Archive

10.07.2007

GENESIS. PHIL COLLINS. THE CONCERT.

Pretty much the pinnacle of my life. That's all I can say. Phil Collins is a tiny little man and he was everything I dreamed he'd be. Seeing his giant face on the jumbo screen yelling "HAHA ha oooohhh!" during Mama was trumtulescent. Every song was like spending an eternity in heaven...and i'm only slightly exaggerating. Here are a couple pics...behold...

"I CAN'T DANCE IS A CROWD PLEASER" ~ CLIFF PLANTER
and here's a video I recently found from the show I was at, this was the point where I officially creamed my pantalones...Duke intro and Turn It On Again


"Afterglow", this was almost exactly the view from where I was sitting. I think I might be somewhere in this...

2.26.2007

Maxwell's Silver Hammer: Muder with a Smile!

I like this song. Here The Beatles prove that a taboo subject like murder can be sung about tastefully, and happily. On this third track of Abbey Road we hear the heartwarming tale of Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine, presumably in college and looking for love. So he calls Joan who's majoring in drug use and says "hallo bird, want to go see a picture oy?"
To which she replies "yes, I would like to see a R rated picture please". Later that night she rides in the auto over to Max's apartment, rings the doorbell and stands there for a while, then rings again, and still no reply. Despondent, yet slightly relieved, she turns to leave when suddenly the door swings open and...THWACK!!! A silver hammer crashes down upon her head, and then proceeds to hit her three more times to "make sure that she was dead".
Next day: Maxwell is being an assclown during one of his classes, the teacher gets quite cross with him for interupting her lecture and makes him stay afterwords. While he's at the board doing his Bart Simpson opening credit thing, the teacher gets distracted for a moment, here's the perfect opportunity for murder #2. So he creeps up behind the professor, pulls the silver hammer out of his pocket, which he apparently carries at all times, and hits her not one, not two, not three, but four times, upon the head.
Well, that was a huge mistake Max, cuz you hit her exactly four times, in the same spot, with the same weapon as you did poor Joan, a pattern is emerging and now it's just a matter of time before scotland yard closes in...And plus there were like two or three surveillence cameras in the room, yeah, you're probably gonna get the chair.
Next day: easy case, the judge has skipped the trial portion and gone straight to sentencing, he raises the gavel and begins to proclaim the verdict but Oh god! in a last ditch act of sheer defiance against all decency here comes Max again who's somehow gotten his silver hammer out of the evidence locker and slipped it past security, and is now rushing toward the judge's stand! Murder #3, right in front of a crowded courtroom. A nation is shocked...and stunned.
It was a good run, Max, I have to admit. But, you know, you're a serial killer and all, so, it doesn't look like you'll be in any more Beatles songs. Sorry buddy.

2.06.2007

LA POLICIA!


Update: July 2007...
o ya...there was a tour and I went
(St. Louis) ...
awwwesome show. The guys sounded fantastic and I can finally check this off my "things I must do or see or else I'll regret it forever" list. A couple of the highlights for me were "Driven to Tears", "So Lonely" and "Walking in Your Footsteps"... anyway it was all amazing! (even though I realized I left the tickets at home somewhere around Springfield). :/ I think I have a video clip of me freaking out somewhere. I might post it.

"ROXANNE IS A CROWD PLEASER" ~ CLIFF PLANTER













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Everybody
be sure to check out the Grammys this coming sunday, THE POLICE are reuniting and a lot of other legendary artists who will assuredly stand the test of the time will also be rocking the stage! Such as; Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, John Legend, Ludacris, John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae, Carrie Underwood and Justin Timberlake with the winner of the my grammy moment contest! Sweet.

And as an added treat, according to the grammy website...
"For the first time in GRAMMY history, international sensation and current nominee Shakira will perform"


YESsssss! So, Sting, Andy, Stuart, I know you guys read my blog, so please, do this...an Andy Summers medley! Someone to Talk to > Friends > Be My Girl - Sally > Darkness

Just wishful thinking but that would be gold. Then Sting can rip off his shirt and punch Justin Timberlake in the kidney.

and most importantly of all...there's rumors of a big tour possibly!

1.06.2007

My Grandpa.

Earlier this week my Grandpa, Gene Broom, passed away. I don't really know what to write for him here because I feel like I've gone through the grieving stage and am just numb right now. You know, there are periods in your life where you just start to cruise and become hypnotized by the lines in the road you're going down. Then death happens, like artillery fire in a war you can really feel the close ones, and this was close, the very first for me. And suddenly everything stops and you're left standing there staring at the damage, just staring and thinking because from now on there will always be this empty place in me and the rest of my family's lives. Life has forced change upon you, now I'm connected to this moment, ascending down from my own little self absorbed journey and trying to answer all the questions that time brings.
I loved my Grandpa very much, even though we rarely verbalized it I knew he appreciated having me around, I knew he loved me. Sometimes, a lot of times, he was just downright frustrating. Sometimes I would just sit there and wonder what in the world was going through his head or what his motivations were. Most of the time I simply took him for granted, acting as though he was..."just my grandpa". But he was always more than that and I see it more now than ever. I think because it happened so much that I just became blind to it, but he was a lot more. He always questioned me relentlessly about what was going in my life, what I was up to, what I planned on doing, if I enjoyed doing it or not. He would have done anything for anybody, I can see it now. At certain points I remember thinking he was just a cranky old man...he was, sometimes, definitely, but more important was that he knew how to make people feel good. He gave me my jokes, my sense of humor. He genuinely cared for people and I can see it all more clearly now that everyone God has put in my life cares deeply for others. The most caring people I know are my direct relatives; Grandma, dad and my mother, who was really awesome and did a lot for the family these past few weeks. But me, for some reason I feel that somehow I'll be better off in life if I just distance myself from everyone, that in the end I'll make it just fine living in a shell.
I know death isn't the end. And what's also important is that death teaches important lessons to those still around. I hope I'm a decent enough person, a strong enough person to learn and keep learning as so to not relive the same mistake my whole life.
And in the end, even though it's sometimes very easy to become cynical and distorted in how I view reality, at this time in my life I've never been more certain of the fact that my gramps is finally, truly happy. That the losses he's experienced, the ones that caused him so much hidden pain, are finally returned to him, he's become a whole man. Everything deep down that we got the occasional glimpse of is who he is, completely...and that makes me happy.
You know, I told him, but I don't think Will, my friend, knows how much it meant to me that he came to the funeral. He knew my grandfather pretty well, but I still would have understood if he decided not to come, I didn't expect him to. But Will always knows what to say, he didn't say anything then but the things he has said, about life, his deep philosophical musings, they all flood back to me at different times. And he was right about one thing, his passionate emphasis about bringing heaven to earth. Besides the fact that we should feed, cloth and care for the hurting, there should also be heaven in our lives, we should have no regrets and love each person in our lives passionately, because memories never die. We will get to see those who left us in the past once again. When we die we will see those behind us, but how will you live on? Who were you and how will you continue to influence those who knew you?

I'll see you again soon Gramps, I love you. And don't take any wooden nickels.