See this crowd.....five billion proud...

It's taken me a few days to get to this....my head is swimming with other things. Focusing is somewhat elusive at the moment!

I cannot say enough how much I love the Dave Matthews Band (otherwise known as "Dave"). And this weekend is one I start looking forward to the day after the second show!

This is the second year my sidekick, Sara, and I pointed the car due north and headed to lovely Indianapolis. Why do we go to Indy, you might ask? Well, Dave and the boys play only a few two-night stands every summer. They are almost always great sets and the crowds tend to be more on the die-hard side than the "going just to say you're going" group. I specifically picked Deer Creek not only because it's the closest of the two-nighters for us, but because you can camp AT the venue. No driving. No parking. Walk half a mile to and from. Priceless.

Last year we met a group of folks that do this every year and they invited us to camp with them this year (we are sooooo special). They arrived Thursday night and got us a good, off-the-beaten-path site. We got there around 2:00 on Friday (ok, we got a tad lost after we got off the highway.....the jury is still out on who's fault THAT was). We got the tent set up and then joined the group for a little eating, drinking and being merry. These guys are very chill....we're all "older" (meaning we are not members of the high school/college set). We all just sit around the campfire and relax....there is no drunken, obnoxious, loud, passing out partying. Just my speed!


Night 1 was, in a word, amazing. This was show #18 for me....I am no longer a neophyte and I know what I like and don't like. I will say this to get it out of the way....the encore left me a little tepid. But the main set got better and better as time went on. Just when I thought they were done with the "biggies" (Two Step, Proudest Monkey, Dancing Nancies), they'd break into another one. I got to hear Dreaming Tree for the first time. God, I love that song! By the time they got to the jam in #41, I was near tears. Seriously. It was THAT good! Normally, for a two-nighter, you expect Night 2 to be the better of the two. I was having a hard time believing they could beat this show. It could honestly be the best one I've seen yet.

Saturday was another day of chilling, drinking, and relaxing. We walked over to Hippieville (a line of booths selling jewelry, crystals, clothes, food, and....ummmmm....pretty glass pipes you can display on your mantle (*ahem*). I took a shower which did a lot of good for, I'd say, 2 1/2 minutes. But, man, did that ice cold water feel good! I was anxious for the show but also aware that that was it for another year....always a little sad :(

Sara and I are ready for Night 2!

Night 2 did not disappoint. I am usually not a fan of opening a show with a slower song.....but hearing the first notes of Seek Up set the tone for a great set! Granny and Grey Street back-to-back are two songs I can never hear enough of. And Crush was above and beyond the best I've ever heard. They ended the night with Sly and the Family Stone's Thank You. They let the crowd sing....Dave danced like a crazy man...it was the perfect way to end the night!

But all good things must come to an end. We rolled out of bed at 9:00 the next morning and started packing up. I hated for the weekend to end, but must say I was looking forward to a real bed and a very long shower. As is tradition, we started making notes for next year! (must bring this, don't need to bother with that). Now that I'm back in the real world, I have downloaded both shows and have listened to them ad nauseum. This is another thing I love about this band....they allow tapers at the shows and you can download them for free. Thanks Dave!!

Oh, and in case the Penguin faithful are tuning in.....Sidney Penguin had a great time, despite the fact that penguins generally are not very fond of the heat.....

Sidney P. catches a few Zzzzz's before the show...

Penguins, Dave and a nostalgia update!

How's that for variety!

So, my picture of Sidney Penguin around Nashville created an interest in my little guy. I am now knee deep in penguin parts! (ok, that sounds gross....no penguins were harmed!). I will be selling them fairly soon through The Sidney Crosby Show. Half of the proceeds will go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation....cause I like my yarn art to serve the greater good.

Anyway, I am trying to get ahead of the game by creating a bunch of penguins before offering them up to fly off to other parts of the world. I started by making 20 sets of all the "parts" (beaks, eyes, wings, sticks, etc.). Now I am crocheting up the heads and bodies (all one piece). Yesterday I worked on three special penguins that are part of something Jodie is setting up. My biggest sticking (ha!) point is the numbers. I am putting numbers on their backs and on one wing. This is turning out to be a little more difficult than I thought. I just can't get them to look right. I may end up sucking it up and buying the numbers at Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's (this will cut into my already meager profits.....but I want them to look good!).

And all these penguin odds and ends will be accompanying me to Indiana this weekend!

DAVE!!!!!!!!!

Sara and I will be heading due north to Indianapolis to spend two wonderful nights with my friends, the Dave Matthews Band (I do wish they really were my friends....so far it's all one sided though...). We did this last year for the first time since Nashville closed it's outdoor amphitheater, Starwood. Music City, huh? Whatever. I am hoping for decent weather since I don't do heat very well. Last year we really lucked out....it was actually cold at night! I doubt we get that two years in a row, but anything under 90 degrees will be a welcome relief.

So what are my hopes, dreams and aspirations for this year's tour? Well, for one thing, Butch Taylor, long time piano player (but not actual member) for the band has left. I'm indifferent about his leaving. He was good, but piano solos aren't really my thing. Joining Dave and Co. this summer is Mr. Tim Reynolds (who tours with Dave himself when he does the solo thing). Timmy is insanely talented and a true fan favorite. I am looking forward to hearing him with the full band.

Another very unexpected change is the absence of Leroi Moore (saxophone) due to an ATV accident a few weeks ago. He's been in and out of the hospital due to his injuries. Get well soon, Leroi! Taking his place is Jeff Coffin of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Another fan fave (and an alum of my beloved University of North Texas!). I hear he's tearing things up!

I've been watching the setlists and, as usual, there are some interesting things happening there. Covers of "Money" by Pink Floyd, "Thank You" by Sly and the Family Stone, and "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers have all made appearances. "Corn Bread" and "Eh Hee" are back from last year (love both of these!). And "The Dreaming Tree" has been played one night of each of the two-night sets. I have never gotten this song and it is a personal favorite. My ultimate would be "I'll Back You Up". I could then die happy.

And last, but not least, a review of my Trip Down Memory Lane!

Ok, Season Three of the Muppet Show is definitely better than Season One. Miss Piggy and Janice's voices are normal. Pigs in Space is in the lineup. There's a lot more Dr. Bunson and Beaker. And, all around, more laugh out loud moments. However, it's still not exactly what I was hoping for. I don't know, maybe all of it is a whole lot more entertaining to an 8-year-old (though that's when my maturity stopped, so I don't know what the problem is). I'm just not having as many "oh my god! I remember this!" moments as I thought. I will more than likely get the second and third disks though. And I am looking forward to them releasing the remaining seasons (I believe there were six). But next up? Rocky and Bullwinkle.....

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

Next weekend is going to be a crazy busy weekend away as I go to see the Dave Matthews Band up in Indiana (can.not.wait!). So I'm going to try to chill this weekend and enjoy a little downtime. And that will include....

The Muppet Show!!

I got the first disk of season three from Netflix yesterday. I am excited. I am also hoping to not be disappointed. See, I got the season one set a few years back and, while it's good, it's not the Muppet Show I remember. Miss Piggy and Janice's voices are not the same. There is very little Swedish Chef and Sam the Eagle. No Pigs In Space or Bunson and Beeker. And besides a laugh out loud moment or two, it wasn't really all that funny.

That's why I skipped to season three. I want to see the show I remember as a kid. My sister and I would sit on the floor in front of the tv every Saturday night at 6:30. Mom would make homemade pizza and we would lay down newspapers so pizza sauce would not make it onto the carpeting. Oh and the giggling. You know when you're at that age where EVERYTHING is funny? The Muppets came during that age. One skit I remember making us laugh until our sides hurt involved the song The Witch Doctor. The character playing the song had a xylephone make of little fuzzy balls that would yell out has he bopped them on the head ("Ooo!" "Eee!" "Ooo!" "Ah, Ah!") Something about those fuzz balls struck the funny bone. I hope I find it and it makes me laugh just as hard as when I was eight.

I relish being a child of the 70's....being a part of the first Seseme Street generation (the first season was the year before I was born), watching Romper Room, Bozo the Clown (we lived in Chicago where the original Bozo was taped), Zoom, Electric Company, Mr. Rogers, Land of the Lost, all the Sid and Marty Croft stuff (H.R. Pufnstuf anyone?) then later moving on to Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Three's Company (all on Tuesday night), Mork and Mindy,
and even watching M*A*S*H* at my grandparents house. Life was good.

So I'm ready for some nostalgia. Some laughs. Some Animal chasing a female guest star yelling "Wo-Man! Wo-Man!"

Bork! Bork! Bork!

The adventures of Sidney Penguin

My love for the Dallas Stars dates back to very early 1994. They are my team forever and ever, amen. However.....I have adopted another hockey team in recent months (shock! awe!). The Pittsburgh Penguins showed up on my radar in December. Actually, Sidney Crosby showed up....the rest of the team followed.

My love for Sidney Crosby knows no bounds (well, ok, maybe a few bounds....but not many). One day when I have hours upon hours on end to blabber away about him, I certainly will. But today I'm going to skip ahead to the matter at hand....the adventures of my little Sidney Penguin!

I am a faithful reader of The Sidney Crosby Show, which is run by the amazing Jodie (seriously, her recaps of games are amazing....she sees so much and doesn't even have the magic of Tivo to rewind!). During the summer slow time, she asked each of us to send in a picture of us with our Pens stuff and wanted us to represent all the places in the world we are located. I have no Pens stuff yet. But I have Sidney Penguin. So Sidney went on a Nashville adventure:

(you'll have to click this one to read the caption)

And here is the final, photoshopped product I sent to The Show:

(again, click to see the enlarged version)

This project was so fun to put together! There were difficulties, however.....I had a hard time finding a good spot to get Sidney next to the Batman building. And I didn't want people to see what I was doing ("who's the crazy lady holding up a stuffed penguin and taking pictures??"). I actually had a million ideas of other places to get pictures, but I felt Jodie would kill me if I sent an entire photo album to her! Soooooooo.....

I think I will continue Sidney's adventures here on my own blog! Who knows where Sidney will end up....you'll just have to stay tuned to find out :)