Bridge School Benefit 2006 (aka, I want to kick Dave Matthews in the Nuts)

We spent last Sunday (and I mean ALL of last Sunday) at the Bridge School Benefit Concert...

at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

The sun was warm, the beer was cold, and there was a killer line-up including Death Cab for Cutie, Trent Reznor, Neil Young, DMB, and Pearl Jam.




We patiently waited for my high school boyfriend Eddie Vedder to take the stage, even sitting on the cold hard ground through 45 minutes of twitchy Brian Wilson and his Beach Boys montage.

Eddie appeared and it was even better than I could have imagined. I love him. I love him so.

All was well. And then the real disaster struck. Now, as many of you know I have always hated the Dave Matthews Band. It goes back to my days as an angst ridden college student in Virginia--the land of white hats (ie, frat boys) and daddy's girls who were obsessed with this quirky fellow from around town who created a pathological following with his 'jam-band' sound. Secretly, I kind of liked his music when it came on the radio. But, I hated his fans and it annoyed me to hear the white hats brag about seeing 'DMB' for the 78th time in 2 years. Last year at the Bridge School Benefit I saw Dave perform live for the first time. He was awesome. His band wasn't there, so it was just him an an acoustic guitar, and I cried a little inside for all the hate I had so wrongfully bestowed on this obviously brilliant musician. I even repented by downloading a couple of Dave songs off of ITunes.

Fast forward to Sunday night. Eddie was so good that by the time Dave came on I didn't mind that it was past 10 pm and I had been sitting on a blanket on the hard ass ground since 3 pm. I was actually looking forward to him. But instead of doing something actually ENTERTAINING, Dave proceeded to come out with his entire band and play 3 songs. That would have been fine, except that he was on stage for AN HOUR AND A HALF. Oh yes, that's right. He played 3 songs that lasted over 30 minutes each. What the hell? And most of the time he wasn't even singing but rather doing some spastic dance while his saxaphone and trumpet player dueled it out for who could hit the highest note. Again. And again. And again. Holy shit it was painful. Like gouge out my eye painful. Like the guy is brilliant and the music interesting and I would like it if it lasted 7 minutes. That's all anyone needs. After 7 minutes you're just showing off. No one cares after 7 minutes. By that point even the white hats are secretly wishing the guy will just shut the f up and play 'Satellite' or something.

So, I fear my hate for 'DMB' has returned. Spread the word.

The Many Faces of Megan

Our lovely and talented neice Megan likes to take advantage of all opportunities to show off her remarkable range:



In this montage, we present the Many Faces of Megan. First there is 'shy' face:

And 'angry' face:

There is also 'happy' face:

And 'scared' face:

And last but not least, 'sad' face:

I expect to be the first person she thanks when she wins the Academy Award.

Cake

There really are fewer things in this world more enjoyable than some good cake:


And no one knows that fact better than Mr. Trevor Michael Sheehy.

The mere thought of cake.....

Waiting, waiting for that cake....

Mmmmmm. Sweet, beautiful cake....

Down in the West Texas Town of El Paso.....

This past weekend we headed down to El Paso for the 60th wedding anniversary of my grandparents, Jim and Mary G. Their 4 kids threw them a fun party at the Vista Hills Country Club where we caught up with family members and drank Miller Lite. Here are the guests of honor cutting their cake:

The happy couple:

The gift we presented: a bowl with 60 rocks, each one with either the name of a family member or a word that represents marriage

Cousin Jennifer giving her toast:

Dinner was served and the party began. Here are some of the highlights.

The very soon-to-be Tuckers:

Andy and Trevor:

Cousins Mandee and Courtney:

All the sisters:

BVZ and Megan:

Kristin and Grandma Mary:

Amo and Kristin:

The Sheehys:

Me, Amo and Kristin:

The GVZ's:


Me, BVZ and Megan:

Steph and Megan:


Aunt Marla, Kristin and Steph:

After the party we went over to Big Jim and Mary's house where we drank more beer and watched Megan and Trevor play with rocks.

No visit to El Paso would be complete without a stop at the infamous Chico's Tacos. There were about 6 people in the place, but at least 3 security guards.

You get 3 tacos, cheese and 'special sauce' for $1.68:


We crashed the over-40's single scene at the popular Carlos & Mickey's, had some margaritas, and let BVZ dance to some serious ranchero music.




The view from our hotel was of the lovely and fragrant ASARCO plant, which pretties up the ELP skyline. BVZ is convinced that the ASARCO by-product is actually Chico's Tacos special sauce:

The next morning we had a quick visit with Grandma Flossie who got to meet Trevor for the first time:

BVZ and Trevor outside Flossie's house:

After that it was off to check out Suez street. My childhood home seems much smaller, is definitely much pinker, and a whole lot more rundown than the last time I saw it:

The strange palm tree hybrid growing in the front yard:

Our initials we wrote into wet cement back in 1981:

View of Album Park:

We drove past my high school and other monumental landmarks (like the posh 'west side') and let BVZ do a little souvenier shopping (you have never seen anyone so into getting a UTEP Miners shirt...) Before heading to the airport, we got a quick Mexican fix at Avila's.

Ah, El Paso....