Don't Stop Believin'

June 14, 1999

Whew! What a busy weekend! I spent all day today doing homework that I wasn't able to do over the weekend, and thus am writing this entry at 11:00 p.m. Monday night. Sorry for the lack of an earlier update, but schoolwork comes first, my mom always said.

Speaking of my mom, she and I went to a concert on Friday night. Now before I tell you which one, let me just say that my mom really wanted to go and didn't have anyone to go with her. So I volunteered (and she paid for my ticket). It was a double bill featuring Foreigner and Journey.

Foreigner came on first, and they weren't very good. The lead singer, Lou Gramm, is from Rochester so he got a warm reception. But he has had some health problems lately, and gained a lot of weight as a result. So, he can't get around the stage very well. Also, as happens to most people when they get older, he can't hit the high notes anymore. And the band seemed like they haven't played together in a while - they just weren't very tight. At first I tried to blame the sound system, but if that was the case, they would have adjusted it by the third song or so.

Then Journey came out. They were awesome! Scoff if you must, but they put on a really good show. I think everybody knows at least one Journey song. Come on, "Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin'" doesn't get your toe tapping? "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" doesn't take you back to those days of roller skating parties? "Open Arms" doesn't remind you of that slow dance in the high school gym? And I have to say, the band was really tight. Granted, they have probably played each of these songs a million times, but it sounded fresh and exciting anyway. They replaced Steve Perry with a new, younger singer and it really helped. Especially since he sounds EXACTLY like Steve Perry.

I have avoided concerts for the past year or so because I can't deal with the rude crowds anymore. I'm too old for that. But this crowd was very well behaved - probably because the average age was about 40. There weren't very many teens there (surprise!) and people didn't get very rowdy, but they did get into it and stand up and sing along.

So make fun of me if you must, but I had a really good time. It was nice to spend time with my mom too. It was funny because she hasn't been to a rock concert practically ever, so she didn't understand the subtle nuances of the encore. When Foreigner finished, she said, "Why is everybody still clapping?" and I said, "So they will come back for an encore". She said, "How do they know they'll come back?" and I said, "Because they always do, Mom. The shows not over until the drummer throws out his drumsticks and the guitar player throws out his picks and the singer throws out a towel or something. Then the house lights come up and they play music over the sound system and everyone goes to get another beer. That's how you know the set is really over." And sure enough, Foreigner came back for "Dirty White Boys" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" and then did all of the above. My mom was amazed, but it's really the same at every concert, isn't it? It's a rock and roll cliché.

Tomorrow, I'll tell about my fun day at Balloonfest, and seeing supergush play on a real stage, and Jim's haircut. But for today, here are some more pictures. You should just be able to pass your mouse over the highlighted words and the picture will pop up.

Here's my cousin and his new baby, Jordan Donovan Fisher.

Here's Terry and Mary at a wedding that Mary was in. Doesn't Mary look like a superstar?

Here's a picture of Ter - he suggests the caption "I'm too sexy for this hat."

Real estate agents need to learn to love the web: here's why. I'm interested in this topic because I'm redesigning a real estate related website, but it's also just interesting!

Google is a really promising search engine - but to stay in business they have to make money. And they aren't answering questions about how they plan to do that.

Webmonkey (have I mentioned I love this site?) has an interesting article about web advertising right now, and how it is changing the way we design sites and pages.

Ebay had some system outages, and lost some revenue, and now their stock is sliding. Oops.

K-Mart has decided to ban Ministry's new album because of offensive cover art.

Courteney Cox and David Arquette got married this weekend.

I heard a fascinating panel discussion on NPR Science Friday about the future of the PC. You can hear it too, if you want.