Fleetwood Mac "On With the Show" Louisville Concert

They are in their 60s and 70s, consummate performers who seem to love what they're doing--pretty remarkable, since they've been doing it for over 40 years. In fact, Fleetwood Mac could've named their current concert series, "Never Gonna Phone It In."

This iconic album cover, or in my case, 8 track tape cover, is tattooed on my brain. In 1978, when I was 16, Indiana sustained the mother of all blizzards. We were trapped in our houses for a couple of weeks, out of school for about 3 weeks. I've never seen anything like it since. I spent many hours in our tiny den, listening to Rumours over and over. And over. I loved that album and subsequent songs from Stevie Nicks' solo career.

FM reunited with Christine McVie and came to Indy on this tour, but we missed out on the tickets. So we purchased some for Louisville and went to the concert February 17.

Guess what? As if a nostalgic nod to my blizzard memories, a big snowstorm hit Louisville and nearly shut down the town. We were worried the concert might be canceled. We arrived the night before, and the town was a ghost town--restaurants closed, downtown streets had no traffic. It was eerie.

But, as they say, "On With the Show."

I don't know if I ever need to attend another concert by another entertainer. I can't think who else I'd like to see as much, certainly not more. Christine McVie sounded like magic. Lindsey Buckingham is a guitar wizard. Mick Fleetwood is ... crazy good. The other band members, the back up singers, the stage show--all amazing. Which is why I look giddy here. I don't have a "bucket list," but if I did, I could've been crossing off one hope-to-do-before-I-die item because of this concert. I mentioned they've been doing this for 40+ years, and I'm sure they're tired of the same old catalog of songs, but thankfully, they do not exhibit any signs of boredom on stage. They do not disappoint!

I just love Stevie Nicks. Still wearing velvet, boots, gossamer shawls, still twirling with open arms and bowing deep with one foot forward. Still the Gypsy, still the poet in our hearts. Still speaking for the 16 year old in me.

I can't post any snippets of the music, for some reason. So I'll just leave you with this pic we snapped right outside the arena as we walked to our hotel. Lovely night. Thank you for the memories, George.

Set List at Louisville

Puppy Love Lives On -- Boy Bands

Forty-one years ago, about this time in the evening, I was screaming my little teeny bopper head off in the Indiana State Fair grandstand--one tiny, screaming ant-like creature with stringy hair and bell bottom pants, in the midst of thousands of similar screaming ants. It was amazing.

I was 11 years old. I thought I was 16.

Well, I got over Donny quickly in middle school because I saw boys I had never seen before, and HELLO, never looked back. Then when I was in high school and news broke of Donny's marriage, I had to suffer the indignity of all the teasing because I had carried that Osmond lunch box in elementary school like a purple metal engagement ring that always smelled like peanut butter. I deserved the teasing.

I still love purple, however. That was not a convenient adjustment of the moment just to win Donny. I have always loved it. I don't still love that jumpsuit, however.

I titled this post, "Puppy Love Lives On" because tonight, my youngest daughter is on her way to Nashville with a group of friends to see the biggest boy band in the world, One Direction. I almost typed "One Dimension," because I'm old and don't pay attention to boy bands anymore, but boy bands never die; they just reincarnate. There's just something about a boy band, isn't there?

This would be me at about that age. Note that I'm indeed wearing purple. Try not to note the white tennis shoes and socks.









That is also me in that second pic. Still wearing the purple. You won't believe this, but my picket fence teeth grew mostly together without braces. I have no idea.

Anyway, here's to boy bands, not as "Sweet and Innocent" as they used to be, but still charming and "Stil-ish." See what I did there? (That's Harry Stiles of One Dementia. I mean One Direction.)

Have fun, Kristin!

Hi. So I've been taking a little break from Facebook for neurotic reasons, but I think I'll pick up my beloved quill pen and set to work at the old blog annals for a moment or so. I could hardly remember how to sign in.

Catching up:

-Still grandma-ing, three days a week, in my stretchy "grandma-ing pants," otherwise known as "yoga pants" or "yogurt pants," because my girl, JRoo, sneaks yogurt onto me which I notice later when I'm in public, of course.

-Still running. Have a goal of 500 miles in 2014. I'm half-way there, so a bit behind, but I'm not giving up.

-Embarking on new adventures in eating gluten-free and eating all-around healthier. Mainstay is a big old honkin' protein smoothie each day.

-Still daughter-ing my mom the two days of the week when I don't have JRoo. Mom has been a widow for a full year now. Mostly we talk about bodily functions. (Hers.) We also go to the doctor, the Walmart and the hairdresser.

-Sent my youngest back to college to begin her last year.

-Waxing nostalgic daily as evidenced my pinning vintage 1970s everything on Pinterest, even hair yarn and Liddle Kiddles. It's a midlife crisis.

-Reading East of Eden by Steinbeck.

-Hanging onto summer as long as I possibly can.

What were the things I used to blog about?
TV shows (American Idol, Lost) -- Current favorites: "Mr. Selfridge," "Downton," "The Voice," and my guilty pleasures, "Celebrity Apprentice" and "The Talk."
My kids, parents and dog (Still have the same ones.)
Walmart (I'd like to see the study that shows how much of our lives we spend there, like they tell you about sleeping.)
And my standby: "I Know You Think I Make This Stuff Up," posts about weird experiences, like falling one year ago today and breaking my arm because I thought a creepy man was after me while I was running. [Insert eye roll.]

Yep, this is it, the Seinfeldian blog about nothing--2nd Cup of Coffee.

News-Breaking Post: You're So Vain, Carly

I'm just a little ... verklempt. For those of you who don't speak Yiddish like I do from my Pennsylvania Dutch background, that means, "choked with emotion."

People -- I know there's a lot of serious, gut-wrenching news going on lately. But amidst the tsunami in Hawaii and earthquake in Chile comes a news report that has former hippies everywhere tapping the "back" button on their DVRs to hear this once again:

CARLY SIMON FINALLY REVEALS THE SUBJECT OF "YOU'RE SO VAIN."

Yes, apparently, on a new recording she whispers the name "David" somewhere in the song. You can play it backwards; you can play it forwards, but either way, it sounds like Gollum spilling the beans to me. Listen and tell me what you think:

creepy soundbite

Then came the speculation about who "David" could be. In the last 24 hours, the consensus was that "David" is David Geffen, who was head of Carly's record label back in 1972. Apparently, if this theory is true, Carly was put out by Geffen's lack of attention toward her career compared to his enthusiastic promotion of Joni Mitchell's.

Can you say, "Anti-climactic?"

However, today we are learning why David could not have been THAT David. See this Gather news article for the details about the rebuttal.

In a nutshell, the fact that Geffen is a homosexual does not help the "Geffen is the David" campaign.

Can this story get any more riveting?

Only if I throw in MY two cents.

First of all, a few days ago, I was listening to the radio when YSV came on.

"My goodness," I said in my middle aged voice to no one, "That is the ultimate American pop song. It never ages. The theme is timeless: scorned lover strikes back. Her searing, clever lyrics are way better than keying a car for revenge. The music is great. I must buy this song immediately and put it on my Ipod machine next to all of my other ancient golden oldies."

Which I did.

Have you ever noticed that when you listen to a quality stereo or wear ear buds that you hear things you never heard through your 1972 black transistor radio with the vinyl cover that had 100 tiny holes in it?

For instance, I never knew that Carly whispers "Son of a gun" at the beginning of the song. Did you?

And I always thought the word that follows "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself ..." was "go by," but it's "gavotte," which means "prancy little French dance." OUCH. Good one, Carly.

Finally, I never knew the harmony was by someone other than Carly. Google tells me it was Mick Jagger.

MICK JAGGER? Wasn't he one of the contenders for the subject of the song? Wouldn't singing back up disqualify him? But wait--Doesn't Mick GAVOTTE all over a stage when he performs? Yes he does! See exhibits A,B,C and D:










Oh, wait a minute. That last one is not Mick, is it.

Anyway, my head was spinning.

And then just a few days later, this David story breaks.

Do I have my finger on the pulse of useless pop news, or what?!

As I researched the articles to write this post (Hey, that's what professional bloggers do, and I'm a professional blogger, only I don't get paid) I realized the great irony of it all:

The longer Carly keeps us waiting with Anticipation for the revelation of the YSV protagonist, the more we talk about her. The more the song is about HER.

She keeps us in the dark because she knows we will keep talking about her for another 38 years! Is that not the HEIGHT of vanity??

Carly--are you so very vain?

If not, then just tell us, already!

PS: The very latest word on "David" is ... Bowie. Could be. He could certainly gavotte around, too.

Question: Without naming names (just like Carly) is there a "gavotter" in your past? One for whom this song could have been written?

As for me ... yes, there certainly was. He "gave away the things he loved, and one of them was me." And if he's reading this post, he probably thinks this post is about him. :)

Friday's Fave Five-A Book, A Movie, A Blouse, A Food, A Song(s)

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story continues her highly acclaimed and successful Broadway smash of a meme: Friday's Fave Fives! (Wild applause.)
Here is my list.

1. My Favorite Book This Week

As you probably know, I don't read much fiction. However, I did find a novel recently that I'm waaaay into, as in I'm falling asleep each night reading it and can't wait to pick it up again. It's called An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan, St. Martin's Press, 2007.

I like it because the characters are rich and the dialogue is true and the author slips in great witticisms and observations through the characters' thoughts and dialogue. Here's an example of a passage that I stopped and re-read three times.

The passage describes the way the protagonist, Lydia, feels about her mother and then her father:

"Loving her and admiring her, still Lydia had always looked to her father as one looks instinctively at the clock; that must be right. That will tell me where I am."

2. My Favorite Movie This Week:












"Every Girl Should Be Married," 1948, Cary Grant and Betsy Drake. I didn't know until after the movie that Grant and Drake were married for about 10 years.

These classic movies entertain me on several different levels. One of the weirdest ways they engross me is the difference in standard pronunciations from then and now. I don't know what accent it was that they were all using, but it seems like all Hollywood female stars pronounced "girl" "gull."

"Yes, she's a lovely gull, isn't she?"
"Quite."

3. My Favorite Purchase This Week:

A blouse from Maurice's, which is similar to this:















4. My Favorite Food This Week:

It's a repeat, but I LOVES it ...






Pure Protein Peanut Butter Bars. Twenty (20!) grams of protein. It's like a chocolate bar that is good for me. I have about three BOXES of this bar in my cabinet right now. It's a great mid-afternoon chocolate craving snack.

5. The Song That Has Stuck in My Head All Week:

It's a tie:

A. Carrie Ann by the Hollies

B.

Candy girl (sugar, sugar) - Archies

So I hope that leaves on a happy note to start the weekend. Thanks, Susanne!

As The Bradys Taught Us, "When It's Time to Change, You've Got to Rearrange."

It was time. The cappuccino machine was great, but I couldn't take the dark colors one more day. I still have that template in case I ever want to resurrect the machine, but this feels like I've opened the top of my imaginary Hollywood convertible and let the sun kiss my face and wind tousle my ... bangs? Now that's happiness.

Besides, I've always wanted to change with the seasons, and now I'll be able to easily. And originality? Perhaps overrated. So what if other people have this design? It makes me happy. Floral print, high heel, red nails, Hollywood wave happy.

OK, so the clip art is not classy.

Hello, McFly, have you noticed the content of this blog? Not so classy. Maybe klassy on a good day.

So I'd like to hand a big thank you to Chelsea of Aqua Poppies for this design. She is obviously classy.

And now I leave you with two awesome things.


1. My contribution to Internet Cafe today, where it appears as though I have merely repeated my newspaper column, but upon further inspection you will see near the end of the column that there is a picture and note I could not publish in the column which adds quite a little punch to the whole thing. Thus I dared to call it "awesome."

2. The Bradys singing, "When It's Time to Change." This will be in your head all day once you listen. You're welcome.

Breaking News You Can't Live Without: 30 x 5 is Now Over 60 Strong and What I Had in My Purse

Here we are in our first weekend of the 30 x 5 Challenge!

I don't know about you, but for me, weekends have always been challenging regarding remaining faithful to any eating/moving schedule. It's like suddenly I'm on a cruise and lose all rationality about what I'm eating and doing or not doing. It's "Vacation Mindset" syndrome, and it can really set me back in motivation. And it's only two days!

So today and tomorrow, I'm anticipating some sluggishness of spirit and some distraction from goals. I'm also anticipating the urge to take weekend afternoon naps and dream of chocolate and peanut butter, but I WILL be strong. I'll resist those urges. Do you know why I'll be strong?

Because of you, and that's not just a Kelly Clarkson ballad.

I so badly want to be able to look you in the cyber eye and tell you that I continued to move this weekend and did not lose my forward momentum. As Amrosia said so eloquently in 1978, "That's how much I feel, feel for you, Baby."

Keep sending me your reports as you feel like it because I am really enjoying reading them. Some of you are experiencing very inclement weather and uncooperative muscles, yet you are pushing through the obstacles. And to that I say: Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I would like to be. I can fly higher than an eagle; You are the wind beneath my "wings," which is just my cute nickname for my upper arms.

To help keep us energized and focused, how about committing a random act of kindness this weekend by choosing four people from the list at the right and dropping them a note of encouragement? You could do two today and two tomorrow.

Let's build some community along with building muscles.

Wow. I just made that up, and it ranks right up there with Tony Robbins' stuff.

Tony has a new book out called The Power to Shape Your Destiny. After that great tag line I just made up, I think I'm going to write a book about the 30 x 5 Challenge: The Power to Re-Shape the Junk in Your Trunk.

So keep at it, and always remember, when you're in Target and your purse feels entirely too heavy, it may be because you forgot that you put a grapefruit in it before work yesterday.






The winner of the book in which I'm a contributor, A Cup of Comfort Devotional for Mothers and Daughters, goes to new blogger
Kathy at KLS'S Korner. Congrats, Kathy! It's always fun to see a new blogger win something. I would autograph it, but my signature would be bigger than my actual contribution, so let's just leave it at that. Thanks again to Five Minutes for Moms for hosting this annual extravaganza.

"In the News" and Saturday Mornings

Do you remember the children's mini-news show that aired between cartoons on Saturday mornings in the 70s called "In the News?" The segments were two and a half minute long and ran eight times a morning on CBS. Here's a 20-second snippet of one. I'm not sure who the narrator is; do you recognize the voice?

Anyway, Here's my version of "In the News" today, although it's not exactly cutting edge:

Item 1: Surely I am not the only person to notice the irony of an FDA Commissioner named Hamburg. You can read about President Obama's choice for this position in this Reuter's story, but mainly, I just think it's kind of funny that a Margaret Hamburg would oversee an agency in charge of saving us from deadly salmonella outbreaks, among other things.

Hamburg? Salmonella?

I wonder if Ms. Hamburg will be assisted by Mayor McCheese.

And Bernie Madoff? "Made off?" Seriously?

These are like bad jokes.

Item 2: Did you have to clean up your room on Saturday mornings when you were a kid? What am I saying--I still clean my bedroom on Saturday mornings.

Remember how you'd try to hide junk like Mr. Potato Head parts because you just didn't know where to put them? Apparently, the U.S. is still using that strategy, dumping junk in space.

In case you haven't heard, three astronauts had to quickly get into a Soyuz thingy which I imagine to be a like a space lifeboat or a bedroom closet because some debris was coming at them too quickly to move the whole space station. So they kind of hid and peeked out windows like I do when someone comes to our front door at night. All this transpired in nine minutes.

According to this Reuters story, some smart person named "Humphries" said,"Even tiny objects pose a risk to satellites and spacecraft orbiting Earth. Because objects in orbit are moving on different paths, at different inclinations and at speeds of 17,500 miles per hour and faster, something as small as a grain of sand can impact with the power of a bowling ball moving at 100 mph, Humphries said.'

That Humphries is a show off.

Anyway, the object, identified as a "blue leg from a Cootie Game," nearly took out the $100 billion Space Station. Just kidding. It was a piece of rocket engine.

In the same article, "Humphries" said that if it had hit the station, the astronauts would have had only 9 minutes of air.

Yikes.

Someone needs to go to space and really clean up that junk, although it seems like there should be infinite room for most everybody's stuff out there, don't ya think? Maybe if we do a good job of cleaning up, we can collect our allowance and have dessert!

Moon Pies?












Hey, I'm writing at the Cafe today. Care to check it out?

Tomorrow is Scarf Day, and I'm Excited: An Ode To Scarves

In Honor of Scarf Day (Apologies to Crosby, Stills and Nash)

"Teach Your Children Well"

You, who are on the road
Must have a code
That you can live by
And so you must buy some scarves
And try to get
Yourself a good buy.

Teach your children well
Their father's scarves
Were merely bad ties,
And lead
Them onto dreams
Of the ones they'll pick,
The ones they'll bow-tie.

Don't you ever tie them tight
If they choked them you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh
And know they need scarves.


See ya at the carnival!

Pierce My Heart With "Mama Mia!" (A Weekend of ABBA)

Actually, regarding the title of this post, it would be more accurate to say, "Pierce my ears," and I don't mean with earrings.

But I'm going to be nice and not say that. But I will say, "Oh, Pierce. Some people loved you as 007. But Remington Steele was ... sigh." I think Stephanie Zimbalist's character has had the last laugh on Mr. Steele.

Observations about "Mama Mia!":

*Appropos the title, why wasn't it set in Italy?

* Why don't I like musicals when every female in the world including Rosie O'Donnell loves them? Chromosomal abnormality? Why couldn't it have been hot flashes that I do not share with my sex?

* You know how they just used one word, "Grease" for the title of that show? If they were going to go with one word for "Mama Mia!" it would be "Drinks!" Or maybe, "Greece."

* I kept thinking, "Who is the target audience of this movie? Who are they trying to reach? Who? Who?" But then I looked around the theater, and besides the two rows of women I went with whose average age is probably 49, I'd say everyone else in the audience was exactly a 50 year-old female. Not quite Grandmama Mia, but almost. I am she. I am the target audience. I am the oldness.

* So glad to see the salute to any lifestyle of choice besides a traditional one, because if there's one storyline that's not being done to death in films and TV today, it's that there's more than one way to be married and form a family that's way better than 99% of the audience's way. Seriously, is there any bigger cliche now?

* Remember when you studied Greek mythology? There was always a Greek chorus narrating and moving the plot along. Well, there is actually a Greek chorus singing back up in most of these songs. Thought process: "Oh, so that's what it must have been like in ancient Greece. You said, 'I'm going to fetch the sheep,' and then 10 people turned and sang enthusiastically, 'You're going to fetch the sheep now!'" Marriage therapists have been trying to get couples to communicate in this mirror-messaging fashion for years, but the Greeks totally originated it.

* I don't understand the casting of this movie. Christine Baransky plays a sort of a middle-aged Rizzo sidekick-type to Donna (Streep), only not a mean Rizzo, or that other "b" word people toss about lightly now but a supportive Rizzo. Julie Walters was a sort of nice Rizzo, too, only less drunk and only a little less man-hungry. They formed a friendship stemming from being a singing act in the 1970s. On Mars, apparently.

The three male leads (Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan) were also, a-hem, woefully mature. But the casting part I can't understand most of all is the singing ability of the cast. Meryl Streep did fine, I guess, and the young female lead, Amanda Seyfried, was sweet as dew on honeysuckle. I had just seen Seyfried in "Mean Girls" the other evening on TV and didn't even recognize her in the movie.

But the males? Their singing? Oh, I almost crawled under my seat looking for ABC gum to re-wet and stick into my ears and eyes and nostrils and scalp pores.

* Meryl Streep wearing overalls. Playing air guitar. Executing an Olympian gold-standard toe-touch while jumping on a bed. Jumping off a pier. Just generally jumping around a lot. Has Meryl never delivered a child vaginally? Because how does she jump like that and not diddle in her overalls?

* ABBA. What the heck does it mean in Swedish? Oh, those songs were great. I didn't even know how much I liked them. There was one song I thought they weren't going to destroy sing, but they worked it in near the end. I won't give it away, although I can't really say as there could be a "spoiler" to this movie.

* Highlight of the movie: I think this was the most beautifully filmed movie I've ever seen. Every scene was a delight; my eyes darted all over taking it all in. It's difficult to describe. Even the walls in the villa were gorgeous. Splashes of Mediterranean hues everywhere, pastels and brights, ethereal clothing, gorgeous water and sky ... I guess the one word that describes that whole movie is "vibrant." Where it lacks talent, sense and ... sense, it exudes vibrancy and dare I say it? Fantasy.

And just in case you think I've been too hard on Pierce, behold the short video below, but be ready.

Then check out ABBA rocking the blue eye shadow in 1978. Feel free to dance around your family room singing into a hairbrush, having the time of your life, Dancing Queen. And don't miss my other ABBA fav in the 2nd (it's actually the 3rd on this page, though): "Take a Chance on Me." Note that the girls have on the same clothes in both videos. ? At about 2:55 into the 2nd ABBA one, the brunette busts some awesome moves.







PS: I had this great idea. You saw it here first, so consider it copyrighted. I think I'll write a whole musical using songs from Electric Light Orchestra!