A Fine Frenzy at World Cafe Live 3/24/08

What can I say about Allison Sudol's smooth, unique vocals? Great things! A Fine Frenzy is definitly worth seeing live! The first time I saw them was opening for Brandi Carlile, and I have to admit I was hooked. I found out they were touring and snatched up tickets right away.

The night started at 7:30, Ferras came on first. You may have heard his song, "Hollywood Is Not America" on the radio. I am not a fan, he sang 5 songs which was 5 too many. So after Ferras exited the stage I was expecting A Fine Frenzy, no luck. Chris Stills came on about 15 minutes later. I was a little frustrated because I had no idea there were any opening acts nevermind 2. I have to admit Chris Stills was good. He was entertaining and had a much better voice than Ferras, He sang 5 songs as well. (check out Kitty Kathy if you can, good tune). FINALLY, about 9:20, out came A Fine Frenzy. She Opened with "Come On, Come out" and I was instantly mesmerized. As the night wore on She intereacted with the audience and drew a few laughs. Allison seems very shy, but she knew how to speak to us. After every song she would smile sweetly and if I were closer I could probably see her blushing. :) When they came back for an encore, she played guitar on a "brand spankin new song" (her words). It was more of a country /folky tune, with a good beat. Something I was not expecting yet enjoyed none the less.

All in all it was a very good show. My only complaint was waiting 2 hours for her to come on! I was impatient but A Fine Frenzy was worth the wait!

Go see A Fine Frenzy, you will not be dissappointed!

Amanda Overmyer was the only true talent!

She is gone but Kristy Lee Cook and Michael Johns stays!?! This is horrible! Amanda had a true raw talent and deserved a top ten spot over any else save Carly Smithson. Well Idol is on its way out with me!

Gas Prices

The only reason the USA is headed into a recession is gas prices! Exxon/Mobil made 33 BILLION in PROFIT last year! We put up with this because we have to work/shop/get the kids to school etc... But its a shame.

SAME ON YOU MR. PRESIDENT! You are wealthy so no worries on your end right? Someone needs to do something for the little guy! 3.09 a gallon is not neccassary! I can buy a gallon of ice cream for 1.99 or 2.99!

THE ONLY REASON WE ARE HEADED INTO A RECESSION IS GREED!!!! Greed by the wealthy!! Isn't there anything we can do? Those "don't buy gas on monday" emails never seem to work. Anybody have any ideas let me know!

Brandi Carlile: Please write better songs!

So I know alot of people will bash me for this but I have to speak my mind! Brandi Carlile can sing no doubt, but what the heck is with these childish woe is me songs? I know she doesn't write all of them herself, thank goodness! The ones the twins write have a little bit more of an upbeat! Her early years were better. Come on Brandi, write more songs like Call you out or Over you. Now thats good stuff. There is alot of speculation on weather or not she is a lesbian, WHO CARES? I just want her to get over it.... whatever it is. When i saw her live in Philadelphia, I was dissappointed! She was shaking! YES SHAKING. She wasn't friendly and she did not interact with the audience! At one point she sat down at the piano to sing "love songs" First line was "i don't write love songs" That drew a laugh from a concert goer! WHY? BEACAUSE THATS ALL SHE WRITES ABOUT. ALot of BOOHOO! The one good thing that came out of Brandi Carlile was her concert intoduced me to A FINE FRENZY. Now those songs are written well! I just got tickets to see A Fine Frenzy in Philly at the end of MArch. I'm glad they are headlining they are worth it.

Brandi Carlile, PLEASE WRITE BETTER SONGS! Your voice is great, your style is great, I just think its time to grow up! Good luck!

GO HILLARY

HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT! YES SHE WILL!!!

SO WHAT?

Ok. This is for ANYONE who has EVER complained about something that happened years, months, days, or minutes ago. SO WHAT? The past is over and done with! If i cried everytime I "remembered" something bad that happened before, i guess I would always be crying. Truth is, you can not get to your future by bellyaching over the past! OKOK some of you are saying, "but my mom or my dad or GF, BF or best friend or my whatever did this to me, yelled at me, didnt love me, ignored me, cheated on me. blah blah blah. SO WHAT?

Really get over it!

Imagine never getting anywhere in life because of what happened yesterday! You know what? BE GRATEFUL YOU WOKE UP THIS MORNING! Without being grateful for what you have now, you will have NOTHING! So my two cents. IT DOESNT MATTER!!!!!

SO WHAT? So get on with today! Make a better tomorrow! WHAT YOU DO WITH RIGHT NOW MATTERS!

Good day everyone!

THE WORST MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT!

I am a big fan of Martial arts & always have been as I used to practise Karate in my youth. I enjoy watching tournaments and have attended a number throughout the past year since my daughter just joined a local Karate academy. 

This is a dedication to the worst tournament I have had the misfortune to attend so far. 

Sunday, March 2nd, I took a ride to Tamaqua, PA for the COAL KICKIN' Tournament. I had discovered it online and decided to check it out. After a beautiful ride through the mountains with high hopes and high energy, I arrived a little before the 10 am SHARP! musical forms competition. Well the 10 am SHARP! turned into 10:40 give or take. They started with musical forms individuals and teams. What struck me as odd was 'musical anything' is usually for entertainment or demo only at the other tournaments. I was excited at the prospect of seeing it none the less. It was ok... I felt a little robbed when I found out they had this as competition but no breaking! NO BREAKING! I have never even heard of a tournament that had no breaking! Board breaking is a display of true technique. Without good technique, one cannot break boards. This missing was a good indication of what this 'tournament' was about...

That aside I also noticed not a single Korean or Asian Master. This in itself I found very unusual! Well after the musical forms they began with BlackBelt forms. This to me is an ART! Watching it is mesmirizing. Well expectations were dashed for me! I was standing near the judges, and they hardly even LOOKED at the competitors. They were looking right, left, behind etc... I was shocked. The first two competitors were in their own devision. A blackbelt performing a red belt form (poorly) won over another blackbelt performing an advanced blackbelt form. When the judges were asked how could that be they actually said (I HEARD THEM) ... "THAT DOESN'T MATTER HERE! THIS ISN'T NATIONALS" then they actually chuckled! OK, I was set to leave because this seemed like a backwoods thrown together "party" that was just for people who knew one another. If you were not known, you were actually ignored - even looked at funny! Well behind me was lower belt weapons. Imagine my surprise when someone who dropped their weapon during competion scored higher than another that didn't! OK. I'd had it at this point, but decided to watch ADULT BLACKBELT WEAPONS, since this is one of my favorites. 3 men and one woman. The woman had a sword, two men had bo staffs and one had an oar. The staffs were very clumsy! I couldn't believe how sloppy it looked. The oar was ok but nothing I hadn't seen a hundred times. The woman with the sword was Breathtaking! It was flowing smooth, lots of differnt moves, flawless IMO. The sword looked like an exstention of herself! I had seen her at another tournament a number of months ago -(Funny I never saw any of the other competitors before). I knew she would get first. Well when she didnt even place I gasped, along with the stranger standing next to me, who actually said under his breath, "are you kidding?". 

My daughter will be doing tournaments soon... NOT THIS ONE! She was not impressed and actually asked me if they were all this BAD (shes 9). I told her NO. Im taking her to the Keystone State Championships in April where she may even compete. (Of course if she decides she's ready ;) ) The Keystone State Championships never fail to impress and the judges PAY ATTENTION. So don't ever waste your time with the COAL KICKIN' Tournament! Its not worth it!