Live Music

I've always been a fan of live music.  I love going to concerts or even the local pizza place with a guy playing covers.  So it was with much anticipation that I finally got my Christmas present.  Sheryl had bought me tickets to Snow Patrol for Christmas and I had it in the back of my mind for the past 3 months or so, but when the date finally got here it seemed like it snuck up on us.  The neighbors agreed to watch Ainsley (no small feat on a weeknight when we likely wouldn't get home until midnight) and off we went.

Of course with all the things that happen on a weeknight we never got a chance to have dinner and tried to stop on the way but figured we were already late and would rather eat there then miss anything.  Good Choice because we were treated to two great opening acts.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we had floor seats.  I think Sheryl would rather have had a place to sit after a long day of work, but I enjoyed the intimacy of being a few feet from the band...it reminded me of Fraternity band parties.  Silver Sun Pickup's were fun to watch, although I admit I only know one of their songs.  But they enjoyed themselves and even continued to play through a few technical difficulties commenting, "I had it when a band just stops."  Both Sheryl and I commented that you don't often see a base player in a full dress, but she looked good and I will probably have to download a few more of Silver Suns' songs.

Next up was OK Go, and I probably would have bought tickets to see them as a single act, so it was a treat that they were part of the larger bill.  Ok Go was a lot of fun, getting the crowd involved in waving their phones or singing along.  I even managed to take the above picture with my phone (which explains the poor quality).  While they didn't do any of their now famous dances, they did have a video screen playing behind them with some neat images.  My only problem was, unless I somehow missed it, they did not play 'A million Ways' and I kept thinking they would do en encore or something.  However as soon as they were done the set up for Snow Patrol started.

I was very impressed with Snow Patrol, because while I love their music, I worried about how they would be in concert.  Most of their songs are emotionally charged, in short, the point in concerts where most people get in the beer line.  I couldn't have been more wrong however.  Their songs still maintained the emotional charge, yet took on almost an anthem like feel.  With their Irish brogue speaking between songs (I think they are actually Scottish) I couldn't help but be reminded of U2.  They got Chasing Cars out of the way early on, which I liked, because if ever there was an example of a good song being over played...this was it.  They pulled a girl out of the audience to sing the female part of 'Set fire to the Third Bar' and she preformed admirably.  They played for quite a while without breaks, pausing only to allow for an encore.  The encore consisted of two of their peppiest hits, including my favorite, 'Hands Open.'

It was a great night, and a nice break to be able to see some top live music.  My wife obviously knows me well to think of this for a gift.

It's not easy Peeing Green

I hold St. Patrick's Day with the same reverence that most people place on Christmas or their birthday.  So when it happened to fall on a Saturday, we started the planning early.  Sheryl lined up a sitter, we bought tickets to Smyrna Market Village and my parents even sent us cab fare. 

The day started with me getting up at 5 am to squeeze in my last long run (really only 13 miles) before my marathon.  At 5 am it was chilly, but comfortable in a long sleeve tech shirt and tights.  That's why I was so surprised when we arrived at Ainsley's Soccer game in the middle of winter.  It was so cold that they shorten the game due to kids crying because from the cold (I am not exaggerating).  I have to hand it to Ains, she didn't complain once except when we talked about possibly skipping the parade due to the weather.

We decided to tough it out and head to downtown for the parade after stocking up on cold weather gear (see picture above).  I rolled my eyes at Sheryl when she found some of those chemical hand warmers, little did I know I would be thanking her later.  We parked near Peachtreee St. and trotted over to the parade, finding a nice spot in the sun before it started.  Ainsley thoroughly enjoyed herself trying to catch beads, even running out to cars to get some.  I liked the bag pipes and the Budwiser Clydesdales and of course her favorite was Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers (What exactly do they have to do with St. Pat's day).  When there was a lull in the parade we tried to convince Ains that it was over because our sunny spot was now shady and windy.  So we crossed the street to leave when Ains noticed that it was still going on and convinced us to stay.  Good thing we did, because the beads and other loot picked up and I even got some beads from the Harriers by shouting, "On On" (that's what Harriers yell to let others know they are On the trail of the Hare...it's also their toast).  It was getting colder and we even convinced Ains that it was time to leave when I noticed a "26" painted on the ground.  Little did I know that we had been standing on the 26th mile of my next marathon.

We finally raced home to prepare for the Adult festivities.  After a lot of Logistical discussions and a few beers (which probably lengthened the logistical discussions) we finally got to Smyrna Market Village to find the street closed off, many tents of beer and the smell of corned beef in the air...in a word heaven. 

 When entering we were giving shamrock tattoos and we were told that there would be a contest later based on placement.  I never saw the contest, but we did have a few entrants in our group.  We drank beer, listened to the bands and bumped into a bunch of our friends.  All in all we had a great time that most of us can't remember the details.  I do know by the pictures (somehow I took 77 that day) that we did a bit of dancing.  The pictures show a progression from relatively civil to...yep they defiantly need a cab ride home.  And cab home we did.  We somehow made it home and I think the next day can be summed up best by a shirt we saw that night:  "Irish today, Hungover tomorrow."  Thank God it was Sunday, otherwise we would have had to call in sick with a case of the Irish Flu.

Yet another way to find out you are getting old...

There are many things that happen through the coarse of your life that tells you, your getting old.  Yelling at some one for touching the thermostat, a creaking knee or mentioning that some young punk is driving like a maniac are all things that happen to us that give us pause and make us shake our head and mutter, "I'm getting old."  The other day at dinner however, one hit me that I never expected.  While dining at a nice restaurant my daughter was being particularly good.  Sitting in her seat and eating her food without too much trouble, when out of the blue she started singing.  Now Ainsley loves to sing and to tell you the truth she is pretty good, when she doesn't confuse volume for passion.  But what she was singing made both my wife and I laugh and ask her about the song.

Ainsley broke into a perfect rendition of the Human League's "Don't you want me, Baby" complete with the Oooohs and everything.  When we asked where she heard that she calmly replied, "It was on a cookie commercial."  After a chuckle, I had a sudden flashback to my parents playing a Beachboys song and me saying, "hey that's the Sunkiss commercial."

Well Thankfully it was only Human League, I mean the day they my daughter starts singing REM or Barenaked Ladies and telling me it's a soda commercial then I'll know I'm getting old.