I worked all day on editing Mary’s Users Guide, making it to page 176 (out of 285). I negotiated a new end date with her, which seems feasible. This book is taking way too long to edit.
I worked in the Service-Learning office today, mostly on conflating my and Patti’s notes from the 11/16/06 Engaged College Meeting, which will be distributed, and possibly referenced, at Monday’s meeting.
At about 5:00, we left for our “holiday office party,” which consisted of dinner at Two Guys, and then the Trans-Siberian Orchestra performance at the RBC Center.
At dinner were: Mark, Myra, Alissa, Patti, and myself. Elizabeth had to back out at the last minute due to not being where she needed to be in terms of studying for her final exam.
Patti checked to see if her husband could join us to use Elizabeth’s ticket to the performance, but he had a work party gathering downtown to attend, Myra checked with her friend Roy, who she wasn’t able to reach, so i gave Joe a call, since he was close by and it was so last minute.
He was able to go, and met us at Two Guys at the end of our dinner, and he and I drove over together, while Patti, Myra, Mark, and Alissa rode over with Myra.
We pulled into the RBC Center just before 7:00, where we were greeted by greedy out-stretched hands collecting not three, not five, but eight fucking dollars to park. What a racket.
We walked too far for eight bucks to the door from our parking spot. Exactly what service are we getting for eight bucks? How about a fucking tram or something?
I just can’t articulate how infuriating this is to me. It’s not like this is a dirt parking lot that they have to maintain or anything. I’m writing a letter.
We were at our seats, which were right beside the stage, with enough time to socialize and theorize about why there was “fog” in the upper ceiling area of the arena.
Well, at first we called them theories, but after a while Patti pointed out, and rightfully so, that what they really were were half-baked ideas:
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Put Forth by Joe |
The ice in the arena, which is now covered, is producing condensation due to the flooring placed on it for this concert. |
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Put Forth by Mark |
The fog is there to enhance the light (laser) show that’s going to be a part of the concert. |
Let it duly be noted that Myra supported Joe’s theory.
After a while, I walked over to one of the guys working there and asked him how he felt about either or both of our half-baked ideas. In response he presented his own half-baked, yet viable, idea:
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Put Forth by Arena Worker |
Earlier in the evening, they tested the pyrotechnics that they’re going to use during the show, and what we’re seeing is the “residual.” |
Let it also be noted that I supported the arena worker’s idea.
The concert, which was supposed to start at 7:30, ended up starting between 7:45 and 8:00, and it went for three hours.
I’ll give you a topic: the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Its members are neither transsexual, Siberian, nor are they an “orchestra.” Discuss.
This group has some phenomenal singers — each of them with a big voice. They look, and sound, like an orchestra-sized rock band — complete with the hair. I felt that I could retire and supplement my income by selling hair products to these folks, and have a pretty decent retirement.
Check out their manes for yourself. The Band:
 Narrator Tony Gaynor |
 Vocals Kristin Gorman |
 Vocals Heather Gunn |
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 Vocals Erin Henry |
 Narrator Bryan Hicks |
 Vocals Kelly Keeling |
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 Keyboards Mee Eun Kim |
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 Vocals James Lewis |
 Vocals Tany Ling |
 Vocals Max Mann |
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 Vocals Jay Pierce |
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 Vocals Bart Shatto |
 Vocals Peter Shaw |
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 Keyboards Derek Wieland |
There were a ton of pyrotechnics during the performance, and it was definitely a multimedia concert.
One of the coolest things to me was when, at the beginning of one number, they asked everyone to get out their cell phones and turn them on. Then they asked us to hold them up in the air and wave them back and forth during the song. It looked like the 21st century version of waiving a lit lighter back and forth at concerts. Very cool looking.