Keane At the Warfield

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that this week...kinda sucked. Oh, it had it's okay moments, but overall, I was a moody, emotional, crying mess. I was anxious, stressed, and exhausted. A few days ago, I told my duck ladies, "Fortunately, there's a light at the end of this tunnel. It's a stage light, shining on four guys from England."

Yesterday, I set off for work at the usual time (6:45) and had my usual crazy Friday of non-stop teaching. It's always fun, but it is also exhausting. When you add this on top of a week that had me feeling slightly run-over, you can imagine that when I left at 2:30, my body was ready to sit for a while. It got its wish. The drive to Oakland took about an hour-and-a-half. I met Summer at the Rockridge BART station, and we took the train into the city to get some dinner and get to the Warfield on time.

What can I say? Keane gigs are always awesome. These guys are legitimate musicians performing really well-written music. As tired as I was, by the time the lights dimmed and the intro music started, I was finding my second wind. You can hear this wind in my high-pitched shrieking in this video:

The crowd was electric, Tom's voice was in top form, and the set list was great. I did rather miss "The Starting Line," as its a favorite of mine from Strangeland, but I don't decide the set lists and I refuse to complain because they played so many of their best songs with their usual energy and passion.

After such a topsy-turvy week, I definitely had moments of raw emotion during the show. The first came during "Silenced By the Night," which Tim once described as being, perhaps, a metaphor for coming out of a dark period. My own interpretation of the song fits this, and one reason I love this song so much is because of this meaning--I know, all too well, that feeling of being in a dark place and fighting your way out of it. Last night, the song nearly made me cry, especially as Tom sang, "'Cause baby I'm not scared of this world, when you're here..." and then geared up for an enormous, heartbreakingly gorgeous "Whoa" at the top of his voice.

Magic.

Of course, the crowd roared throughout "Somewhere Only We Know," Keane's biggest Stateside hit, and sang along pretty much every word. Tom held his microphone stand high above us, encouraging us to sing along (as he always does). I almost cried again, because this song represents so many wonderful things to me--it's the song that brought me to that first Keane gig in 2009, and because I always loved it so, I've met some incredible people I may otherwise never have known.

Other highlights of the evening included Tom describing the neighborhood in which the Warfield Theater resides as, "the strangest neighborhood I've ever been in..." with a rueful chuckle. Welcome to The Tenderloin, Mr. Chaplin! A few minutes later, he described the band's bus trip into California (they came to us from Boise, Idaho) via Interstate 80, and how impressed he was with how beautiful this state is (insert huge roar from the crowd). "You've got everything! Mountains, the ocean, the Napa valley..." It was a proud California Girl moment for me.

Summer, attending her fourth proper Keane gig, was laughing at how she now knows Tom's signature hand motions and stage moves. We would jokingly imitate him and giggle while singing along to the music. I once saw someone describe Tom as a boring front man because he never changes his "shtick." I disagree, and maintain that you don't need to do gymnastics up there when you have a voice like Tom Chaplin's. 

The other guys were in top form, too. I knew something was up when Tim stood up from his stool, moved it several feet back, and stood at his keyboards. Sure enough, the band started "Is It Any Wonder?" (Summer's favorite) and this means Tim rocking out so hard you have to worry about whiplash. Jesse, as usual, danced around with his bass and did a few percussion duties (I saw him with claves at one point). He climbed up on the drum stand with Richard and I giggled, remembering a picture that was once put up on Twitter of Jesse pretending to bite a laughing Richard. Alas, no such shenanigans last night. Still, the grin on Richard's face as he and Jesse interacted said it all--these four guys are like brothers, and they still love to make music together.

I took two videos, a couple of bad still shots, and some Instagram shots that are in my Week in Instagram post below. Mostly, I spent Keane's 90-minute set being in the moment, singing along, dancing, and letting myself get caught up in the emotional intensity of Tim's lyrics. After the week I had leading up to Friday, I needed to just let go and enjoy. I later remarked to Summer that this was much needed "music therapy."

Unfortunately, we were unable to stay after the show to meet the guys--apparently they came out to say hello, but we had a BART train to catch back to Oakland, and the service shuts down around midnight. I'm just glad I got to see the show, hear the guys live. They never disappoint me, and I'm grateful to live in a place they visit regularly. Some countries only see Keane every 3-4 years. The U.S. gets them way more often than that, and the bay area sees them pretty much every tour.

I leave you with this thirty-second snippet of action from "A Bad Dream," showing just how energetic these guys are, how much they give to their fans.

Come back soon, Keane! California loves you.

Stormy Weather

Because I've been pretty  much stuck inside the last few days, I've been...bored. I've been stuck inside because I'm not a fan of driving among idiots in nice weather, let alone when this is going on outside. Apparently, a lot of people have been slip-sliding off the roads.

P.S. At 2:37, that is me saying, "Gah," which is one of my favorite words ever. I don't know why.

Squirrelly

As usual, last night found me at Sac State University for my weekly choir rehearsal. I arrived quite early, as traffic seemed lighter than usual.

I decided to treat myself to a pack of M&Ms, so down to the student union I strolled. I perched on a picnic table near the music building with my treat, and promptly got hit on...by a squirrel.

This little guy was so cute, but believe me, I was watching him like a hawk. I didn't find myself in the mood to get bitten, but I'm pretty sure if I'd invited him, he would have snuggled up on my lap. Unfortunately for the fluffy-tailed little cutie, I wasn't willing to share...after a little while, he moved on, and I went to rehearsal.

Presenting...

My parents.



This was taken about 15 minutes ago, in my Batcave.

Happy New Year!

2011 In Pictures

I'm a little early posting this this year, but what the heck.

Last year, I got the idea to use Windows Movie Maker to consolidate my favorite pictures from 2010, instead of making a big, long blog post. I think that will be my tradition from now on--it's easy enough to do, and this year, I took some time to add captions in just the right places and make it a little special.

When I finished uploading the pictures I wanted to use into Movie Maker, I found that...ooops...the video was almost ten minutes long! I thought about making it last that long and using two songs, but figured most of you wouldn't really want to sit through that.

I had to weed out some pictures, but I left in my very favorites--some are favorites for artistic merit and some because of the people in them, and the happy memories. I had a lot of mini-adventures this year, and I always, always had my Nikon along for the ride (and a certain little duck, of course).

So without further ado, I present my favorite pictures of 2011. Almost all of them are mine, except for three or so that were taken by Maayan when she visited in April.

Enjoy, and thanks for watching!

Meg and Sacramento

I'm starting to sense a theme, here. I feel like I'm spending more and more time in and around downtown Sacramento, exploring and getting to know a city I grew up near (when non-Californians ask me where I'm from I always tell them, "I grew up in the Sacramento area" because it's easier than explaining all of the suburbs and surrounding areas that I actually lived in--Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Lincoln, and the not-so-far-away city of Stockton) but don't really know.

Last night our weekly choir rehearsal was held at Sacramento's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. (In case you were wondering, Sacramento is most likely the Spanish word for Sacrament. Just a guess on my part. I'm more likely to call this city Sacratomato, though.)

Yes. So. Our rehearsal. Our concerts next weekend will be held at the cathedral, so we have the benefit of two weeks in a row of rehearsing in the space. It's a large space, with acoustical issues we don't have in the choir room at Cal State Sacramento, our normal rehearsal space.


I decided to do some exploring before the rehearsal. I parked in a seven-story parking garage and rode the elevator to the top to get some view pictures.

That's the cathedral in the center of the picture. To it's right is what my dad
once called the "Ban Deodorant building" because it looks like a roll-on.

The Crest Theater has a FANTASTIC sign (I have a better
pic of it in my collection).

The capitol, obviously.

The Cathedral dome and spires.

I took a quick video...

I walked down the (dirty, decrepit) K Street mall to the Downtown Plaza, an open-air shopping mall that doesn't get a ton of business. I didn't take pics because, well, I was nervous walking around with my camera out. Later, I got a few pics in the cathedral...I didn't want to use my flash, as Don was working with the instrumentalists, so they're not great. But you get the idea.

Rehearsal was long and a bit frustrating--we had to stand most of the night and everyone was exhausted. I couldn't see for half of the rehearsal, but Don, bless him, moved me after I chatted with him at break time ("I don't want to complain, but...I can't see you!").

But that's for another blog post.

California Dreamin' Another SoCal Sojourn (At the Beach in Carmel)

After visiting Mission Carmel yesterday, I drove around a bit, intending to find the downtown area and the beach--it didn't really matter which I found first. As it happens, I turned a corner and found a beach-front road with tons of parking and a huge stretch of sand and people and crashing waves. There was an open parking spot right in front of me.

It was a no-brainer, people.

I had my little lunch cooler with me, packed with a healthy lunch. I had a blanket in the trunk, a camera and two rubber duckies. I trooped down to the beach, getting sand in my ballet flats and not caring one whit.

And then I enjoyed some time eating, listening to the waves, people-watching, and taking pictures and videos. Which I present to you now.

When I reached my own patch of sand, the shoes came off first.

To my right.

To my left.

Two ducks at the beach. (Cali needs a bath. Oy vey.)

There were a bunch of surfers. I think they're nuts, but fun to watch.

Blackbird

My picnic consisted of apple slices, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, carrots,
and a Hershey Special Dark bar.

This is the life.

This gull kept creeping closer...

...and closer...

...and closer.

 Speaking of gulls:

Here comes a big one!

Crash! I love the Pacific.

Finally I got up and ventured closer to the water.

I was minding my business, getting my feet wet, and trying to get a pic of
Cali Swimmy in the foam.

When the water came up a little higher than I expected. Whoops!

I was really worried for my intrepid little duck, but aside from capsizing,
he was okay. Just rattled. We went back to our picnic spot right away.

Looking back up at the road.

Recovered from his scary moment.

Windy hair! My necklace, by the way, is from Etsy. It says "Mischief Managed,"
and it is awesome. Here's a link to it on Etsy.

Lordie, to live in one of these...

A pair of abandoned flip-flops.

 

Meg's Epic Week Part 12: Monterey

After the epicness that was the Railroad Revival Tour show, Maayan and I were exhausted--and hungry. We stopped at a Denny's near our hotel, where I chowed down on nachos (my first true meal of the day) and we sat in that exhausted-but-euphoric stupor that comes after a great show.

We rehashed some great moments, which I wrote down in a handy little notebook that I sometimes haul around with me. These helped me remember a few details for the blog post.

Soon, it was back to the hotel, to shower off the makeup, the sweat (from all that jumping and dancing) and the sunscreen before crashing for the night.

Even Cali Swimmy was exhausted.

Needless to say, we didn't get hours and hours of sleep--I was too excited for Friday. Maayan, you see, had never been to Monterey, and I am always looking for an excuse to visit. It took a couple of hours to get there from Oakland, and was well worth the drive.

Izzy and Cali outside a British-style pub.

Sea Lions! I took a great video--posted below.

Crabby

Can you spot the rubber duckies?

"Mom?!"

I called Mom and Dad (who were, at this point in Arizona or New Mexico on their own epic road trip), while Maayan called her sister back in New York. Her conversation was longer, so I stopped to take a video of the sea lions in the harbor.

We decided to go whale watching--Maayan had never been and I always love to go. We paid for our spots on the next tour, then rushed off to use the loo, feed the parking meter, and get some bottled water.

We had a scary moment when Maayan left her purse hanging in the bathroom, but fortunately, the next lady to use the stall left it alone and passed it to Maayan. Nothing was missing, and all was right with the world.

I was delighted to see that the naturalist on board was the same lady that guided the trip I took three years ago. She's very knowledgeable and she loves what she does, so listening to her is fun.

 

Sea lions

The sea lions had taken over the boat! When we came back in a
few hours later, there were no more sea lions, just a man with a mess.

Maayan and Izzy

Kate, our naturalist.

There's a humpback in there somewhere...

Tail

Another tail

A really great tail shot.

So obviously, we started out seeing a pair of humpbacks. The difficulty with watching humpbacks is that for as gigantic as they are, you see only a tiny bit of them. Still, they are amazing and Maayan was quite impressed.

After a little while watching them, the captain announced we were off to try to find some orcas. They'd been in the area, as this time of year is a good time for them to hunt, and we wanted to find some. Maayan and I used this as a chance to rest in the cabin, as we were both still exhausted and also freezing outside on the boat. We were sitting at a table, happily resting with our eyes closed, when Kate's voice was heard on the speakers: "Killer whales!"

You've never seen two ladies jump to attention so fast.

The rest of the day, the running joke would be: "Killer whales!" "WHERE?!"

We had found a single orca--a juvenile--and while it must have had a pod nearby, we never spotted them. We ran along side of him as he raced through the water, and it was quite thrilling when he spotted a pod of dolphins ahead--dinner! He started tail-slapping and breaching like crazy, to alert his pod that he'd found food, and the dolphins did a 180 and raced towards shore, where shallower waters might protect them.

I only got three stills, because I took this awesome video of the dolphin chase, the tail-slapping and the breaching. I'm so pleased that I caught it all. You can hear the naturalist narrating what we see, and Maayan and myself talking, laughing and cheering.

We had a blast, and Maayan was so glad she went (she'd had some initial fears that she might get seasick--but she didn't!).

A lady and her duck.

This sea otter was eating crab. So cute!

Back into the harbor.

At some point in the day, I remarked, "Ooh! My bag is heavy!" Maayan's reply: "It's all the joy from last night." Indeed, there was much joy, both Thursday and Friday.

We wandered back towards the car, stopping to buy some candy and take a few pictures in Fisherman's Wharf.

Not the company we used--but I liked this statue!

Eeeee!!!

After whale watching, we were exhausted. We thought about having dinner down on Cannery Row, but parking was non-existent, so we started on the long drive back towards Stockton.

Eventually, I was really hungry, so we stopped at Pea Soup (if you've been following these blogs from my Epic Week, you'll notice that Pea Soup is a recurring theme). This time, we ate there, and I had...you guessed it! Pea soup. It was delicious.

We arrived home quite late--what a great day it had been, after a wonderful Thursday. I have one more post about my Epic Week--a summary, with a few extra pictures. That will come tomorrow.