VirginFest!

Yesterday's festival experience was amazing! I saw some excellent live music. My favorite sets were The Who and The Raconteurs. I must say that their live act is TEN times better than the album. And Jack White is phenomenal. He's also kind of cute in person too! The Who were absolutely fantastic. They played an 80 min set and many of the festival artists were on the left side of the stage watching their set with mouths agape - and rightly so! The Killers were great too. This was my first time seeing them and the Chili Peppers and I wasn't disappointed. Although I wish the Chili Peppers had played more older stuff. They played NOTHING from Mother's Milk. The camera Nazis were about and video taping was NOT allowed. But I managed to get quick 5-10 second clips of songs. Plus lots of pictures. It looks like vests are back in fashion since a lot of the artists were wearing them. (Except for Gnarls Barkley - who came out dressed in Roman apparel complete with bronze breastplates and togas. They called themselves "Chariots of Fire" - lol. Cee-Lo's voice transfers VERY well live. They had a live band and string quartet backing them up. They were one of the most impressive sets of the day). I missed the Scissor Sisters & Flaming Lips set because they were on at the same time as The Who and Chili Peppers. There were Southern Comfort fruit smoothie drinks that cost $10 a pop. Beer was $8. I got stepped on by several people and hit on the head by several beach balls and people crowd surfing over me, plus I had other people's drinks spilled on me. But hey, I expected these things since it was a festival setting. (This is why I only go to these on occasion!) But I must say, this was one of the best ones I've been to as far as line-ups. They said there were over 40,000 people there. It was NOT a sell-out since they made 60,000 tickets available. Still, I say that was quite enough people because I was smashed up against a side gate for most of the major sets and it started getting hard to breathe. There was NO elbow room at all. It was an absolute nuts-to-butts situation. All in all, I'd say this was a successful venture(I got my money's worth), glad I went EARLY to miss out on the traffic jam that happened later (my cousin was caught in this!). Now if I can just get my voice back from all the screaming that I did. Plus my leg muscles are so sore from standing for about eight hours. Am I getting too old for this? Naaaah!

I love Seattle and a booze cruise

So I was in Seattle Sun through Thursday of this week working a trade show. I have to say that this city is just so incredibly cool, that it is the only place (other than the great state of TX, of course) where I can easily envision myself living for a while. The people are so nice and laid-back, the overall pace is slower than the break-neck speed of the rat-race here in the DC area. And the FOOD, oh my God, I had the best salmon and banana creme pie I have ever tasted in my life. PLUS, I love the fact that I can have a new micro-brew every day of the year. (My new fave is Pyramid-Hefenweizer - or however the hell it's spelled). And the Pike Market? And the fact that it has a very cool music scene? And that it's a hop, skip and a jump away from Canada in case I need to flee from the law? Yeah, it's a no-brainer.

So tomorrow night the company I work for is sponsoring a small three hour cruise on the Potomac. I see visions of the "booze cruise" episode of The Office. :) I sincerely hope it isn't that bad. However, I hear it will be a tiki bar theme, so if a limbo stick is involved, all bets are off.

Fantasy Football, Labor Day, New month

What up, homies? I have been busy working on all sorts of projects at work. But that's okay. I thrive on deadlines!! Now I have a three day weekend ahead of me - thanks to Labor Day.

Last night we had our Fantasty Football league draft. Guess who was the first in line to pick? Uh-huh, yours truly! So you KNOW who I snatched up - one Mr. Shaun Alexander. That's right. My team, the Slytherin Snakes, will rule the world. They should just skip all the formalities and just hand over the pool.

Can you believe it's September already?? I can't. Too bad it's rainy, windy and cold today, thanks to our buddy, Ernesto.
I will be in Seattle in 10 days - wow - with my boss and one of the salesguys for a trade show. It ought to be a good time! (heh, heh, heh) ;-)

You know, my mom just can't get a break. She had to go back into the hospital because the sutures from her first operation came undone. She had to wear a stint with some sort of drainage container. Since her immunity system is so weak, she also now has a stomach virus where she can't keep any food down. She sounded weak over the phone today. But she said she's feeling better and her temperature is getting back to normal - thank GOD. She even had my dad worried. He half-jokingly/half-seriously asked if he should call a priest to perform the last rites. That made mom laugh. So I don't think she's going anywhere - at least not without a fight. I don't know what we'd do without her. I think I will make her a mix CD. There are many songs out there with her name in it (Maria/Mary) so perhaps I'll just collect them all on one disc for her.

Well I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. See ya!