Martina in concert

Oops. I was going to post this a long time ago, but time flies...

We went to see Martina McBride at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. She put on a great show (perhaps I'm biased). I thought I'd take this opportunity to list my Top 5 favorite concerts. And I encourage everyone to post their own list as well.

1. Martina McBride in San Diego, 2004
I have now seen Martina at least one time every year since 1999 (you could say I'm a fan). So how to pick a favorite? This show in San Diego stands out for a few reasons:
The venue - The outdoor stage was right next to the water, making for a beautiful backdrop.
The crowd - The sold-out crowd was really excited and engaged in the show, standing and cheering for pretty much every song.
The performance - She had an extended set compared to her performance the following night in Anaheim, when she was on a double bill with Alan Jackson (yes, I went to both). I think she fed off the energy and put on a great show. Plus she sang one extra encore for us (compared to Anaheim).
And finally, during "This One's For the Girls," they wanted a few girls from the audience to go onstage, but more and more girls kept coming up until the stage was almost filled (no, I did not try to go up there). At one point Martina said something like "We've completely lost control, and I love it!"
At the same time, people started going to the front of the stage to cheer and dance. So I decided to do the same, and was able to watch her sing "Independence Day" standing a few feet away.
Here is Martina performing "Concrete Angel."


2. Garth Brooks at the Staples Center (early 2008)
Garth Brooks' live shows are legendary. And he does not disappoint. He performed five shows in two days earlier this year to raise money for victims of the 2007 wildfires. We saw the Friday night show (the second of the evening). It started at 9 p.m. Full house. The crowd stood the entire show. Special guests included Trisha Yearwood and Huey Lewis. He obviously has a loud and loyal fan base itching for him to return to full-time recording and performing. We overheard one woman who traveled from North Carolina to see all five shows. Another guy said he came with his wife, who stayed at the hotel room while he went to the concert. And another guy was friends with the band leader, who came to visit him before the performance wearing sweats (he changed before going on stage).
I have been to plenty of sporting events, but I have never heard a louder audience. It hurt my ears worse than the speakers. And Esther was able to get a great floor seat, and I joined her after "tipping" the security lady.
People sang along to every song and just showered him with admiration. It was quite a show.


3. Alanis Morissette at the Universal Amphitheater, 2002
Most people think of her as the angry girl from "You Outta Know" (if they think of her at all). But Alanis puts on a high-energy show with great vocals and heartfelt songs. Here is the song she opened her set with:


4. Billy Joel in Oakland, circa 1989
He has a huge songbook to choose from, and he doesn't disappoint. This was his "Storm Front" tour, but he played plenty of oldies but goodies. But perhaps the most memorable concert moment of all was during the encore, when he performed "Piano Man." At one point he stopped playing and let the crowd sing the chorus. I heard later that the people at the A's game next door could hear us singing. I don't know if that's true, but since it's a good story I choose to believe it.


5. Huey Lewis and the News in Oakland, circa 1987
Jeff was nice enough to take me to this show, which was my first real concert experience. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this band. They don't have flashy special effects, but they do have rock solid musicianship and plenty of catchy tunes. Here is a video of "Jacob's Ladder," which was recorded at the concert we attended.


Ever since that first performance, I've been a big fan of live shows. The anticipation. That jolt of energy when the lights go down and the first notes are played. Sure, Ticketmaster is one of the biggest ripoffs in modern history (what's "convenient" about an extra $10 per ticket?!!?), but I endure it because the shows are worth it. You become part of something unique. You're surrounded by people who are as excited as you are to be there. And you will have memories that will last.

What are yours?

Jeff returns to football

What's going on here? Is this the 2007 season? Is Jeff still working for the 49ers?

Imagine our surprise tonight while we watched the 49ers v. Bears preseason game on FOX. Rodney wondered whether Jeff would meet up with his former team while they are in Chicago. Seconds later, literally, we see this guy on TV. He looks strangely familiar and yet it was somewhat difficult to believe. Did the 49ers hire a Tanaka look-alike to fill the void? Did Jeff have a change of heart? Are we going blind? What a cool surprise!

Happy Birthday Rodney

To celebrate Rodney's birthday, we organized a football game and bbq at Griffith Park. It was lots of fun, not too hot, and the water balloon toss was great! Here's a picture of the cake I got Rodney. I think he was surprised and really liked the cake. I had one of his friends send me some suggestions for what to write on the cake.

If you can't read it, it says: "Witness the fire power of this fully armed and operational Birthday."

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/esthereggy/sets/72157606613002986/

Mom and Dad's visit

Hi all. It's Rod. It's been a long time in between posts.

My parents came to Southern California last week. We had a very busy four days. We visited Grandma's cousins - Aiko Yamaguchi, who celebrated her 96th birthday last week, and her sister Mineko Hashimoto - and Grandma's friend Ruth Kubo, who used to live in Cortez. We took Aiko and Mineko In-N-Out burger for lunch and they loved it. Seeing all of them reminded me of Grandma, which made me both happy and sad - happy that we spent some time with them and sad that Grandma couldn't be there also.

We also spent an afternoon and evening with Uncle Kenji and Auntie Janie, April, Don and Jocelyn. We had a good time. Auntie Janie made us "snacks," which included sushi, shrimp and ribs(!). I see it more as a "preliminary dinner." :-) We also went to a nice Japanese restaurant for our actual dinner, which included a huge sashimi boat that Uncle Kenji ordered. So in short, we ate a lot. (Sound familiar?)

You'll be happy to know that Jocelyn's summer schedule is busier than mine, even though I'm the one with the full-time job. I feel like a slacker.

We (Mom, Dad, Esther and I) saw Julie Andrews at the Hollywood Bowl. She had throat surgery, so she can't sing like she used to, but if anyone has earned a free pass, it's her. She was very graceful and charming and the crowd was very supportive. She and other singers performed lots of show tunes and then, in the second half, they performed a musical version of a story written by Julie Andrews and her daughter.

We got to the Hollywood Bowl early and had a picnic dinner that we brought from Whole Foods. Esther found us a nice picnic table near the top of the hill, which gave us a great view of Hollywood. We were there really early, so we could relax and enjoy the scenery.










We also saw the musical Wicked, which I thought was great. I thought the way they tied it in with the Wizard of Oz was very clever. The songs were good (Esther and I catch ourselves singing, "Loathing, unadulterated loathing...." even a week later. I especially liked "Defying Gravity" and "For Good." The performers all have amazing voices.














The Friday we went to the Hollywood Bowl was very busy. That morning, we ate dim sum in Monterey Park. We took my friend Ryan, who I met at the Glendale News-Press about 10 years ago. We bonded over our mutual love of Star Wars and basketball, and we've been on several camping/fishing trips through the years. Ryan may also come out for an apple-picking trip, which I need to talk to the Elder Cousin and Uncle Ernie about...

Anyway, we had a nice breakfast and then...we watched The Dark Knight. Great movie! But I'll save that for a separate post on summer movies.

Unfortunately, we missed Jeff's departure for Chicago. But we already have plans to visit him. And we can always have the cousins' challenge at the Chicago Marathon. :-) (Or maybe our challenge can be finding the best deep-dish pizza).

So we had a busy, fun long weekend. I hope everyone is doing well. Please let everyone know how your summer is going. I hope to post our soon-to-be annual Summer Movie Review soon. But you don't have to wait for me. Feel free to post your thoughts on anything you've seen recently.

Bonus video: The original Broadway cast of Wicked performing at the Tony Awards:

Update

hi all...

sorry it's been a while, but glad to see paul and others are checking in on the blog. i've got some news of my own.... today i was offered and will be accepting the asst athletic trainer position with the chicago bulls! i interviewed earlier this week (as well as in washington, d.c. for a similar position with the wizards) and was offered both jobs. after some analysis and soul searching, i decided the bulls position is hopefully the best move for me. i'll miss the 49ers, but i think it's time to get a change of scenery career-wise and this is a great opportunity. obviously, it will be tough to leave the proximity of all you all, but you'll have to come out and visit. more updates to come, just wanted to send out the latest... hope all are well...

jt

How is everyone?

First off, sorry Jen and I missed out on the Cousin's Weekend. Bad timing on my part. Anyway, I have been busy with work, Jenesa graduating the 8th grade, Mikyla and her boyfriend drama and finally Lucas, the human version of the Energizer Bunny.

I will be traveling to Oregon next week to pick up our new patrol boat for the marine unit I supervise. I was initially excited to go and get away from the boss for a few days. Now, not so much, as he decided to go with me. hahahaha

Anyway, I know we're all busy, but it would be nice to hear about what is going on with everyone.

I, for one, am excited with the pick for head coach for the San Jose Sharks!!! (hopefully that will at least get the male cousins talking).

Have a safe summer all!!!!

Paul

I got the job!

In two weeks, I start my new job as Pharmacy Systems Specialist at El Camino Hospital. I am really excited because my first task will be developing a new pharmacy information system. I think it is going to be challenging and I am going to learn a lot. The best part is that it is a regular Monday through Friday job, which is rare in hospital pharmacy. I just hope Brian doesn't get sick of me since he has to spend every weekend with me now. Tee hee.

Paul's 40th Birthday

Wanted to wish Paul a happy 40th birthday on Monday March 17. Not only does he get to blow out lots of candles, but he get's to drink green beer too.

Well we went to Disneyland again last weekend and had a blast. We also got to see the brick we bought last year. When we were there in October we asked for a map to find where it was going to be. We should've taken a before pciture. The brick was put in around November so we had just missed it. Well we were able to get picture's of it last weekend. It was so cool to go and look for it. Kalani actually walked right to it. It's to the right of the star if you're facing Disneyland and near the middle. Maybe you can look for it the next time you're there. We plan to go back around Christmas time with some friends.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the cousin challenge. Should be fun!!!

Cousin Challenge '08 Update

all -

here's the latest...looks like we are set for the weekend of April 18-20 (Fri-Sun)...that has been the response from most...I been able to get a price quote of $99 per night at the SF Hilton - Union Square...a good rate and good location. please let me know asap (let's say in the next 2 weeks) so that we can get these rooms locked in...taking some suggestions for dinner Saturday, but i have a few ideas that we can throw around. please give some feedback or else risk many of these decisions being made for you!!!

thanks,

jt

Snow Summit

Here's Rodney and Jason at Snow Summit this weekend. It was sunny, the snow was well-groomed and the slopes were wide open -- at least until noon.Since I hadn't skiied since high school, the scariest part for me was getting off the chair lift. The entire time we were going up the mountain, I dreaded getting off. I've seen people fall lots of times. In my mind, I imagined myself falling, the chair hitting my head, blood gushing and lots of pain and embarrassment. Fortunately, I am alive and not bleeding. And really, that's the best I can ask for.

Look at all those people! Navigating around all those snowboarders sitting in the middle of the slope made the trip down the mountain a lot more interesting.

Garth Brooks - LIVE IN LA!

Rod and I went to our very first Garth Brooks concert last night at the Staples Center. WOW. I'm not a huge Garth Brooks fan or a country music fan, but that concert was really amazing and a lot of fun. I know only a handful of his songs, but I even enjoyed the songs I didn't know!

Garth is playing a series of 5 charity concerts in 2 nights to benefit the firefighters in Southern California and victims of the wildfires. I heard the Staples Center donated the venue, although I'm sure they more than made up for it from concession (including beer) sales. I went to the 2nd show, a 10 pm concert on Friday night. The crowd energy was out of control. It was LOUD. People were dancing in the aisles. Everyone was taking lots of pictures. The audience sang along with every song. There was cheering, whistling and clapping -- all the time. It was like a huge indoor party.

Sometime during the show Garth said 10 pm was the latest start time he's ever had. And at the end of the show, he would come back and play another late show because it was that much fun. He also said that it was a night he'd never forget, adding that he's never made that type of statement before.

There were 5 highlights for me:

• We was in the 5th row, right in front of the stage. But it didn't start out that way. Tickets were so hard to get that I could only get2 single tickets. We had a floor ticket, 6th row, and another seat directly to the right of the stage, 7th row. After the concert started, one of the Staples Center staff people told me to give her $20, and Rodney and I could both sit (stand) in the 5th row, which was empty throughout the show. Easy money for her, a good time for us.
  
• Trisha Yearwood came out and sang two songs with him: "In Another's Eyes" and "Walkaway Joe." (I highly recommend listening to Walkaway Joe.)
  
• Huey Lewis was a surprise guest, and they sang: "Working for a Living" and "Bad is Bad."
• "Friends in Low Places" -- if Garth sang only this song, the concert would still be a success. (Unfortunately, this YouTube link doesn't include the infamous third verse.)
  
• Garth played a 1/2-hour encore. It was the most intimate part of the show. He got out his acoustic guitar and just played spontaneously. He'd talk about a song, a musician and sing and play. He talked about his musical influences -- all country artists I've heard of but whose music I'm not familiar with -- and how they shaped his own musical style. He played songs by George Strait, George Jones and Jim Croce. Then he played his own songs, explaining how they grew out of what he heard and admired. Through music, he demonstrated his upbringing, his life experiences and his early years as an artist.

Amazing night.

Cousin Challenge '08

Here's an update regarding this year's challenge...spoke w/ the Elder Cousin last night and she proposed the weekend of April 18-20. That would work for me as well as Monku Monku I believe. We need to hear from the rest of you. We have discussed a bike ride in SF as a possibility but feel free to make other suggestions. More info will be forthcoming, but we need to pick a date. Please respond yay nor nay and give other options if this weekend will not work for you. More to come. Thanks...

JT

Happy New Year!

Rodney doesn't want me to show this picture... So I'll make it really really small.