Sunday, July 20, 2008

One Year| Month Six: Top of the World



This weekend was pretty mellow. Tim and I took Timon, the wayward intern at TopSpin out for sushi on Friday night. Timon is still in college and yet is far smarter than Tim and I combined. He is a math major if that gives you any hint.

Then Saturday Tim headed out to see Dark Knight. I could tell from the previews it was going to creep me out. I will wait for it on DVD when I can pause it etc.

And Sunday we reserved to spend together. But today when it came we had no idea what we wanted to do. And Tim had the bright idea to head to Temescal Gateway Park up the street from us and do a little hiking. We had done this once before and liked it. There was an elusive waterfall trail that the prior time we had somehow missed.

Tim decided to test out his new GPS device for his camera. It allows feed information into each photo letting you know EXACTLY where in the world it was taken.

We were meandering up the trial and talked to a guy on the trail who said that getting to the top was ideal for photographs. As he said "A tripe Nikon" moment. We were already a little winded and doubted we would make it to the "top."

But as you can see from the picture we did. It was gorgeous. It was a bit hazy so we could not see all the way to downtown but being able to see the ocean and Century City all in one view was still amazing and well worth the hike up. Thankfully, what comes up must come down and going down a mountain is far easier than walking up.

Our muscles were a little jiggly afterward but I think we will be okay. We'll see how things are tomorrow morning. We would like to start hiking more. First, I need to get some better hiking shoes. I wore my chuck taylor converse. Not exactly serious hiking shoes, what with no cushioning or traction. I think a trip to REI is in my future.

Check out all of Tim's pictures from the hike here. Also check out the map of the pictures. It gives you a rough idea of our route.

Monday, July 14, 2008

One Year | Month Six: The Who


A few months ago Tim was passed some secret information about this concert that would involve Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam and The Who.

Well, it was exactly secret...and he wasn't so much "passed" the information as emailed about it through the Pearl Jam fan club. So he told me about the concert and asked if I would like to go? And as I like all four of the above mentioned bands I said sure. The best part is it wasn't someplace far away or difficult to access from our home near the ocean. It was the VH1 Rock Honors.

Saturday, July 12 came. In preparation for the event we visited the dentist in the morning because everyone knows The Who were big proponents of good dental hygiene back in the day. Okay, not really, it was just a fluke. But it didn't hurt, you never know who you might meet.

That night we rolled out to UCLA. Traffic to park was not bad at all. It turns out UCLA knows how to deal with big crowds of people.

We got to the Pauley Pavillion around 7p. An hour before the show was to start. It was a good thing because that was around the same time the other million people there to see the concert showed up. And all of us had to filter through four or five metal detectors. While we waited we did some people watching. There was every group represented in the crowd, young and old there to see The Who et al. There was also a WIDE range of dress. We saw women in practically ball gowns to men in cargo shorts and flip flops. It was crazy. Tim and I were in our usual casual attire of jeans and tee shirts. Keep it simple for a concert after all.

We bustled into our seats and were excited to find though we were high up from the floor we had an excellent view of the stage. I was thankful I finally broke down and got contacts so that I could see far. We sat back and waited for the show to start.

First, David Duchovny introduced the Foo Fighters. Not sure how he and The Who go together but whatever. Foo Fighters came out and were rocking from first note. They did Bargain and Young Man Blues.

A set up was rolled out including a pinball machine that clearly indicated some Tommy was going to be played was rolled out. As well as a large plastic bubble with a person in it. (But who was inside?!) Rainn Wilson took Elton John's part in introducing The Flaming Lips. The lead singer was in the giant plastic ball and used it to surf the crowd. It was very cool. The Flaming Lips did a Tommy Medley. I was a little disappointed that Eyesight to Blind was not part of it. But the theater dork in my was pleased with any part of Tommy being performed.

Then Incubus played. Neither Tim or I are Incubus fans and they didn't do a great job at their cover of The Who. They did "I can See for Miles" and "I can't explain." Both were okay but weren't as good as the prior to bands. Tim and I had a lengthy discussion after the concert of other bands that would have been a good replacement for Incubus.

Tenacious D did Squeeze Box which was perfect for them. And they did it well.

Then Pearl Jam was up. Pearl Jam covers tons of The Who songs in their own concerts so Tim and I had been speculating about which songs they would cover. The first was "Love Reign O'er Me" which was so powerful and I got teary. Then they did "The Real Me." Which was also great.

And then, last but not least, The Who. They did 9 songs so I can't comment on each one but those guys can still rock it! Due to high corporate aspect of the concert (being thrown by VH1) there was NO encore. So unlike most concerts where people come out at least once for one more song, the show seemed to be over very abruptly. It was good nonetheless.

And then Tim and I headed home, our ears still ringing a little but pleased to check another awesome band off our "To See Live" list.

If you feel left out that you didn't get to go to the concert you can catch it on VH1 this Thursday July 17, 2008 and probably many months to come.