Random musings of Jeromey Balderrama
My good friend Andie passed along a link to an awesome video – the evolution of dance! It looks like it made it’s way around the Internet, but I just saw it for the first time. I just about fell out of my chair laughing, especially since I’ve personally attempted a few of these…
Check out the site at evolutionofdance.com
Today as I was listening to Cnet’s Buzz Out Loud I heard one of the funniest things I’ve heard all week. Apparantly if you go to Wikipedia (the on-line user-driven encyclopedia), and search for "Gory Death Scenes" you get a list of all different types of gross, graphic ways people have bit it on the silver screen, as well as the movies that feature those ways to do. Be careful when visiting that site, especially if you have a weak stomach. Check out the site!
Some notables on the list:
The fact that people have taken time not only to list these movies, but categorizing them the way they have – it’s just too much. I wish I had this much time on my hands.
So who’s up for a "Death due to contact with a caustic or otherwise deadly substance" movie marathon this weekend?
As I stated in an earlier posting, my camera-phone (combined with my not-so-great-for-picture-taking seat location) produced poor pictures, but I did managed to find some great pictures offered by users on the Warehouse forums.
This is the shot of the 2006 stage setup. I love the three different-sized screens!
During "Smooth Rider" someone apparently threw a pair of sunglasses on stage. Dave picked them up and put them on to sing the next verse.
Another great stage picture!
Back in Fort Collins one day later, I wanted to offer one last reflection about the Bonner Springs trip. Like I said a few posts back, the trip back home always seems longer than the trip there. It was largely due to the lost anticipation of the concert, along with the realization that the hassles of work, school and the "to-do" list are early awaiting our return.
This trip was no exception, and while we employed the same "Podcast" strategy to help pass the time, things didn’t work out as well as we could have hoped. Most notably, we ran out of content with 2+ hours of driving left. While we theoretically had enough content loaded in the playlist to last us the trip home, our impatience combined with our need to censor certain shows resulted in multiple skips.
Our original intention was to listen to completely new PodCasts, but we modified the plan to incorporate reliable favorites, mixed by the "Shuffle" option on the iPod. This produced our "return home" Podcast list:
Daily Breakfast #122
Urban Coffee #39 – STOPPED EARLY
Tips from the Top Floor – #127
Daily Breakfast #123
AirFerg – 5/28 – STOPPED EARLY
Daily Giz Wiz #73
ShashDot Review 5/31
Daily Source Code #395 – STOPPED EARLY
Manager Tools – 5/29
Cnet Buzz Out Loud #239
Mike Tech Show #68
Daily Source Code #396
The Word Nerds #64
Daily Giz Wiz #74
Boagworld Web Design Podcast #36 – STOPPED EARLY
Cnet Buzz Out Loud #238
Slashdot Review – 5/30
Daily Giz Wiz #72 – STOPPED EARLY
As I said, the "old faithful’s" delivered on quality content, but we we weren’t stingy on the "skip" button, and we used it where appropriate:
Urban Coffee – Sorry, but this was off-topic, crude and couldn’t hold our interest – skipped and removed from Juice.
AirFerg – It had it’s moments, but they were few and far between. We couldn’t understand the role of "Shelly" on the show. Did they drop her voice clips post-production, or is "Shelly" even real?
Daily Source Code – It was riding the fence with us all throughout the trip (which is why we skipped 395 and not 396). Contrary to constant praise from listeners on the show, Matt and I aren’t big fans of Adam’s wife, Patricia being on the show. She’s a nice person and all, but when she has the mic the show is suddenly about "nothing" (and not in the Seinfeld "nothing – the boring "nothing"). 396 was good because it was just Adam, and actually relevant for a change.
Boagworld Web Design Podcast – This Podcast is typically good, but the fluxuating volume levels on the PodCast made it impossible to listen to on our FM Transmitter. Rather than placing our finger on the volume knob, we hit "skip" instead.
Daily Giz Wiz – This is another fence-rider. The concept of the show is actually good, but the problem is that the hosts spend more time talking about anything but the daily "Giz". When a 14 minute show is 12 minutes longer than it needs to be, it’s not a bad sign. You guys talk every day, would it be too much to ask to not banter so much on-air?
At that point we virtually ran out of PodCasts. We had a few episodes of Keith and the Girl, but we bagged them, due to vulgarity fears. We also had a Comic Geek Speak X-men III review, but because Matt had not seen the movie we skipped it as well.
Overall we failed in our "Podcast-only" road-trip, but we gave a good solid effort. Plus I’ve picked a few new Podcasts from this trip that I’m excited to now subscribe to: MP3 Insider, Manager Tools, The Word Nerds, and Mike Tech Show.
Now to look forward to upcoming trips: Glenwood Springs (5 hour drive) next weekend, Orlando Florida in 10 days (but flying)…
It is surreal to think about how the concert managed to sneak up the way it did. Even as Matt and I were driving to Kansas City I could not believe we were going to see Dave Matthews Band. When the concert finally arrived and we were driving to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, it finally began to set in.
We found the place with no problem, and started tailgating right away. While we did pack a grill, burgers and a bunch of beer – Matt and I still managed to keep our tailgating low-key by just chilling out on lawn-chairs and listening to our music. The burgers were excellent, and we both had our fair share of beer. It was nice just sitting in the parking lot, letting the DMB experience sink in. We actually ended up missing the opening act due to our excessive tailgating, but we made it to our seats just in time to watch DMB take the stage.
The Verizon Wireless Ampthitheatre was passable venue at best. It reminded me a lot of the Coors Amphitheater in Denver, with two sections of seats and a lawn covering the top of the venue. It was much bigger, but was mostly expanded in the grass area. When I received our seat locations, I was disappointed that we were in the second level of seats. However, after being in the venue it turns out our seats were better than 75% of the people there. The seating radius was extremely wide, and the side-view looked horrible. Additionally, the grass looked like a zoo and was packed to the brink with people. We really lucked out with our seats.
My 12th DMB show was a blast! They had an excellent set list, filled with some rarities and a lot of old material (nothing off Remember Two Things though). It was also awesome seeing trumpeter Rashawn Ross on the tour. He was at Red Rocks last year and was definitely a crowd-pleaser.
Bonner Springs Set List:
JTR
What Would You Say
When The World Ends
Hunger For The Great Light
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
Grace Is Gone
Raven
Tripping Billies
Where Are You Going
So Much To Say
Too Much
Smooth Rider
American Baby Intro
Louisiana BayouEncore:
Sister (new Dave solo song)
Crash Into Me
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
It’s amazing to see the level of energy that Dave has this early in the tour. The earliest I’ve previously seen them was in late June, before their half-way point and it was no comparison to the raw enthusiasm conveyed at Wednesday’s show. I’m not sure if the rawness is better than the synergy and "polished" feel that comes from a later show. It looks like both have their benefits.
I was relegated to my cell phone camera for this show, which simply produced bad pictures. The best one (taken at dusk) has no representation of the beautiful lights/screen that was used in the later evening.
This was an awesome way to kick off my summer concert season (I’m pretending that the Black Eyed Peas show never happened), and am excited for lucky #13 at the Pepsi Center!
Check out my Flickr site for more pictures