Well, I’m not doing as well as before. I’d make excuses for my vacation, but I could have been exercising more instead of lying on the couch and watching the Olympics. I did exercise two days in a row on vacation (hence the bigger spike). Hopefully I can work on it more this month. I’m not losing hope!!

Well, if it means anything, my vocal chords are sore.

As you can see from the picture, I wore my KICK tour t-shirt . I was smiling like crazy and jittery. I’ve waited more than ten years for this concert!

Walking into Ruth Eckerd hall, I realized that my 1988 shirt was older than some of the concert-goers…that realization made me feel old for sure! While they obviously became fans after the RockStar show, I was just happy to see that the show had no open seats. My shirt caused a lot of people to do a double take. The reaction was either: “why does that t-shirt say ‘KICK?’” or “hey! I remember that tour!” I was the only person in an INXS shirt from a previous tour. In fact, most of the people I met were new fans. Did I meet people? Of course I did. I’m my father’s daughter.

In fact, I saw more gear worn for the LoveHammers. I was eager to see Marty take the stage with his real band. The show started with their drummer doing a kodo-style rhythmic drumming. My heart pounded faster with each beat. Marty slunk onto stage, looking like Tom Petty’s head perched on Steven Tyler’s body/wardrobe.

Almost the entire rest of the LoveHammers set was disappointing. Marty kept doing the “maniacal conductor” move that was criticized during RockStar. The drummer continued to be excellent, but Marty did not display his best vocal range. Even “Trees” was self-consciously trying to be to hard rock. His acoustic version on RockStar was much better. Marty’s only good song was when he sat down with an acoustic guitar and stopped trying to crouch and pose like a Reznor-esque Johnny Depp.

I anxiously paced during intermission, then saw the 5-minute countdown on the board. I thought my vocal chords were going to crack already! JD Fortune loped onto stage with the rest of the band and opened the show incredibly with Suicide Blonde. His vocals were clean and different from (Michael) Hutchence, but not too different: he belted when Hutchence would have crooned. He made it his own without destroying the original intent and feel of the material. Carlton contends JD is the better vocalist. I am not sure about that.

The band sounded amazing! Kirk (Pengilly) had grown as a sax and guitar player. Andrew (Farris) still hid behind the keyboard, the quiet mastermind of songwriting. John (Farris) cracked the drums smoothly. Occasionally, he lost JD, but that’s the vocalist’s responsibility. Tim (Farris) and Gary Garry Beers were consistent but not heart-stopping. Tim did a couple of really fun guitar tricks.

In fact, the only annoying thing about the evening is that JD was one seriously lonely guy. He was going crazy over the front row girls, and they were going psycho, pulling on his clothes and not letting go, even when he tried to pull away. But he couldn’t stop himself. The most disturbing part of the night is when he became intimate with the mike stand. I mean, we’re talking seriously sophomoric personification of the stand.

That aside, the acoustics in the V-shaped hall were very good. I was in row 14 but stadium seating made it possible to see everything. Our row was about two feet taller than the row in front of us. I was, of course, dancing the entire time and belting every single word of every single song. (My sincere apologies to those in the row nearest my singing.) During the song “Kick,” I was dancing and singing as usual when I noticed Kirk looking at me. He motioned to his chest, pointed at me, and gave me the thumbs up! I started dancing and waving one fist, and he did the same, smiling at me. I was really glad that he saw that we longtime fans are still fans! After the show, one of my new friends sitting next to me said, “I saw the sax player looking at you. Pretty cool.”

I assumed that the set would be all of the new album songs with a dash of old songs for variety. But no, They didn’t even play all of the new songs. There were incredible hits such as “What You Need” played with more intensity than the originals; they dug deep for older songs like “Original Sin.” The variety brought back so many personal memories for me, with each song evoking an album, an era of my younger life. But this wasn’t just a nostalgic trip: the band really has elevated their energy and style. I would like to see Garry come out of his shell a little more (and JD to put it back in his shell!!). Even Carlton, the true live music critic, had chills when the band first started to play and again a few songs later.

But what got me was the encore. They started with New Sensation, which is the kind of song I like to belt in my car. That was one of the first music videos I ever saw (my parents deprived me of cable for many years). I knew all of the dance moves from the video and remember dancing in my childhood family room to the videotape I’d recorded. Then they busted out the “Never Tear Us Apart.” I started shaking with emotion. I had so many moments with that song. Dancing at a school dance with my friend Angie. Asking my first boyfriend if it could be our song (he said “no way.” It’s clear why we broke up, no?). Learning the saxophone part on my friend Allen’s sax after band class.

Finally, they played “Don’t Change.” This was the song that was played during the final RockStar: INXS show that pulled me out of my chair with excitement. It was the moment I realized that I would see the band play again. And the lyrics rang true:

I found a love I had lost
It was gone for too long

Pure perfection. The best concert I’ve ever attended, of any band.

I probably could have gotten back stage; I had talked to a few security people and it seemed easy. Plus I had the “I flew here from Indiana just for this concert?? card to play. But I didn’t want to leave Carlton alone. I just wanted to shake the hands of these guys who have meant so much to me over the past 20 years. So, even though they’ll never see this post, thank you, INXS. You did a great job. Michael would be proud.

I’ve had my dog for nine years now, and she’s been with me through some really tough times and all the happy times as well. Now, her left knee is going bad and she needs some expensive surgery.

I don’t really care about the money, but I feel so guilty about her poor little knee. It snaps every time she goes up a stair. We bought her a ramp, but she still ignores us occasionally and uses the stairs. Not to mention that surgery recovery is going to be long and painful. She’s going to want to know why I put her through this. I can barely think about it. But sometimes, I can’t shake thinking about it.

I have to teach her how to swim for the post-surgery rehab. She already hates me for brushing and bathing her…I am guessing swimming lessons will not be her favorite!

Well anyway, enjoy the picture. I’ll keep you posted when I schedule the surgery.

OK, so if you are a regular visitor, you’ll notice that the look and feel of this blog have changed. I’d love to hear what you have to say. As for the blogroll, Netflix list, and other links, I asked my husband why they are now all the way at the bottom right, where the reader cannot see them immediately. He responded, “because Internet Explorer sucks.” I must heartily agree. If you look at this page in Firefox, all is well and in the correct place for your lazy clicking pleasure. So, if you want a superior browser, install Firefox immediately! Here’s Carlton’s MUCH better analysis of Firefox.

OK, so my weight loss/exercise post really did scare me into action! That, and the concept of fitting into a wetsuit I bought 5 years ago, has kept me in line. I’ve been watching what I eat and trying to exercise. The exercise is still only once weekly, but my weight is on track with my goal. Hey Oz- you said you were going to start- only six months to GenCon!!

To those of you who would like to figure out my weight by looking at the graph, dream on. It’s a log function mixed with some basic math. If you really want to know, ask me in person. I’m not shy about the number, but some might question my sanity if I post it online.

The scale is a little less drastic, but that’s a function of the fact that the exercise wouldn’t show up right and I don’t want to mess with it too much. The dark blue is goal weight, light blue is current weight, and aqua spikes indicate 30 or more minutes of exercise:

…but I’m doing it anyway. I have been trying to eat right and exercise, so I decided to challenge myself by letting the whole world (or, the six people who stumble onto this site) see my progress. This graph will be updated periodically over the next six weeks. It’s overkill but I need to do it to keep myself from losing focus. My goal is to exercise at least 2 days weekly, and to lose several pounds as well.

I’m doing this for several reasons: first, my health. Second, my well-being: I feel better and more confident when I exercise. Third, I remember being exhausted at the end of each day of GenCon, and I’d like to feel refreshed instead.

There isn’t much data on the graph yet, so my goal weight is showing in blue. As it populates, you’ll see how many minutes I’ve exercised and how my weight compares to the goal. So here’s the ugly truth:

I didn’t want to say anything ahead of time, but I’ve been trying to find good tickets to an INXS show somewhere, anywhere. My husband has been wanting to plan a dive trip to swim with the manatees for several years and February is the best month. So, I started looking for tickets in Florida.

And I won the auction. The tickets aren’t in hand yet, so I’m nervous about posting this, but I’m doing it anyway. I am far too excited to hold this inside. I’ve been waiting eight years for this! They are fifteenth row, so not great seats, but good ones nonetheless. Thanks to Kim, who sold me the tickets. Please send Positive Mental Energy (PME) her way! I am incredibly excited.

Have I mentioned I’m excited? I feel 16 again.

Let’s not forget that my wonderful husband is driving hundreds of miles to Florida to go to a concert where he’ll see his wife acting like a maniac. He likes INXS enough that he had almost all of their albums post-Shabooh Shoobah, but I’m afraid because he’s never seen me quite this excited. I was dancing on our coffee table- completely sober- just for hearing the album.

Have I mentioned I’m excited???

IMDb Link

I have always been amused by the Calvin and Hobbes Sunday strip regarding comic books. To paraphrase, it talks about cartoons as “low art,??? but paintings of cartoons are “high art.??? I feel the same way about comics: now we call them “graphic novels??? and treat them with archival respect, turning pages with tongs. Progressing on the same subject, Saturday morning cartoons are “low art;??? animé, “high art.???

This is the first animé film I’ve seen. I have to keep in mind that it’s almost eleven years old, so I should not be hypercritical of it, but… on more than one occasion, the movie used a “low art??? cheating tool. It is OK to use cheaters on Saturday morning but not on Saturday night. For example, there was an aquarium in the shot for at least a minute. All of the fish were on very short animation loops. I started losing track of the dialogue and watching the stupid loop. There were long dialogue scenes with the vantage point behind the characters so that they didn’t have to move their mouths. And my most loathed: the mouth would be yelling, but the rest of the face was stoic.

I would be remiss not to mention some beautiful animation. The cyborg cop is lying in bed, and her eyes change expression from sleepiness to full alertness. It’s subtle but very well done. Subtle animation is very rare!! There is a fight scene that takes place in about an inch of water on the street; the water play and the choreography are both wonderfully executed and engaging.

The opening credit sequence is the best part of the movie, with music and action reaching crescendo perfectly. The mood is set. Then, the terribly translated English- the actors sound just awful- the mood is broken. I wish I could watch the original film, but I don’t speak Japanese. This translation issue has improved since 1995.

While I’m perfectly aware that there are very few original stories left to tell, there were too many nearly exact plot devices as those in the book that preceded it by nine years, Speaker for the Dead , Orson Scott Card’s followup to Ender’s Game. Puppet Master conception:Ghost::Jane conception:Speaker.

Maybe I just don’t understand animé, but this film is not something I’m interested in seeing again. Not sorry I saw it. Wouldn’t recommend it.

[rate 2]