me, i want a hula hoop

Forgot to mention... While we were taking photos by the LOVE sculpture, there was a celebration for World Lupus Day.



I even scored a lupus awareness grip jar opener. You just never know what's in store. The day before when our tour bus passed by the park, there was a huge crowd of people line dancing together. I hope it wasn't Achy Breaky Heart.

debbie does harrah's

And now we've come to the genesis of this whole journey... The reason we decided --Out of the Blue?-- to get on a plane and fly to Philadelphia and drive to Atlantic City... And everything else. The entire eight-day trip was planned around getting to this one point in time...


Opening night of Deborah Gibson's Pop Goes Broadway -- a showcase of her greatest hits mixed in with popular songs from the Broadway shows she starred in over the years, plus a few other surprises. And we got to see it all from the 4th row!!


The show opened with All That Jazz from Chicago. Debbie tried to fake us out by sitting at the piano with her back to us, disguised in a hat and tuxedo coat with tails, trying to fit in as a member of the band while the dancers slinked and catted across the stage. We were quick to catch on!


It was not long before she hopped up from the piano, threw off the disguise and began to sing. It was an exciting moment... My first time seeing Debbie live. Melinda's third and Sam's fifth!



Shake Your Love!! Lord, what year is it? Surreal moment. Debbie and company were in great shape. Her dancers did double duty as her backup vocalists. Sam recognized and remarked that one of the dancers goes way back, performing with Debbie since before the release of Out of the Blue. OMG 20 years ago!

As Shake Your Love transitioned into Out of the Blue, they all moved to the piano. After singing Maybe This Time from Cabaret, Debbie slipped into something a little more... Charo... for Buenos Aires, from Evita.


I don't know, something about the outfit and the hair reminds me of Charo. Coochie, coochie!



After Buenos Aires, she talked some and made her way into the crowd. She came and stood right next to us while she chatted with the girls sitting in front of us, who had come from Florida to see the show. An older gentleman (using that term loosely) who was sitting across the aisle butted in to inform Debbie that he and his wife have been together for 40 years. We'll come back to him.

Debbie returned to the stage to sing Foolish Beat, which was followed by the "Shake Break" -- a costume change, according to Sam: Back in the day, she would go offstage to change and the dancers would dance and the band would play Shake Your Love. This was called Shake Break. Apparently, she still does it.


The next number was a showtune medley: Don't Tell Mama (Cabaret) / Me and My Baby (Chicago) / If My Friends Could See Me Now (Sweet Charity) / Hey Big Spender (Sweet Charity).





Then it got crazy. Like, senile crazy. I told you I'd come back to him. Did I mention that the average age of the audience was about 60? I smell comp'ed tickets! This next segment of the show was an audience participation number. They called for singers and dancers. One of the girls sitting in front of us whom Debbie had chatted with, she was chosen. A guy sitting farther down on our row, he was also selected. He was wearing an Electric Youth t-shirt! And of course, the older gentleman eagerly volunteered. Along with a dozen or so others.


What ensued was absolute bedlam, and I relished every moment of it. You can hear me giggling on the video. The older gentleman was cracking me up! Somehow he ended up with a microphone, which thankfully was apparently not on. Still, he tried again and again to prove that he was ready to shine. Just a-steppin' and a-clappin', he was truly marching to his own beat. No, he was not a follower. Performing with the others on the chorus line would not suffice. He would spontaneously break from the line several times and just run to Debbie or run to the front of the stage. Was he adorable or was he just nuts? He had to be urged back to his position. At some point, Debbie just went with it and indulged the old chap. (While they dance, you can hear Debbie asking, 40 years, really??) Downtown became It's My Party, which seemed appropriate. It's My Party and I... steal the show if I want to? Fearless!! ...Clueless?



In the end, he was still not satisfied. After all of the others had returned to their seats, he was still up there, teetering somewhere between exhaustion and excitement, uttering somewhat unintelligibly and asking Debbie to sing Happy Birthday to his wife. Once again, he won, and we all sang Happy Birthday to Nancy. Even though he was a little pesky, I still smile when I think about this moment. Imagine how big of a deal it was to the guy wearing the Electric Youth t-shirt, while the old guy had probably never heard of Debbie Gibson. And probably still doesn't know who she is... And probably doesn't even remember this night! LOL


After mister man finally took his seat, the show was able to resume. Debbie sang Hopelessly Devoted To You as tribute to when she did Grease on the West End in London. Sweet.




Next up, another surreal moment... Electric Youth! Complete with the dance moves from the video! I say that because I recognized them. Pretty cool.









Lost in Your Eyes. Classic move: she climbs onto the piano for the big finish.





Only in My Dreams. Watch out for that high note! Cameo by Sam and Melinda.


She did two songs for the encore. Dancing Queen (lots of fun) and I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love (weird way to end the show?).

wee would like to play

Fresh off his tour of the UK, Lil Wee was spotted on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. Aww, he's just a wee little thing.

nougatocity

a heightened yet fleeting state of accomplishment that makes you realize how unbelievably unmotivated you normally are

2007, my year in review

Let's start with the subject of travel... The major highlight of my travels this year was the cruise. Our first cruise was a week-long jaunt over spring break with family and friends wherein we found ourselves sailing into exotic ports along the Western Caribbean.

We climbed ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico, experienced some of the culture and natural beauty of Guatemala, snorkeled the barrier reef in Belize... Very exciting, very memorable!

I landed in New York City for the third time, accompanying members of my family on their first trip to the Big Apple. You could say I was a sort of tour guide. It was a lot of fun. Shut up, it was!

After a few days of sightseeing, we struck off for New York state to attend my nephew's momentous graduation at the esteemed West Point Military Academy. We toured the historic campus and got to hang out with Danny.

We squeezed in a trip to the beach... Orange Beach. Sipping margaritas and splashing around with the stingrays. We had a great time. Maybe next time we'll try parasailing? Not!



We completed a weekend roadtrip to Dallas, Austin and back, in three days, to see Rufus Wainwright perform two great shows -- one at the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie and one outdoors at the legendary Stubb's BBQ in downtown Austin.

Mid-August. Outside. 6 hours. Standing in one spot. It was totally worth it.

In other concert news, I saw Tori Amos perform for the 12th time! Her shows are always an experience.

While we were in Houston, we visited the Butterfly Center at the Museum of Natural Science. It was pretty cool.

On the way home, I saw Galveston for the first time. It has its own thing going on. It was nice.

Some other shows we caught closer to home...
Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow at the New Orleans Arena. Quite a production!

Matt Wertz at the Parish, where I discovered Jon McLaughlin and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

Francis Cabrel at Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette. I still can't believe he came here to perform -- est-ce que ce monde est sérieux?

Fest for All in Baton Rouge. I went to check it out while everyone else was at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

The Police reunion tour at the New Orleans Arena.

Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz Two Birds / One Stone Tour at the Varsity, a.k.a. how I discovered Gabe Dixon.

And let's not forget Josh Kelley at Wal-Mart on Siegen! (You know, the guy who just married Katherine Heigl a week ago.)

Some miscellaneous events that occurred...
Dave Eggers reading from his latest book at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. (Neeerds!!!) What is the what?

Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade (Should I mention the Isis parade?)

Monster Truck Show at the Centroplex Baton Rouge River Center



Femme Femme Femme exhibit at NOMA

Kathy Griffin FTW!!!1 How awesome is Kathy!



Movies I enjoyed...
Helvetica special screening courtesy of the New Orleans Film Society!

Paris je t'aime

Into the Wild, which I had the pleasure of reading before I had the pleasure of viewing on the big screen.

Other book moments I liked...
On the beach, leafing through some of Wil Wheaton's short stories.

Eat Pray Love. How else can you sum it up? Just remember that I read it before Oprah (and potentially Julia Roberts) ruined it.

What else?
I played music for the first time in years at the family reunion.
I think I did a funeral too. Did I make it through the year without doing a wedding?? Not to worry, I already have two booked for 2008. :)

Almost had jury duty for the first time.

One of my childhood friends died in a car wreck.

Another friend moved away.

We lost Uncle Gene. :(

Some of my best friends at work got better jobs and moved on. Literally and, I'm hoping, figuratively as well. The world has turned and left me here. Should I mention that I almost got promoted? Nah...

Made some new friends. McGregor, party of four?

My niece got engaged.

Matt got engaged! (All my babies are growing up!)

At least one of my siblings got divorced, possibly two?

I tried a yoga class!

Experienced what I would consider my sickest day ever.

And... I started a blog!

Suck on that!

Here's to 2008!

omlol

1. Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.
2. Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

[via lolcat bible translation project]

now my life is complete, part 1

Guess what I just stumbled upon...




DVD, website, cafepress merchandise...

One is too many. A thousand's not enough.

Brilliant!

worm buckets

worm buckets
Originally uploaded by cæsar

anyone...? anyone...? bueller?

and don't forget the accessories

if i had a myspace page, part 1...

now this is what i'm talking about!
apologies in advance. :D

i hate my 30's

chomp chomp

How excited am I that my Fresh punch card is full? You cannot imagine. What an accomplishment! However, even though I will one day soon feast on a free salad or wrap which I have rightfully earned, I know I will be sad to have to turn in my card full of star-shaped punches. I guess life goes on and I can begin anew, collecting a new set of stars on a fresh Fresh card? Only time will tell...


The back. Just because. My precious!

Hmm... I really like this place.