Crowded House released their first CD in nearly a decade a few weeks back and it has been in heavy rotation at our house since. I thought it would be fun to take Ann to see them in concert and found out last week that they were playing at Foxwoods in just a week’s time. That sealed it. I got on the phone, got tickets and made reservations to stay overnight in the Great Cedars hotel (I figured we wouldn’t want to drive back so late after the concert was over).

We had a complete blast. Crowded House is absolutely wonderful live and lead singer Neil Finn is quite funny as well. Somehow he got on the subject of bassist Nick Seymour being hungry and needing fish and chips as well as how all of the band could use mojitos or, at the very least, tequila. Shortly after, tequila shots and limes were delivered to the front of the stage and at least Neil and Nick partook. A few songs later, a nicely dressed room service cart with fish and chips was rolled out on stage and Nick ate the fish and had a few chips. Neil then took the plate, had a few himself and then began walking along the front of the stage passing out chips to whoever wanted them.

I managed this picture with my iPhone during the concert:

All in all, the concert was wonderful and it ended far too soon. And while they played a nice mix of old and new favorites (and a few songs I never remembered having heard before), they didn’t play Into Temptation, my all time favorite song. Ah well, as Ann pointed out, they could have played for four hours and have left us not having heard all of our favorites.

It was also our first visit to Foxwoods itself. That was a trip. We ended up not bothering to play any games in any of the casinos. It was just too smoky. Cigarettes were everywhere and smoke was everywere. It got pretty gross. But this morning we went to the Grand Spa and Ann got a massage while I “read” (listened to an audio book) and then took a dip in the whirlpool and swimming pool. I even sat in the steam room for a bit. By the end I didn’t want to leave the spa and have become addicted to the whole idea of the place. I haven’t been that relaxed in I don’t know how long.

Alas, we had to head home again and I am dog-tired now. But it was a wonderful way to start the weekend.

Technorati Tags: CrowdedHouse, Foxwoods

When I was 9 years old, I stood on the longest line I’d ever seen to see the new movie everyone was talking about. When the word went down the line that Star Wars had sold out, I think my mother was actually relieved. Still, she did try again and I was able to see the movie finally. She took me a total of three times. Later, during the summer, I visited my sister Ann on Martha’s Vinyard where she was living that summer and as we walked by a movie theater, I heard the sounds of light sabers and begged her to take me in to see it. She bought me a ticket and I went in, half-way through the movie and then sat through it again from the beginning. (Continues…)

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This is how I assuage my lack-of-blogging guilt: updates posts.

So, in no certain order, here goes…

1) Wallace and Gromit: Go see it. It’s fantastic. And stay to the VERY end of the credits. Trust me on this one. Jack loved the movie. He kept leaning over to me during it saying “This is great!” The puns are fast and furious and there are plenty of quick visual jokes you barely catch (it will be a DVD slow-mo movie for sure)… our favorite was the sticker on Wallace’s truck: “Eat more cheese. Ask me how.” All in all, a fantastic movie and highly recommended.

2) Serenity: Also amazing. I will say nothing else lest there be spoilers.

3) Our floors upstairs have been sanded, stained, and the first coat of poly is drying (and we need to escape the house in a few moments as the fumes are killing us). With the rain due the next seven days, I have no idea how long it will take before we can actually use the floors again. In fact, with the weekend and holiday, it may be some time. Ugh. But then again, once it’s done, we can finally move in! So far the floors look amazing and if I knew where the camera is, I’d post a picture. I was so pleased at the good condition of the wood under the rugs. There was only the back room where there are significant stains (even after much sanding). Given the smell of urine when the rugs were taken up, we’re guessing that the former owner had issues with her dog in that room. We chose a stain dark enough to not entirely hide the stains, but make them look like normal variations in the wood.

4) The TV season so far:

* Family Guy: Welcome back! Still funny. Still a favorite. As a newly naturalized Rhode Islander, I especially enjoy the Rhode Island in-jokes (after Ann explains them to me).

* Smallville: So far, so good. This season has started quite interestingly and I’m enjoying where the season appears to be headed. I especially liked the homage to the movies with the fortress of solitude looking virtually identical (or is that ripped from the comics directly?)

* How I Met Your Mother: I find this amusing but I enjoy the chemistry between the lead and Robin and it annoys me that she isn’t the actual future wife and mother. But I’ll get over it. I’ll keep watching a bit more as I think it has some potential and I’m a sucker for Alyson Hannigan.

* Out of Practice: Predictable and somewhat flat but I like Henry Winkler (I grew up on Happy Days) and am willing to give this a bit more time to mature. If they can just avoid the obvious jokes about Paula Marshall’s character being a lesbian any longer, that would certainly help.

* Joey: Ditched. I officially dropped it. The next two shows replace my two Thursday 8PM slots (we have two TiVos). I just don’t care any more.

* Alias: Only watched the opener but looks to be a good season.

* Everybody Hates Chris: Brilliant. We absolutely love this show. It replaced Joey 15 minutes into the first episode.

* Commander in Chief: I am amazed I like this show as much as I do. It is somewhat heavy-handed but at the same time, Geena Davis is wonderful to watch. We both liked the second episode a lot and if the quality stays at that level (and we see more Bruce Boxleitner) we’ll be happy.

* Veronica Mars: Excellent as always. And with Charisma Carpenter now too. How can you not love that?

* Lost: Wow. Even with the answers coming fast, the questions out-pace still. Excellent writing and it is weaving a fascinating mystery.

OK. That’s enough blather for right now. On with your lives!

Technorati Tags: television, homeimprovement, movies