death cab for cutie at the hollywood bowl

on sunday, ryan, max, my mom, and i piled into max's jetta and headed to the hollywood bowl for a concert featuring death cab for cutie with the la philharmonic. i am a sucker for indie rock with added strings, so as soon as i heard this concert was in the works, i bought (asked ryan to buy) 4 tickets. it was my mom's belated birthday gift (who has a birthday on december 24th and expects not to be slighted every time?).

we had kind of nosebleed seats, but we rented 75 cent seat cushions and had a picnic of turkey sandwiches, potato chips (of course they're organic- this isn't a tailgate party), lemonade, chocolate chip cookies, and tiny bottles of wine. someone forgets the wine glasses, and now it looks like a tailgate party.

opening for dcfc were the new pornographers (no, their music sounds nothing like you would expect from their name...actually, what would you expect from that name?) and tegan and sara. i'd heard of t&s, but never been conscious of what their music sounded like. turns out, i'd heard a few songs on tv (grey's, the hills, one tree hill, etc.). the other music they played was really good, and probably will be even better once i've heard it a few times and can hum along. they were also hilarious with their between song banter, describing their mother's first visit to la (it's not as pretty as she thought it would be. i mean, it's pretty here. she's not staying in the pretty part. i won't say where that is, in case some of you are from there), and their jokingly outing her as a closeted lesbian for "getting fresh" with a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like working Hollywood Boulevard.

it was my second time seeing dcfc, and ryan, max, and lorelai's first. (if you're reading this, and you're like, "lorelai? her name's andrea," or if you're my mom and confused about your true identity, watch the entire dvd boxed set of gilmore girls. it'll explain everything. actually, if you're my mom, you already know i call you that, but i bet you'll bring it up after you read this, anyway.) we wondered if the people at the top of the hill above the hollywood bowl could hear the concerts from their house, and concluded, probably. the lights dimmed when dcfc came out, and they played for about 30 minutes, only breaking between songs to say, "thank you for coming," and, "give it up for tegan and sara." what we were wondering is why were there 50 chairs set up behind them, and where was the orchestra. we thought maybe they cancelled without telling us.


i noted that ben gibbard, the lead singer for dcfc, had lost some weight. i just went to google "ben gibbard..." and one of the first suggestions is "ben gibbard lost weight"--apparently the blogosphere noticed, too. somewhere between marching bands of manhattan and i will possess your heart, i remembered he's engaged to zooey deschanel. and then i remembered she's my favorite.

if i'd been with different people, i'd have dragged them around the venue to find this actress/songwriter/fiancee. sigh. those times ended long ago, and really, this isn't the roxy. have any of you ever hiked up the hill to the hollywood bowl? i'd rather not scale it all night, weaving in and out of incredibly long bathroom/beer lines. so, i saved a sprained ankle and stayed in my seat. besides, we had no camera and didn't stop at rite-aid to buy a disposable- you'd have thought we learned our lesson with alex greenwald and the too-dark-to-see-who's-in-the-picture iphone disaster of 2008. i swear, if i ever meet zac efron and i'm cameraless...

after the sound of settling, ben announced they'd be back in a few with "50 of their closest friends." they returned with i will follow you into the dark, complete with ben on acoustic guitar, backed by an orchestra. with a chorus of,

"if heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied, illuminate the 'nos' on their vacancy signs/ if there's no one beside you when your soul embarks, then i will follow you into the dark,"

that song is a tear jerker even without the violins in the background. i definitely got watery-eyed, but i passed it off as yawning. i have been known to sob uncontrollably at concerts, though (chris martin, i'm talking to you).

also on the list of orchestra accompanied songs were grapevine fires, which was one we waited for all night, soul meets body, my ringtone for the last 4 years and maybe forever, and title and registration, with the most logical lyrics of all:

"the glove compartment isn't accurately named, and everybody knows it/ so i'm proposing a swift, orderly change, cause behind those doors, there's nothing to keep my fingers warm, and all i find are souvenirs from better times.."

why is she typing out song lyrics? this is supposed to be "design by the sea". simple- i'm trying to culture you.

the last song they played was transatlanticism. it would ordinarily not be the most thrilling finale song, at nearly 8 minutes long, it's one i usually skip through after 3 minutes or so. this time, there were theatrics involved. coinciding with the music, a 5 minute fireworks show from behind the stage. you really have to watch the whole thing to get the effect, as the fireworks change when the music does. it was pretty breathtaking, (executed with "disney precision," ryan and i agreed) and reminded me of watching fireworks as a kid. it was hollywood magic.


to wrap up this short story turned editorial, some of the songs were amazing (summer skin, cath, grapevine fires), likely in part because i have a strong connection with those songs, and i really felt them. some of the songs were not as great. they lacked some energy, and i'd have liked some more interaction with the crowd. they have such an extensive catalog, they were bound to leave out some favorites (we looked like giants, for what reason). despite any shortcomings, the show was amazing. one of my favorite concert experiences ever, wrapped up in pyrotechnics.

an americana adventure into tv land

so a few weeks ago, i dragged max and ashley along to meet kate gosselin from jon and kate plus 8. she was doing a book signing in glendale at the americana, a beautiful outdoor mall conveniently located about two hours away. max and i drove all the way from san diego bright and early to get there on time. when i called two days before to see how early i should be there to get in line, the barnes & noble employee told me, "well, she is a bestselling author, so we recommend getting here 30 minutes to an hour early." i'd just watched a news clip of a signing she did in michigan, or minnesota, or montana where 1500 people showed up to one of her signings. i originally thought i might have to camp out for a good spot, so an hour sounded perfect to me.

the main reason i was going was because i love j&k+8. i also decided it would be such a great idea to make jewelry for kate and her daughters. they always zoom in on kate's face during the interviews, and her jewelry is clearly visible. i made kate an anna vi necklace:
and peyton earrings:
i made mady and cara matching madeline necklaces with a blue sapphire, similar to this:

and hannah, leah, and alexis paisley necklaces with a blue sapphire, kind of like this:
because with kids, you know, you can't give them different colors, or they'll fight over them. i know this because i'm an expert on children. i wrapped them all in a single take out box with teal ribbon, similar to this:i enclosed a note (which i would write in barnes and nobel 10 minutes before getting to the front of the line, making it extra thoughtful) and put everything in a kate spade bag. my prized striped kate spade bag. it's the small things, really.

we got our starbucks oatmeal and lattes and hit the road. i called when we were about 20 minutes away to ask, "are there a lot of people are in line for the book signing?" the same employee from two days ago said very seriously, "yes, there are about 30 people in line currently." oh-kay. they told us we each needed to buy a book to get a wristband to get in line on the third floor. i was paying for two books when ashley showed up, so we threw another on the tab. wristbands with the letter "d" put us securely next to the art books. the barnes and noble book club members were up front, followed by the b's, c's, d's, and so on. there were no a's. it will forever remain a mystery why. as more b&n club members showed up with strollers, we got shoved back further and further in line until we were next to cooking.

none too thrilled with our place in line, i decided to take action. i went down two escalators and right to the front of the wristband line. "how many club member wristbands are left?" (they limited those to 75, initially) "there are four left," the nice wristbander told me. there were separate lines for books and wristbands, and about 10 people in the wristband line (technically ahead of me, since i just cut to the front). "i need three of those, but by the time i go pay for a membership, they'll probably be gone, right?" "i'll take them to the register for you, you can go get in line up there." perfect! since i'd already spend something like $60 on books, it was only another $15 or so for a membership at this point. a membership that would save me anywhere from 15% to 20% on books i should be buying for half the price on amazon, but a more important 15 to 20 minutes in line. oh, well. pr expenses.

i returned to ashley and max with the new wristbands in hand. we found an employee and showed them to him. he pointed to where we were to stand in line (behind the club members, in front of the b's). we stood to the side of the line, not wanting to shove our way in, but the people behind us were audibly upset about this perceived injustice. "the d's are back there! this is for b's!" he told them we had member wristbands in our hands, and the woman next to us told us to rip the d's off quickly before a riot broke out. we did as we were told, fearing for our lives. people are very protective of their right to meet kate gosselin. a woman in front of us had been there since 6:30am. good job. we got there at noon, and you'll get to meet her 30 seconds before us. another woman who arrived at 7 was back by the cooking books. you get here at 7, but decide not to spring for a membership? too much of a commitment.

the line wrapped around the entire third floor, and there was a buzz. there were e! cameras there, but i fast forwarded through e! news for a few days following, and no coverage of the event. finally, kate arrived with an entourage, and stay-at-home moms and local fans of the show cheered. we were told that we could bring a camera, but kate would not be posing for pictures. i brought my huge tourist camera, and taught ashley how to use it. the lighting was pretty bad, and i ended up with a bunch of pictures of a blurry max reading a book. we'll call it "soft focus."


we got to the front of the line about 15 minutes later, and a woman a few people up posed with kate, who leaned in and smiled. score! i needed documentation of the event for this very blog. i went up to the table, which was about 12 feet in front of the line, and i said, "hi, kate!" she furiously scribbled her name across all three books (conveniently opened to the correct page by someone with a very important job) and said, "hello, how are you?" "i'm good. i made some jewelry for you and your girls," and i pushed the kate spade bag across the table to her. "wow, thanks," she said, looking surprised. i pointed back to ashley, and said, "my friend is taking a picture of your hair for a client." she said, "it's not the first time, and it won't be the last," and kind of laughed. i almost forgot to pose, but at the last second, i looked back at ashley, leaned in and smiled a shaky smile (i'm so bad with celebrity encounters- even barely celebrities freak me out). "thank you, we love your show," i said as we left.


that is the story of how i met kate gosselin. hopefully she will take kindly to my jewelry and they will all wear it on some magazine cover. or at least to church.