Weezer in the Rain

I found out something important last week. If concert tickets say ‘Rain or Shine,’ that means the concert will take place outside.

Also, that means there will be rain.

Last Friday, I saw my 12th Weezer concert outside the casino in Cincinnati (the outdoor concert was across the street from the county jail). The Civee graciously accompanied me despite the rain, which started as the opening band (Cincinnati’s Daap Girls) got their set underway. The Daap Girls weren’t the worst Weezer opening band I saw, nor were they the least memorable, so that’s a bonus. Although, the most entertaining part of the Daap Girls set was the dancing of the world’s biggest Daap Girls fan who was standing next to me. The rain let up for a bit before Weezer got started, but ramped back up to torrential levels about four songs in.

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Even with the rain, I enjoyed the show. The set list was along the lines of the greatest hits set they’ve been playing lately (don’t they have a new album they should be working on?) with the addition of No One Else, which was great to hear. They sounded good, and changed up arrangements on some of the songs, including (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To. Plus, they played No One Else.

Something different about this show- the crowd felt older. A lot of the people around us were talking about their kids. There was a family right in front of us, with two kids who looked to be about eight or nine. Seeing that made me think that I may be able to bring Hope to the next show, although I may not be able to get as close as I did Friday night.

Even though we was soaked by the end of the show (more accurately, soaked after standing there for 10 minutes), it was a fun show. The outdoor area of a casino across the street from a county jail made the location interesting. And while I could have done without the rain, it was certainly a memorable show.

King Tom

Old Fashioned TV Schedules

Back before Hope and Luke, the most blogged-about topics here at the Kingdom were 24 and Lost. I was a near-obsessive fan of both shows, and when both shows ended in the spring of aught-ten, so too did my TV viewing habits (not to mention production here on the blog).

I was so entranced by the mysteries of Lost and suspense of 24 that I wanted to give weekly TV a rest. Sure, I watched sitcoms and Chuck, but I didn’t want to get drawn into a new show again. I figured I would wait until a serialized show had either ended its run or had a few seasons under its belt before watching. That way, I could check it out on DVD or on Netflix at my own pace.

I stayed true to the plan. Only recently did I re-enter the realm of the hour-long drama, when The Civee and I started watching Fringe earlier this summer. Created by JJ Abrams and bearing elements of Alias and Lost, I was told by more than one person that I would like it. They were right. While I felt the first season was slow with its mystery of the week structure, once it started getting into its mythology in the second season, I was hooked. We barreled through the first four seasons on Netflix and ended last week. But Netflix won’t have the final season available until Thursday.

This isn’t on the level of seeing Jack Bauer shipped off on a slow boat to China or a bearded Jack screaming at Kate that they have to go back. But it is something I wasn’t expecting to face under the new plan. At least I won’t have too wait a few months to find out how Walter stops the Observers.

King Tom2 Comments

The Giant Inflatable Sumo Wrestler Will Only Lead To More Questions

Near our house there’s a tire place that advertises with giant inflatables. Every week, there’s something different outside the store advertising that week’s deals. It used to be simple, large tires, rabbits or monkeys. But in the past few months, the place has had a steady rotation, mixing in a dinosaur, sumo wrestler and even a large inflatable Elvis to get attention.

Hope loves to talk and ask questions, and the inflatables have started a lot of conversations on our car rides.

The questions started out normal:

Hope: What’s that guy?

Me: That’s a sumo wrestler.

Hope: What’s a sumo wrestler?

Me: Sumo wrestling is a sport they play in Japan.

Or

Hope: What’s that guy?.

Me: That’s Elvis. He’s the king of rock and roll.

Hope: Like Weezer?

Me: Yes, but older.

Hope can see anything and ask for a story about it. Or try and relate it to something else. But we’ve had to be careful, because her questions have gotten more involved. Last time we saw the sumo wrestler, the conversation went something like this:

Hope: What does that sumo guy do?

Me: Well, two of them are in a circle and have to push each other out.

Hope: Isn’t that mean?

Me: It’s part of the game. There’s a referee.

Hope: Is he naked?

Me: No, he’s wearing something.

One topic that we’ve had to start addressing with her is death. Earlier this summer, she had some pillbugs in a container that died overnight. So The Civee and I tried explaining the concept to her. And she won a goldfish at a church festival back in June that has miraculously survived (so far). We knew the topic would come up again, and eventually we would have to let her in on the fact that people die too. A few weeks ago on the radio, the DJ mentioned it was the anniversary of Elvis’ death. This led to another round, once the Elvis inflatable made a reappearance:

Hope: Did Elvis die?

Me: Yes.

Hope: Why did he die?

Me: Ummmm…because he took a bunch of medicine without his doctor or parents saying he could.

She’s asked these questions every time we’ve passed the Elvis inflatable. And we try and steer the conversation back to something positive about Elvis. But it’s better she’s learning about things like death. At the very least, we can use these conversations to have the [other] king teach her a lesson- don’t take medicine your doctor or mom or dad doesn’t tell you to take.

King Tom2 Comments

Going Viral

Something I posted about more than two years ago went viral (as the kids say).

On August 15, 2011, I posted my frustrations about a lengthy receipt from a quick trip to CVS:

And as if CVS wasn’t wasting enough of my time, it seems like they also like to waste paper.  Keep in mind, I had four items.  This was my receipt (I’ve enlisted some of Hope’s toys to give you an idea of the scale):

That receipt is more than a foot long.  I’m not sure whether to throw it out or to give it to a high school marching band so the drum majorettes have something to march behind for their homecoming parade.

According to NBC, I’m not the only one frustrated by these Andre The Giant-scale receipts. But I was the first.

You’re welcome Internet.

King Tom

Happy Birthday Luke!

I did something rare today: I watched TV news around dinnertime. The weather people were talking about the storm that hit Columbus last June 29.

I’ll always remember that storm, but for a reason other than the storm and the damage it caused. While the storm was at its height that afternoon, Luke was being born.

The rest of that day was a blur. In fact, the 12 months since have been a blur. Luke has grown, and is now doing typical toddler things: eating on his own, laughing, playing with his big sister and walking. His walking has improved so much in the past two weeks that we’ve had to re-childproof our house.

At least we’ve had the practice of seeing Hope through these stages to help us with Luke. Having two is a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun.

So happy birthday, Luke. It’s been a fun year.

King Tom4 Comments

Keeping Up With The Kids

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.

And not because there’s been nothing going on. There’s been a lot happening. The Civee and I have been trying to keep up with a three-year-old and an almost-one-year-old who are growing every day.

Not only are Hope and Luke growing, but they’re also doing new things all the time. In the past few weeks, Luke has started walking. Just like with Hope, when he knows the cameras are on, he won’t walk. So this is the best I could do, a video of Luke pushing a bike all the way across Little Kids Space at COSI:

Hope is also going through all sorts of new things. She’s starting to like music other than Weezer (okay, she’s always liked songs by musicians other than Weezer). Ever since my guest DJ stint for CD 102.5 last month, she’s been really into Steve Burns’ Mighty Little Man. Here she is with her rendition of the tune:

We’ve been spending a lot of time outside this spring, especially now that the mosquito defense system is active. Hope has been helping out in the garden and has been a great help with our strawberries. Last year, I thought we had a lot of strawberries. But this year, there were a few days in a row where we picked more than a hundred each day. It got to be so much that we just stopped counting.

I should mention that Hope picked most of those. She’s getting to be very helpful. But probably the best thing about her and Luke growing is they’re growing together. Now that Luke has a personality and can move around and react, they’re starting to have a lot of fun with each other.

Sure they’re cute together, but I think they’re going to be trouble.

 

 

King Tom