November Update (plus Maroon 5)

Hi, I'm blogging from work. It's quiet around here because almost everyone are off today because it's the day after Thanksgiving. I have the option to take my "floating" leave too but I decided to use it on New Year's eve instead. Hopefully, I can leave early today so I can stop by at Best Buy coz it's BLACK FRIDAY!!! Yup, this is the time of the year were everyone goes crazy because of price markdowns of upto 80% off! I need to do some Christmas shopping too.

Thanksgiving
Last night, we went to Darwin's aunt to celebrate Thanksgiving. They served traditional American food such as turkey, baked potato, cranberry jelly and also some Filipino pansit and crema de fruita. We just hanged out and watched TV then I went online to chat with my mom and bro



Baptismal
We went to Emmett and Andrew's Christening on Nov 10 and 18 respectively. Darwin is the godfather on both events.





Bowling night with LaLa girls
I met up with my college friends last Nov 17. The meeting place is at Mads' house in Eagle Rock. I havn't seen them for a long time and it's nice to catch up and know what's going on with them. Update: Tins is gonna have a baby soon, Mads is busy at work and Ollie just had a new haircut. We had dinner at Yang Chow which is one of the famous Chinese restaurant in Pasadena. It is zagat rated and there's are pictures posted on their wall of famous people like Michael Johnson, Conan O Brian, etc to name a few. But the most famous one is in Chinatown were Jackie Chan filmed Rush Hour 1. We reminisced about our RELS teacher and how we hate him because of his out of this world opinion about poor people from the province that goes to Manila. He's blaming them for populating Manila. It's actually their choice to look for better opportunity right, but when they get to Manila, there's no job for them. So, I guess the government has to think of ways on how to solve the problem and not blame the people who wants to try their luck. Then we remembered this Sociology teacher of ours who discussed American culture and based his view on American movies. I come to realize that that's the quickest way on how you'd understand American culture but most of it are inaccurate. Like I thought Americans get the good life but really, you will only get it if you work hard for it. Not everything here is free. I thought they give out health care to everyone but only the privilege one (mostly the working force) have it and it's sooo expensive. Also, people here are so independent and dont rely on others to run errands for them.


After dinner, we headed to Jewel City Bowling in Glendale. I got the first strike on first round but never got another strike until the second game. It must be beginner's luck and the only practice I had was Wii Sports. =P It was a fun night. They're planning to do ice skating and kart racing but I think I wont be able to go because of my busy schedule.





Date Night at Santa Monica
Darwin and I decided to unwind at our fave spot, 3rd Street Promenade on Nov 16. We're supposed to put up a Churros business there but it didn't go through because the city and health department didn't approve the carts that Promenade will provide to the merchants. It's good though because it will be a stress-free month unlike last year when we had the puzzle cart and experienced how hard it is to maintain a business when you have a full time job.

We saw the infamous couple of my fave show The Hills... Heidi & Spencer. She's prettier in person and we're about the same height. She looks tall in TV though. They both look nice too. I wonder if The Hills is a "scripted" reality show. My classmate from photo class actually confirmed that it's all scripted even during Laguna Beach days. I still love to watch the show and all the drama. I love their outfits esp all those dresses!





Maroon 5
We went out with our fave couple, Chris and Janet to watch Maroon 5 at Staples Center on Nov 8. We got the sweet spot! We just got their on time and Phantom Planet were already playing. Their last song was California. The next front act was The Hives.. I dont know any of their music =P My bad! Then Adam sings "If I Never See Your Face Again". Here's the setlist:

If I Never See Your Face Again
Makes Me Wonder
Harder to Breathe
The Sun
Can’t Stop
Secret
Shiver
Wake Up Call
Sunday Morning
Won’t Go Home Without You
This Love
–Encore
Little of Your Time
She Will Be Loved
Sweetest Goodbye

They actually have the same setlist all throughout their tour. At least they played all my fave songs esp. Little of Your Time!








Santa Clarita Marathon - Nov 4
We made it! I was not expecting that I'd finish the 3 mile run in 45 minutes. The only training I had is the treadmill at the gym and the actual run at Balboa park 2 days before the race.

After the race, we had breakfast at Vivian's cafe in Studio City. Love the banana pancakes there.







Cinespace
Celebration party for my cuz AJ who passed the Respiratory Therapist (RT) board exam last Nov 2. Yey!



Does it look like I wrote this in a hurry? Yup, our First VP is already here. Darn! Back to work.

Maroon 5 on Nov 8

I cant wait anymore! We bought the tickets online last July and now it's just a couple of months til we see Maroon 5. Adam Levine is sooo HOT!

This is my fave song from their new album =P

John Mayer @ Hollywood Bowl

We're going to see John Mayer tonight!!! I'm sooo excited! I got the tickets last March and finally it's here.



****

Earlier that day, we went to the kambals to celebrate their dad's birthday. It's supposed to be a surprise party so we're all waiting for him to get there. When he arrived, Darwin was the one taking pictures and he said act surprised... and he did. He's waving his hands and all.. that was funny. We had lunch while watching TFC with the gang. We stayed for awhile then we went home to rest.. but I didnt rest (coz Im too excited), so I prepared the stuff we need to bring like blanket, cushions, bottled water, canned drinks, chips, paper towel, etc. It's an outdoor concert and this is the second time I went to Hollywood Bowl so I know what to expect.

We left at 6ish and the traffic was really bad. It took us an hour to get to the Bowl and it's just a 15 minute drive from the valley. Crazy huh? Ben Folds opened the show and I didnt know that he sang this popular song from the 90s that goes.. "Shes a brick and Im drowning slowly..Off the coast and Im headed nowhere..." He sounds Elton John-ish to me... hehe John Mayer performed at exactly 9:15pm.. He's is just AMAZING!!!

Here's an excerpt from one of the forums I read...

So let's see, here's what I remember hearing Johnny say between the songs:

--No Such Thing
--Belief
--Good Love is on the Way

Here, Johnny starts reading signs from the audience and a girl held up a sign that said "John, let's do body shots together", which Johnny commented about, something to the effect of 'that's got to be the best sign of the night' (they put the sign on the giant screens and showed the girl holding it up).

Johnny then starts the next song by saying "This is a song about finding the right girl to do body shots with":

--I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)

Before the next song, Johnny said something about running out of things to say between songs, so hopefully the songs are getting better.

-- Waiting on the World to Change
-- Dreaming with a Broken Heart
-- I Don't Need No Doctor

Here's a funny one, Johnny said that when they used to come to L.A. they would be a bit anxious/nervous because there would be so many "suits" (record industry executives) in the audience. But since the record industry has thinned out quite a bit (layoffs, downsizing), they don't worry about that as much anymore. (I thought that was really funny!) He then added to the two "suits" that are here tonight, thank you! (which really made me laugh even harder, because he was sucking up in a very sly, but charming way!).

-- Why Georgia

Before the next song, he said that everyone is always trying to figure out what the song is about and that it's about anybody who is trying to get in your sh@t, or take your sh#t, something like that.

-- Vultures
-- Bigger Than My Body

Before the final song, Johnny says that "his body does not have the ability to articulate the degree (something like that ) to which he would like to say thanks, but 'trust me' it's really huge/big (I hope someone else remembers his exact wording):

-- Gravity

Encore:
---------
-- Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
-- Stop this Train (beautifully done, the whole Bowl was quiet as a mouse for this song)

Before his last song, he said that "forget about sales, videos, whatever, it's really about saying thanks (to fans) for the support over the years, for coming out (to the Bowl) and sitting through lots of traffic". [This is how I know Johnny is practically an L.A. native now, because he knows how much we L.A. folks hate traffic, and if we're willing to put up with Hollywood Bowl post-concert traffic, we must really love the artist performing


-- I'm Gonna Find Another You

I'm trying to remember where he said something about thanks for making him feel like it was 2002 all over again (I think it was before or after "Why Georgia", I just can't remember where).

He also said something about how nice it was to come home (to L.A.) to play these songs he spent lots of time writing and working on here (in L.A.), before he played a song from Continuum (I can't remember which song).

Johnny had a lot of energy, probably because he was in L.A. (home for him). I hadn't seen him since the Trio tour in '05 at the House of Blues (which was fantastic), so I really enjoyed this show.

On our way to Hollywood

18,000 seats... totally sold out!













Vultures - Live in Hollywood Bowl

Setlist:

No Such Thing
Belief
Good Love is On the Way
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Waiting on the World to Change
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
I Don't Need No Doctor
Why Georgia
Vultures
Bigger Than My Body
Gravity
-- encore --
Slow Dancing (acoustic)
Stop This Train (solo acoustic)
I'm Gonna Find Another You

Incubus Tour 2007 @ Wiltern

OK... We ate first before we left the apartment at 6ish and on our way to Wiltern, we listened to the setlist from their previous shows on my ipod. When we passed the venue at Western and Wilshire (peeps from LA will understand what Im talkin about coz if you ask where it is, we give them the cross street) and saw the long line building up.. I cant help but scream Incubus!!! I cant believe Im gonna see them live! I kept hugging Darwin and telling him how excited I am. We got in line at 7ish and while we're on it, there are guys waving at us from Wiltern. I thought it's Mike (lead guitarist) coz of his curly hair.. but it's from the band Albert Jr. who's gonna do the front act. We also noticed the equipment of the band so I took a "steal" shot of it from my cellphone. I actually followed Aileen's suggestion when I read her blog back on March 2004 when she watched Incubus. I had my digital camera wrapped on a paper tissue that's why I cant use my digicam until we pass the security check.

The door opened at 8ish and they're not actually that strict on cameras. =P We stayed at the 3rd level of the pit. We have a good view of the stage. The 4 girls right beside us, who I think are 16 year olds.. are hard core fans. They have VIP passes that were auctioned on eBay and they have a 30 minute pre-show meet and greet. There's only 25 VIP passes per show but damn, look how expensive it is =P

VIP Pass auction

The Albert Mammond Jr band played for an hour then sound check for 30mins or so.. then Chris (DJ) came in first, then Jose (drummer), Ben (bass), Mike then Brandon!!! And all you see is their shadow. It's so exciting and I screamed really loud til they played Quicksand. The best performance for me is Sick Sad Little World were Brandon has this gloves with light on it and he focuses it on Jose, Ben and Mike while they are doing their thing. Darwin is really mad at the DJ because he's not doing anything. heheh

I had goosebumps when they played Dig coz Darwin and I really like that song and everyone sings with them. The crowd is loving it. After Dig, I know they'll come back for the encore and it's good that they chose Megalomaniac as the last song.

We had a blast.. Im actually still on a bliss! We bought Incubus shirt outside for $10 each coz the one they're selling at the bar is $35 which is too much. We also ate 'dirty' hotdog outside which is REALLLY good. We listened to Incubus again on our way home.

I got addicted to Brandon Boyd so I wiki'd him and found out that his birthday is one week before Darwin's bday =). He also published a book and he did some of Incubus artworks and he's a surfer!!! He'll be on the Jimmy Kimmel show on his birthday and I already Tivo'd it.

Drive video (from my cam)


Dig video (from hungryartiste).. everyone is singing and lovin this song.


A Kiss to Send Us Off (from yahoo) - one of my fave songs from their new album Light Grenades

The setlist last night.. "Look Alive" was not played though

The Equipment (taken from my cellphone)


Really CLOSE shot of BRANDON and Darwin was like... "tama na yan!" hehe

I used the "normal" picture mode on ALL my shots. I just recently discovered it while Im playing with my Fuji Finepix Z1 =P

Thank you! It's the best (advance) Vday present.. mwaah!




To get in the loop:
- Incubus Forum
- Lyrics

Reminiscing...

Goo Goo Dolls @ House of Blues - 9/11/03

Red Hot Chili Peppers @ The Forum - 10/11/03

Backstreet Boys @ Irvine Spectrum - 08/25/05 (see more here)

Alanis @ Avalon - 12/1/05 (see more here)


Coming Soon.. Incubus Feb 11, 2007.. Woohoo!!! We always get floor tix. I hope I'd see Brandon Boyd REALLY close. hehe

Excited!!!

- We'll gonna watch Incubus this Sunday, I saw the tix with my own eyes!!!
- Need to create a playlist on my iPod so I can sing while they perform.. I know most of their songs.. but not ALL.. I need to get familiar with some of it =)
- Nice V-day present.. Thank You!

Setlist:
incubusview.com