This is just a quick note of complaint.
As much as I love to photograph, having to do so in 100 degree weather was extremely unpleasant this past weekend. Two weddings on Saturday and one on Sunday made for a very busy weekend. But to have them outside, at least for the ceremony part for all three...ugh. Walking around in the heat was bad enough, but adding several pounds of equipment on my shoulders just forced my body to shut its ability to cool down at all. Yes, sweating is part of that process, but for me, it's like an accelerator to sweat even more without having any cooling effect.
Someone throw me a towel...a beach towel.
Wearing black is my usual attire when shooting events, but my shirt refused to stay so. With each drop of sweat that soaked through my shirt, a lovely white line or speckle most appropriately formed during the course of the day on Saturday on which I wore a long-sleeved black button-down shirt and long black pants. Long-sleeves you ask? Well, knowing that I would be outdoors, I preferred to cover my arms from the sun and prevent any sort of weird tan lines. So by the end of the day, I had several white streaks near my collar and on my sleeves. Fantastic.
At least on Sunday, I wore gray pants and a shorter-sleeved black top. Too bad that it wasn't as dry a heat as it was on Saturday. Instead, the wedding, down at the Cape, was in a garden near a lake with mosquitos waiting to feed on us with quite the humid and hazy morning weather upon us.
I guess on the bright side, all three receptions were indoors.
Thank goodness...
Monday, June 27, 2005
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Tastings & Michael and Jim's Graduation
Thursday, June 9th
Thursday night out coincided with Harvard's commencement, having two Mazur group graduates participate in the very early morning excercise: Jim Carrey and Michael Sheehy, who had practically zero sleep since flying in on a red-eye just to make it in time to walk. The bunch gathered at the Cambridge Brewing Company for some good if not interesting beers. I was mesmerized by their offering of a "tower" of beer, but our table did not get one, at least not when I was there, leaving earlier than most.
Beforehand, Brian and I went to "A Toast and a Taste", an assignment I photographed, where Brian had a good helping of different wines and food tastings. I waited until I was finished working before I scarfed down some food and drank a glass of wine (a little too quickly, I think). Then Brian suggested we walk to the CBC, thinking it wasn't that far. Well, it turns out that it was VERY far considering that I was carrying my equipment. I asked the all-too-familiar question, "Are we there yet?" several times during the course of our 3-mile walk. It felt so good to finally sit down.
Geoff helping me select a beer. He wasn't too fond of the glass his beer came in.
Therese, looking wonderfully bulbous, is due in just a couple of weeks. They're still deciding on a middle name for Graham...
Michael and Steve in a staring contest.
Congratulations to you both!!
Thursday night out coincided with Harvard's commencement, having two Mazur group graduates participate in the very early morning excercise: Jim Carrey and Michael Sheehy, who had practically zero sleep since flying in on a red-eye just to make it in time to walk. The bunch gathered at the Cambridge Brewing Company for some good if not interesting beers. I was mesmerized by their offering of a "tower" of beer, but our table did not get one, at least not when I was there, leaving earlier than most.
Beforehand, Brian and I went to "A Toast and a Taste", an assignment I photographed, where Brian had a good helping of different wines and food tastings. I waited until I was finished working before I scarfed down some food and drank a glass of wine (a little too quickly, I think). Then Brian suggested we walk to the CBC, thinking it wasn't that far. Well, it turns out that it was VERY far considering that I was carrying my equipment. I asked the all-too-familiar question, "Are we there yet?" several times during the course of our 3-mile walk. It felt so good to finally sit down.
Geoff helping me select a beer. He wasn't too fond of the glass his beer came in.
Therese, looking wonderfully bulbous, is due in just a couple of weeks. They're still deciding on a middle name for Graham...
Michael and Steve in a staring contest.
Congratulations to you both!!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Best Music Poll Concert 2005
Tuesday, June 7th
It was a mighty hot day when we went to the FNX and Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll concert. When we got to the Bank of America Pavillion, there weren't a lot of people there, and we just relaxed with our tall 16oz beers waiting for the concert to begin. We had pretty good seats, just 14 rows from the stage on the right side.
Here's the line-up:
Robbers on High Street
Louis XIV
Interpol
The Killers
But first things first, we didn't bring a camera, because you weren't allowed to bring them, but it seemed like a whole lotta people just ignored that restriction, making me regret not taking one with us. We couldn't hide it anywhere anyway, because I didn't bring a bag. But I downloaded photos from the web that were taken that day by Diana Ring (who really needs to edit and shoot more than just the frontman, if even that).
Aside from the festival-type atmosphere (hot dogs and sausage for dinner), Newbury Comics had a special stand where the artists would go and autograph posters. Pretty cool. Each group had their own time slot, and well, Brian and I wanted to hear and see the music and the signings pretty much spilled over during sets. Not to mention the LONG line of people waiting. We did have the very brief pleasure of seeing The Killers during their signing, before resigning to our lack of a good view and buying a t-shirt instead.
It really does stink to be an opening act, because you just don't get the same amount of attention as the later and headlining acts. See the empty seats below...
Robbers on High Street
They were pretty good, although the only song we knew was "Japanese Girls". Brian and I were not impressed with their attire, saying that they should have put a little more thought into it, like what the following acts did.
Louis XIV (Even in the hot weather, these guys aren't even breaking a sweat!)
They were very entertaining, and Brian really enjoyed their music. Almost like classic rock and roll. "Finding Out True Love is Blind" is the one popular song we knew, and it was funny how they changed the line "You know it's the girl with a frown with the tight pants I really want to shake up" to "You know it's the girls in the back dancing that I really want to shake up" because there were two girls just going nuts way in the back.
Interpol
This guy had the coolest look of the night and looked like Crispin Glover as the "thin man", just with a side part instead of in the center. The people next to us were drunk off their asses and had a wild time during their performance. The lead singer of Louis XIV stood near our seating area to watch, getting compliments from girls who recognized him. We both knew a few of their songs, and my favorite "new" one was "Narc" (which they're constantly playing on the radio now). I definitely like their sound, but according to an FNX DJ, they're not very friendly. Oh well...as long as they keep producing good tunes.
The Killers
Before taking the stage, "Viva Las Vegas" played overhead, as they are from Las Vegas. Very quirky.
The screens on both sides of the stage now projected the performance, but I refused to watch the screen even during moments of blockage, because it's like watching TV which isn't what I was doing. Wearing not-very high platform sandals didn't help much, and I resorted to standing on my toes through two straight songs before getting tired and just did it occasionally. Couldn't stand on the folding off-white seats.
They had a great set, with Brandon Flowers dropping hints on what would be performed next:
Smile Like You Mean It
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Change Your Mind
Andy, You're a Star
Indie Rock Roll
On Top
A new song..."? Faces"
Midnight Show
Mr. Brightside
Somebody Told Me
Under the Gun
All These Things That I've Done
Brian of course had a better view of what was going on, especially with the crowd. He said that during "Somebody Told Me", the crowd was going insane. I loved each song performed and after Mr. Brightside, being my favorite off the album (it's so fun with an absolutely contagious hook), it felt like my shirt was thoroughly wet with sweat. Brandon made a point of saying that we were all waiting for that one.
But the definitive highlight of the night was the encore "All These Things That I've Done" with a few thousand fans chanting "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" in unison. It was amazing.
We couldn't stop talking about it on the long walk back to the T station (my feet were killing me and the sandal strap broke skin). We listened to the album on my ipod on our T ride home.
This is a great concert season...
All photos by Diana Ring.
It was a mighty hot day when we went to the FNX and Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll concert. When we got to the Bank of America Pavillion, there weren't a lot of people there, and we just relaxed with our tall 16oz beers waiting for the concert to begin. We had pretty good seats, just 14 rows from the stage on the right side.
Here's the line-up:
Robbers on High Street
Louis XIV
Interpol
The Killers
But first things first, we didn't bring a camera, because you weren't allowed to bring them, but it seemed like a whole lotta people just ignored that restriction, making me regret not taking one with us. We couldn't hide it anywhere anyway, because I didn't bring a bag. But I downloaded photos from the web that were taken that day by Diana Ring (who really needs to edit and shoot more than just the frontman, if even that).
Aside from the festival-type atmosphere (hot dogs and sausage for dinner), Newbury Comics had a special stand where the artists would go and autograph posters. Pretty cool. Each group had their own time slot, and well, Brian and I wanted to hear and see the music and the signings pretty much spilled over during sets. Not to mention the LONG line of people waiting. We did have the very brief pleasure of seeing The Killers during their signing, before resigning to our lack of a good view and buying a t-shirt instead.
It really does stink to be an opening act, because you just don't get the same amount of attention as the later and headlining acts. See the empty seats below...
Robbers on High Street
They were pretty good, although the only song we knew was "Japanese Girls". Brian and I were not impressed with their attire, saying that they should have put a little more thought into it, like what the following acts did.
Louis XIV (Even in the hot weather, these guys aren't even breaking a sweat!)
They were very entertaining, and Brian really enjoyed their music. Almost like classic rock and roll. "Finding Out True Love is Blind" is the one popular song we knew, and it was funny how they changed the line "You know it's the girl with a frown with the tight pants I really want to shake up" to "You know it's the girls in the back dancing that I really want to shake up" because there were two girls just going nuts way in the back.
Interpol
This guy had the coolest look of the night and looked like Crispin Glover as the "thin man", just with a side part instead of in the center. The people next to us were drunk off their asses and had a wild time during their performance. The lead singer of Louis XIV stood near our seating area to watch, getting compliments from girls who recognized him. We both knew a few of their songs, and my favorite "new" one was "Narc" (which they're constantly playing on the radio now). I definitely like their sound, but according to an FNX DJ, they're not very friendly. Oh well...as long as they keep producing good tunes.
The Killers
Before taking the stage, "Viva Las Vegas" played overhead, as they are from Las Vegas. Very quirky.
The screens on both sides of the stage now projected the performance, but I refused to watch the screen even during moments of blockage, because it's like watching TV which isn't what I was doing. Wearing not-very high platform sandals didn't help much, and I resorted to standing on my toes through two straight songs before getting tired and just did it occasionally. Couldn't stand on the folding off-white seats.
They had a great set, with Brandon Flowers dropping hints on what would be performed next:
Smile Like You Mean It
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Change Your Mind
Andy, You're a Star
Indie Rock Roll
On Top
A new song..."? Faces"
Midnight Show
Mr. Brightside
Somebody Told Me
Under the Gun
All These Things That I've Done
Brian of course had a better view of what was going on, especially with the crowd. He said that during "Somebody Told Me", the crowd was going insane. I loved each song performed and after Mr. Brightside, being my favorite off the album (it's so fun with an absolutely contagious hook), it felt like my shirt was thoroughly wet with sweat. Brandon made a point of saying that we were all waiting for that one.
But the definitive highlight of the night was the encore "All These Things That I've Done" with a few thousand fans chanting "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" in unison. It was amazing.
We couldn't stop talking about it on the long walk back to the T station (my feet were killing me and the sandal strap broke skin). We listened to the album on my ipod on our T ride home.
This is a great concert season...
All photos by Diana Ring.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Flashback with Erasure
We went to an Erasure concert on Friday, June 3rd, and it was such a blast!…well, for me at least. Brian would write a totally different blog. (I did kinda drag him to the concert.)
On my way to Avalon, I ran into my Editorial teacher on his way to none other than NESOP’s graduation. I might have stopped by to look at the work at school, but my concern was getting on line. It had been a while since we’ve been to the club…not since the summer of 2003…I guess that it was overdue…but we were going to see a concert, not go clubbing. The music, though, is quite appropriate for dancing.
As opposed to the AAR show, the range of ages of the audience was much more diverse. I would have expected a little more dress-up with this one, but unfortunately, I only just saw one…a very feminine-looking man who wore all black with his hair up like a geisha’s and wore heavy eye makeup and lipstick. He did look very cool, even if it may sound a little strange.
Anyways, we got there pretty early, with at least an hour to wait for Erasure to perform. I was hoping that the dance floor would get more crowded since there was a lot of room still left. I didn't know how many fans there were in Boston, but I wanted a crowd that was totally into the performance.
It was already past 7:15pm when Elkland came out and performed only 3 songs since they started pretty late. I really enjoyed their performance…very reminiscent of the Cure, the Killers, and 80’s new wave.
Here's a sampling (minus the bass) of the 3 songs: "Apart", "Find Me" (my favorite), "Put Your Hand Over Mine"
After their performance, the club became fully packed as the stragglers cared more about seeing Erasure than Elkland.
Brian and I stayed put on our elevated position. As much fun as it would be to be on the dance floor, I cared more about the ability to see them. Besides, I made sure I had enough room around me to dance.
They had a FANTASTIC jam-packed set, including a majority of old favorites: (in no particular order)
New Music:
Breathe
No Doubt
I Broke It all in Two
All this Time Still Falling Out of Love
Here I go Impossible Again
Breath Of Life
Oh L'Amour
Victim Of Love
Hideaway
Ship of Fools
A Little Respect
Chains Of Love
Drama
Blue Savannah
Stop
Knocking on Your Door
Chorus
Love to Hate You
Always
Sometimes (encore, with another song I don't know the title of)
Covers:
Ave Maria
Rapture
At the end of "Drama" of which Brian recorded the end of the performance (see below), a bouncer came up to him and told him not to record, because I guess it was pretty obvious that he wasn't taking photos. Poor Brian, it was still early in the concert when this happened and just made his experience all that much worse.
It being my first concert seeing them, I was impressed by the set design and all the costume changes. Andy Bell (lead singer) told the audience how he had gone to a bar in Boston the previous night and had a conversation with one of the patrons (or was it the bartender?). Anyways, noticing the British accent, the patron mentioned that Erasure was going to be in concert the next night and something to the extent that he wasn't a big fan of the music (!). Well, Andy got a kick out of it.
Here are some photos during the show:
He had his wings on for most of his new material which he performed early in the set.
Love Vince Clarke's (background) outfit.
An Elvis suit for "Ave Maria"
Feathers and a speedo (look at the money being offered from the audience...)
The last song before the encore was "Always" (I can't remember if that's true), but the crowd went nuts screaming for more, not just the popular "increasing the speed of clapping" response, but also thunderous stomping. It was awesome...
Now, I just found out Depeche Mode is coming out with a new album in the fall...(Vince used to work with them)...can't wait!!
On my way to Avalon, I ran into my Editorial teacher on his way to none other than NESOP’s graduation. I might have stopped by to look at the work at school, but my concern was getting on line. It had been a while since we’ve been to the club…not since the summer of 2003…I guess that it was overdue…but we were going to see a concert, not go clubbing. The music, though, is quite appropriate for dancing.
As opposed to the AAR show, the range of ages of the audience was much more diverse. I would have expected a little more dress-up with this one, but unfortunately, I only just saw one…a very feminine-looking man who wore all black with his hair up like a geisha’s and wore heavy eye makeup and lipstick. He did look very cool, even if it may sound a little strange.
Anyways, we got there pretty early, with at least an hour to wait for Erasure to perform. I was hoping that the dance floor would get more crowded since there was a lot of room still left. I didn't know how many fans there were in Boston, but I wanted a crowd that was totally into the performance.
It was already past 7:15pm when Elkland came out and performed only 3 songs since they started pretty late. I really enjoyed their performance…very reminiscent of the Cure, the Killers, and 80’s new wave.
Here's a sampling (minus the bass) of the 3 songs: "Apart", "Find Me" (my favorite), "Put Your Hand Over Mine"
After their performance, the club became fully packed as the stragglers cared more about seeing Erasure than Elkland.
Brian and I stayed put on our elevated position. As much fun as it would be to be on the dance floor, I cared more about the ability to see them. Besides, I made sure I had enough room around me to dance.
They had a FANTASTIC jam-packed set, including a majority of old favorites: (in no particular order)
New Music:
Breathe
No Doubt
I Broke It all in Two
All this Time Still Falling Out of Love
Here I go Impossible Again
Breath Of Life
Oh L'Amour
Victim Of Love
Hideaway
Ship of Fools
A Little Respect
Chains Of Love
Drama
Blue Savannah
Stop
Knocking on Your Door
Chorus
Love to Hate You
Always
Sometimes (encore, with another song I don't know the title of)
Covers:
Ave Maria
Rapture
At the end of "Drama" of which Brian recorded the end of the performance (see below), a bouncer came up to him and told him not to record, because I guess it was pretty obvious that he wasn't taking photos. Poor Brian, it was still early in the concert when this happened and just made his experience all that much worse.
It being my first concert seeing them, I was impressed by the set design and all the costume changes. Andy Bell (lead singer) told the audience how he had gone to a bar in Boston the previous night and had a conversation with one of the patrons (or was it the bartender?). Anyways, noticing the British accent, the patron mentioned that Erasure was going to be in concert the next night and something to the extent that he wasn't a big fan of the music (!). Well, Andy got a kick out of it.
Here are some photos during the show:
He had his wings on for most of his new material which he performed early in the set.
Love Vince Clarke's (background) outfit.
An Elvis suit for "Ave Maria"
Feathers and a speedo (look at the money being offered from the audience...)
The last song before the encore was "Always" (I can't remember if that's true), but the crowd went nuts screaming for more, not just the popular "increasing the speed of clapping" response, but also thunderous stomping. It was awesome...
Now, I just found out Depeche Mode is coming out with a new album in the fall...(Vince used to work with them)...can't wait!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Memorial Day at the Tull's in Philly
What a great weekend. It started with a thankfully uneventful drive down to philly accept for a sudden torrential downpour at the end. We got to my parents house at around 9 pm. We were really psyched to see the makeover they did to the new house since they moved, back in January. The place looks amazing now with a new family room, new landscaping and a newly cleaned and painted pool.
Friday night, Ruby, Mom, Dad, Cliff, Sarah and I, sat around in the brand new family room (with a small powderroom) that takes up where most of the 2 car garage use to be. We discussed at length the absence of the most important feature in the room: a giant television. Dad had asked me to research televisions the week before, and so I came prepared with knowledge of all the
new crazy terms that are required to navigate the current TV market including: HDTV, HDMI, DVI, DLP, LCD, D-ILA, LCoS, ATSC, composite, component, interlaced, progressive. I thought the best tv, size-wise and quality-wise for the best price was going to be one of the rear projection TVs like DLP or some variation of that. I had a specific model chosen, and had called the local Best Buy to be sure it was in stock.
During the tv debate there was a clear division on size. Mom wanted something small and definitely flat panel, something about an obnoxiously large piece of technology didn't fit in with the french country style she was going for. The others including Ruby (that's my girl) seemed to be of the opinion bigger is better. We were looking for something that would be clearly visible while floating in the pool in the backyard. We agreed to go to Best buy the next day and get a better look at the 52" monstrosity that I was recommending and that night I did a little more research on flat panel tvs.
Saturday morning we able to fully appreciate the landscaping in the front and back. Years of undergrowth had been removed to expose cool little paths that weaved in and around all the unusual trees, plants and the pool. It was more like a nature exhibit than a backyard.
Having had enough nature for the time being, we decided to postpone the outdoor art exhibit we had planned to go to, in order to get to Best Buy early. No, it's not sad.
At Best Buy we could finally see the TV I was talking about. Man, it was big. Not crazy big, though, I could definitely handle it and I think it would have fit in their room okay, but it was big enough for mom to immediately turn around and start looking elsewhere. I found conversing with the Best Buy employee rather easy as I had the new vocabulary down. We spread out and started looking at all the tvs. We settled on one that seemed an excellent combination of size, quality and price: a 42" Plasma HDTV by Panasonic. It was discounted because it was the floor model and we had an additional coupon making it an awesome deal so it turned out to be actually cheaper than the 37" model right next to it which Mom had been hoping for. It has all the latest connections on the back. In addition, I convinced them their DVD player had to be upgraded to take advantage of the HDMI connection. Everything worked out rather well, except they couldn't find screws for the stand, after 45 min of searching we left without them. best buy seems to have a policy that whatever monetary deal you get out of them they need to make up for it with your time.
After a nerve racking drive home we set up the TV and new DVD player and popped in Blade Trinity. The picture was incredible and the size worked really well for the room.
I think the flat panel choice was a real good one. Of course we couldn't get Cable to work and I still don't know why, but the Best Buy warranty will ensure the problem is taken care of, or they get a brand new model.
As we planned on seeing episode III the following day later that day we picked up Star Wars episode II and Clone wars. We were particularly amazed at how good Clone wars looked on the large screen.
Sunday morning we woke up and got to see the beginning of filling the pool, which we then continued to watch all day long. Mom and Dad had a barbecue with yummy pork, chicken, burgers, hotdogs, and sausage.
Our grandparents and Greg and Jean came over. It was a relaxing day of eating, talking, and watching the pool fill. Ruby and I got the usual questions of what are we going to do and where are we going to live. At least Pop pop reassured me that I won't have to worry about money in the future because I should be making 3 figures when I graduate. At 8:30 we went to see Star Wars Episode III. It was my parents first time, Cliff's second and our third. Everyone pretty much liked it. Although mom and dad both seemed to notice the decline in importance of Padme. From queen to senator to pregnant housewife. Barring that, I think it gets better each time I see it. Especially because I can ignore lines like "No, it's because I love YOU so much" and instead concentrate on good lines like "I have failed you Anakin" and anything said by Palpatine.
Monday morning we woke up and finally went for a walk in nearby Alverthorpe park and checked out the outdoor art exhibit at the abington art center. I hadn't been there in 15 years so it was really cool to see.
When we got back to the house, the weather was great, the pool was full, sarah went out sunning herself (as she was for most of the weekend), and it was time for us to leave. I said goodbye to the pool and television, promising I would be back soon. Then we said goodbye to the family and headed north.
Friday, May 20, 2005
The circle is now complete...
With the much-anticipated Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith coming out, we set up our own Tull Cinema in preparation and celebration. We even got our own custom made M&M's.
On Tuesday, May 17th, Sam and Emmy joined us for our 7pm showing of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. The DVD is an extended version, so it was a little longer than we had expected. It had been a long time since I had seen the movie, and I was surprised at how sensitive I was with Jar Jar again, being that I had seen it several times before and that Jar Jar had, to a certain extent, become background noise. Ugh, he's just so utterly ridiculous. Being the absolutely best part of the movie, the Darth Maul duel was fantastic to see again. That night, we treated ourselves to the M&M's, chips, dips, and yummy honey mustard pretzels.
On Wednesday, May 18th, Geoff joined us for a double feature of Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars, the animated series. We were going to show Episode 4: A New Hope, but it was just too late by the time we finished The Clone Wars. This time, aside from the M&M's, we treated ourselves to yummy Thai food. Geoff devoured his in no time, while I ate at a consistent pace for about twenty minutes. With both Episodes 1 and 2, we occasionally paused the movie to discuss and confirm plot lines. But for Episode 2, there was definitely more chatter during the movie, mostly about Padme's "Let's just be friends" clothing. Bringing some healthy treats, Sam joined us with about 15 minutes left in Episode 2, coming from a crepe-making dinner.
We weren't sure about seeing The Clone Wars beforehand, but for anyone who hasn't seen Episode 3 yet, we highly recommend renting/buying the DVD. Because only volume 1 is on DVD, you'll have to watch the last five chapters (volume 2) online at http://www.starwars.com/clonewars/. It takes about 2 hours to watch both volumes. Not only is the animation done very well, but the overall series complements the movies so perfectly, describing the events that happen between Episodes 2 and 3. LOTS of action. After watching volume 1, we hooked up Geoff's computer, on which he downloaded volume 2, to one of our monitors to watch the last 5 chapters in full screen.
It was around 12:30am when we finished, a half hour into Episode 3 for those who went to see the midnight showing. Brian said that ten theaters at the Loews Boston Common, where we watch most of our movies, were being used for the midnight showing. Crrrraaaazy.
The big day: Thursday, May 19th
We bought our tickets on May 7th for the 5:40pm DIGITAL (DLP) show. There were only a limited number of shows for the digital version, and the time we chose was at the matinee price, so it was a double bonus for us when we got them. I got to the theater at 3:45pm, expecting a line to be there already since the last digital show was at 2:20pm. A line had already formed, and I asked if it was for the 5:40pm show. People on line were like, "No, it's for the 4:20pm show..." Oookaaay. So much for that. After talking with Elmer for a little bit, I called Brian around 4:00pm who was half a block away from the theater with Geoff. We headed back to area where the line was, and the 4:20pm folks were already let in. There were about 12 people waiting on line for the 5:40pm show. Who knows, they could have been there the entire time...
Anyways, it was good we got there early, for the line grew steadily soon after. We were entertained with the variety of Star Wars music that was playing overhead. Brian said that in the men's bathroom, there was a commercial being played for a Star Wars Christmas CD with treats like Chewbacca's "Silent Night" and Yoda's "Twelve Days of Christmas."
Sam and Emmy later joined us in line, and we watched as the 2:20pm crowd walked by. For the most part, there were smiling, chatty faces. A good sign, perhaps. We tried to avoid hearing any chatter by talking amongst ourselves and by humming, at least I did (Brian and I both avoided reading anything or even watching the trailer after seeing it just one time way back when...and while we can mute our TV, it was played during the previews for several movies we had recently gone to, so even though we closed our eyes, we still heard the audio...yes, we're freaks).
Brian was really adamant about getting seats in the third or fourth row in the main section, and when we entered the theater, the people ahead of us had taken the fourth row center, so we took the third row. The theater was smaller than expected, but we had prime seating. Jonathan joined us a few minutes later, with the theater already pretty full, and our row completely filled, except for his seat in the center. We shared amongst ourselves Twizzlers, M&M's (both milk/Jedi and dark/Sith chocolate), and Reese's pieces, which I haven't had in ages and tasted really good..."Eeeeeteeee phhhooooone hoooome."
We waited three long years for this, and it seemed like we were going to wait just a wee bit longer. They never showed the "Thank you for coming to Loews, sit back and relax, enjoy the show" nor any commercials, but they did show LOTS previews, and a man in front of us was freaking out every time the green preview rating would pop up. It was hilarious. We saw previews for (in no particular order):
Serenity
Batman Returns
War of the Worlds
Fantastic Four
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Da Vinci Code
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Cinderella Man
Wedding Crashers
Stealth
The Pink Panther
...and finally, the familiar sound of 20th Century Fox drums and trumpets soon followed the last trailer as the audience burst into clapping and cheers...
I went in with giddiness and excitement, and as the opening scroll of words appeared, I felt like, "Wow, this is it."
All I have to say is that this movie is an emotional rollercoaster that doesn't disappoint, from a fantastic opening scene to a powerful, tear-jerking conclusion. Makes you question who you should be routing for. And basically knowing what's going to happen, the experience becomes so tragic. Watching as the credits roll at the end, I was left with a sense of sadness and finality, because even though the quality of the movie makes up for the last two and that it closes the gap in the storyline, the saga has finally ended. Geoff quite appropriately said that they should come out with an animated series for the time between Episode 3 and 4.
Afterwards, we all went to dinner at Bennigan's to contemplate and hopefully reverse the gross effects we were experiencing from all the candy we just ate.
Like the last two, Brian and I will be making our multiple theater visits in the upcoming weeks, as we complete our revolution and watch the last 3 episodes just to make our way back to Episode 1 and repeat the cycle.
A short random addition: No spoilers here, just some clapping from the end of the movie that I captured, combined with photos from Yahoo!
Like Jonathan said, "...this is the official end of my youth."
p.s. "Sith Destroys Single Day Record" with $50,013,859
http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1824&p=.htm
"Impressive...most impressive"
On Tuesday, May 17th, Sam and Emmy joined us for our 7pm showing of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. The DVD is an extended version, so it was a little longer than we had expected. It had been a long time since I had seen the movie, and I was surprised at how sensitive I was with Jar Jar again, being that I had seen it several times before and that Jar Jar had, to a certain extent, become background noise. Ugh, he's just so utterly ridiculous. Being the absolutely best part of the movie, the Darth Maul duel was fantastic to see again. That night, we treated ourselves to the M&M's, chips, dips, and yummy honey mustard pretzels.
On Wednesday, May 18th, Geoff joined us for a double feature of Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars, the animated series. We were going to show Episode 4: A New Hope, but it was just too late by the time we finished The Clone Wars. This time, aside from the M&M's, we treated ourselves to yummy Thai food. Geoff devoured his in no time, while I ate at a consistent pace for about twenty minutes. With both Episodes 1 and 2, we occasionally paused the movie to discuss and confirm plot lines. But for Episode 2, there was definitely more chatter during the movie, mostly about Padme's "Let's just be friends" clothing. Bringing some healthy treats, Sam joined us with about 15 minutes left in Episode 2, coming from a crepe-making dinner.
We weren't sure about seeing The Clone Wars beforehand, but for anyone who hasn't seen Episode 3 yet, we highly recommend renting/buying the DVD. Because only volume 1 is on DVD, you'll have to watch the last five chapters (volume 2) online at http://www.starwars.com/clonewars/. It takes about 2 hours to watch both volumes. Not only is the animation done very well, but the overall series complements the movies so perfectly, describing the events that happen between Episodes 2 and 3. LOTS of action. After watching volume 1, we hooked up Geoff's computer, on which he downloaded volume 2, to one of our monitors to watch the last 5 chapters in full screen.
It was around 12:30am when we finished, a half hour into Episode 3 for those who went to see the midnight showing. Brian said that ten theaters at the Loews Boston Common, where we watch most of our movies, were being used for the midnight showing. Crrrraaaazy.
The big day: Thursday, May 19th
We bought our tickets on May 7th for the 5:40pm DIGITAL (DLP) show. There were only a limited number of shows for the digital version, and the time we chose was at the matinee price, so it was a double bonus for us when we got them. I got to the theater at 3:45pm, expecting a line to be there already since the last digital show was at 2:20pm. A line had already formed, and I asked if it was for the 5:40pm show. People on line were like, "No, it's for the 4:20pm show..." Oookaaay. So much for that. After talking with Elmer for a little bit, I called Brian around 4:00pm who was half a block away from the theater with Geoff. We headed back to area where the line was, and the 4:20pm folks were already let in. There were about 12 people waiting on line for the 5:40pm show. Who knows, they could have been there the entire time...
Anyways, it was good we got there early, for the line grew steadily soon after. We were entertained with the variety of Star Wars music that was playing overhead. Brian said that in the men's bathroom, there was a commercial being played for a Star Wars Christmas CD with treats like Chewbacca's "Silent Night" and Yoda's "Twelve Days of Christmas."
Sam and Emmy later joined us in line, and we watched as the 2:20pm crowd walked by. For the most part, there were smiling, chatty faces. A good sign, perhaps. We tried to avoid hearing any chatter by talking amongst ourselves and by humming, at least I did (Brian and I both avoided reading anything or even watching the trailer after seeing it just one time way back when...and while we can mute our TV, it was played during the previews for several movies we had recently gone to, so even though we closed our eyes, we still heard the audio...yes, we're freaks).
Brian was really adamant about getting seats in the third or fourth row in the main section, and when we entered the theater, the people ahead of us had taken the fourth row center, so we took the third row. The theater was smaller than expected, but we had prime seating. Jonathan joined us a few minutes later, with the theater already pretty full, and our row completely filled, except for his seat in the center. We shared amongst ourselves Twizzlers, M&M's (both milk/Jedi and dark/Sith chocolate), and Reese's pieces, which I haven't had in ages and tasted really good..."Eeeeeteeee phhhooooone hoooome."
We waited three long years for this, and it seemed like we were going to wait just a wee bit longer. They never showed the "Thank you for coming to Loews, sit back and relax, enjoy the show" nor any commercials, but they did show LOTS previews, and a man in front of us was freaking out every time the green preview rating would pop up. It was hilarious. We saw previews for (in no particular order):
Serenity
Batman Returns
War of the Worlds
Fantastic Four
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Da Vinci Code
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Cinderella Man
Wedding Crashers
Stealth
The Pink Panther
...and finally, the familiar sound of 20th Century Fox drums and trumpets soon followed the last trailer as the audience burst into clapping and cheers...
I went in with giddiness and excitement, and as the opening scroll of words appeared, I felt like, "Wow, this is it."
All I have to say is that this movie is an emotional rollercoaster that doesn't disappoint, from a fantastic opening scene to a powerful, tear-jerking conclusion. Makes you question who you should be routing for. And basically knowing what's going to happen, the experience becomes so tragic. Watching as the credits roll at the end, I was left with a sense of sadness and finality, because even though the quality of the movie makes up for the last two and that it closes the gap in the storyline, the saga has finally ended. Geoff quite appropriately said that they should come out with an animated series for the time between Episode 3 and 4.
Afterwards, we all went to dinner at Bennigan's to contemplate and hopefully reverse the gross effects we were experiencing from all the candy we just ate.
Like the last two, Brian and I will be making our multiple theater visits in the upcoming weeks, as we complete our revolution and watch the last 3 episodes just to make our way back to Episode 1 and repeat the cycle.
A short random addition: No spoilers here, just some clapping from the end of the movie that I captured, combined with photos from Yahoo!
Like Jonathan said, "...this is the official end of my youth."
p.s. "Sith Destroys Single Day Record" with $50,013,859
http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1824&p=.htm
"Impressive...most impressive"
Monday, May 16, 2005
Hoong-San's 30th Surprise Birthday
Yay! Another fun weekend back home in NJ/NYC.
On our way, we picked up some good ol' Italian food, meat ravioli and spaghetti bolognese, from our favorite Italian diner and then watched some tv in an otherwise empty house. Mom and Dad had gone on vacation and wouldn't be back until Sunday afternoon.
I had to get up super early on Saturday since I was finally going to officially change my last name to Tull. So the first step was changing the driver's license. The lines at the DMV are usually dreadful, so I aimed to get to the place by 7:15am, it being open at 8am. Well, getting there even earlier than I planned at around 7am, I ended up being the third person in line. Not too bad. And the only reason the other two people were there was that they thought it opened at 7am. (So, I overestimated the situation a bit.) I finally got my new license, with a screwed up signature since I forgot I had to sign it and hadn't practiced signing my new name.
I couldn't really function all that well, having woken up super early, so naturally, I fell asleep again.
Elmer had sent everyone very well-designed invitations, detailing the delicious 9-course menu and time we all had to be at the restaurant (called Megu located in Tribeca), which was 7:30pm. Brian and I drove into the city around 4pm and found parking in pretty much the best spot you could find, right in front of the restaurant. At Elmer's request, we had to bring in flower arrangements he set aside for us at home, so parking there made transporting them quite easy.
To pass time, Brian and I walk around Tribeca, Soho and the village. It was forecasted to rain, and luckily it was sunny and didn't end up raining at all. Lots of people out and about, enjoying the weather. I was determined to find a vintage Star Wars shirt to wear on Thursday for the release, but unfortunately just stumbled upon ones that weren't to my liking. Up by NYU, we hurried back down to Tribeca just after 7pm and arrived back at the restaurant around 7:30pm to find Teddy waiting for us.
Okay, so I was wearing my usual black jeans, all-stars, and a t-shirt, relying on Elmer's dress code approval of wear whatever you want. Outside the restaurant, there's a red carpet AND a velvet rope with a tall man dressed all in black standing out front. Hmm...I did bring nice shoes and a different top just in case, but I decided to side with comfort and stick with my all-stars, considering I may be doing a little bit of running around, and just change my top. The tall man didn't seemed bothered with my attire as I entered so, awesome, no need to change.
Amelia was next to show up, followed by David, Joanne and Gene (Congratulations! I never did say it that night.) It was 7:50pm at this point.
Elmer left me a message about 5 minutes earlier saying that they are on their way. Well, that's seven down with five more left to arrive. We all went to the private VIP Juraku Lounge Elmer had reserved and waited restlessly for the others to show up. By 8:10pm, Sunny, Darice, Emily, Sam and Kathy had arrived. Thank goodness Elmer and Hoong-San were running late. They didn't get there until around 8:30pm.
Here's Hoong-San's reaction on video:
Our dinner menu included:
- fresh edamame on branches (from which David, Elmer, Brian and I each removed and kept our own green ice cube...quite reminiscent of our wedding)
- Japanese Yuzu caesar salad
- spicy Zaru Tofu stew (one of my favorite dishes of the night...soooo good)
- Tatsuta-fried Chicken in a Jubako box (yum...KFC...)
- Bincho-tan charcoal grill skewers (all I have to say is tender Kobe beef...)
- silver cod Hosho Yaki in Yuan Miso with Shimeji mushrooms (memories of Nobu...but with yummy strange-looking mushrooms)
- Kalbi of Kobe beef grilled on a river stone (fun and interactive, cooked to your liking, with your very own lard, or as we would prefer, Lard Lite, for non-stick purposes)
- sushi (fresh wasabi grounded on shark skin, usually provided by the waiter, but having fascinated several of us, was a task we took upon ourselves...the waiter left us long before we noticed, abandoning the root and skin)
- Montagne de Fraises (with the added bonus of sparklers, provided a la myself)
The food was deee-licious, accompanied with a fruity drink called "Harmony" that David and Amelia both had as well. After dinner, we took a tour of the restaurant and admired the decor, including a great mirror illusion near the bathrooms and a kimono room.
Then we headed to a familiar place...BINY for karaoke...
Other friends of Hoong-San and Elmer joined us there as many impressed us with their vocal stylings. The hardcore ones turned out to be Jinny, Hoong-San and Gene. And out of nowhere near the end of the night, not having sung anything up to this point, Harry whips out a to-the-tee rendition of "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi. Old school 80's dancing was provided by Teddy along with the comedic quirks of Fran.
There was an earlier debaucle of the originally reserved room not having the karaoke machine work, so we all had to squeeze into a smaller room. Because of that, I think, we were offered a round of free shots. Ten of us decided to go with the flow. But as the group dwindled and it got later and later, there were no shots to be seen. Good thing there was just enough of us still there when they finally brought them, just minutes before we left the place. Fruity jolly rancher shots.
One of the memorable moments that ended the night was when after Brian and I sang "What's My Age Again" and some random music continued to play in the background, Teddy did his own solo acappella version of "Somebody" by Depeche Mode. FAN-tastic. He and I seemed to be the only ones who knew all the words, and it was a good thing a mic wasn't near me.
It was around 3:30am when we all headed in our respective directions. On the way back to the car, we saw a tiny car get pulled over that I think had 7 or 8 passengers, with two in the front passenger seat. It was funny to see it happen, because since the car was so small, it was hard to miss that there were way too many people in it. Driving back, our shuffled mp3 CD entertained us with alternative power pop, swing and rap.
Happy 30th Birthday, Hoong-San!! Hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did!
On our way, we picked up some good ol' Italian food, meat ravioli and spaghetti bolognese, from our favorite Italian diner and then watched some tv in an otherwise empty house. Mom and Dad had gone on vacation and wouldn't be back until Sunday afternoon.
I had to get up super early on Saturday since I was finally going to officially change my last name to Tull. So the first step was changing the driver's license. The lines at the DMV are usually dreadful, so I aimed to get to the place by 7:15am, it being open at 8am. Well, getting there even earlier than I planned at around 7am, I ended up being the third person in line. Not too bad. And the only reason the other two people were there was that they thought it opened at 7am. (So, I overestimated the situation a bit.) I finally got my new license, with a screwed up signature since I forgot I had to sign it and hadn't practiced signing my new name.
I couldn't really function all that well, having woken up super early, so naturally, I fell asleep again.
Elmer had sent everyone very well-designed invitations, detailing the delicious 9-course menu and time we all had to be at the restaurant (called Megu located in Tribeca), which was 7:30pm. Brian and I drove into the city around 4pm and found parking in pretty much the best spot you could find, right in front of the restaurant. At Elmer's request, we had to bring in flower arrangements he set aside for us at home, so parking there made transporting them quite easy.
To pass time, Brian and I walk around Tribeca, Soho and the village. It was forecasted to rain, and luckily it was sunny and didn't end up raining at all. Lots of people out and about, enjoying the weather. I was determined to find a vintage Star Wars shirt to wear on Thursday for the release, but unfortunately just stumbled upon ones that weren't to my liking. Up by NYU, we hurried back down to Tribeca just after 7pm and arrived back at the restaurant around 7:30pm to find Teddy waiting for us.
Okay, so I was wearing my usual black jeans, all-stars, and a t-shirt, relying on Elmer's dress code approval of wear whatever you want. Outside the restaurant, there's a red carpet AND a velvet rope with a tall man dressed all in black standing out front. Hmm...I did bring nice shoes and a different top just in case, but I decided to side with comfort and stick with my all-stars, considering I may be doing a little bit of running around, and just change my top. The tall man didn't seemed bothered with my attire as I entered so, awesome, no need to change.
Amelia was next to show up, followed by David, Joanne and Gene (Congratulations! I never did say it that night.) It was 7:50pm at this point.
Elmer left me a message about 5 minutes earlier saying that they are on their way. Well, that's seven down with five more left to arrive. We all went to the private VIP Juraku Lounge Elmer had reserved and waited restlessly for the others to show up. By 8:10pm, Sunny, Darice, Emily, Sam and Kathy had arrived. Thank goodness Elmer and Hoong-San were running late. They didn't get there until around 8:30pm.
Here's Hoong-San's reaction on video:
Our dinner menu included:
- fresh edamame on branches (from which David, Elmer, Brian and I each removed and kept our own green ice cube...quite reminiscent of our wedding)
- Japanese Yuzu caesar salad
- spicy Zaru Tofu stew (one of my favorite dishes of the night...soooo good)
- Tatsuta-fried Chicken in a Jubako box (yum...KFC...)
- Bincho-tan charcoal grill skewers (all I have to say is tender Kobe beef...)
- silver cod Hosho Yaki in Yuan Miso with Shimeji mushrooms (memories of Nobu...but with yummy strange-looking mushrooms)
- Kalbi of Kobe beef grilled on a river stone (fun and interactive, cooked to your liking, with your very own lard, or as we would prefer, Lard Lite, for non-stick purposes)
- sushi (fresh wasabi grounded on shark skin, usually provided by the waiter, but having fascinated several of us, was a task we took upon ourselves...the waiter left us long before we noticed, abandoning the root and skin)
- Montagne de Fraises (with the added bonus of sparklers, provided a la myself)
The food was deee-licious, accompanied with a fruity drink called "Harmony" that David and Amelia both had as well. After dinner, we took a tour of the restaurant and admired the decor, including a great mirror illusion near the bathrooms and a kimono room.
Then we headed to a familiar place...BINY for karaoke...
Other friends of Hoong-San and Elmer joined us there as many impressed us with their vocal stylings. The hardcore ones turned out to be Jinny, Hoong-San and Gene. And out of nowhere near the end of the night, not having sung anything up to this point, Harry whips out a to-the-tee rendition of "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi. Old school 80's dancing was provided by Teddy along with the comedic quirks of Fran.
There was an earlier debaucle of the originally reserved room not having the karaoke machine work, so we all had to squeeze into a smaller room. Because of that, I think, we were offered a round of free shots. Ten of us decided to go with the flow. But as the group dwindled and it got later and later, there were no shots to be seen. Good thing there was just enough of us still there when they finally brought them, just minutes before we left the place. Fruity jolly rancher shots.
One of the memorable moments that ended the night was when after Brian and I sang "What's My Age Again" and some random music continued to play in the background, Teddy did his own solo acappella version of "Somebody" by Depeche Mode. FAN-tastic. He and I seemed to be the only ones who knew all the words, and it was a good thing a mic wasn't near me.
It was around 3:30am when we all headed in our respective directions. On the way back to the car, we saw a tiny car get pulled over that I think had 7 or 8 passengers, with two in the front passenger seat. It was funny to see it happen, because since the car was so small, it was hard to miss that there were way too many people in it. Driving back, our shuffled mp3 CD entertained us with alternative power pop, swing and rap.
Happy 30th Birthday, Hoong-San!! Hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did!