Okay, I'm off to Shanghai for a couple of weeks... I'll miss you guys... will eat lots and take thousands of pictures for you!   See you when I'm back... at the end of September!  If you need anything from China, just email me...

Lady Gaga @ Staples Center - Thursday, August 12, 2010 

Guess who was front row?   For those of you that waited... you're in for a treat!  (For those of you that are Lady Gaga haters, you can skip today's entry.) Now you can see why I was dragging in making the post... there are over 50 pictures in this one!  Seriously, I had the best spot in the building, front row, center, in front of the stage where the catwalk starts.  I couldn't have gotten any closer.  

I wanted to take more pics of the dressed up fans, but we had to go in early.  

Lady Starlight opened.  She dj's and dances to 80s rock songs for an hour, busting out 1980s hair band moves.  She was great...  I don't know how she does it... dance sync for 45 minutes plus, because she doesn't sing while she's up there.  I know I couldn't. 

Then Semi Precious Weapons came before Gaga, as they always do. 

Lead singer Justin Tranter has good stage presence, but I just don't enjoy their music.  He's androgynous, trying to channel David Bowie, but playing a harder brand of rock/glam rock.  When I saw Gaga in December, I walked out of the opener and spent time in the foyer people watching.  This time I had to endure Semi-Precious Weapons song set because I was stuck in my prime pit spot. 

Both Lady Starlight and Semi-Precious Weapons are long time friends of Lady Gaga so I guess we're stuck with them (I'm referring to Semi-Precious Weapons) for all of her future shows. 

Thanks to the security guy, I got a picture of the setlist. 

Damn, there were frickin' queens all around me.  The two peacocks in the picture above ended up standing by us and they were really cool.  But there was this one Indian/Paki f*g that was being a real bitch.  My friend had a spot on the rail next to him and he kept on trying to stretch himself out and pushed her off the rail and tried to tell the security guy that she was pushing him.  DUDE WAS 45 YEARS OLD... GROW UP!!!  

He kept on telling this girl that he just met that he's always really busy and that has houses in a few cities and that he's been to Gaga shows in different cities.   If you're a 45 year old busy and successful man, why are you spending your life following around Lady Gaga city to city by yourself?  He was totally bs'ing because he asked a general question about one of her songs, a question that anyone who had seen her show before would know.  That guy was the biggest ass that I've ever seen at a concert.  He wasn't even drunk.  He was just a bitch. 

The 40 year-old lady that he just met came dressed in a corset set.  Her corset was stuff with red tissue to match the padding because her boobs were too flat.  At one point she started telling Indian/Paki and another guy about how she's married, but she was once in a threesome with two other guys, but she didn't have sex with them.  She just kissed them and watched, so it didn't count as cheating.   We tried to tune it out but couldn't because of her booming man voice.  She was so ugly at first I thought she was a crossdresser but she was just a scary middle-aged woman with no boobs and fishnets on. 

At 9:00 on the dot, Lady Gaga saved us by coming on stage. 

WOW!  Lady Gaga must have had about 15 costume changes.  Some of them were drapy or cape-y (see above), but still, it counts. 

The nun outfit with pasties is hot!  It's not because she's wearing pasties, I just think the outfit itself is rad.   

The Disco Stick!

Look... the guys are all wearing hard athletic cups!  In case you went to the concert and from your seat you thought her dancers must all be packin', they might be... or they might not. 

Lady Gaga's Keytar   

The Flaming Piano

Installation of the Living Dress 

The tube came down from the ceiling, they installed the dress while a music video ran on the outside of the metallic looking tube (in the picture above, the dress is uninstalled, they are just holding the train), then she revealed, like a butterfly that's gone through metamorphosis, bursting out of it's cocoon. 

The dress is called the Living Dress because it's fully mechanized!  The wings come up and the clear plastic straw like material on the head, shoulders, and back spread themselves out. 

Someone tell me what that is.  Has she gone fungal?  Is she a mushroom?  Like a circumcision, the mushroom top came off and then she was left with this bloody outfit.  So much strategically placed hair! 

I know she's wearing five inch heels, but still, she's got some booty, much more than I would've thought.   My friend told me she doesn't feel bad about her body... she noticed that even Lady Gaga has some cellulite.  I'm sure she does, but I didn't notice any.  Then again, I wasn't looking that closely.  I swear!    

I always laugh when I see these next three pictures.  I didn't get the point of this, how it tied to the story line.  Then I thought of all the parents that took their little girls to the show to see Lady Gaga perform. 

Gaga originally wanted heaters/straight flames coming out of her tin can turbo t*ts but her tour operator complained of the insurance liability of having a hard flame set up so they went with the sparklers instead. 

This is one of my favorite pics, the Little Monsters sign.  Her shoes rock!  What do you think they are made of?  They were shiny metallic, just like her top.  Some sort of foil?  Real metal?  Coated plastic? 

During the whole concert, I felt and knew that I was witnessing something special.  I wasn't watching an artist in their prime, I was watching an artist who still had yet to reach her peak.  I wondered if I was crazy for saying that, but then I read that in a couple of other show reviews too, that those critics also felt that same we haven't even see her best yet feeling.  I've seen Janet Jackson and Madonna on tour and Gaga's costumes are way better (to be fair, I never saw Cher perform).   There are only a few times in our lives that we'll be able to catch artists on fire like this.  She really is next level... and she hasn't even gotten to the next, next level.   

The set was well lit and elaborate.  There was a vague story line that was about as understandable as the storyline for a Cirque du Soleil show (not very), which was perfectly fine, because I wasn't expecting Broadway.  The dancing was good, but there weren't any show stopping moves.  

The show could've flowed smoother, but with that many costume changes there have to be a few lulls.  One thing she does do is talk a lot with the audience.  If you're not into her "be yourself/I love you/I love gays/I perform because of you" beliefs, then there will be times that you wish she'd just sing and not talk.  But hey, it's her show and she has the right to do whatever she wants up there.  It's like sex... sometimes there's too much talking and not enough sexing, but no matter what, it still takes both of you to have a show.  Hey, that's what you pay me for right?  Great analogies.  =) 

If you didn't know it before the show, you would after it.  Girl has got a voice.  A damn good voice!  She does lip sync to some of the dance numbers, but on the slower songs, she lets the horns blow.  When she's sitting at the piano, you can hear her voice that digs deep and bellows out from within.  It's rich and has soul.  She's not just pop like Katy Perry, Madonna or Britney.  Voicewise, she's more like bazooka blaster Christina Aguilera.  Did I mention Gaga also plays the keytar, string bass, and piano?   

Whether her whole persona/schtick is real or fake, it doesn't matter to me, she's genius. 

I don't say this lightly... This was one of the best shows that I've ever seen.  If you like pop or dance, you have to go!  She tours again in the first half of 2011.   Catch her then!  

Lady Gaga... do you love her or hate her?  Have you seen her live?  What did you think? 

My life is pretty lame right now.  Have my steady, boring job, my body is a little healthier than it was a few months ago, I eat a nice meal every so often but overall there is just nothing going on.  It's like my monotonous life has morphed into the boring and dismal US economy. 

I can't say FML, that's reserved for my friend who had to pull out of grad school recently.  Yeah, 100k in debt and no practicing license or advanced degree.  That totally sucks, because he can't even declare bankruptcy to get rid of school debt.  But I told him crap ass things happen in life and over time we get out of our holes.   I've lost 100k before, so I understand to a degree. 

I don't feel bad, just uninspired. 

Overhyped Free Item of the Week - NFL FanVision Viewer

I was surprised to see in my email that they were giving me a free FanVision device.  I had to do a Google search on it to find out what it was about. 

Since the NFL is losing people to the great HD TV games they create, they wanted to enhance the in game fan experience by allowing fans to control replays, watch highlights from other games, get stats, all from a screen at their seat.  A few of the teams decided to try out FanVision, a handheld device with a cell-phone sized screen with a video game controls.  Pretty rad. 

These things are supposed to cost $200 each, but I guess the Vikings decided to just give them away instead to season ticket holders (yes, I have Vikings season tickets, but I live in California).  What sucks?  This thing only works in stadium.  That means it's useless for me unless I go watch a game at the stadium of one of the participating teams.  None of the California teams are using the system (Chargers, Raiders, 49ers).   Maybe I'll just Ebay it.  I imagine they'll start charging an season subscription fee after year one.  Nothing is ever really free.    

Ajuma Hotties!  Korean Cougars

Eating in K-Town last week, I told my non-Korean friends that I heard there was a club/bar that was all about the Ajumas and Ajushis (older Korean women and older Korean men).  I joke about it with my Korean co-worker, though neither of us has been.   After eating and a stop at karaoke bar Brass Monkey, my friend, a girl, was so curious that she dragged us to Express, the Korean ajuma club.  

I dreamed of walking in and women to the left and right of me, looking as I walked in, then clamouring to buy me drinks and drag me onto the dance floor.  Older, mature Korean women.   Those once hotties, now divorced.  Me, the young meat. 

We pulled in, paid the $3 for parking, and like old people, first thing we did after walking in was hit the restroom to let our bladders loose. 

The inside of the club was nice, but so Asian early 90s looking.  It was like I was watching Chow Yun Fat in the Killer or Better Luck Tomorrow, going into a club.   There were tables and booths, like a restaurant, and a slightly elevated dance floor.  There were no more than 30 people in the club that could've easily fit 500.  Ten people on the dance floor.  Everyone in the club was 40 plus, more like 45-55.   No women approached me.  No women looked at me.  No women bought me drinks. 

We spent 5 minutes in there and went over to the livelier Busby's East, which had just pulled it's $10 cover charge since it was nearly 1 a.m.  They have a dance floor, pool tables, table tennis, darts, and other games in there. 

Anyhow, I took one for the team, can't believed I stepped into that place.  Things to do in life... Korean Gilf bar?  Check.   How did I skip the cougar bar stage of my life?  Next stop... Karnak! (Karnak is THE Korean cougar bar). Just kidding. 

Shanghai Tips?

I'm going to Shanghai next week and have been before, but it's been at least 5 years.  Any suggestions on where to hit up (restaurants, clubs, shopping districts, sites)?  Have any of you been to the World Expo?  Which pavilions are must see?  

No real plans, just want to check out the art scene, eat, get some clothes made, eat, shop, find $100/lb Grade A Jasmine Tea balls, take photos, and soak in the city.  If you happen to be there too, let me know and we Xangans can meet up! 

I know, I still owe you guys the Lady Gaga concert pics... If it's easier, you can always just become my Facebook friend, they are already on there!  

The world is small...  Celebrity plastic surgeon Frank Ryan (who did all that "great" work on Spiedi) died last week in Malibu and was last seen at the restaurant Neptune's Net.  Last year I went out on a few dates with this girl, who's family owns that Malibu staple.  I wonder if she was helping out at the restaurant the other night.  Not related to the story below. 

The Girl, the Suck, and the Restaurant

Ever been so excited for an online date that you already know that if you get past date one, you'll marry her?  I was like a frickin' pup running and squirting on pee pads.  For the whole week before, I would sit in my cube, look at my phone, look up her photo and smile.  She is sooooo dang cute!  

On paper, she wrote like a "9."  She was smarmy, witty, threw around sentences with flair, challenged my online dating manhood, a good tease with some I-own-you attitude.  On digital film, she was an "8." Megabytes of silly smiles, big eyes, long black hair, classy outfits in social settings with friends.  

We finally met on a weeknight at a lounge/bar.  It was a trendy little place that wasn't very packed for happy hour.  I had given her a list of places to choose from, she narrowed it down to two, and then I, down to one.  

I, the perpetually 10 minutes late one, arrived on time.  She calls five minutes later, panicked and lost.  Calm down, I'm here, I'll navigate you through the area.  She says, "Can you stand on the street corner or something so I can see where it is?" Sure, I can do that. 

Eight minutes later, she's bowling down the street in her car and I hop in, directing her to free parking.  She says, "Hmmmmph!  This was a horrible place to pick.  So hard to find!  Should've picked somewhere easier to get to.  This place sucks!"  I haven't learned much about women in my life, but I did know to ignore the comment, shut my trap, and stayed focused on the task, directing her to the parking structure. 

"I've got a live one!"  We made it inside the place and perused the menu.  She looked disinterested. 

How anyone cannot find anything they would not want to eat on a New American menu is beyond me.   A huge bowl of the crispiest sweet potato fries for only $3.  Sangria for $3.  Mac 'n Cheese.  Ahi tartare.  Didn't you have a hand in picking the place off my list?  Is the point of the first date to meet the person and have a conversation or to have it all your way Burger Queen?  She didn't scream high maintenance, I screamed it to myself. 

At this point, all I can do is laugh.  Let's see, the things I haven't had time to mention.  We had never talked on the phone before.  When she called on the way there, she sounded a little fobby.  I'm fine with fob voice.  But this totally threw me off, because her written command of the English language was as good as any I've seen.  She was a phenomenal writer.  I thought her spoken would be less broken. 

When I opened the car door, I said, "Sh*t!"  Girl did not look like her picture.  I mean, it was the same girl, but the girl in the picture was an "8."  I've always thought that even if people don't look the same in their pictures, the worst they could look is "-1."  In person, she looked like a "6."  She gave new meaning to "photographs really well."  If I put up her picture, you would all think she's very cute.  All my friends thought so. 

During the night she asked me about how I got various celebrity pictures.  And then it got on the topic of Laker games, and then I told her one of the people I met recently was Michelle Kwan and before I could finish the sentence she says, "THAT BITCH!  OMG, I HATE MICHELLE KWAN!  DOES SHE STILL HAVE THAT HUGE NOSE?"  Apoplectic would be understating it. 

WHO IN THE WORLD HATES MICHELLE KWAN?  Apparently, my date hates Michelle Kwan because when she was a fatty freshman at UCLA (has since lost 40 lbs), Michelle was matched up as her roommate along with another girl.  Michelle ignored her fat ass and would never look up from her computer to say hi to her.   

• Her:  That bitch Michelle, she never talked to me the whole year, then one day my boyfriend who was visiting from out of town was in the elevator with me and she was in the elevator with us and started flirting with him.  THAT BITCH!
• Me:  Really?  Ha ha ha.  Was she flirting with him because she wanted to steal him, or was she flirting with him just to make conversation?
• Her:  Well, he wasn't my boyfriend, but he was my guy friend.  Probably just to make conversation.  But still.  THAT BITCH!

Who would've thought hot date could've been so opposite.  A charming writer, a foodie, super cute and pretty turns into a barely above average looking "6" with a fobby voice, exagerated stories, and a high maintenance attitude.  She wasn't high maintenance monetarily, but she was the Mount Everest of social and emotional attention demanders. 

I knew it was too good to be true.  I walked her back to her car, then ran back to mine.  Who cares about a goodnight kiss... get me out of here! 

30 miles from home, that's where I am.

The table, small, rickety and dark wooden was packed between two other small, rickety and dark wooden.  I manuevered my larger than average badonkadonk through tables and into the small, rickety, and dark wooden chair.  On the table to my right, a foot away, were two cute Cantonese 20 somethings drinking milk tea and eating corn-on-the-cob with bbq sauce. To my left were three Taiwanese honeys, munching on small dishes. 

Ever get the feeling that the arm of the girl that's less than 2.5 feet away from you on the left is some girl you went on one online date with three months ago?  Then you know what I felt tonight.  Awkward!!!  Well, not really.  In fact I got to meet the two other girls sitting with her... her sisters. 

• Her:  Oh, did you come with your friends? (Motioning towards the girls on my right)
• Me:  No, I'm just stuck between five girls right now.

This is what happens when I go by myself to get some shaved ice at Class 302 (that's the name of the restaurant) on a Saturday night. 

Front Row Thursdays @ Staples Center

"Hello, hello baby you called, I can't hear a thing I have got no service in the club you see you see... What did you say, you're breakin up on me...

...Sorry I cannot hear you I'm kinda busy...KINDA BUSY."

I'm about to book my flight to Shanghai from LA next month.  Right now it looks like I'm going to go with Asiana.   I've never been but have only heard good things.  Have any of you tried Asiana?  I was reading that Cathay Pacific installed new flimsy seats that don't recline.   That's a bummer.   Anyone flown either recently?  Any other recommendations?  I'm trying to avoid Air China and Korean Air.  Asiana is about $150 more than some of the cheaper flights, sounds like it'll be money well spent. 

Have you ever owned a cell phone in China/Asia?  What's the easiest way... to bring an unlocked phone and buy a sim card there?  Or just buy a phone and sim card there? 

I'm finally treating myself to a real vacation after three years.  I also really would like to go to Italy soon... like this year... but that can only happen if I clear out my Lakers tickets ahead of time for whatever date I'm going to be going. 

The ticket market is pretty crappy right now.  I still have Lady Gaga lower level singles for Staples that I can't sell and Gaga pairs for San Jose too.   They are great seats and they aren't moving at near cover price.  It's not just Gaga, it's all events that are lagging.  Earlier in the year, I had gambled and thought that she would be bulletproof.  Guessed wrong.  Instead making a few hundred or a few thousand, I'll be taking losses.   It's okay, my pocketbook can handle it.  Not that I'm lovin it.  Good thing I did well on her last year.  Anyhow, if you are dying to go to either and want to buy tickets, message me! 

I might even get screwed by Brett Favre.  I have four Minnesota Vikings season tickets too (it's the only football team I hold tickets too).   I was cursing all morning in my cubical last Monday. Then of course it was all a rumor.  I think he'll be back. 

What is up with the weather in Socal this year?  It only hit over 90 for three or four days this summer.  How about where you live... hotter or colder or same? 

A dating story next time.  I promise. 

You would think I stalk people, but I don't.  I can't even go to the Orange County Fair on Wednesday without bumping into someone...

It's Christian Hosoi, three days after winning his back-to-back Skateboard Park Legends gold medal at the X Games!  

Hosoi.  Just the mere mention of it in the skateboard community still draws universal love and awe.  He came up in the late 1980s and ruled, known for his graceful style and for inventing his own vert moves for half pipe competitions.  When I was a kid, all the other kids talked about were Hosoi sightings... that skate park in Anaheim, near Huntington Beach, etc.   Have you heard of a guy named Tony Hawk?  Hosoi was his biggest rival.  They were the Lebron and Kobe of skating.  All those riches that Hawk now has, they just as well could've been Hosoi's, if he didn't get sidetracked. 

The first X Games' featured showdown was between Hosoi and Hawk.  Hosoi didn't attend because he feared that if he showed, authorities would arrest him since he was wanted for drug possession.  He had a crystal meth habit and was arrested in 2000 for transporting 1.5 lbs of it.  During the time of incarceration and through the support of his wife, he accepted the Lord as his savior and became a born again Christian (yes, funny how the name fits).  Even after the leaving prison, he stayed out of competitive skating until the past couple of years, re-emerging as a force and reclaiming his rightful spot among the elite.   

Now he resides in Huntington Beach and is an Associate Pastor at the the Sanctuary Church in Westminster, California.  

I'm not often awed by celebs or athletes, but I was a little this time.  It's those things I grew up watching and admiring as a child.  Can't escape it. 

La Roux @ Club Nokia Los Angeles - July 15, 2010

Finally, La Roux Day!!!  The last time La Roux was in LA at the El Rey back in October 2009, she was sick and performed a shortened five song set so that we wouldn't go home disappointed with a $20 ticket refund.  She did her songs right, but man, I was looking forward to hearing it all.  I was lickin' my chops for this show... the electric Club Nokia, the whole nation now on the bandwagon after Bulletproof finally hit the US airwaves, one of the few new acts of the past year or two that's been absorbable...

Elly Jackson came out in her Draconian cape, tearing that off after the first song...

Everyone is stoked and then she drops Hiroshima revisited... "I'm sorry everyone that my voice isn't well today, but we're going to make the best of it and give it a go..."  Anyhow, that's not exactly what she said, but it was something to that effect.  I'm there thinking, "Damn, girl must have a weak voice or body, this again?"  Thank God she performed a full set, which last about 65 minutes.   Not so good for the rest of North America.  She canceled the rest of her tour as her laryngitis turned to pharyngitis.  

I looked at the schedule and saw that Washington DC got screwed AGAIN.  In February the blizzard stopped them from going, then rescheduled to end of July, and now they've been rescheduled to November.  Sucks to be you DC.  

There are a myriad of contributing factors, but one might be that Elly's voice doesn't exhibit immense strength and maybe isn't build for the daily grind of blowing it out every night.  I'm not capping on her voice, I think her voice fits her songs.  I couldn't stop myself from dancing to every song.  It's just that her songs might be a grind to sing every night since they are high voiced dance songs, not singing in the classical sense.   

I realize I sound very critical of the performance, but the reality is is that I loved every minute of the show and can't wait to party with her again.  If you like that type of dance music, then you have to get the CD.  Half the songs are hit worthy, and there are only a couple of tracks that are marginal.   There's more than just "Bulletproof" (which she closed with).  "In For the Kill", "I'm Not Your Toy", "Tigerlilly" and "Quicksand" are just as good to me. 

After the show, I my phroat was dry so I stopped by the Ralphs in Downtown LA to get a Coke.  Next to me in the checkout line, purchasing vats of orange juice and unpopped popcorn was Ilan Hall, season two winner of Top Chef.  I didn't recognize him, but my friend thought she did.  Me being fearless me, I asked and he invited us to come to his restaurant, Gorbals. 

• Me: What is it, New American? 
• Ilan:  No, Scottish Jewish Progressive! 

There's a new Yelp category for you (unfortunately for Ilan,Yelp has them lumped in with New American restaurants).  In LA, you can't even go to a grocery store at 11:15 p.m. and not run into a minor celebrity.   

La Roux @ the El Rey - October 19, 2009 

I was going to link you up to my Xanga entry on La Roux's October 2009 performance, but I couldn't find it because I never did a review!  Here are my long lost pictures from the night.  For this show, I was two rows from the stage, so I got some great shots.  One thing you'll notice is that the stage background is pretty empty!  Compare those with the pictures above and you'll see how their stage setup has become more elaborate with their increased success. 

Movies...

Inception - TOO DAMN LONG!  They could've cut 30 minutes of it and tightened it up.  Especially all those Marion Cotillard scenes.  I got the dream layer concept... just thought it dragged at times.  Other than that, an impressive concept and a visual stunner.  If I had to choose between watching Leo's Inception or Shutter Island, I'd pick Shutter Island. 

Toy Story 3 - What... your female friends/cousins/nieces/nephews/kids haven't dragged you to see this yet?  It's good.  You will laugh and almost cry. 

Valentines Day - Grand concept, very so-so execution.  Based solely on this movie, Taylor Lautner is a dumb actor.  I hope he did better in Twilight, because I haven't seen New Moon or Eclipse yet.

Sherlock Holmes - Loved it, was entertained throughout.   Some late 1800s detective work with some 2010 fast forward flash film technique. 

Crazy Heart - Jeff Bridges kills it as a washed up country star still holding on.  Movie was 1 hr and 45 minutes but only felt like an hour.  Maggie Gyllenhaal... something about her, I've always loved her look. 

Osama (Afghanistan) - Visual brilliance.  Show's an oppresive Islamic state (Afghanistan after the fall of Saddam) as I will never know.  I applaud the director for tackling face first the controversial topics of Al-Quaida's haunting takeover, womens' roles, sex, education, and wartime poverty.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Korean) - The simplicity of the environment (set on a gorgeous lake) gives the movie its complexities.  There is beauty, growth, hope, regeneration, death but in the end my heart just felt tired and ached.   This is one of those spiritually introspective movies that's artsy too.  If those kinds of films bore you to death, then avoid it.  Otherwise, worth a look see when you feel like channeling your monkness. 

Ip Man (Hong Kong) - REDBOX SCORE OF THE WEEK!  Hong Kong's movie of the year in 2008, might be one of the best martial arts movies you'll ever see.  The man is real, but the only detraction for purists is that the real Ip Man didn't save a city or fight legions of Japanese with one swift hand thrust to their chests.  Based in the 1940s, it's about a Ip, a practicioner of Wing Chun that was known for elevating that martial art technique.  In the 1950s, he was one of Bruce Lee's first teachers.  As for the movie the action and fight scenes are smooth... Donnie Yen with Sammo Hung consulting... how could you go wrong?  Xiong Dailan (Lynn Hung Doi-lam) is a 5'10" hottie.  If you like Asian fighting movies, highly recommended. 

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Norway) - OOOOooo... My favorite of all these just reviewed movies.  A mystery thriller with some twisted ish that kept me locked in until the end (note:  I did not read the book).  There is a brutal rape scene that did not turn me on.  Remember that bipolar manic depressive girl or guy you knew in college?  This is what happens to them.  I heard they filmed the trilogy in 18 months.  The normal Noomi Rapace looks quite pretty with long hair and makeup (which you won't see in this film).

Otherwise, I've just been lazy on posting, trying to get my basketball game back, went whitewater rafting, visiting friends in hospitals and post surgery, been to a few concerts and have gone a couple of interesting dates.  Gotta buy my plane ticket to Shanghai for September.