Friday, August 06, 2010

Mowing, steak, son, homeless j

I mowed yesterday late afternoon. I hadn't mowed for 2 weeks, so it was a good mowing. North/South. 2 hours and 15 minutes.

After mowing I had a message to start the grill because Jane was buying steaks for supper because son Isaac was going to be here. We have only cooked on the grill maybe once or twice this summer, and we usually don't cook anything for supper (salad, or go out), so this was a special occasion. So I skipped the treadmill and got the charcoal ready. I even cooked the steaks. I think they were delmonico's. I had the grill just right (gray coals) when Jane got home; cooked the 3 steaks for 5-6 minutes on each side; and they were pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

Isaac was home to see the dentist about getting his wisdom teeth pulled. He didn't have any cavities, and got a referral to an oral surgeon. It's not that they need pulled right now, but he has to go off our insurance in another month, so he thought he might as well do it now while he has insurance (they need to come out sometime because of how they're growing). He got home right after we got done eating, and had his steak. He also picked up his amp that I fixed for him. :) We headed out for a concert, and he stuck around for a bit before heading back south.

We went to Parkview Field for the Captown Series concert featuring The Orange Opera, The Sunny Taylor Band, and Homeless J. All three are pretty good local bands, but I was mostly wanting to see Homeless J again - having only seen them once before. I was surprised at how small the crowd was though. If you took out all the musicians either waiting to play or having just played, all the people mixing or recording sound and video, and all the c2g staff... there weren't a lot of us left (maybe 20?). At any rate, it was a beautiful night, and some good music. I just wish they had something other than the metal lawn chairs to sit on. And, I don't know where in the world c2g gets all their money, but man... they have a TON of top notch sound equipment, video equipment, lighting, everything.

Orange Opera had a nice alt/pop sorta sound. And Sunny was typical Sunny - though I realize I am a little biased against her since she has jilted me a couple times - she has a great sound and writes good songs though. Homeless J seem in a different league. They are rock-star types. They just have a really big stage presence. The lead singer took a leak beside me right before they played - so we kind of had that 'bonding' moment. I like how he mixes his voice. And I love the bass player and his 6-string bass. The guitarist has a nice sound too. It was interesting watching the drummer run the show though. While the singer is being the front man, you could see the drummer controlling things like a point guard. I've never noticed anyone else quite like that.

Another thought I had... part of Homeless J's appeal is the way they relate to the crowd. Like they actually 'want' the audience to be there. The first two bands... not so much. I've always felt one of Sunny's biggest drawbacks is that she makes the audience feel unwelcome sometimes. And I think it's just nervousness or something. Homeless J, on the other hand, built a rapport with the audience as soon as they took the stage. I am amazed at how few bands recognize the effect this has on a show. Or maybe it's really hard to do - that intangible "it". Or, maybe it's just me; I dunno.

Anyway, we left before it was over and got home a little after 11 pm. I had some pretzels and cranberry juice before meandering down the hall to crash.

Peace out; and in.

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