Karma Police

The Great RH Road Trip:  Day two, Getting Into the Show or The Night the Radiohead gods Showed Mercy and Smiled on Emily

I had a hard time figuring out the RH lyric or song that would be the best fit to title this post until the obvious choice dawned on me.................Karma Police...................

(FYI:  The runners up were:

A Wolf at the Door

[Nice Dream]

Fitter Happier

and

Sit Down, Stand Up)

Would have also worked:  Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box................Ah, the fun I have.

You see, this post is the story of a girl, a loyal, patient fan of a certain little band.  She loved this band dearly, and it took a long time for this girl to finally be able to see this favorite band in person.  She was very patient about the wait too, and hardly ever complained about it (I took a liberty in those last few facts).  When she was finally in a position to see this band, obstacles met her at every turn.  Tour dates were announced.  She wanted to see this band with her husband and he is in school until April and this was going to require a road trip.  The first dates released didn't include some areas of the country they were very willing to travel to, and these first dates were all during the week, during school.  So she bit her nails, sat on her hands and waited and waited for more dates to be announced.  Of course they would announce more dates!  Those tickets went on sale.  Those concerts sold out.  More dates released!  She picked a few convenient locations and waited for presales.  Presales for the excellent tickets (ie general admission, floor) were sold early on the band's own website.....................on her niece's wedding day.  Posh........so what?  So we miss the presale.  There will be more tickets through Ticketmaster, even GA ones.  We will be at the computer the second they are released-no problem. Ah, how young I was then.

PROBLEM.  What happened next was some major sold out madness.  Tickets were gone within seconds of release.  A few tickets came up.  Nosebleeds.  Ok.  No problem.......... lets wait a few days and not go to that concert, we'll go to California.  Same thing only worse.  What was going on????  More sitting on hands and waiting for more Ticketmaster sales.  Presales:  gone in seconds.  Few days later:  Ticketmaster gone before they were even on sale.  Backup plan instigated.  Go to some secondary ticket seller sights and see what's up.  YIKES!  Every venue had tickets we wanted...........................................for 400 + bucks a pop.  Every venue except for one.  Enter:  Glendale Arizona.  For some reason, lovely Arizona- you had tickets for just a bit over ticket price.  You were hundreds of dollars less then everywhere else.  I don't know why.  I wonder if because you are in the Southwest, and therefore a bit out of the way for much of the country.  This girl didn't care!  Glendale it was.  We chose GA tickets for about double the cost of an original ticket.  The difference will not matter in 10 years right?  Tickets in virtual shopping cart.  Fees tacked on.  Triple the price now?  Regroup.  Lets find the best section in the place and be happy we are actually seeing the best band in the whole world (and bring binoculars).  Lets see........ tickets for 3 people.  Can't do that?  Awesome sis in law steps up and declares she will sit alone and buy a single ticket a little higher in the venue and be totally cool about it.  Done.  Tickets bought.  Relief: sighed.

Now this girl may be getting on in years a little bit, but she can still rock it with the best of them front and center amidst a million pushing and sweaty moshing fans.  In fact, in her opinion, that's the only way to do it.  You know what though?  Sometimes everything doesn't turn out the way we want it to and we make compromises and we deal with it and we consider ourselves lucky we get to be there at all.  You know.........people are lining up for these concerts 10 hours early and waiting in a queue all day just to get a good spot.  Sounds like the floor is going to be madness and scary.  Perhaps being in a GREAT seat, with a little room and a pair of binoculars is going to be great.  Yep.  It will be awesome, don't have to show up early, chill out that day, waltz into the stadium and sit and enjoy the concert of a lifetime. 

This girl was excited.  She couldn't wait.  She was excited for her section on Jonny's side of the stage.  Yet..........an evil little voice would rear it's head from time to time, whispering, "you belong on the floor with the sweaty obsessed people.  You should be there with them.  You should be as close to the band as you can possibly get.  You should be sweated on by Thom Yorke.  You've earned that."  The girl admits to contemplating her options.  She was tempted to buy a ga ticket now and then.  She saw that fans on fan sites had an extra ga ticket once in a while that they would sell for cost because they felt like helping a brother out as opposed to the dirty rotten ticket scalpers that were determined to squeeze blood from these hapless fans that only want to see the band that makes their world go round.  The girl knew that if she bought a new ticket she would leave her brother behind and be alone down there.  Not very cool.  She chose her brother and the seats and the binoculars and she was effing happy about it. 

Enter the Karma Police.

Ok.  So that was longer then intended, but this is really quite a story and must be told.  But before the Radiohead gods shined that night, we had to deal with The Wolf  (at the door).

Here we are, just stepped out of the car- there's the arena in the background:

So in order for Matt and I to get in the venue, we had to meet up with the jerk face ticket scalper at the gate, have him swipe his credit card and get handed the tickets and then give the tickets to us.  He called and we arranged a meeting time.  I chose to believe that he was just a dude around our age that had a million friends say they wanted to go and then bale on him so he had to sell the extra tickets.  That was how I lived with myself for purchasing these tickets (I lived with myself also because I had no other choice.  RH was not touring anywhere near me without me again- that had been established in 2008 and this was the only way I could figure it was going to happen).  Well, my fan with too many tickets was NOT who we met.  We met a over middle aged weasel with a shirt buttoned too far down and quite the obvious racket happening.  We said hi to him and his associates and he gave us the rundown on how this would work:  We take his credit card as if it were ours, walk boldly to the gate, flash a smile, hand over the card, get it swiped, get handed the tickets, and get our wrist bands.  Oh, and if they ask you to show your id, tell them you left it in the car.  Yep.  He actually said all that quietly in Matt's ear and then stood shady-like on the outskirts and watched us walk up there.  Matt even turned around before we approached and look at him, and Matt got a Pez nod in return.  This guy seriously needed a trench coat filled with watches on the inside!  I felt so gross and dirty.  We did as we were told to the two nice old ladies at the gate.  They dutifully swiped the card and then handed us our tickets.  Then we both walked over to the lady with the fist full of arm bands and held out our wrists.  She banded us up and we walked nervously back to Shady McWeaselton, gave him his credit card back and he was gone, quick as a flash.  Matt and I shared a look of incredulity at what had just happened, declared that we felt slimy and that we needed a shower and then BREATHED A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!!  That little transaction was one I had lost sleep over for more then one or two nights.  I worried worried worried that something would go wrong.  I imagined us with failed tickets, calling my sister and telling her that we didn't get into the concert and to come pick us back up.  I imagined how freaking hard I would cry.  I felt bad for that me sometimes, hoping she didn't ever exist.  I'm telling you, it was heavy on my mind quite a few times.  But you know what?  We had actual tickets with our awesome section on them.  We were as good as in.  One more little hurdle:  making sure B's ticket (a paper one with another dude's name on it) worked and got her in.  They wouldn't let those tickets be scanned yet, so we had some time to kill.  We were still hours from concert time, so we wandered around that lame mall again.  Yeah, it was lame.  But we had wrist bands, we had tickets in our pockets.  We were seeing Radiohead soon- who needs a good mall?  We were told they would open the doors at 6:30, so it was a little after that when we said, "should we go?"  No need to bust the door down, we had tickets, we didn't have to get there until the opening band was over if we wanted.  We were too excited for that nonsense, so we made our way back to the venue.  

Back to the gate people, only this time the shady part was over and we could just show our legit tickets and go inside.  This time I greeted an old man.  He took one look at me (or my wristband as it turns out) and told me that the GA gate was over there, in another place.  I said, "I'm not GA" and I showed him my ticket.  He studied it and said, "You're right, well I'm surprised they gave you that" and pointed to my wristband.  I shrugged and walked inside and waited for Matt to finish.  He got in and then we watched B get in with no problem (phew) and then I concentrated on my run in with that old man.  Forgive me, but my wheels were running slow.  I considered the possibility that the venue and that dear, sweet old lady may have put GA colored wristbands on us by mistake.  Nope.  That is crazy dreamland thinking.  This is reality.  Little did I know that Jobing.com arena messed up pretty bad that day.  There was an article about it.   I looked around a little bit looking for other colored wristbands.  Many people had no wristbands at all.  That is when I started allowing myself to actually consider what may have happened.  I decided to let Matt in on what may be happening.  Shocked Matt face.  By then (all of this happened in less then 2 minutes), I was feeling more and more confidant that is what happened.  We discussed it.  We spoke the words of people in shock:  What should we do about this?  Do we go up to our seats or go to the floor?  What should we do??  If we hadn't been in shock, we never would have contemplated our options, we would have flown downstairs so fast it would make Jonny's head spin.   We ACTUALLY discussed going to our seats and ignoring the wristbands.  Of course, we finally got level headed enough to cut through the fog and make some decisions.  I did have one sensible thing holding me back:  It was getting closer to 7 and the venue had been open for a while now and I had reasons to believe that all the good close to the stage spots were long gone and we would have to be far, far back and our seats would be closer and the better option.  There was an easy way to prove or squelch that:  peek inside.  We peeked and what we saw at that moment was nothing short of another gift granted to us by the Radiohead gods:  NOT THAT MANY PEOPLE DOWN THERE.  And not only that:  there was actually less people on Jonny's side of the stage.  It was like one of the RH gods scooped 25 people away from the stage to clear our path.  Yes, you heard me right:  gift number 3.  Shock gone.  This was way too exciting and important for that.  Poor B.  Lamesauce.  But wait-  take our tickets!  You can have a better seat too!  Everyone wins!  We hugged her good bye, gave her the binoculars, and flashed our magical, miracle wristbands and headed down the steps.

We were in!  We both at the same time, unplanned, breached the gap of floor to the front in ballet leaps and jigs.  Back to shock.

 How in the HELL did we get here?? 

 Taking pictures with our phones of our wristbands to send to family and friends, with news of our amazing fortune.

 Are we really standing ON THE FLOOR, amidst other wristbanders, feet from the very stage my musical heroes are going to be standing and singing and playing????  NO BIPPING WAY.  It was then that Matt won himself the first of three long stares he would receive from me that night.  He asked me, "Are you sure that this is where Jonny will be?"  Stare. *crickets chirping*  (My stare said, "AM I SURE?  Seriously?  This girl may not know the square root of 4567, but she knows this.  In all of the times she has seen them on stage (on youtube) never once has she seen Jonny stand and play anywhere since 1993 then to Thom's left.  And this girl knows of which she speaks.")  I think my stare conveyed all these things because he laughed and said no more (for now).  We looked up at B and waved.  She waved back.  We looked at where she WOULD have been sitting if things had gone according to plan.  Yikes!  It was really high up there.  B's new seat was pretty dang good.

 

Now, we just had to stand where we were amidst an ever growing crowd for a few hours until the boys showed up.  (Here is where the last post's explanation of my feeding and sleeping schedule comes into play.)  I had eaten a little at the Thai place, but how much have I drunk in the last couple days?  A few sips here and there.  How much food?  Maybe the equivalent of 2 normal size meals in 4 days.  How much sleep?  Oh, about 7 hours in 3 nights (MAYBE 8 tops).  You see, I wasn't thinking about it much, and after all- I was expecting to chill in a seat.  Instead I was to be forced to stand in the same spot, in a sea of bodies for lets calculate.............roughly 4 1/2 hours.  And around 2 of those are going to be some of the most exciting moments of my life.  But first... 2 1/2 hours of just standing and waiting.

That's me- standing and waiting and thinking thoughts

 I stood there and thought a few thoughts.  One of them was images of the footage you see of The Beatles first trip to America and the state of their fans- screaming out of their minds, crying uncontrollably and also fainting.  I honestly understand that.  Laugh if you want but I thought about those girls and how they felt.  I understood them.  Sidebar: Can I set something straight?  My obsession with Radiohead is not the obsession of how I imagine The Twilight Mom's view Robert Pattinson.  By this I mean in a lusty want to tear his clothes off kind of way.  I hope everyone understands that.  Because when I say I "get" those Beatle's fans, I think I really do.  At some point in my life, I would have seen that footage and thought that is what is in their minds.  Perhaps it was for some.  But actually, I think for the most part, it was just the overwhelming fact that they were in the presence of some individuals that had made such an impact on them, they were overwhelmed with emotion.  Ok, sidebar over- I just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea (including my husband who I think already gets all this).  Radiohead has impacted me.  They are not just a band.  They are THE band.  Using the term "obsessed" admittedly isn't totally out of line here.  They turned my music world totally upside down a long time ago, and seeing them in front of me playing the songs I have played over and over and over through the years and hearing these songs get better and more amazing with each listen, and being close to these amazing men doing the thing they do so well is nothing short of total awesome overload and misunderstanding (and reducing) that emotion into me wanting them physically, cheapens what they mean to me in my life.   So anyway, I stood there understanding those screaming, fainting girls.  I also stood there thinking about a video of a RH concert a week or so before, where the camera shook for a minute and the cameraman's explanation was that a guy fainted next to him and bouncers had to dive in and rescue him.  Some dude actually fainted?  That makes a girl that hasn't taken care of her body the best the last few days worry a little.   But mostly, Matt and I just stared at the stage, each other, the people around us in awe.  How bippin close Jonny's area was.  That is Thom's microphone right there and soon, he is going to SING into it.

This is where we were standing:

And this was a wide angle shot as Matt pointed out, making our pics look further away then we really were.  I only count 7 rows of heads ahead of us (not bad for moseying in late and unexpected and CRASHING THAT PARTY!!!).

We waited a long dang time.  In the meantime though, us and the people around us made use of the fact that we were freak fans that the average citizen doesn't get.  Therefore, it can be lonely to be a RH fan.  You can be seen as pretentious and misunderstood.  But those that get it, get it and we have so much to say with not that many willing ears to hear.  This music has transformed us, it's shaped our lives.  And for just a little while, we are together, at a pinnacle moment in our lives with nothing to do but stand around.  You can make fun of me, but on WASTE central (which is RH's official site, and a sort of social network), I joined the group "Jobing.com Arena" and had been chatting it up with other RH fans going to the same concert.  We have been talking and being excited together and shared song wishlists, etc.  One girl (Meg) was coming from Idaho, and we figured out we were sitting in the same section one row away, so we had plans to meet and hug.  She text me as she was driving up to the arena and I had to break the news of my good fortune and how I would not be up there with her.  As any gracious RH fan should be, she was happy for me.  We hoped to meet up after the show anyway.  She told me to look for the sign she made which turned out to be the Angry Bear logo she had fashioned out of glow sticks.  I couldn't wait to see it- I loved that she did that.  She's hard core.

Matt and I started talking to this guy named Marcus and we ended up talking to him for most of the time.  We told him of our wristband ordeal.  Marcus and I shared with each other our story of getting into the band.  We discussed the orders in which we purchased and discovered each album.  Our first favorite song.......  you know- we were ultra Radiohead nerdy and it felt GREAT dang it!  In fact, in that first pic of Matt and I grinning in the arena, you can see the friend that joined him a bit later and the outline of Marcus (for I am totally blocking him from view).  Throughout the whole show we never strayed too far from Marcus and we would occasionally look at each other and share excited grins (we were pretty packed in there, so the people around us never changed much).  If you look at the view of the stage picture, and notice the man in the white handkerchief, you will see the man Matt and I dubbed "The Cam Guy".  He reminded us a lot of our brother in law (Sue's husband) Cam.  The Cam Guy was spotted right before the show, all of a sudden chomping on a hot dog that seemed to have appeared out of thin air.  A HOT DOG???????  Seriously dude!  Could you have picked a worse choice of food to mow down crammed and surrounded by hot crowded people, right before a music concert?  As Rob said when I told him "Frankly, no".  (get it?)  By the way, the hot dog incident had nothing to do with his nickname- (just trying to clear Cam's good name). 

FINALLY the opening band, Other Lives came on.  This was exciting because something was happening and it was an important step to get us to what we had all come there for.  What we had driven 12 hours in the middle of the night for.  Other Lives were not bad at all.  About 4 songs in though my brain switched off and was unable to think of anything except for the fact that this was really happening and happening soon and happening so much closer then I thought it would mere hours before.  Around that time too was the realization that while they had a good sound, all the songs sounded exactly alike and the lead dude's vocal range was non existent.    But of course, we WERE waiting to hear this dude:

(thanks Matt for showing me that vid long ago- it really came in handy right now.)

I really started wondering about my stamina at this point.  I felt like I might be feeling a little faint.  I kept putting my head down and closing my eyes and massaging my neck.  Doing ok, but worrying more then ever that the excitement would overcome me and I would never make it.  I had worn a long sleeved shirt for heaven's sake.  Again- I thought I'd be nice and cool, elevated a bit and seated in a seat or I never would have opted for that shirt.  Oh well, I was determined not to be "that guy" (remember the one that made the camera shake by fainting).  I carried on.  After about a million monotoned songs (I feel rude- I really liked the band, I did.  I may even look them up in the future) and it wasn't even really a million songs- more like 6.  They finished up and the lights came on again.  Then we found ourselves waiting again.  Man we waited lots.  We waited and waited some more.  

We turned around and took a picture of what was behind us:

 I guess we did get there a bit early- look at all those people standing behind us!  The arena has a seating capacity of 19,000 and we had filled it out quite nicely. 

We waited another 45 minutes, I'd say.  Matt noticed the band's guitars on racks on the side and started counting them.  I don't remember the exact number but it was over 30 in all.  Isn't that insane?  There were sooo many.  It was exciting.  Meg told me she would have her sign out when the band came on stage, so I got my camera out again, ready to take a picture of it for her since she had expressed that she wondered what it looks like from down there (or to Thom, more like).  I thought she would like to see for herself.  

All of a sudden the lights dimmed and the crowd went insane.  I scrambled to take a pic and couldn't get a good shot and missed the actual walking on stage of the band.  Matt started shaking me or something so I took a blind pic while I turned around and there the bip they were.

"I jumped in the river and what did I see?
black-eyed angels swimming with me
a moon full of stars and astral cars
all the figures I used to see
all my lovers were there with me
all my past and futures
and we all went to heaven in a little row boat

  there was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt"

-Pyramid Song   

Speaking of Pyramid Song....................Here's your teaser

Footage taken by ME with my very own camera!!!!!!!!!  

(I love how I move the camera over to Thom, quickly realize he is being boring and go right back to Jonny :)
Would you listen to the crazy haunting sound he makes on that guitar doing that??  I was hypnotized (and in Emily Heaven).  I can't believe I got to watch him do that......................but I need to save this stuff for the next post. :(

To be continued..............................................................   

                  

Standing on the Edge

The Great RH Road Trip:  Day One aka Pre-Concert Adventures

The plan: 

Drive 11 hours to Phoenix, sleep, eat Mexican, go to concert, get socks knocked off, sleep, drive to Vegas, see Hoover Dam, play, sleep, visit a pyramid, drive home. 

The execution:

It started with 1 mini van, 5 adults, and 2 Kids.  It started at 5 O'clock at night.  In all my mommy wisdom, I came up with the idea that driving half the drive at night would be beneficial with kids so they could sleep instead of asking a million times how much longer till we get there.  I knew that we (meaning me and 3 siblings and a sib in law) could keep each other up just fine, since we do that anyway whenever we are together.  Well, the sib in law not so much, she is more in the Rob camp (ie a "light weight" when it comes to staying up late).  I was imagining leaving more in the neighborhood of 4, and yes, we left my house at 5, but we were still leaving Orem at 5:45 (thanks to an ill fated trip to Arctic Circle- why Arctic Circle?  BECAUSE we needed food and needed something fast and there it was.  But it wasn't fast.)  

You might worry that starting out this way was a bad omen for the trip, but you would be wrong!  The trip felt magical and enchanted and turned out to have some wonderfully fated surprises in store. Sorry- that just spilled out.

We drove.  And we drove.  We listened to podcasts, we laughed and talked.  We listened to OK Computer, we played Ticket to Ride on the iPad.  The sun went down.  Matt and B did some sleeping.  Poor kids had to drive that day from Wyoming so they were already 6 hours in plus we listened to the soothing sounds of Adam Kempenaar of Filmspotting and bored them to sleep.  But we drove on and we were tired.  The kids did sleep and it was nice.  Around two we were excited to figure out that Arizona was behind us one hour, so we gained an hour.   We needed that hour, but too bad it still felt as late as it was in Utah for us.  Scout woke up about an hour before we got there.  She'd had a pretty good night's sleep at that time.  She was about as awake as I was tired.  (Brief explanation: The week before we left, the kids and I were sick.  There was colds, throat ordeals and stomach flus happening.  All I kept saying was "better this week then next week".  I felt very sick all day Monday, had a touch of the stomach flu myself and ran a fever all night.  Only slept for a few minutes here and there.  Tuesday I didn't want to eat, but nibbled a few things here and there.  That night was the night before the trip, so I stayed up taking care of last minute things and packing, then I had a lot on my mind and then Elle woke up for over two hours in the middle of the night.  Not sad- just up and a little beanie.  I stayed up with her, and then got up early to get Scout off to school.  That brings us to "trip day" and I was a busy, busy bee all day and too excited and nervous to eat, again- just nibbled here and there.  Alright you're up to speed, sidebar over.)

We arrived at the hotel, where Sue had made a reservation- she works for The Marriott, so we get good rates, especially good ones when Sue is with us.  Yeah, it's awesome.  She was in there a long time and we watched her and she even shook her head once.  We got scared that there was a problem.  We were soooo tired and plenty tired of the car and the thought of a problem was so very bad.  She got back in the car and the only problem had been that the credit card she used to secure it had expired in the mean time, so they had to put in the new information.  Phew.  All I wanted to do was crash in bed.  All my girls wanted to do was be awake after their wonderful long naps.  We finally got them in beds (and I use that term loosely for Elles, since her bed was a couch cushion in the kitchen area of the room)  Sidebar:  we opted for one room that had 2 queen size beds and a hide a bed.  We would rather share, save money and giggle together then have personal space and separate.  We had no regrets about that decision either (well a small one when it came to showering and getting ready).  Anyway, I got the girls in bed and Elle decided to sleep, but Scout decided to stay awake.  I let her watch Scooby Doo on the iPad with headphones with one strict rule-  let mama sleep.  She broke it at least 5 times that first hour, waking me up to go potty, ask questions, get a drink, and to watch a funny thing Shaggy did.  ARGG!  So, after no more then 2 hours of sleep, Elles woke me up by being a tad whiny.  When I got up to get her a bottle, I found her perpendicular to her cushion and scrunched into a 8 inch space in between it and the mini fridge.  And thus the day began.  The hubub woke up a hungry Scout.  I quietly tried to entertain the kids while the others got a little more sleep, then we headed down to breakfast.   I actually ate a fairly decent amount for that meal (I was very proud of myself).  Then we got ready and headed to the venue to see how far it was, and get the lay of the land so we would have no surprises come concert time.  There was a little outdoor mall around the venue, so we wandered around the stores and fountains and took a look at the die hard, lucky fans that got general admission tickets and queued up early that morning for a front and center spot. You know, just basically cased the place. Did I mention that Rob is the greatest ever! it's true.

Scout really wanted to swim in the pool with her aunts while we were at the concert, plus we needed snacks for the room, so we drove around and ended up at............Walmart.  I know.  What the crap.  I hadn't been in a Walmart for a long time and it instantly pissed me off by not having any Cran-Raspberry juice.  I bought Scout a couple pool toys and some flip flops and Elle's some swim diapers and then insisted on paying for the drinks and snacks because "TODAY IS RADIOHEAD DAY!!!"  Drinks were on me. 

We desperately wanted some good Mexican food- we figured it would be tasty in Arizona.  We went back to the hotel to get ready for the concert and to ask the concierge for a recommendation.  He gave us one along with directions, we got ready and made sure we had everything (ie B's ticket, binoculars, camera, I.D....), and we were off.

We found the restaurant and parked a few blocks away.  When we got to the place, it looked pretty dark.  There was a note on the door that there had been a fire and it was closed for a few days to recover.  That was a pretty crazy thing we thought, so we walked back from where we had come from, since we had passed a Japanese place that looked good.  Sushi and Radiohead:  sounded right to me.  Well, it was closed.  The restaurant next to it was closed too.  We wondered what the crap is going on downtown Phoenix?  I mentioned that there might have been a zombie apocalypse we didn't know about yet.  I secretly hoped that if there was, they hadn't gotten the band yet and the concert would still go on.  But that was a moot point because we passed a little Thai place and by some miracle, it was open!  We ducked in there and ended up having a fabulous meal.  We decided to chalk it up to kismit- maybe the Mexican place would have been gross and we never would have known about the yummy little Thai place with the nice, friendly, little server.  Poor Elles though grabbed a fist full of pipping hot orange chicken (that girl can be FAST when it comes to food- don't let the tenuous command she has over her hands fool you, when food is on the table- she can be as dexterous as anyone).  It was sad though, the look on her face when she felt the searing chicken was heartbreaking.  Our nice, friendly, little server felt awful for putting it down within her reach.  Didn't slow her down long though.  Nothing ever does (except for walking or crawling).

We dropped Cat and the kids off at the hotel and set off.  It was finally here!  Let the mass excitement ensue.

To be continued..........................

"I’m on a roll,
I’m on a roll this time
I feel my luck could change."

-Lucky                                            

 

Solved

I got the call from Elle's geneticist yesterday, they finally found something in the latest test.  Our sweet little girl has a "rather unique mutation" of the Rett gene.  So now we know.  The search is over.  Can't say we are surprised, but I am rather shocked at finally having an answer.  We know very little right now, Dr. Carey is arranging a meeting for us with him because he wants to go over these findings in person with us.  We will know more in a couple weeks.  Crazy!

Thanks for all the support and love we have felt from family, friends and strangers.  You all make this journey easier and thank you Elinor, for being the sweetest, brightest little star in our lives.  We couldn't love and adore you more.   We are so grateful for the honor of having you as our daughter, you truly are a special little girl and enrich our lives in ways we never dreamed.

Well, off to post this in Lollipops and Crisps, this news was too big to only share there.

I know

I owe this blog a post all about the Radiohead concert.  I have been super busy doing stuff all week and I want to really do it right and that is going to take time and energy and both have been in short supply. 

For now just know that it was possibly the greatest night of my life and a post in detail is coming as soon as I can give it the respect it deserves.  Since I am going to St. George tomorrow to attend a niece's wedding over the weekend, I am going to say that the posts (yes posts) will be starting on Monday or Tuesday.

A few teasers until then.............

Exit Music [For a Trip]

I just took the ticket off the wall and packed it in a bag.  Today's the day.  We're leaving in a few hours and I think I've remembered everything.  Elle and I were both up with beans for two hours in the middle of the night.  I guess she's excited too.  Wish she could be there, I think she'd like it- music she is familiar with, lots of lights, masses of excited people........  Scout would like it too I bet.  So would Rob.  Sigh.  Oh well, they will all hear plenty about it.  Matt and B are going to love it.

Well, here's to a safe trip, lots of fun, no sickness (this has been an issue at my house), nothing going wrong with the tickets, a dancy Thom, Paranoid Android,  etc...........

What Emily's Been Watching, February Edition

A little late yes, but not too egregious.   I have been a bit distracted lately and then I've been sick.  You might think that laying around and writing a blog on your laptop when you're sick is a no brainer- but in actuality, doing such things seems like too much energy (physically and mentally).

 I'm enough on the upswing now to catch up a little.  Plus, I've had this post started for a week, it just needed to be finished.

HOT FUZZ (2007) [R]  action/comedy.  I've seen and enjoyed some other collaborations done by the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright team, but knew I have been missing out with not seeing this one, so I finally checked it out.  It was everything it promised to be:  funny and clever.  Filmspotting recently did a poll on who is the better team:  this group or the Judd Apatow group.  The Edgar Wright team won with the readers, but the hosts chose the Apatow crowd and I was scandalized.  I just like these guys waaay better, despite my love of Freaks and Geeks.  I think the Apatow group's downfall for me can be narrowed down by three things:    my disinterest in raunchy comedies, my annoyance of people/movies that are too obsessed with pot and Seth Rogan's laugh. 

Anyway, Hot Fuzz is about a London cop (Pegg) who gets transferred to a small town in the country because he was showing all the other cops up.  The town he moves to is what you might call "lax" on law enforcement.  He is paired up with the chief's son (Frost) who plays a dopey yet well meaning guy who loves cop movies.  Pegg starts thinking that something is going on that is more then meets the eye with some accidents in the town and the two work together to figure out what is really going on.  It was super funny and had some really hilarious moments.  I think the one that made me laugh the hardest was early in the film, an eager Frost is asking a bored Pegg a series of "have you ever" questions that were obviously inspired by the many cop movies he has watched such as "have you ever shot two guns at the same time while jumping through the air?".  There is a payoff at the end, when you see the two doing just that.  I loved it.  Emily recommends this movie if you liked Shaun of the Dead.  If you haven't seen that one either- well you should.  Some language, plenty of the funny, gratuitous kind of gore. 

Haha! This trailer features the question I mentioned (and the payoff).

SHERLOCK SEASON 2 (2012) [NR] mystery/crime drama.  Sherlock has officially reserved a spot in Emily's top 5 favorite TV shows of all time.  That is how much I love this series.  There have been two seasons so far, three episodes each (granted, each episode is movie length- about an hour and a half) and seriously- it just doesn't get much better then this folks.  The acting, the writing, the filming, the production, it is all top notch.  The team of Cumberbatch and Freeman are far and away the best paired Holms and Watson ever- their chemistry is amazing.  I absolutely adore those two so much.  The guy they have playing Moriarty is equally awesome.  He totally kicks my butt.  I also love love love Mycroft (who also happens to be the creator of the series).  The middle episode of the first series is easily the weakest of the lot, but it is made up for by the next two episodes, the first episode of the second series wins my number one best episode.  Freaking fantastic, and I need to cut myself off right now, or I'll gush all day.  I explained this series already some months back when I reviewed season 1, so if you want to know a little more about it, you can read my first review here.  Um, I think you all know my stand here.  

The first season is on PBS.com or it's app, it's also on Netflix instant and I also own it on DVD and will loan it to you.  The second season is not quite out yet in the states, but can be located on those dodgy websites that play stuff you can't actually find easily.  "Easily" see: legally.  Yeah, I pirated it, but I don't feel bad about it.  I had to be very tenacious and it was not without many frustrations, but was it worth it??  YES!  It was awesome.  It was sooo good.  If you don't want to become a pirate, you do have the option of waiting until May, when it will premier on Masterpiece Theater, here in the states.  ps. I don't feel bad, because it will be offered on a public tv station shortly and I will most definitely be purchasing the DVD of this season too, when it's available. Arrrrrrrrrrrr.

DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 1 AND 2 (2011-2012) [NR] drama.  This is a BBC original series that has become something of a head scratcher to me.  Basically, it is a drama, set in the early 1900's in England.  Which is a time period where old English traditions and lifestyles (ie how Jane Austin characters acted and lived) was changing and becoming more modern.   The story is about one aristocratic household-  (the main family has a title), the story equally follows the servants of the house too.  The whole thing can be summed up as a period piece soap opera.  It has many faults, but despite this, I liked it a lot and was very interested in the story and the characters and was well addicted to it.  Some flaws are very very hard to overlook and forgive, but as a whole, the good stuff wins out, but only as a the ultimate guilty pleasure.  It is riveting and well acted, if not always well written.  Being well acted can go a long way, and make lame writing choices bearable.  (When you have bad acting combined with bad writing you get CSI: Miami.)  This show is a good example of how some top notch acting can save a show that could be totally and utterly laughable.  As it is, it is just laughable a few times.  The set of Downton Abbey and the costumes are also really great.  Some of the dresses are amazing. 

The head scratching part for me is the major buzz from all walks of life this show was getting for a while.  I am talking, this show was watched and buzzed about by the "fan boy" set, mentioned by Conan O'Brien and David Letterman, it was everywhere in pop culture.  I just heard about this show everywhere I turned, so I decided I needed to check it out.  About after the first season, I started wondering what the deal was.  I liked it, but saw nothing about it that explained why all these people I never would peg as someone that would watch such a show were suddenly loving and obsessing over it.  I am explaining it by the fact that I am already on board with these BBC period piece shows.  I see most of them and love them.  So, this seems like really nothing special, but perhaps if you weren't a BBC nerd like me, this WOULD be something special.  I don't know, I can't explain it to my satisfaction.  Despite how this review might read- I really do recommend this show.  It is flawed, but ultimately, a good time, and ultimately worth your time especially if you have the time and inclination to just sit down, veg out, and enjoy a guilty pleasure now and then.  Because for these moments (and these moments are a nice sometimes) this show is perfect (almost).

I am finally cluing in on a theme I've noticed since that Jane Eyre promo I came across once:  British TV promos are not to my taste, a bit dramatic for me.  That is all.


CERTIFIED COPY (2010-France, 2011-USA) [NR]  drama. Another well buzzed about piece of entertainment.  But this time by the art house movie crowd.  This made most critics that I listen to's top or near the top movies of the year.  So, I had to check it out.  Glad I did.  Great movie!  This stars Juliette Binoche, as the lead, she is on this date with a man we know to be a famous author of a book that muses about if copies of art are just as good as originals.  This turns out to be a somewhat meta subject as the story unfolds, but I don't want to go into it really, cause it is fun to watch the ambiguity etc change before your eyes.  Confusing?  Yes, but sorry, I am going to have to keep it that way for your own good.

 If I think about it, the movie is basically two intelligent people talking the whole time, so for that reason, perhaps it isn't for everyone, but I think most people would find it interesting.  Also, for a foreign film, there is a surprising amount of English.  There is also Italian and French spoken, but the bulk is in English.  (She is French, living in Italy, and he is an Englishman that doesn't speak either other language, therefore they converse in English).  Emily highly recommends this movie.  I also recommend it as a good movie to have an interesting discussion about like we did with Another Earth (but this time perhaps it could be less what we liked and hated (more like) about the movie and just a good discussion about a good movie that lends itself to a lot of discussion.  Ok?  Discuss.

BEING ELMO (2011) [PG] documentary.  I have been waiting to see this documentary since it premiered at Sundance last year.  It didn't disappoint.  Inspiring documentary about the man behind Elmo.  Not so much to say about it, but it is really good, pretty short, and worth watching (especially since it is on netflix instant.  Good behind the scenes puppetry which has always interested me and good stuff about the man that started it all, Jim Hensen.  Emily recommends this one for anyone that might be interested.  And if say, a little one that loves muppets happens to be sitting next to you while you watch it, well- they might just enjoy it too and keep leaning towards the screen, trying to give Elmo kisses.




MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY (1998) [15] documentary.  I figured in honor of the goings on this week, (although it was a while ago that I did watch it), it was time to get this little gem out of the dvd collection, dust it off, and give it a watch.  It's been a few years.  After watching a few minutes of it, I wondered if this really is the best choice of movies to watch- a documentary about Radiohead's OK Computer tour where they found themselves after releasing that album, suddenly a super band that just came out with one of the most acclaimed albums of all time, which rocketed their careers and they didn't quite know how to handle it.  They were so bored and disenchanted with Creep and that is still all everyone wanted to hear while in concert.  Thom especially was ill equipped to handle super fame and hated it.  Thom's whole life, he was an outcast and introvert.  He spent the first 7 years of his life with an eye patch, which doesn't lend itself to popularity.  He got his first guitar at 6 or 7, and started writing his first songs.  He spent his school years in the music rooms, because he could sit at the piano alone without anyone around.  All these struggles turned him into the man and genius he is, but he wasn't ready for all the fame that happened to him, especially when OK Computer came out.  So, needless to say, the film is pretty bleak and a little depressing watching him obviously hate the spot light and touring so bad.  BUT, the good news is that he took a few years off, got into rhythms as opposed to melody and came out with Kid A and Amnesiac.  He has also worked most of his issues out and is a much happier tourer these days.  He can call the shots now, and he's earned it. Thom himself has also said that that movie also really focused on the bad and didn't get into all the good times too, so it is probably a bit skewed.  It is still a fine movie and I enjoy watching it now and then.   The hardest scene to watch is when they are in NY, and they are at the doors in a night club and you see them hanging back a little and their manager or someone says, "do you know Radiohead?"  And I can't remember what transpires, but it's quick and they are obviously denied entrance.  So they are walking down the street and someone that heard it happen follows them and heckles them.  He says something about Creep, while they just keep walking, ignoring him.  It is seriously painful to watch.  I can't imagine that ever happened again, but wow, it was crazy.  My favorite moment happens in the first 10 minutes or so.  You see the band obviously in a green room somewhere, preparing to go onstage for a concert.  Then you see them start up this staircase to go on stage and Jonny is behind Thom and he silently and gently places his hand on Thom's shoulder, and without a word or a glance, Thom reaches around and touches Jonny's wrist in response.  I know I'm a Radiohead nerd, but it is such a beautiful moment between the two.  The gestures spoke volumes.  There is also some footage of the making of the video "No Surprises" (the one where Thom's head slowly gets immersed in water while he's singing.) - if you haven't seen that video, go check it out.  A quote I love from the movie, is taken from an interview with Thom, who says, "The freakiest thing about all of this, like you know- any of this at all, is the idea that you would be one of those bands to somebody".  I happen to know that he is "one of those bands" to a lot of somebodies.  Emily recommends this movie to any Radiohead fan.  I mean, you've got to see it- sheesh.

Since the trailer for this movie apparently is footage of a camera going around a train track while Fitter Happier plays, I figured I might as well display this video of clips someone made of some of the depressing moments in the movie.  Enjoy.
 For the record (and how I happen to feel): 

 "If people get it, they wouldn't think it's depressing. When people always say that f*ing annoying thing about how my work's so depressing, well it's not because.. it's just words, and I put the words to music which I think it's an uplifting thing, otherwise there would be no point in doing this at all."

-Thom Yorke

Amen Thom, amen.



Emily's Wall of Shame

THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951) [NR] adventure/drama/ romance.  My wall of shame this month, happened on the last day of the month, and needed to be on Netflix instant for obvious reasons (and those reasons would be my lack of planning).  I spent a huge chunk of this film amazed at how goofy and cheesy Bogart played this role.  I've seen movie stills and wax reinterpretations of this movie my whole life and never once did I get "goofy and cheesy" from those stills of Bogart.  I've also seen many of his pics and never saw this side.  But, this is the one that scored him an Oscar, so there you go.  Katherine Hepburn was quite a bit stuffier then usual, as is fitting for her character of a christian missionary stuck on a boat in the middle of Africa with a scandalous man.  The story really hooked me as it went on.  I really enjoyed this movie a lot more then I planned on.  Especially after my shock upon meeting "Mr. Allnut".  It was really good and I'm glad I watched it and may even catch it again someday.  Emily recommends this movie if you like them black and white Katherine Hepburn or Humphrey Bogart movies.  Not a typical role for either of them, but it works and tells a good tale.


Oh yeah- did I mention the great rapids effects?  Awesome.

The other stuff:

Buffy:  I only watched 3 episodes or so last month, but one of them almost made up for everything.  LOVED it.  The show has made me dislike many of the characters as it goes on as they morph and change.  But one character is just getting better and better and more interesting.  Wish he was in every episode...

The Wonder Years:  So watching this show as an adult, I have come to a conclusion:  Kevin is a little jerk!  He is a jerk to his friends most of all, but really most people he interacts with. 

Still love it and am enjoying my watching of this series I haven't seen since it was airing, this was just an observation that must not have made much of an impression on me back in the day.

That's it for now- XX