Home, Vanessa Carlton

 *Pierce County Library in Washington

You know you are a fan of the library when:

• Your visits are frequent, and you have it scheduled into your plans.
• You have your library card memorized.
• When deciding if you should purchase a book/CD/DVD, you remind yourself that you could save $$$ and get it from el Bibliotec for free! 
• You already know your favorite locations of books.
• When checking out DVD/CD, you always inspect the disc to see if it's acceptable. 
• You have a cycle of holds that is ALWAYS filled to capacity. 
• You get confused on why the "other" library doesn't use the Dewey Decimal system. 

 How do you know if you are a fan of the library? 

We R One, Same Difference

With the election season upon us, I have been thinking about the following thought: 

Is it better for a politician to stick to their guns or to have the ability to compromise?  

The obvious answer is that a good candidate or party should have both strengths. If I had to choose only one, I think one's ability to compromise is a more promising asset to a body of people.  Very rarely is there ever a decision that works for ALL people. With this crazy game of politics I need to remember this more often.

*Image from http://norwichvineyard.co.uk

Dusk and Summer, Dashboard Confessional

After a comment by a grocery chain employee that the time to wear shorts has ended, my philosophy on when summer ends solidified.

The season of swimming, sno-cones, and sunshine ends on my birthday. By this time I can accept reality that I have to wear pants.

Truthfully, the idea of this brings me to tears. Some cry when ya take the tree down, for me it's when another summer is gone. Did I waste my time of tropics? Is summer the childish season whereas winter was meant for adults?

*image from Jaunted.com

1901, The Phoenix

Wanna know a little secret?

shh.. tiptoe over here so the others can't hear!

Cue theme song

When I watch a movie, the music makes it or breaks it. For teenage movies, is the music up to date with hip and indie melodies? For the action movies, you better believe that I love the rock-anthems that I would never listen to anywhere.

Because music is an integral part of the movie's story, there are many times when I am left wondering who played a certain song.  One of my favorite blogs addresses this concern every Friday.

http://reelsoundtrack.wordpress.com/

Oh and because every Fashion pre-show, Television Series, and Movie Trailer is using this song:

Over It, Tiffany Affair

 

This letter comes from me as a newspaper reader of seventeen years. Thinking of submitting it.

Dear Deseret News:

I am an avid print reader of the newspaper. It started with reading the comics as a kid, and has grown to reading the local articles. I have always loved the articles, opinions, and local angle of regional and national events. 

 Recently you made changes to your staff, content, and overall mission of the Utah's longest running newspaper. With every business venture, kinks have to be worked out in order to become good.  You may call me impatient, but I have given up. What I loved about your newspaper is gone. The television listings no longer tell me why I should watch, but instead tell me the synopsis. I could easily find this information with my television descriptions.  In addition, Scott Pierce also looked for what was good on TV rather than what was popular. Among these recommendations were documentaries, musicals, and where locals were getting their 15 minutes of fame. Now the "What to Watch" column seems to be biased towards People Magazine's perception of what we should be watching.

Another reason I am dissatisfied is that there is lack of the newspaper being local. In the past few weeks various sources have appeared. I am familiar with how the Associated Press and other media entities submit stories, but it appears the Deseret News is leaning on this service  frequently. To illustrate an example, please take a look at the Friday section,  Life Etc. Many of the reviews or articles have been anything but local. While the "Orlando Sentinel" might be a credible source, their opinions in movies may not match many Utahns. One of the first rules of running a newspaper was that the content should be up to date and localized. It seems you are neglecting this key factor.

I recently received a call with an inquiry to if I would renew my Deseret News subscription. I declined the offer and requested to join the Salt Lake Tribune instead.

I wish you all the best in readership and content. Who knows I may meet up with you later in life, but I need to get back to reading Robert Kirby's article, "Learning to appreciate what we once took for granted."

*source of image: rarenewspapers

Hands, The Ting Tings

There's a new Happy Hands in town!

A Perfect Tourniquet, Anberlin

I really love the theme song and wish it was longer. :(

Take a Bow, Rihanna

Since my cousin, Liz, and I got tickets to the So You Think You Can Dance Finale (SYTYCD), we decided we had better go.I have always wanted to be a part of a reality show ending. These episodes seem to have a unique thrill of celebrating a contestant's win as confetti embraces the audience. It's an interesting phenomena. 

Before we left, I contacted one of my favorite blogger for advice. (Her blog focuses on various filming locations for TV and movies.My favorite post of is when she received the opportunity to be part of the background on The Hills).With her nice response, she encouraged us to wake up early and wait around all day.

After a few thoughtful conversations, my cousin and I embarked mid-morning to get in line.  After a normal El Lay drive, aka traffic monster,  we arrived near the CBS Studios just before noon. We parked in a mall nearby and walked around the long block to where the SYTYCD line was forming. There were only 4 people in line so we decided to venture off for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

Have I ever told how much I enjoy the Cheesecake Factory?  Sure almost every item on the menu is bad for you, BUT every morsel of their food is so tasty--minus the cheesecake blech. Their motto should be "Whatever you order, it is guaranteed to be AMAZING!"  

One semi-sweet  moment was that we happened to end up at a table where it was our waiter's first day. It ended up being one of the longest lunches I have ever had!  Once our checks came, our waiter mistakenly charged too much. We noticed it and mentioned it to him, and about a half hour later the total was fully corrected. Much of this time was due to having a managers first day as well, and they had to learn how to issue a refund together.

After a crazy good lunch we took a walk back to the CBS studios, past the signs for the Price is Right, and Betty White's hit, Hot in Cleveland. When we got into the line we ended up being the 15th person in line.To keep ourselves occupied, Liz had brought a mock up book titled "Putting Christ in Christmas."   The book helped us become temporary friends with the people next to us for the next few hours. The friendly Dad from San Diego looked at the title, and asked where I fellow-shipped. We then enjoyed a conversation about Christ, the holiday season, and the fact that SYTYCD is a decent family show.

After a few hours of waiting in line, moving through security and more waiting,  we were ushered into the studio!  Once in, I shuffled, danced, and sang to top 40 songs while we waited for everyone to be placed according to height and looks. Then many "aha moments" took place:

• Turns out all the young people (50 of 'em) in front of the stage are from various dance studios in Los Angeles. 
• The stage is about half the length and width of a high school auditorium stage. 
• The studio is not fond of tall people. We were moved from a pretty close spot, to the end of the audience.  Then we were told to stand against the bleachers where the choreographers sit. With only a few feet away, I waved to Travis and Nappytabs.   We were then given permission to be seat fillers.  The show had started and we were rushed to sit in in the bleachers between Lauren and Kent's family. PRIME spot!  After a few minutes, additional family members arrived and we were ushered down to the audience floor in the very back. 
• Cat Deeley: Tall, great energy, genuine, and 100% my favorite host!  Stood behind me for a bit.
• Nigel Lythgoe loves to have total control on his show. Before the little tapper danced, he told us not to cheer because it messes him up. It was somewhat awkward when he later tried to get us to cheer for him. Perhaps he forgot what he had mentioned to us???
• Once Lauren was the winner, someone opened her Gatorade bottle and in typical sports celebration, gave her a shower. Once the show wrapped, we all chanted, "Lauren! Lauren!" It was quite fun!
• I really enjoyed seeing the opening number with all the contestants. My favorite routines happened to be the Travis Wall routines, specifically the following one. I love the haunting melody, the intense story of betrayal, and it the high flying talents of the dancers.

Clip of How it Ends:

I really loved being apart of one of my favorite tv shows, not to mention the finale.  Now I just need to find my bucket list so I can cross off attending a reality show!

Takes So Long, The Weepies

Saw this as part of the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Laughed.


...Mama wasted my time! The Kids! Papa!

The Fame, Lady Gaga

...Wowsers, it's a long post. But filled with necessary details that describe the adventure, thoughts, and events of jetting around California and rushing to Vegas to meet a popstar.  Since I am feeling rebellious, I will start from the end instead of the beginning --a very good place to start!

 Since I am an avid listener of Lady Gaga I entered a contest a few months ago, and forgot about the entry. I had seen her fifteen minute set when she opened for New Kids on the Block and loved it! Fast forward to last week when my cousin and I planned a last minute trip to the So You Think You Can Dance Finale on Thursday since we received tickets. We drove and stopped in St. George for lunch when I received emails that eventually lead me winning a trip to Lady Gaga's Monster Ball concert in Vegas. Airfare, Hotel, Concert, transportation via limo and Meet and Greet were included (One other winner and her guest were chosen as well).

When I first won, I was excited and somewhat anxious. When meeting Lady Gaga, what  happens? Would she be all crazy and mean, or would she be fiercely nice and genuinely interested in taking a picture?

Getting to the Concert

After driving a few hours we arrived in Vegas, the city of craziness. We were booked in a suite at Planet Hollywood. One neat thing about their rooms is that they all have some Hollywood memorabilia. Ours was "sponsored" by Benny and Joon which featured Johnny Depp's pajamas and a jacket he wore in the movie. Another fun thing about the room was that the bathroom was the same size as the sleeping area.

After relaxing for a bit, we got ready for the concert and headed to the lobby where we met the other contest winner and the sponsor. Mike was the guy in charge of everything in Vegas. He was incredibly friendly guy with many connections in the entertainment industry.  We then walked out of the lobby, and into the hotel drop off point where our chariot was waiting for us. Within a few minutes we are transported to the back entrance of the MGM Grand to see the Monster Ball.  We walked through various hallways and eventually ended up in the concert venue. Once we walked through the doors, you could tell we were at a Gaga concert. Fans were dressed in all kinds of Gaga inspired attire. Some were pretty decent, and some must have missed the memo for modesty.  Just wearing caution tape is not something a normal person can sing and dance in!

We were given our tickets and I was amazed on how close our seats were to the stage. We were just a few rows away from the front. I was stoked that our tickets were not general admission standing room only!  I can only take so many people telling me that I am too tall, or having their sweaty arms against my body! 

The Ball Begins

The "pop-opera" concert was pretty incredible. There was a lot of production and special effects that were put into the show. Gaga sang every song live while dancing -- a hard feat for almost any artist or performer in today's music industry.  The show was just over 2 hours, and was filled with many songs from her two albums.  My favorite songs showcased were Just Dance, Paparazzi, Vanity, Telephone, Speechless, Teeth,  and of course Bad Romance.  Sadly though she did not include her song Paper Gangsta which is my favorite song. Something unique I noticed is that Utah audiences actually sound good when singing to musicians. The Vegas crowd still needs to work on their vocal technique...

Gaga's music is very fun and bass heavy, something I appreciate. Another thing I love about Gaga's shows  is that she has a quirky way of presenting her songs.  Some parts of the show had interludes of tornadoes, model-esque poses, and words flashing across the screens while they prepared the stage. Through out the entire concert there were not any slow moments or times when I started to get bored.  Perhaps my favorite parts of Gaga's concerts is the fact that she is so dramatic and serious, that it comes across as hilarious.  Case in point:

The layout of the concert is that Gaga is trying to get from her home in New York to the Monster Ball.  It's somewhat of a theatrical twist to the Wizard of Oz.  At the beginning her car broke down (Just Dance) and eventually led to a phone call from Ms. Beyonce (Telephone). She then called a random audience member that had provided their information to a Virgin Mobile rep previously. The fan, Little Monster, then got to talk to Gaga and move to a better seat.

One of my favorite moments that showed how great a musician Gaga was when she was singing Speechless on a fiery piano. It started out with her playing on her piano and all of a sudden it turned into a 10 foot tornado and spun. It was quite amazing. 

Scary... 

I don't intend to sugar-coat the entire show -- there were some things said or done that I did not agree with, but I can understand how someone can come to those conclusions or perform the way they did. She loves her little monster fans and is very protective of them.

Also with the city being Vegas, I am not sure what was said and done because it was "Vegas."  There were many mean drunks, who I am not a fan of, that happened to be seated near us. Sure it's comical for a bit, but when you are screaming, acting like you are carrying on a conversation with the performer, or pushing people, it gets annoying after 5 minutes. One of these inebriated people (whom we later found out has a close tie to Gaga)  mistakenly pulled down a teenage monster's shorts by accident (we later find out she was trying to tug his caution tape vest (Telephone music video attire). This resulted that the drunk woman got a punch to the face by another audience member trying to protect the teen. Wild.Careless.People.

The show ended with the entire audience making it to the Monster Ball. This was perhaps my favorite moment, because everyone in the arena was singing at the top of their lungs and dancing to Bad Romance. Pure energy filled the room.

Sealed with a Kiss

After the concert we were ushered through the passages of the MGM Grand.  We waited outside Lady Gaga's dressing room for a few minutes and went into her suite. You may wonder what my conversation would be like with top charting pop superstar. The idea of meeting and carrying on a conversation with a celebrity made me nervous several years ago, but after meeting a few of them,  I have decided they are just like the strangers we meet with a smile everyday. The key is to provide a compliment, and share something you have common ground on.

My cousin, Mike, and the other contest winner and her guest entered Gaga's dressing room.  The contest winner went first and chatted with Gaga.  At one point the winner handed the Grammy Award winning singer her phone so she could talk to her friend A____ who happens to be in fashion school.

"Hello A___ this is Lady Gaga. How are you? 

"Well I  just wanted to let you in on a little secret."  

"F%^* Fashion! You need to tell your professor to  F%^* Fashion!!" 

"I promise you will get an 'A!'"

Then it was my turn to meet Lil Gaga:

Back story: The day before I happened to be at Disneyland, and as tradition, I get a fortune card from the robotic fortune telling machine. I then decided that Gaga might appreciate a small, random and simple gift, so I decided to give her one. Snippets of our conversation went a little something like this:

"Hey Gaga, I just wanted to say thank you for starting to put an end to the
manufactured pop machine.I went to Disneyland yesterday and got you this: It's a fortune from the fortune telling machine, and I got it in honor of you."

Gaga: "Bad @$$!!!"

Gaga then leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek as I try and focus on reading the card. Our hands both are shaking so she takes her other hand (which had remnants of fake blood) to steady the card. 

I share part of the fortune with her --"Beware of Ladies, they never have your back.
the 16th of any month will result in joy."

"Will you sign my program and CD insert?"

She agrees to providing her autograph and  thanks me for her fortune. I hand her a brand new Paint Marker, and after struggle to get the cap off with my hands so I just bite it off.

I tell her she may need to draw on the program to get the marker started.

Gaga then proceeds to scribble and some shake the marker. I respond back with, "A little shake shake, shimmy shimmy." She laughs.


She then autographs my program cover and CD inserts.  At one point she leans in and whispers "I'm so shy."  To comfort I whisper, "Me too!" 

When she is done, I thank her by winking and saying  "Paper Gangsta." 

My cousin then takes pictures with Gaga and compliments her on the concert. We leave the room and are taken back to a room where we talk about the experience with the other contest winner.Within a few minutes we also meet the little caution tape wearing monster. Turns out he got to meet Gaga because of the brawl.  After a few minutes we walk back to the MGM  lobby, where we slide into a limo as people stare at us, wondering if we were celebrities.

The After-Thoughts

I have thought about how I feel about Lady Gaga before and after meeting her. She is an extremely smart individual who is genuine and quite nice. She could have easily demanded that she was not going to sign anything because of my marker not working, but she was patient and kept trying. Also with other conversations with other people in her dressing room, she has great comedic wit.  Some have asked if I think Stefani Germanotta is the same as Lady Gaga. I think L.G. is a melting pot of her own persona, and that the two are distinguishable.  She knows how to work the media as well as entertain a massive audience. She then can switch gears and still be normal and have a conversation.  

While I may not agree with some of the antics that are done on stage, I can understand why and how she has come to those conclusions. Her fans are somewhat unique because they cover the entire spectrum, from conservative gun carrying soccer moms to LGBTQ youth who are looking for someone to look up to. Also she donates $20,000 from each show to helping homeless youth.

While some of Gaga's antics and ideas differ than mine, I can still respect that she is an uber talented songwriter and performer. She's on the top of her game every night.  I really had a fun time singing and dancing at the concert as well as chatting with my new friend Gaga. It's definitely a moment of my life I will never forget and think about often.  However if I don't remember, it will all come back if I Just Dance...