Beyond Binkies, Code and Make-Believe

Squeeze at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland

We had an amazing night last night in Portland.  We bought tickets - FACE VALUE for Squeeze at the Wonder Ballroom.  I love skipping Ticketmaster.  We enjoyed a great dinner at Russell Street BBQ and then stood in line for the show for a few minutes before being let in.  It was general admission.  We, of course, were right in front of the stage - not even one person away.  It's a smaller venue which added to the excitement. 

Phantom of the Opera - Keller Auditorium

Richard Todd Adams made and saved the night.  His performance as "The Phantom" outshined Robert Guillaume in the same role.  I did not have the pleasure of seeing Michael Crawford. I missed it by two months.  Gerard Butler did a fine job in the movie, but his performance did not match that of either leading ladies.

Richard Todd Adams brought back what this is about - the Phantom!  He did slightly nuts well.  He really conveyed the dementia brought on by his afflictions.  The passion, the emotion - it was his show.

Doing the Dishes for Mom - ala "Enchanted"

Last night was a long night.  I had a project launch go kaplooey and had to work to remedy for hours off the clock last night.  The children seemed to figure out that I really needed a team effort while I moused my little heart out for the next five hours.  They took it upon themselves to "take care of the kitchen" for me.

Frank Sinatra - a great way to end the day

I rarely go on YouTube - I do it when I want to see old, dead stars singing great songs.  I miss them.  Frank, Gene, Fred, Bing, Judy.  Here's how I'm ending my night, "Fly me to the moon."

You've Got a Friend

I found it quite creative, but mean.  Our 3 1/2 year-old son has taken a shining to the James Taylor song, "You've Got a Friend."  He knows most of the words and loves to just break into song.  Today was different. He was not happy with his sister and wanted to tell her just how much he wasn't happy with her.

Here is one of his attempts to make nice a few days later: MOV06963-1.wmv (5537.0K)

High School Musical at Keller Auditorium

I have to admit it.  High School Musical - the stage version, not the movie - was FANTASTIC.  It wasn't an inexpensive adventure, but well worth it.  I refused to pay what the schools wanted for tickets.  Fundraiser or not, I disliked the movie so much that I wasn't about to pay $100 for tickets - EACH.

OCD CDO - He's my brother

For those of you who don't know -- OCD should really be CDO - alphabetical order.

My brother came to visit for dinner last night.  I love my brother dearly.  As the evening went on the subject of music, iPods and the like came up.  We compared notes on how we three adults organize our music.  My husband just... marveled... perhaps that isn't the word.  Maybe was a bit freaked out by the fact that my brother and I who, although we get along great, we don't visit about personal styles too often, organize our music the same way.  Our songs are in alphabetical order by song title on our iPods.  My husband is more of an album or artist sorter. 

Rolling Stones in "Shine a Light" was FANTASTIC!

My husband is a big Rolling Stones fan.  Right now concerts are out of the question with any type of decent seats.  Martin Scorsese gave us a great solution with the IMAX presentation of, "Shine a Light."  WHAT A BLAST!

The music was fantastic, the entire presentation was so enjoyable I smiled a big open grin through the entire thing. We were surprised how few people were in the theater with us, even though it was a matinee, there were fewer than 30 people.

Once and Watershed - what a nice way to say, "I love you."

This Valentine's Day was quite fun.  It's actually the best I can remember.  Our home was polluted with construction paper hearts everywhere.  The children had stashed items for each of us under their beds.  My favorite treat was music from my husband.

Chamberton - OC alternative rock band

We have great friends in Laguna Beach.  James revealed a part of his life that we didn't know about until recently. HE was in a band.  Not just any band, but a touring band that went to Japan.  This was brief, but he's still a musician and now they are getting the band back into the recording studio.  Latest updates - they are laying the final tracks for the album and there is talk of movies.