chase the light

Friday I decided to bookend the last two weeks with related concerts. Two weeks ago I saw Dennis “Domo” DeYoung, and after getting the L.A. Weekly on Thursday I was reminded Styx was going to be at the Universal Amphitheatre. So Friday morning I bought a ticket and trooped across town that night to Universal. I conveniently ran late so I could miss the opening act The Nelsons. Yes, the two very putzy blonde twins of Nelson fame. In fact, just as I arrived at my seat Peter Frampton went on. Observations: he’s small, he’s kinda boring in concert, which completely negates “Frampton Comes Alive”, he’s only got about 5 hit songs, but he’s a pretty damn good guitar player. I forgot how well thought of he was as a lead guitar player. The place went absolutely apeshit over “Do You Feel Like We Do”, “Show Me The Way”, and “Baby, I Love Your Way”. The girl next to me kept singing “ooooo baby, I love your WAYS”. Plural!! At the top of her lungs. It’s not friggin’ plural, stop singing it like that! Ugh. After Frampton finished I went to use the restroom and witnessed one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard. I go into the restroom and of course two guy friends cannot stand directly next to each other at the urinals. Much like sitting next to each other in a movie theater, so I had to take the urinal between them. Facing the wall, the guy on my right looks over at his buddy and yells in my ear with his drunken slur, “DOOOOD, FRAMPTON STILL ROCKS!!!” Then the guy on my left nods his head and in his drunken slur yells back, “OH MAN. DUDE, FRAMPTON WILL ALWAYS ROCK!!!!!” I wasn’t about to argue as they’d probably turn and pee on me. Styx was pretty good. Another of the 70’s bands I can mark off the list of never having seen.

Saturday night was Cinespia at the graveyard. I was in a bad mood and didn’t want to go but was talked back into going since I had arranged the thing in the first place. “Johnny Guitar” was the movie and it was perfectly awful and Joan Crawford couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag, but it was definitely the best worst movie they’ve shown.

Check out the caterpillar eyebrow on Shrek in that photo. Sunday I added to the bonus checks of my friends who worked on Shrek 2. After having seen it opening day, my parents came up for a visit so we headed over to the Arclight and caught a digital screening. It’s as good as the first and in some ways better, but all said and done I’m glad I didn’t have to work on it. Five years of living with Shrek would have been way too much. 2 1/2 was enough of a tour of duty. Maybe the next one. It’s making mad amounts of money [LINK].

Then there were the squirrel attacks in the trees above my patio. Two squirrels were going at it for a couple hours this afternoon. Hissing and yelping. They really didn’t like each other very much. Even the cats got bored and fell asleep on the grass below the trees.