a-ha: Norwegian for Awesome

I know, I know, I know, I know - I said I was going to post more often and then promptly ditched the blog. But it's not true! I was waiting for something in particular to happen before posting next and just today it happened. And just what is this fabulous thing, you ask?! Well, a-ha updated their site with reviews and photos of the concert Robert and I saw on the 16th. I KNOW! It's almost too awesome for words.

Now, I was a barely casual fan of a-ha going into the concert; I only knew about 5 of their songs off the top of my head. But, after seeing them in concert I am officially goo goo for a-ha. Those of you that have talked to me already know that it's true. They're just so good! And soooo maligned as a One Hit Wonder!!!!!! It really frosts my cookies. In fact, just to rub salt in the wound, I happened to be watching VH1 Classic's '100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s' in the hotel room before heading out to the concert and who should appear at #3 but a-ha and "Take on Me"! The nerve!!!! Now, while part of me was at least happy that they were in the top 5 (if you're going to misrepresent the band with the OHW label they should at LEAST be one of the best ones of all time, right?) the other part of me wanted - and still wants! - some clarification on just what criteria VH1 Classic is using to determine who is a OHW. Because, as I see it, a group that has two Top 20 singles ("Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV") as well as the privilege of performing one of the James Bond themes ("The Living Daylights." Okay, so they wrote for one of the Timothy Dalton 007 films - it's not their fault nobody liked the D-man!) is NOT a OHW. "Oh," you say, "VH1C probably is only counting songs that made it into the Top 10 on the Billboard charts." Wrong! Midnight Oil is in the list and their supposed OHW ("Beds Are Burning") only made it to #17! So just what DOES make someone a One Hit Wonder, VH1 Classics?! 'Cause I need to see some continuity here. Hmpf. Needless to say, I was all worked up before heading to the Club Nokia to see the band. And can I just point out (again) that both L.A. shows were sold out? Granted, it wasn't the world's largest venue - it seated about 2,500 - but still! Both shows! SOLD OUT! Because there are some good folk out there who appreciate severely under-appreciated and fabulous music. (Hey - it's pretty much just America that lost interest in a-ha. They're still super huge in Europe. And pretty much everywhere else [especially South America]. I know what you're thinking but no - they're not David Hasselhoff. They're popular and critically acclaimed elsewhere. Sheesh.)

(photos: a photo of the blasphemous segment on VH1C; Robert reading while I watch 4 hours of OHWs)

And it's not just me; Robert, who didn't really know any songs going into the show (except for the ones I made him listen to while driving down I5...) also agreed that it was a great show and that he was surprised at how much he now likes a-ha. I have converted him! Even though he thinks it's annoying Morten is so darn dreamy. (I think the part of the concert Robert liked best was seeing that Morten is [sadly] thinning a bit up top. It's true. Don't get me wrong - he's still hunky (he seems to get better with age, too, oddly enough) but he is losing a bit o' hair at the back. I was a wee bit bummed.) We didn't even have very good seats but with the way the venue was set-up, we still wound up with a pretty good view of the stage. I was a little disappointed with the crowd's level of participation (I was totally the dork waving and clapping and do whatever I was asked. And not just for the next eight-count, either, other loser-y audience people!) and with the fact that the band didn't do a ton to denote that it was their last-ever show in the U.S. but otherwise it was a fantastic show. They didn't even have an opening act - it's like the concert was made just for me! *sigh* I am having a-ha withdrawal. :o( Be sad for me.

If you are interested (and, really, after my rousing endorsement, how could you not be?!), HERE is the link to a bunch of other links for articles, reviews, etc., for all of a-ha's North American dates.

And here are a couple of fan videos from the show:

(Ol' Morty can still hit the high notes - whew! I'd seen some clips of the tour on YouTube and he sounded good but you never know... Back in the day, I went to an 'N Sync concert and JC Chasez could most definitely not hit his high notes. The show was one fontrum moment after another. So glad this was not the case with Morten!)

(The little montage they showed before the first encore.)

And since you can never have enough a-ha, HERE is the link to their Flickr page May 16th concert set of photos.

Robert and I heading into Club Nokia. Don't we (and by "we" I mean Robert, myself and my 4 extra chins) look excited?!

Me wearing my super cool a-ha shirt on the journey home. Robert wore his Nada Surf shirt so we looked like a matching pair... of dorks.

Bye bye, a-ha. I will miss you. But I'm glad I got to see you.

Loois

I think this is one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen. *sniff*

Help A Rescue (By Shopping!)

If you buy a pane of these adorable stamps, you'll be helping to feed a shelter animal. And your mail will never have looked better!






You can buy these silicone paw measuring spoons for just $12.95 and help 14 animals have another meal. If you're not into cooking, you can peruse The Animal Rescue Site's store and find something else that will both tickle your fancy and help shelter animals. It's a win-win!




You know you want to! I've had the stamp site bookmarked for a while to remind myself to post about it and when I saw a separate post on the measuring spoons, I took it as a sign to get off my butt and do it. You know how I loves me the puppies...

I'm Aliiiiiiiiiive!!!

Indeed I am. I know, it has been many moons since I last posted but there are two perfectly reasonable explanations for that: (1) I have been busy, busy, busy with school and my mother; and (2) when I don't spend 8 hours chained to a desk, I find that I don't wander over to my computer super often. It's not just you that I've neglected - I'm so behind in checking what's new on all of my regular sites that I'm starting to feel a little panicky! So, I decided, now that I have a few minutes of free time, to take things one at a time and see how far I get. Here we go.

• I totally blew it and failed to post the recap of the second-to-last and the final episodes of The Amazing Race. Rather than take up oodles of space with both of those, I will direct you to their links --> here's the link to the former recap, here's the link to the latter. I myself have not even read the recaps yet so I don't really have anything to offer you in the way of witty commentary. I can only say that I am most grieved the cowboys weren't able to pull it out in the end (JorDaniel were SUCH douches in the final episodes that I want to punch them in their smug little faces) but I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo relieved that Caite did not win. They would have been able to hear my brain explode in Space had she done so. I hate her with the fire of a thousand suns. Truly. I do.
  
• Last Monday (the 3rd) was my last day of work but I had a midterm the following day so I didn't spend a lot of time dancing for joy at my break from The Bay. (Let me pause here and thank all of you that shared your thoughts and well wishes with me on my new life direction. :o) It really was so nice to get some encouragement in my hair-brained idea.) I didn't tell any of my coworkers that I was leaving until the day that I left - mostly because it all went down so quickly but also because I just didn't want to deal with however many days of questions, questions, questions. You won't believe me but I don't actually like being the center of attention; I like to fade into the background. I was surprised to discover that a handful of my coworkers seemed mildly offended that I hadn't given them an earlier heads-up. I think they took it as a "I don't like you enough to say goodbye to you" as opposed to the "I like you just fine - I just don't want deal with the Spanish Inquisition you are bound to attack me with the moment you hear I'm leaving" it actually was. (And I wasn't wrong in assuming this would be the case; I am not exaggerating when I say that less than 60 seconds after the 'Lauren is leaving' e-mail went out, one of the counselors ran down the hall to my area to ask me what was going on. Less than a minute. I kid you not.) I did agree to a little cake-filled send-off where some people wished me well, some people expressed their envy (loudly) of my Bay break and the ones I really liked were genuinely sad to see me go. It was very strange packing up and heading out but I honestly didn't have a ton of time to dwell on it because...
• As I mentioned, I had a midterm the following day. A midterm I, of course, was ill prepared to take so spent the rest of Monday night and Tuesday morning cramming. I wound up doing just fine on the exam (I got it back Tuesday and I got an A so yay!) but I didn't really get any reprieve after it was done because a project... that I had not yet started... was due the following Tuesday (i.e. two days ago). I spent Wednesday filling out applications (for programs and internships) and Thursday doing a few pressing house chores. Friday my mom went in for shoulder surgery so I spent the day watching the dogs and Saturday I had a class at the Humane Society Silicon Valley in the afternoon. (My mom spent an unexpected extra day at the hospital on Saturday so I watched the dogs that day, too.) Sunday was Mother's Day so I, of course, spent the day with my mom, vegging on the couch and helping her out with some post-surgery tasks. Then I had Monday to finish up my project and *poof* it was Tuesday and time for class again. A week had gone by since my last day of work and I barely noticed!
  

Now it is Thursday and here I am. So there you go. I actually have a few things still on my plate that will keep me busy well into next week but I will make a concerted effort to get on the computer and update! I know I owe a few of you some e-mails, too, so I will get on those next. Thanks again for all the kind words! :o)