No-Talent Ass Clown at the Kodak Theater

Something has gone seriously wrong when I'm automatically getting emails like this one.

These Are the Days of Miracle and Wonder

Amanda and I scored some last minute tickets to see Paul Simon with Josh and Sarah last night at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park. I listened to his newest cd, "Surprise," a couple of times yesterday, and I have to say I wasn't too impressed, but hey, it's Paul Simon, could it possibly be a bad idea to go see him in concert? Turns out it wasn't.

The show was great, he played 3 songs off the new cd and the rest were classics, including a large handful from the S&G era. He even came out for three encores! Unfortunately, I forgot my little notebook where I write the setlists down, so I had to (nerd alert!) keep sending myself text messages from my cell phone in order to get the whole list. I do it for you, really. This is what I got to enjoy last night while trying not to get sicker than I already am.

Paul Simon, Greek Theater
Gumboots
Boy in the Bubble
Outrageous
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Slip Sliding Away
You're the One
Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
How Can You Live in the Northeast
Mrs. Robinson
Loves Me Like a Rock
That Was Your Mother
Duncan
Graceland
Father & Daughter
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
The Only Living Boy in New York
Cecilia
Encore:
Call Me Al
Still Crazy After All These Years
The Boxer
Second Encore:
Wartime Prayers
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Third Encore:
Late in the Evening

Smoking Will Stunt Your Growth

I don't normally take requests, but this one came in from Andy this afternoon, and it was worth it. The dancing's funny, and the look on the kid's face is priceless, but the payoff is at the very end. I mean, I almost crapped my pants.

This Desert Life

Amanda and I went to Phoenix this weekend with our friend Aaron. I'd been to Arizona once, stopping only long enough to sleep at a Motel 6 and eat breakfast at the Waffle House in Tuscon before crossing the state and entering California, and Amanda had never been at all, so we decided to make the trip for the weekend. We went to Yom Kippur services Sunday night and Monday, then drove back late Monday night.

While we were there, we had a really great time. Saturday, we drove up to Flagstaff for the Fat Tire Beer Festival, which was a blast, if just a little too crowded. The beer was good, though, no doubt about that. We stopped in Sedona (which happens to be the name of Jean's dog) on the way up, and it was a really nice little town that has really good ice cream. Flagstaff was great, though. A little hippie town (Amanda said it reminded her of Asheville, NC), lots of cool stores and bars, and of course, the Fat Tire Beer Festival. It was a little chilly (in Arizona, no less), so I bought a long-sleeved t-shirt for 5 bucks, and the beers helped keep me warm as well. We met up with a bunch of Jean's med school classmates there, then the 4 of us grabbed a quick dinner at a burrito shop and walked around for a little while before heading back. I ended up buying a really cool reprint of a Chinese advertisement. I have no idea what it says or what it is advertising, and it's kind of hard to describe here, but it's got drawings of what looks to be a bunch of Chinese generals, like Mao and others, and they're all talking about something. Like I said, hard to describe, but for $12.95, it's going to make one hell of an addition to the apartment once I get it framed, which might be never.

Sunday, after we got up, the rest of the group indulged me against their better judgment and we all went to Waffle House for breakfast. I have to say, I don't think I will ever get sick of that place. Afterwards, we took a driving tour of Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, etc. We checked out Arizona State University, saw a ton of strip malls, and took a mini-hike part of the way up Camelback Mountain, which was really, really hot. I liked Flagstaff better. Less sweating involved.

After Camelback, we drove out to Glendale so Aaron and I could see the new stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play, which was recently named University of Phoenix Stadium. If you're not familiar, U of Phoenix is one of those online colleges. Not a real college. Aaron thought it was pretty funny that the University of Phoenix, which does not have a football team, now has a much bigger and nicer stadium than the University of Arizona, or ASU. This stadium was AWESOME. Usually it's the team that's the attraction, or the game itself. Maybe not with the Cardinals. This stadium is brand new and is unlike anything I've ever seen that doesn't involve aliens or a government conspiracy. The thing just looks like a UFO, and it's sitting out in the middle of nowhere, among the cornfields. Weird, but very cool. The field is grass, not turf, but somehow they figured out how to put an actual grass field on rollers so it can slide outside and get sunlight. We're working on figuring out when we can get back for a game. In the meantime, here are some pics of the front of the stadium and the field out back.