Blowin' in the Wind

This Valentine's Day, I had the pleasure of floor seats to see B.B. King & Buddy Guy, arguably the 2 biggest names in the more recent history of the blues. I was even more excited because it was at Midland Theatre, which was just recently reopened, and used to be a killer venue.

We got there about 4 minutes into Guy's set, after a desperate move to beat the Valentine's Day dinner crowds (We ate at Stack's). Buddy Guy was just here in December but I missed him then and I didn't even know he was opening for King when I bought the tickets, but was hella stoked when I found that out. And he did not disappoint! At the age of 72, Buddy is still rockin' it out hard. I'd say my favorite was a gorgeous rendition of "Feels Like Rain", but I'd be crazy to not mention his 10-minute voyage through the crowd. He stepped offstage, walked up one aisle, popped behind the bar for a quick drink, and then walked up the other side back to the stage, greeting people and playing guitar the entire time. Freaking awesome. I have a Blair Witch-esque video of this, which I will post later. He talked a bit in between songs, and was hilarious. He also did a 3 minute long medley of other peoples' blues, in which he made fun of "Clapton blues". As much as I love Clapton, it was hard not to enjoy Guy's skeptical version of white boy blues.

After an hour opening set, and 20 minutes or so of stage change, BB King's band came out and played. Musically one of the tightest groups I'd seen, and I now have a newfound love for Melvin Jackson, the sax player. But you all know I have a soft spot for those sax men! So anyway, after what I would guess to be 10-15 minutes of them playing, BB came out to stage & explained that he plays seated because of diabetes & age, which I think we all knew already. He talked some, played some, talked some more, played some, talked more, and then closed with his anthem "The Thrill Is Gone". It's impossible for me to give him a bad review for a number of reasons...the main one being he's BB King. And when he played and sang, it was apparent that he's still "got it". The problem was there was not enough playing nor singing. There was much storytelling and such, which I'm totally okay with for the most part. He is a great storyteller, and has seen a lot and is funny. But when there's more talking than singing, at $100 or so a seat, the masses get restless. Overall, the show kicked ass, and I'm glad I got to see these blues legends before they stop touring. Plus I paid more than that to see Tim McGraw & Faith Hill a couple of years back, and comparison-wise, I would rather have listened to BB King talk for a solid 3 hours than see that show again. :-p

Feels Like Rain - Buddy Guy

It was a busy weekend, full of things that were completely unproductive and glorious!

Here's the rundown:

Friday - Mom's birthday! MC & I took her to a nice lunch at Le Monde(YUM chicken curry soup!!), but her work Christmas party was that evening, so her & Dad went to that. MC & his mom came over for Dinner & A Movie. Officially, we watched no movie. Rather, we played Scattergories, which is always fun. We let the Mom have some answers we wouldn't have given each other, which is how it always goes when Parents Play Board Games... It was a blast, though, and my tacos were delicious. I took no pictures, which bums me out, but it happens.

Saturday - Celebrated Mom's birthday. 1500, went to The Melting Pot, which is always fun, and very expensive. But fun. We were there until a little after 1800, so I'd guess part of the reason they're so expensive is the fact that a full meal takes over 3 hours - that's a long time to have a table tied up for one party. After that we headed over to Music Hall & watched the KC Ballet performance of The Nutcracker. It was pretty awesome - I liked it more than I expected to, and I actually went in with pretty high expectations. The music was wonderful, the dancing was flawless. I didn't get a chance to read the story behind it until afterward, so there were a few points where the plot was pretty much entirely lost on me. I'd decided that it was about one little girl's acid dream, after the tax man drugged her - not quite! :p Once that was over, we went to River Market Brewery for drinks. There was one ridiculously large man there, and his ridiculously drunk friend. They were annoying and we were tired, so we didn't stay but for a couple. They were having a special on their winter bock beer - $1 pints, and it was pretty tasty.







Sunday - Woke up LATE, to Mother Unit telling me it was 8:30. I was supposed to have been at Mike's house before 8 so we could be on our way to Arrowhead by 8:30. SH!T! I got ready in like 5 minutes and headed to his house - stopped for some McD's burritos & we were on our way. When we left his house it was really nice outside, by the time we got to the stadium (about a half hour later) there was freezing rain coming down and the temperature had dropped about 30 degrees!!! I heard on the radio that at KCI it went from 58 to 15 in FIVE minutes. We put our steaks on the grill & huddled in the car drinking the Heine mini-keg. Our seats, in the red zone, kicked total ass save the fact that the wind was blowing directly at us. I didn't mind, in my 4 shirts, 2 coats, scarf/hat/gloves, but Mike was wearing a t-shirt & a peacoat. He ended up buying $120 or so worth of Chiefs warmth, and we ended up moving over by Tina where the wind was less bad but the seats were just about as good. The boys ended up wimping out & Tina and I stayed until just about the end, when it was almost certain we'd win. We left, and by the time we got to the car, it was 2 minute warning. After that the Chargers scored 2 TDs, we missed a FG, and we lost. REALLY disappointing, but it was a good game. And that was about what I expected. After that, went to Tiff's dance recital, and then came home. It was cool to go to it, because I haven't seen her do ballet in a while, and I'm not sure I've ever seen her do en pointe. Tonight I'll go see her do jazz. She is a senior, so this will be the end of the recitals, which makes me sad. Partly because I didn't get to go to enough of them. Good intentions, but you know how that goes!


Considering I took this on my phone, you can tell we were up close & personal! :D


Tiff

christmas songs - Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano

C'mon...in the land of Christmas music, nobody does it better than Jose & his mariachi horns!!

I have had literally no free time lately it seems. And add to that that I've been sick & not keeping food down, and I've been quite stressed. Then add to that Rasta being weird, and I just give up.

House things are falling into place, which is good, but I am frazzled. First off is the fact that once I move in I have no idea how I'll be getting to work for a month or so until I get a license. Which will be just in time for the icy treacherousness that is 210 Hwy in the winter. Then there is the fact that I won't be able to get painted/recarpeted before I move in like I had hoped.

Highlight of my weekend - David Byrne in KC:

Probably the coolest show I've ever been to. He is so amazing. I love him.

Besides that we also went to Em Chamas, Knuckleheads, & Ameristar, all of which are always good. Saw a lot of Krista & Dane & Zeke which was a nice change. Lost my money at the boat. I much prefer Argosy.

I've been super busy at work. Rasta has basically stopped contacting me at all. Generally he will answer my text messages but that's about the extent of it. I don't know if I did something, or if he's bored with this, or if he's just also stressed. I know everybody I'm close to seems like they're having a bad time of it lately. It sucks. His birthday is tomorrow and I am making him something for it. Also giving him an inappropriate gift. Except who knows if that will even happen, any of it... It's getting frustrating. I am thinking I will stop sending him messages and just wait and see if he tries to get a hold of me at all. I have a lot on my plate to be the only person making an effort. Granted, everybody wins in the end when we do get together...I still think though that with this whole 'friends with benefits' thing, even if we aren't having the benefits we should both make an effort to maintain the friends part...Bah. I dunno.

I can't wait for Halloween. I ordered the rest of my costume yesterday. :D I think we're going to be the most badass Spice Girls ever. Even more than the real Spice Girls.

So at first I was not sure I liked this song, but I totally love it now. (Unfortunately it's not on imeem yet...)
Ben Folds & Regina Spektor - You Don't Know Me

Our work picnic is this Saturday, and it will be happening before/during/at a Royals game. In theory, what a great idea. Baseball, America's pastime. The thing about Kansas City sports is...They suck. I am a diehard Chiefs fan, as many of you already know, but...they suck. And will especially so this year, I'm afraid. I believe that the people who support Kansas City sports are the same people who support Kansas City's liquor economy.

Let's see...We have the Chiefs - We played Super Bowl I & Super Bowl IV, and won Super Bowl IV...since then, nothing. That was 1970.
Then there's the Royals, proud winners of the 1985 World Series...since then, nothing.
The T-Bones, our minor league baseball team for 5 years now - best thing they have done is lose in the semi-finals. Although to be fair to them, their drinks are reasonably priced thus making their games worth attending. Plus they had a pretty hilarious promotion when Michael Vick was sent to Leavenworth.
We used to have the Blades - winners of the Turner Cup finals in...When was it? '92, I think...Then in 2001, they ceased to exist.
The Wizards! Hey, they won the MLS Cup in 2000! And the US Open Cup in '04!
So we have exactly one team who has done anything in this decade, and it's soccer. Nobody even watches soccer.

Be that as it may, I expect this game to be relatively fun. Food & giveaways from 4-6, gametime at 6:10. RocMan is bringing "3 hot chicks", and together the 4 of them are going to paint their faces like KISS. I am not sure if it is just a face thing, or full-on KISS garb, but I look forward to finding out. I think. My going, however, is completely dependent on Rasta Man going and that is, at best, up in the air. Cross your fingers! This could be a potentially big night for me! ;)

On an unrelated note, last week I was time studying someone in the ship alone mod, and as I walked by one of his peers, he turned to me and said "You smell like raisins", only he said in this tone of voice like he was paying me the greatest compliment... I respond with "Uhh...ok. I don't even like raisins...", and he says "I think dey smell gooooood." What the hell?!