cheech and chong

Our first concert for the year was great. Cheech and Chong were wonderful. It was totally an R-rated concert experience. there was adult language, adult situations, and drug references -- because it was Cheech and Chong. they did several of their classic bits from their albums and films. Tommy Chong's wife Shelby was the opening act and did some situational stand-up comedy. In between the skits Tommy also talked about his time in jail on a drug paraphenalia charge and the need to legalize marijuana. There was some good music from "Blind Melon Chitlin" and "Alice Bowie" -- in fact many of their characters made an appearance. There was video enhancement in the background, but the best part was just cheech and chong doing what they do. I did think the sound was too loud, but maybe most of the other old folks there had ruined their hearing at rock concerts in the '70s and needed it that loud. I think the "light up america" tour is a success.

New Year's Eve

We have a tradition on new year's eve -- we go to the market to the mongolian bbq early, then go see the fireworks, which are at 7. i guess omaha is really that provincial that we have the fireworks at 7 instead of midnight like real people -- it's for the families. but anyway, that way we can get home before there are too many crazies out and then just watch tv or something until midnight, if gordi can stay up until midnight. so that's what we did again. and the mongolian bbq was great. and the fireworks were amazing. we were very close and they were all very boomy. the concussions set off all the car alarms in the area -- so we had noisemakers all around, from the fireworks and from all the car alarms. it was cool. then came home and watched the ball drop in times square at 11 (central time) and gordi did fall asleep before midnight but at midnight (central time) i made sure he got a new year's kiss. happy new year.

i've unofficially started Oscar-quest. the nominations do not come out until January 22 so i have to guess what might be nominated. i'm looking at the Golden Globes as possibilities and checking out the buzz. This week i saw Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Milk. and i thought they were all great and Oscar-worthy. Slumdog Millionaire really blew me away. it's about a poor kid from the slums of Mumbai who gets on a game show and knows all the answers. the host thinks he must be cheating, because how could an uneducated kid from the slums know this stuff, but then we see in flashbacks from his life how he knows the stuff. it's fascinating. I had thought Benjamin Button might be hokey, but it wasn't at all. I'd also heard that Kate was great and Brad wasn't all that, but i disagree there too. i thought both acting jobs were wonderful and you really get the sense of the despair at the futility of the situation. and the acting in Milk was great too -- Sean Penn was wonderful in the title role, but Josh Brolin was also amazing as the antagonist, i ended up seeing him as a victim too. Even if these films are not nominated (but they probably will be) i don't regret the time spent at the movies. Last year gordi complained because all the Oscar movies were really depressing, and while all of these have their happy and sadder moments, they are not depressing at all.

bob the bridge

We walked across the Bob bridge today and it was cool. we were singing, "we're on the road to nowhere" while we did it, but we still had fun. it's about a half mile bridge, so parking at lewis and clark landing, walking to the bridge, across the bridge, pausing a minute in Council Bluffs then walking back across the bridge and to the car was about a mile and a half. There were lots of other people on Bob, the bridge to nowhere, along with us. It was really windy, but lots of people were walking, walking with their dogs, riding bikes, skating or skateboarding, pushing people on wheelchairs etc. I can't say for sure it was worth everything it cost, but it seems to be a popular destination for a windy sunday afternoon.

Alice Cooper

My very first concert ever, when i was 13 years old, i went to see Alice Cooper "Welcome to my Nightmare." it set the bar pretty high for future concerts. My second concert, when i was 15, i went to see KISS when they were in full make-up. i've seen tons of concerts since (6 this summer) but i always had a soft spot for Alice, since he was my first. So when i found out he was coming to the casino this summer we bought tickets as soon as they were available. and the show was great! Maybe the best show we've seen this summer (and we saw Ringo and Tom Petty and Neil Diamond). it was outside so they couldn't do quite so much video/lights stuff. but there was action. alice changed costumes at least partially 5 or 6 times (including a bit in a straitjacket). there were 2 'executions' (one followed by a rousing crowd chorus of "i love the dead"). the band was awesome. the lead guitar guy was amazing. Alice's wife and daughters were the backup dancers and they were great. His daughter Calico is the main dancer and choreographer. He sang his big hits ("only Women Bleed," "No More Mr. Nice Guy") some stuff from the new album ("Vengeance is mine") and ended the encore with "Elected." I'd vote for Alice -- he's a troubled man for troubled times!

computer update

ok, i've calmed down a little since my last post. gordi fixed it so my stuff looks way more like it used to. i'm tweaking the preferences to get them the way i like them. there are still a few differences and glitches, but i don't hate the new computer update. and i finally got all my emails out of email limbo and that makes me feel tons better!

computer update

we're updating my computer, and i know it really needs it and it's overdue, but i hate it!! i hate xp. i hate the updated firefox and thunderbird. i hate the updated office. everything looks so weird and ugly. i can't find any of my stuff. every time i want to read an email i have to click like twelve things -- are you sure this isn't junk? if i want to download images i have to add sender to address book -- there's at least 3 more clicks. every time i send an email i have to click whether to send it plain text or html (how outdated is that?) it kept trying to put my new message at the bottom where no one could ever find it. everything used to be so easy; now nothing is easy. i used to love my computer. i loved spending time with my computer. i would spend hours playing on the email, surfing the web. it was like a ballet -- we were in total synch. now everything is icky and awkward. nothing looks right. nothing acts right. i don't have any of my bookmarks. i don't have my address book. i seem to have misplaced the past 4 years of emails. and i really need some of them. i want my old system back. i want my old life back.