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Karaoke Kraziness

The Gambler was a Sweetchild of Mine living in Beverly Hills, Californication and he has a Holla' Back Girl friend.

If that doesn't make any sense to you, it may be because you didn't have the good fortune of being at my 30th birthday party, in the private Karaoke Room with the special glow in the black light painting of tulips. Those are all songs I "sang" while dancing around in red high heels with my friends, and some of them actually can sing.

I guess it's something that comes with age- understanding your faults and learning to accept your shortcomings. I cannot sing- I think I might actually be tone deaf. I don't dance that well- I may also be rhythmically challenged. But now that I am in my thirties, (and maybe a little before) I don't care, and I only surround myself with people who know my good qualities well enough so they don't care either.

There are some photos of the evening in a photo album on your left. Although I would have liked to be around my family on the day/weekend I welcomed my thirties- I know the people I did spend it with, Cara, Megan, Amber, Rachel and Natalia, are like my Toronto family. They made my night- because they love me no matter how off key I am!

I heart Wilco*

* I know you are not supposed to edit entries after the fact, but it has occured to me that while I think some of the language in this entry is amusing, my 12 year old brother or my grandparents will not.  Since it's mostly just my family who reads this, I've cleaned it up a little.*

Wilco: I love them.

As I was explaining to my friend Ken, who was my date and has never seen them play live, they are one of those bands you've heard of but maybe never heard.

When you see them play or hear their records, you wonder how you ever got along without them.

They are so great live and last night I was lucky enough to see them again.
It was at Massey Hall, which is an old-style concert hall in Toronto.

The only other time I've been there was to see Nora Jones, who I thought was terrible ("hee hee, my band says I am supposed to talk to you and I don't really have anything to say giggle giggle" and I am so awkward on stage it's hard to watch) but that's another story....

So there is this thing about Toronto concert crowds and I am not sure why, but it takes a lot to get them into the spirit of things. Everyone knows this and it's not me dumping on Toronto. Like if you are getting too excited in your seat, or screaming a little too loud you get the sly side glance, "what is wrong with that girl??"

After nearly an hour of what I considered a pretty awesome, high energy rock and roll show- the front man, Jeff Tweedy, decided he'd had enough.

It went something like this:
"Is it a Sunday night or something? Is it the seats? I know we didn't introduce ourselves right off the bat and I am sorry for that but if I don't get some energy back from you [expletive deleted] we are leaving."

Suddenly the crowd came alive, people got out of their chairs and went to the front of the stage, started (gasp) dancing and (double gasp) screaming and suddenly it was like I was watching a Wilco show somewhere else in the world and all the Toronto people became Wilco fans again.

Tweedy later apologized for calling us [expletive deleteds.] He also said if he would have known we needed an invitation to have fun he would have asked earlier. I did feel a little silly that the front man of one of the best live bands I have ever seen had to walk us through Concert Going 101.

As for Ken- he loves them, doesn't know how he lived without them and I have a feeling he will be jumping and screaming at the next show just like me.

The Gorge in George

I went to the Sasquatch Music Festival in George, Washington this weekend with my friend Sabrina and her boyfriend Adri.

It was at the Gorge which is hands down the nicest place I have ever seen a concert.
That is, until the giant ice maker in the sky started to spit gumball sized hail at us. The three of us huddled under two umbrellas as the hail poured down in the middle of Neko Case's set. Well, it turned out to be the end of her set.

We were able to upgrade our spot on the hill when all the little girls in white tank tops and mini-skirts fled the storm- the we laughed at the people who slipped in the mud (c'mon we were cold and wet, what else were we supposed to do?)

The real torture of the weekend was when Ben Harper wouldn't get off the stage. He was the headliner- but because of the storm, the show was delayed. The Tragically Hip and The Shins both played shorter sets. The Flaming Lips were supposed to be next but Ben Harper came on instead. He sang forever- and by forever I mean his encore was at least 9 torturous songs long. His set was two agonizing hours. I was freezing, my friends were freezing.

Then the Flaming Lips came on and said they agreed to switch with him because his schedule was tight. If it was so tight- maybe he shouldn't have taken forever. I have never seen such a self indulgent musician in my life.
Ben Harper- you and me are so over.

Sunday there was no hail- but Nada Surf, We Are Scientists, Arctic Monkeys and my current favorite Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They made me happy.

Music that reminds me of Africa

Rachel is leaving Ghana this week- she is having a dance party, and she wants to listen to these songs:

Shakira: Hips Don't Lie

Sean Paul: Temperature

The reason I like them is because they sort of remind me of our funny dance party in Kendwa- even though they didn't have either of these songs- the spirit was there- plus I like picturing Rachel doing her Ghanaian dance to these beats! If I had a picture of that, I would post it.

Later I'll post other music from Africa, only this song was actually performed by an African.

Make sure you check out the new-ish Africa pictures I have posted to your left. Click on the photo and it will take you to the album.