's rated G-rated, but there is killing and death in this movie. just no blood. 3 out of 5. (oooh! and the lead is bruce dern. laura dern's dad! i love laura dern!)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. [Johnny Depp (in an Oscar-nominated role) reteams with director Tim Burton for this adaptation of the hit Broadway musical about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Depp plays Sweeney Todd, a man who becomes a deranged murderer seeking revenge after being falsely imprisoned. To add to the macabre nature of his crimes, he enlists the help of his lover, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who disposes of the victims by baking them into meat pies -- sought after by all of London. ~netflix] i really enjoy burton and depp collaborations. some parts of the story didn't really make sense to me, but i liked the way the movie looked and i thought the casting was great. 4 out of 5.
.:What I'm Reading:.
FINALLY GETTING CAUGHT UP ON COMICS! hooray! but i'm too lazy right now to list them out. if you actually wanna know what i'm reading, PM me and i can tell you. heh.