a star-studded weekend
(or, as El would call it, "My Star Stalker Weekend")
i don't even know where to begin except to say that i am STILL
on cloud 9 from seeing Roger and Andy Taylor of Duran Duran up close.
YES, UP CLOSE!

I'm telling you, it was all in the cards...
* If I hadn't chosen to go pee before getting in line to buy a D2 -shirt after the concert
* If me and the bf didn't take the longer route to get back to the parking garage
* If I didn't have to pee a second time near the back stage area

...I wouldn't have been part of a small herd of 30-40 year old women
that actually ran to and caught up with the van that was driving Andy and Roger Taylor!!!!!

Lucky for us, they were at a stop, so we surrounded the van and completely regressed to our
teeny bopper days, waving and screaming at them...oh my gawd, we were all INSANE!!!!
They were nice enough to appease us by waving back.
Although, Roger kinda gave us this goofy wave at one point.
I don't blame him, we all musta looked pretty stupid in our fanatic state...'kinda like
monkies in a zoo! ;)

But I swear, after that AND the awesome performance they gave, 'couldn't help
but feel like I coulda died right there. Life was complete. (I'm such a dork!)

baking like a lechon for 4 hours was worth it
so we started our sunday waiting in line to get into Sharon Meadows at Golden
Gate Park. We were waiting a good couple of hours and
befriended a couple of really cool folks, Nikki and Anthony
(aka Talula and Sven)...they were hilarious to hang out with!

It was pretty amazing to see all these 30-50 year olds,
some wearing vintage Duran Duran t-shirts and one lady
even had the satin D2 jacket (which I wanted more than
food back in the day), all together in one spot.
I forget that D2 is 20 years older (probably now in their late 40's),
so of course their fans are older.

We eventually got inside and laid our towels on the green grass.
It was a beautiful, perfect day.
Not a cloud was in site.
There was also no shade to take refuge in, so we slathered on
the sunscreen.

They started the show pretty quickly with Maroon 5.
AMAZING!
I love listening to them live. The lead singer's voice is
just as good.
Me and the BF were totally into their music.

Unfortunately, while waiting for the next performer, Liz Phair,
the onset of dehydration began.
My poor bf was getting a headache and just looking miserable.
And while I was walking around to find shade, i felt like throwing up
the delicious bratwurst I had inhaled earlier.
Me and the bf were in this state for a good 2 hours while
trying to rehydrate with as many bottles of water as possible.

Luckily, by the time Seal performed,
there were these two women that rudely stood in front of us.
It actually worked to our advantage, though, as we used them for shade.
If it weren't for them, I don't know how I would've gotten my body temperature down.
'Also doused my hair with some water to cool down a bit more so that by the time
it was Duran Duran's turn to take center stage,
I was ready to get up and go craZY.

And that I did.

still the best concert experience ever
the hysteria that is Duran Duran glided on stage as if
no time had passed.
and damn, THEY LOOKED GOOD!!!!
Still rockstars in their more debonaire duds.

And for all you John Taylor fans, may I say that the man
has aged quite well, to say the least.
In other words..HOT...that man is HOT!
*shakes head*

And I guess it's cause I'm older
and can appreciate more than just them looking hot,
but damn that Andy Taylor can strum a guitar!
He rocks!
All of them were on fire. 'Still haven't lost the magic,
cause everyone was on their feet screaming and
rocking to the music AND singing the words!!!
I felt like I was getting a taste of what the whole
Beattle-mania thing is all about.

I honestly cannot remember what song they started out with,
but the whole performance was amazing.
I'm surprised i didn't lose my voice, cause I couldn't stop screaming.

Looking out into the crowd, I could just feeel the love.
All these people were just as crazy about them as me
and dammit, it was great to be among their company,
especially those even crazier girls that chased Roger and Andy's van
with me, not caring about getting hit by cars passing.
My poor bf just ran after me in support. He got a good glimps of them too.
hehehe...I just remember hearing one of the women's boyfriends going,
"hey, watch out for the cars!" Of course, none of us listened.

Oh and of course, I can't leave out that
there were 4 or 5 women that got up on people's shoulders
and waved their naked breasts all for the band.
Needless to say, that was a treat for the bf.
It was funny looking at John and Simon's faces, though,
while this was going on. You could tell that it was difficult to concentrate.
But hello? they were the ones that asked for it.
Those guys...'still haven't lost their sense of humor or stage power...even in their late 40's.
My bf was quite impressed.


surreal
When all was said and done, my dehydrated, charred like bbq ass was
beside herself with complete excitement and amazement.
I'm telling you, there has yet to be a concert experience as great as these
couple of Duran Duran concerts that I've been to (my first one being in 1984).
Mayvbe it's because I'm such a fanatic, but whatever. Whatever moves me, moves me.

I still cannot believe that I had the opportunity to see them live again.
It's a bit surreal, especially since all of this time has passed.
If someone told me back in 5th grade that i would watch them perform again
in 18 years AND see Roger and Andy Taylor up close, i seriously would not believe them.

What's even more cool is how your spirit remembers so much about that time when prompted...
*somehow the words to their songs that you thought were buried in your memory banks spill out as you
hear them play,
*your heart pounds when you see them
*you instinctively yell and scream and act like a complete nut AND run after their van
in the middle of traffic, so you can yell and scream and act like a complete nut
in front of their face.
*shakes head*
ai yah!

But to still be able to appreciate their music (albeit with different ears and a little more maturity),
is a pretty awesome thing.
Seeing them yesterday and listening to this digitally enhanced Rio album that my
girl, R, gave me on Sat as a gift,
I realize that these guys were and still are talented, talented musicians.
I was able to watch three of their old videos from this CD (Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer, and Rio)
and you know, they really were pioneers of the music video, too!
I could seriously go on and on for hours about it.
I'm just feelin' pretty lucky that I was swept up in the whole D2 craze...surreal, but
amazing to be part of that time in history.
And dammit, the whole thing just keeps me feeling young at heart...that's the best part of all!!!

my star-studded weekend part II
(or as El would call it, "My Star Stalker Weekend" Part II)

as incredibly crazy as I am about the men of Duran Duran,
I was lucky enough to spend time with the true
stars of my weekend: E&B, C&A, C, R and the bf.
We all got together (minus R - but I spent time with her later in the evening)to watch our friend Len's big screen directorial debut in "Underworld".
I was quite surprised that our gathering worked out as planned
until Friday when everything just came together.

I was so excited to see all of them in front of the theaters on Satursday morning.
Although I thought we were early, me and the bf were actually the laggers
of the group.
It was probably the first time we had seen a movie together
since 8th grade when
we watched "Some Kind of Wonderful"
on one of our half days.
hehe...that was the only time I could sneak away to hang out with friends
outside of school.
It was like the sweetest "crime" back then since my parents were always so strict. ;)

Thank goodness we had a little bit of time before the movie
to catch up, which is always my fav. part.
I was still shocked that E (who is supposed to be on a doctor-ordered bedrest)
was sitting next to me telling me about her wooden floors.
Thankfully, the little guy inside her tummy didn't pop out to say hello.
Damn, that's love.

from suburbia to suburbia
watching the movie was purely inspirational and awe inspiring.
although the critic's reviews of the movie were not the best
(trust me, i think i've read them all)
Len did an amazing, amazing job!
I mean, seriously,
how often does an almost unknown director get backing
from Sony pictures for the first screenplay he has ever written?
AND, get Kate Beckinsale to play in the lead?
Inspiring.

Throughout the movie, I could not help but think
damn, Len went from writing skits for spirit week at our suburban high school
to directing a hollywood film
that I was sitting there watching
in our suburban movie theater.
I guess it's true what they say: "The more things
change, the more they stay the same".

And to top off the whole experience,
I spoke with J later that day, one of Len's closest friends, who told me
that he relayed our congratulations and best wishes to
him the day before.
Apparently, he caught Len on his cell phone
just as he was about to sneak into a movie theater in
London to catch the audience's reaction of his movie,
so Len was not able to talk long.
However, Len relayed his appreciation for our well-wishes
and that just made the whole experience worth it.

just when i thought the day couldn't get any better
a brief check-in about the movie and 15-mins worth of goodbyes later,
me and C were able to spend some more quality time over lunch.

This woman has been inspiring me since 7th grade when i first met her,
and our conversation over Japanese food that afternoon was no different.
I've always been amazed at the similar paths we walk/perspectives
we have even though
we rarely ever see eachother.

As usual, she gave me a lot to take home and think about
and help me in my many confusions over things.
It was also nice catching up with her life.
I learned so much.
Spending time with her and the rest of the ladies was seriously
a breath of fresh air!!!!

And of course, I HAD to have my very own movie
review/check-in with E over the phone.
Cause there is wayyy too much goin' on her hilarious noggin' to pass up
an opportunity to hear it for yourself.
And as usual, I was not disappointed.
The woman left me in stitches all through my drive to the city where I
met with my girl, R, for our wedding reception "date" later that evening.
And, hello? She also surprised me with...no, not a corsage for our "date"....
even better: A digitally enhanced CD of Duran Duran's album, RIO!

What the hell did I do to deserve such an awesome time this weekend?

All i can say is, my heart and soul is F U L L.