Random Photo Memories

Remember that one summer, when my hair was mysteriously turning blonde, and then I later found out that it was being bleached by a nasty face wash? And then remember how I got to meet Jim Brickman and hang out with him backstage because of the fact that we have a mutual good friend named Diane? And then remember how months later, I remembered to ask Diane for a copy of the pictures she took of me with him, and suddenly I remembered the awful blonde hair fiasco? UGH.

And then remember that one time how Stephanie took awesome engagement photos of Lauren and me, and Matt was our special guest for the shoot?

And then remember that one time that we took Nick to the Haunted Forest for his 16th birthday and I had glowing gum? And how Nick & Phil were a little scared?

How about the time that I took my awesome friend, Shane, to Little Shop of Horrors, and he loved it? And how he said he even loved it as much as High School Musical – which is a LOT for Shane.

Or when I FINALLY got to hold my new niece after a month of being busy/sick, and I naturally tried to see if I could eat her?

Or! Or! When David and I went spider-hunting and captured/killed one to protect our womenfolk?!

Remember how I used to make food all the time, and was really good at making sorbet? And how everyone who ever tried it loved it (except for when I tried making chocolate sorbet & lemon sorbet – stupid Martha Stewart)?

Do you remember how Amesily got married, and Julie, Heidi, Kyle, Chase, Janessa and I were the most fun people at the whole event?

Yep. I remember all those things, too.

I’m Human, She’s Dancer

Last week, Lauren and I went to the Killers concert at the E Center.

It was FANTASTIC. I tweeted several times throughout the night, so I’ll include my tweets in this blog, too.

Matt and David carpooled with us, but they braved general admission, so they didn’t sit with us at the concert.

The evening began with a lovely dinner at Carl’s Jr. I had a tasty burger, as did Lauren – because it looked “safe.” Matt ate a low-carb burger, which was a burger wrapped in lettuce. He was craving carbs afterward, though, and ALMOST ate half of a bun that we had found in the flowerbed outside. I don’t remember what David ate, but I don’t really care, because he brought up the subject of my dancing in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

We got to the E Center and parked the car. On our way in, we saw a car parked very crookedly, with a message on the back window.

We were dying, and Matt insisted I take a picture. (You’re welcome, Matt!)

We got inside with plenty of time for the subpar opening act. Matt and David were in the middle of the floor, and we were on the second row just to the left of the stage. Pretty decent seats.

(Tweet: There's a girl in the opening band for Killers that looks just like my third grade teacher, Mrs. Nielsen. 7:32 PM Sep 26th)

At this point, I noticed that the guy in front of us had an iPhone, and it looked like he was on Twitter. I’m not usually that nosy (lie) but I thought “Hey, that guy he’s looking at on Twitter and pointing out to the girl with him looks like me. WAIT A MINUTE! That IS me!” I leaned forward, and saw that he had done a search on Twitter for “Killers” and turned up my profile because of my previous tweet. It was freaky. The guy got really annoying, though. He tweeted even more than I did that night.

The opening band was really lame, and they kept trying to be preachy. One of their songs had a really lame title, which they sang repeatedly, so of course I had to tweet in reference to the song “Listen to the Beat Come Down Like a Stone, So You Better Run, Run for Cover.” (That may not be the EXACT title, but you’d be surprised at how close it really is.)

(Tweet: I'm listening to the beat come down like a stone. And I really want to run. Run for cover. 7:50 PM Sep 26th)

After the opening act, there was a long intermission before Mariachi el Bronx took the stage.

At first, I was intrigued. It was a mariachi band that kind of rocked. After a couple songs, I was losing interest.

(Tweet: Done with mariachi. Killers now, please. 8:37 PM Sep 26th)

Then, the lead singer started spouting choice four-letter words. At one point, he had said enough of them that I turned to Lauren and told her that the concert was officially R-rated by MPAA standards.

One interesting thing about the concert was the audience. There were a lot of families there. Originally, I thought it was weird. Then, when the guy was swearing so much, I was kind of bugged, and I told Lauren that we were never bringing our kids to concerts like that. There were also typical concert-goers, including the woman whose tank-top was BARELY staying on. Lauren and I voted that nobody should wear tops like that- especially if they’re that large. I took a picture of her with the intent of posting it on my blog, but I’m going to be nicer and not post it here. It’s on my phone if you want to see it, though. :)

(Tweet: Pretty sure Hell's soundtrack consists of mariachi artists who think they're bad a. 8:41 PM Sep 26th)

Then, the coolest thing happened. The guy was swearing and trying to get praise, and people booed him. The guy got TICKED and said “You got a problem with us? It takes a lot of guts to get up here and play mariachi for your asses, so respect it!!!”

I thought I was going to die. I was laughing HARD. I had to text myself the exact quote for blogging purposes.

When they were FINALLY done, we had another long wait before The Killers finally came out. They opened with a really strong song (it wasn’t one I know really well) and then started the first four notes of the guitar riff from “Human.” Suddenly, Brandon stopped the rest of the band and said they had to clear the stage. He told us they’d be back. Some guy came out and said they were experiencing technical difficulties, and they would start again in 5 minutes.

(Tweet: RT @MatthewGSmith: Technical difficulties. Brandon and co had to leave the stage. Something dangerous? 9:28 PM Sep 26th)

After much longer than 5 minutes, they came back out and started “Human” again. They were BRILLIANT. And they played a nice, lengthy set, which made up for the crap. In fact, I didn’t tweet again the rest of the night because I was so entertained.

Throughout the Killers, I was blown away by how many of the middle-aged dads AND their kids were rocking out. I was really touched that they were able to share such a fun experience. I told Lauren that our kids ARE going to come to shows like this after all, because I’m going to take them. However, I don’t rock out and mosh like some of the dads…

After the show, Matt tried to lead us to my car, and he led us astray. I think it was due to a lack of carbs in his diet. David and I won the prize for finding the car, which we all then sat in for at least a half hour trying to get out of the parking lot. People are stupid.

We finally got out of there and eventually made it home.

It was an amazing concert, and a nice end to (*drumroll*) THE YEAR OF CONCERTS. I started trying to work out a ranking in my head for all the concerts I’ve seen this year, and then I decided to buy tickets for Mat Kearney’s return to SLC later this month, so THAT will have to be the end of (*drumroll*) THE YEAR OF CONCERTS. However, as of right now:

#1) The Fray with Jack’s Mannequin
#2) The Killers
#3) Keane with Mat Kearney
#4) Kelly Clarkson
#5) Rascal Flatts
#6) Jim Brickman
#7) Lonestar

I’m ranking strictly by show alone, and NOT the company I was keeping or the crappy people surrounding us that almost ruined them. Otherwise, Jim Brickman would be #1 because that was mine and Lauren’s first official(ish) date…

I’m glad I’ve had such an amazing year for concerts, and probably doubt I ever will again. Usually shows keep me from attending this many. But I’ve had my fill for a while – or at least until I have pre-teens of my own to take and corrupt with foul-mouthed mariachi bands.

Somewhere Only We Know

Tuesday night, I got to go see Mat Kearney and Keane at Kingsbury Hall. It was a night full of adventure with trains, gypsies, and Hanson!

We started the evening late. It was Matt’s fault, and I made sure to remind him every chance I got. He met me 15 minutes later than he was supposed to, meaning we were 15 minutes late picking up Kevin & Mindi, 15 minutes late to dinner, and 15 minutes late to the actual concert. Darn Matt. Darn him to Heck.

Kevin (I believe) came up with the idea to go eat at the Gateway and then take Trax to campus for the show. We went to dinner at Z’Tejas, and it was MUCH better than I remembered it. With our bloated stomachs, we hobbled our way to the Trax station. I played “that creepy guy on Trax” during the ride. We learned in the middle of our trip that once you head up to campus, you leave the free ride zone. Oops!

When we got to Kingsbury, the show had already started. Luckily, it was some boring opening act. After them, there was a brief break, and then Mat came out. Holy crud, I love that guy’s music. He played a nice, lengthy set with most of my favorite songs from his first album and a handful of stuff from the new one, out next week.

Our seats weren’t the best, but we could hear everything pretty well, and I wasn’t deaf the next day like I was after Rascal Flatts.

During Mat’s set, a couple came in and sat in front of Matt and me. The girl had shoulder-length blonde hair, and the guy had spiky hair, and when they bobbed their heads, he looked eerily like a bobble head. When the lights came up after Mat, SURPRISE! Blondie was a guy! From the back, he looked just like a woman in the dark, and JUST like a Hanson brother in the light.

We were laughing our heads off, so of course we had to share with Mindi and Kevin. When Mindi got a text telling her to turn around (she was about 5 rows directly in front of us), the sweet, British, middle-aged couple next to Matt and me saw her, and they started laughing, too. They laughed when they saw Matt taking a picture of them, too.

Keane finally came out, and they were INCREDIBLE. Even better than the last time they were here. They played a great mix of songs from their three albums. I was a little bitter that they didn’t play my favorite song, “Snowed Under,” but I’ll live. The Hanson couple LOVED Keane. They knew every word and sang along (so did the British guy). The spiky-haired one would get so excited that he would randomly grab the other, like a little kid on Christmas. They also had some “moves” that they did in sync (it was reminiscent of Ross & Monica Gellar’s “routine”). You know those couples that are so cute, it’s sickening? That was them. I was video-taping some of the songs on my phone, and I couldn’t see the stage very well, so instead, I got them rocking out. Funny stuff.

Back to Keane. The lead singer, Tom Chaplin, was a ball of energy. He was bouncing all over the place. Is it any wonder (ha!) that he’s lost so much weight? They ended up playing for almost two hours. AMAZING. Between them and Mat Kearney, we more than got our money’s worth.

After the show, we headed to the Trax station at the stadium, which was deserted. I checked the schedule, and oops! Whaddya know. We missed the last train by almost a half hour. We all harassed Kevin for having the idea for Trax, when my original suggestion was to park at the stadium.

Kevin called two cabs, and finally, one of them got there. It was driven by a gypsy woman, who I officially named “Rosetta.”

We eventually made it to the Gateway, bid Rosetta farewell, retrieved my car, and went home.

It was a better show than Rascal Flatts, so that gives me hope that each concert I go to this year will be progressively better. Up next, Kelly. Then Jim Brickman, The Fray, and The Killers. I love this year for music.

Rosetta, if you’re out there, thanks for rescuing us! Hanson & friend, you guys were hysterical – thanks for the laughs. And since I’m pretty sure Mat Kearney and Keane read my blog, you guys were GREAT. Come back to Utah soon, please.

Unleashing My Inner Feminist

Today, I got this: Tonight, I introduced it to Matt, and it made me want to do this:It must be the influence of Anastasia, Kimber, Fran, and other like-minded women, but I think I'm a feminist. Watching the way the men treated the women (especially poor Peggy) killed me. After a couple episodes, Matt and I talked about how glad we are that we didn't live in that time. I think Matt was mostly just opposed to Peggy's bangs,but for me, it's just because I have a hard time thinking of a woman as an accessory. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about Mad Men, and the way it treats women is an attempt to be accurate to the time period for the sake of theatre (yes, I called Mad Men theatre. Don't even try to argue that point with me). I could never do that, though. If women were to be treated like a possession, it should be a prized possession, like a plasma TV, a PS3, a new car, or expensive jewelry.

For example, in the pilot episode alone, that weasel Pete (who treats ALL women like crap, not just Peggy) met Peggy for the first time and immediately started telling her all of the ugly things about her appearance. Then, after getting plastered at his bachelor party (yes, he was getting married) he showed up at Peggy's door and took advantage of her. Then he got married and went off on his honeymoon. I'm really worried about where this is going for Peggy- ESPECIALLY since I've already seen every episode, and I KNOW where it's going.

Joan, the special secretary (I never noticed until this moment that the first part of "secretary" is "secret." Hmm....) had convinced Peggy that to get ahead, she had to be willing to do whatever the men coerced her into doing. Stupid Joan. Peggy even tried to show her boss, Don, that she was as willing as Joan. Being the gentleman that he is, Don turned Peggy down and talked her up. God bless him.

BUT THEN! Don went home to his wife and children, when earlier in the episode, he had been with another woman, and the whole episode, we had been led to believe that he was not married. Creep.

It really sounds like a soap opera when I write a summary in the middle of the night, but I promise- it's theatre. And I love it- despite my feminist ideals. :DPS - If you're not already, you should be watching Mad Men. It does have a tendency to get into a little PG-13 territory, but it's definitely one of the cleaner dramas on cable... Did I mention it won the Golden Globe for best drama this year?

PPS - Look what happens when you point out that you read my blog, Matt - you get a shout-out! You're definitely going to be in my blog of my top 100 friends.