Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Stuff to do maybe!
We’re going to see the ocean now but I wanted to saw these just in case I can’t remember where I was online…
Best of Maui
There's so much to see and do on Maui, and so many places to stay and eat. I've narrowed the choices down to my personal favorites. I'm sure that you have your own personal favorites, so feel free to use the "Readers Response" area at the bottom of each list, to share your favorites and why they make your list.
- Best Affordable Eats in West Maui
- Best Beaches on Maui
- Best Maui Guidebooks
- Best Free Things to Do on Maui
More Things to Do and See on Maui
Consistently named as one of the world's best islands, Maui has something for everyone. Beaches of black, gold and red sand, a crater bigger than Manhattan scenic drives, exclusive resorts, historic towns, top snorkeling and scuba diving sites, and tropical rain forests are just some of what you'll find on Maui.
- Maui Attractions
- 5 Star Scuba on Maui
- Atlantis Submarine Tour Maui
- Drive Around West Maui's Rugged North Shore
- Drive to Upcountry Maui
- Explore Lahaina, Maui
- Feast at Lele
- Flea Markets, Farmers Markets and Craft Fairs
- Haleakala National Park - Summit Area
- Haleakala National Park Kipahulu Area - Oheo Gulch
Maui, Day 1
What a trip! For some reason I started having a panic attack yesterday morning and I took a Xanax before setting out. Got the cab, got to the airport with 2 hours to go, no problem. Then it turned out we were at the wrong airport. New cab, photo-finish.
At the airport, I saw lots of people with yellow t-shirts and a banner standing out where the planes came in and more people in yellow shirts inside. We got to the gate next to ours and saw:
Click here to download:
IMG_0003.mov (31101 KB)
A group was welcoming World War II veterans with balloons, cheers, band music. Very touching. I imagine that they might be coming for Ted Kennedy’s service but I didn’t know. When we went by Arlington Cemetery, there were lots of cars already waiting at 9:30am.
Taking that video, we spent time we didn’t really have. We got to our gate and boarded right away. As soon as we sat down, they closed the doors and announced that we were taking off.
We’re finally here but I’m so discombobulated. The planes took forever – we were in those tiny seats for about 12 hours total and got here about 11 our time, 5 local time.
Got to the car rental desk and got our car rented – surprise! a blue PT Cruiser nearly like mine at home (but not as nice) We were accosted by a timeshare salesperson who would take $100 off the rental price if we went to a presentation so we’re doing that on Tuesday. We already own some of that timeshare in Virginia and I never intend to come back to Hawaii – too far – so those should be a cheap sales pitch.
Thanks to GPS we found our place pretty easily. Turns out there is a gate, so Tom had to call the manager to get the code. Then we got in and our key to the unit was in a lockbox. We haven’t yet seen an employee here! No front desk, no manager, strange.
Here’s looking at the building – only 12 units – looking from the ocean:
First thing we did was check wi-fi and take a couple pictures.
Looking out off our balcony, over the pool:
And 
We went out to Subway and got sandwiches for dinner, then “early bed”. It was only 8 here but it was 1 my time.
I woke up early (this time) to the chirping of birds and sunlight. Then Tom’s cellphone rang. The caller didn’t know it was 5:30 am. He probably thought it was 11:30.
After setting up Tom’s internet connection, we went out to find COFFEE! I could feel a caffeine withdrawal coming on. On the way, I took this picture out the car windshield:
Found a Denny’s and had breakfast, then Safeway for grocery shopping. All these places seem like home.
All this wore me out, so it was naptime!
Maybe I’ll see the actual ocean tomorrow! LOL
PS: I forgot I set up another account to autopost pictures here so I didn’t need to repost them in this. If anyone reads, any images will be separate!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Busby Berkeley
A completely wasted weekend.
Our cable company used to bring us TCM and I got a lot of old musicals on my Tivo. Some of my favorites I put on my iPod for future viewing.
This weekend, my husband had to work 12 hours each day and I had a Busby Berkeley "festival". I recently discovered Footlight Parade. That was one of the first ones I rewatched this weekend. I decided that I wanted the soundtrack, too, so I found something on iTunes called Lullaby Of Broadway: The Best Of Busby Berkeley At Warner Bros. which I promptly downloaded and listened to a few times. That "CD" includes Honeymoon Hotel, Beside a Waterfall and Shanghai Lil - the 3 big numbers in this movie.
Then I decided I wanted a clip of Honeymoon Hotel for my iPod so I went to youtube. I didn't find the original but I found a cartoon version (now on my iPod!) featuring ladybugs and pretty racy for a cartoon.
Then, I settled in to watch other movies in between taking the dog out for walks and playtime.
Also in Footlight Parade, a clip about a couple cats on a backyard fence...
And By a Waterfall:
Besides Footlight Parade, I saw Yankee Doodle Dandy, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, and some regular TV.
From Gold Diggers (these were all pre-Hays Code. Parents beware! LOL):
Also from Gold Diggers. The very moving finale:
DH called a little while ago and asked what I did with my day... what a waste!
I was certainly born in the wrong era. I should have been a singer/dancer a few generations ago. Of course, Cushing's would have quashed any possible talent I might have developed.
When I was in high school and had an allowance and access to a bus, I would go to the library and check out all the musicals I could. The ones I liked I would buy in the store and play them over and over, memorizing the words, singing along, pretending...
I still have the records (although favorites are being replaced on my iPod by old replacement CDs or I've bought again on iTunes or amazon) and I still know all the words.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Butterflies
Most everyone knows I love butterflies. Pictures, clothes, avatars:
And rainbows added in sometimes :)
I'll save the rainbow story for another time, though.
2 days ago I was walking our dog Mimi (she has butterflies on her blog, too!) on the sidewalk outside our house and a beautiful blue butterfly was lying there, one wing on the sidewalk. I don't know if it was dead but I was sure it was dying. I have never seen a butterfly near our house, especially not one so beautiful. I didn't want to take a picture because I didn't want to somehow invade his privacy.
He was the most beautiful blue and looked like a monarch butterfly. I don't even know if they have those here in my area so I thought maybe someone brought him here from somewhere else.
He looked something like this, though: 
The day before yesterday, I decided it would be ok to take a picture and when I went out, he'd turned all black :( Later in the day, someone/thing had broken his poor wings and scattered them over the grass.
But today, I saw another butterfly - an amber monarch: 
Maybe all those flowers DH has been planting all these years are finally attracting butterflies and I'll see them every day.
What a treat!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
No Barbados This Year. :(
So...what happened? I still don't understand this but for about 8 years we owned 3-weeks of "lock-offs". This means we own the larger front 1-bedroom unit and the smaller studio. The 2 apartments can be used as 1 2-bedroom unit or as 2 units by locking the connecting door.
At first we used all 3 weeks but that turned out to be too long and Tom ended up coming home to work leaving me there to entertain friends.
A few years ago we decided we wanted to enter the Rental Pool to save on maintenance fees. We needed 4 weeks to put into the pool and we still wanted to be in Barbados for 2 weeks. We also wanted to get rid off the other 2 studio apartments since all our guests have already come. They didn't want all these studios, so we sold the 3rd week back to them and bought 2 cheaper units for November. So, the 2 third-week units plus the 2 November units gave us enough for the Rental Pool, saving us a bit of money each year.
All this stuff is somehow run through RCI. Unfortunately, as of yesterday, RCI had information BEFORE these sales/trades in 2006. A computer somewhere in Barbados submitted our old 3 lock-offs to RCI to be used by someone else. RCI was never updated as to what we actually own.
So...we had our plane tickets since early June. Tom needed a surgery. The hospital scheduled surgery for September 2 - when we would be in Barbados. Tom got them to change the surgery to last Tuesday so we wouldn't have to change Barbados.
I had a premonition about this trip and emailed people we know to remind them we were coming. That's when we learned that someone else had been given our weeks by RCI who thought that they were available.
So, now we have plane tickets to a place that we can't go to. We could rent a place but I sure don't want to pay thousands of dollars for something we actually own.
Everyone says that this is someone else's fault so we're out of luck.
We do have a lot of points now with RCI so we can go somewhere else but it's so close to the time to leave that not much is available. If we do find something, then we have to tackle changing the flights at this late stage of the game.
I am so angry and I feel betrayed by people who have been told time and time again over the last 10 years that we were never going to trade these two weeks.
I know I should feel lucky that I have ever been to Barbados but right now I can't see it that way.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Paul McCartney, Still a Performer Without Peer
By David Malitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 3, 2009
Paul McCartney is the only person in the entire world capable of what happened on Saturday night: He sang his classics for nearly three hours as he presided over an enormously and universally pleasing lovefest at FedEx Field. A small handful may be able to claim an equally lauded songbook, but nobody's is as widely cherished, and Macca wasn't stingy in the slightest when it came giving the fans all they wanted -- a whopping 21 Beatles songs were included in the set. He's the definition of a legend, but that initial feeling of reverence quickly faded once he started chatting, affirming his status as the friendliest rock god who walks the Earth. It was simply one of those shows that left you feeling tingly on the way home.
Anyone wondering why the 67-year-old musical deity continues to take his show on the road was greeted with multiple answers, each more convincing than the last. The first is that he's still damn good at it, and with only the most minimal reliance on any pomp and circumstance. This was not a spectacle; it was a rock-and-roll show. After noting that the Beatles' first U.S. gig 4 1/2 decades ago was in Washington, McCartney joked, "We've got bigger amps now!" But save some well-placed pyrotechnics during an appropriately explosive version of "Live and Let Die," there was nothing over-the-top about the performance. Fronting a modest five-piece band, McCartney smartly let his songs serve as the centerpiece, and they were played with passion and precision. Time has taken its toll on the voices of some of his contemporaries, but Macca's remains in peak form; he belted out the chorus of "Got to Get You Into My Life" with gusto to spare and hit every note during "Blackbird." He deftly toggled between acoustic and electric guitar, piano, even ukulele and mandolin, along with his trademark bass, all while maintaining an expert flow between Beatles, Wings and his solo material.
The second is that he clearly enjoys it, in his own silly way. He hammed it up, endlessly pointing to individual audience members while making goofy faces and hopping from center stage to his perch at the piano. Twice he mentioned how in the old days he couldn't hear his own songs because of all the screaming girls -- cue the shrieks throughout the stadium and McCartney's "Oh, did I do that?" grin. There was an extra perk in his voice when he dedicated "Michelle" to the Obamas.
Perhaps most importantly, one can sense that McCartney feels a responsibility to give back to his adoring fans. The Beatles phenomenon is one that defies generational categorization and is unlikely to ever be matched. His tributes to John Lennon (a solemn "Here Today" plus "Give Peace a Chance") and George Harrison ("Something," played on a ukulele that was a gift from Harrison) were touching, and he's the only one who can pull that off without it feeling exploitative. McCartney isn't the only musical act capable of filling a stadium, but the pure joy he brings his fans, of all ages, is unmatched. When he hangs it up, there will be an unfillable void.
He ended his set with "Hey Jude," which endures as the most irresistible singalong ever. Inside the stadium, people came together: those who grew up with his songs and those who discovered them decades later. There was hugging, swaying, the lighting of lighters. Practically everyone giddily gave in to the "Na, na na, na na na na" chorus. The single syllable was appropriate -- actual words weren't necessary to convey the feeling. After the song the beknighted Liverpudlian took a bow, flashed his goofy grin and spryly made his way offstage, concluding the magical -- no other word for it -- evening.
Oh. Then McCartney came back out and ripped through eight more Beatles classics -- "Day Tripper!" "I Saw Her Standing There!" "Get Back!" "The End!" -- that worked the crowd into an extended state of delirium as the midnight hour approached.
Only Sir Paul.
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080201738.html
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Concert review: Paul McCartney at FedEx Field last night
Simply put, this was one of the best shows I've ever seen.
I didn't want Paul McCartney's show at FedEx Field last night to end. But when it did -- after a two-hour set and a 30-minute encore -- I think I speak for the rest of the audience when I said I left the stadium satisfied.
Backed by a lean, four-piece band, McCartney led a tour through his unparalleled body of work, from his days as a Beatle to some of the more recent material he released under his alter ego, The Fireman. The crowd happily clapped and sang along to the former, and amicably tolerated the latter ...
McCartney emerged looking dapper in a black suit. After four songs, he shed his coat, revealing a white button-down shirt and thin, red suspenders.
"That's the big wardrobe change," he quipped.
At 67, McCartney sounds and looks great. From the primal wailing on "Helter Skelter" to the poignant lines of "Here Today," McCartney showed he still has a remarkable range.
Age be damned, McCartney still has the boyish charm that won him legions of fans in the '60s. He bowed deeply and held up his bass guitar after nearly every song -- something that would seem gratuitous coming from most other musicians. But seeing McCartney do it, you couldn't help but smile. He's just so likable.
At one point in the set, McCartney noted that Washington was the first place the Beatles played after coming to the U.S.
"Is that someone who was there?," he asked, looking out into the crowd. "I remember you! ... You couldn't hear yourself 'cause of all the girls screaming."
Right on cue, all the women in the audience screamed.
"Yeah," he said. "That was the noise."
Smoking renditions of "Paperback Writer" and "Band on the Run" were among the evening's high points. He dedicated "Michelle" to Barack Obama, ("we think Barack might want to sing [it] to someone in his house").
At one point, McCartney brought out a four-string ukulele, which, he said. was a gift from George Harrison. Then he eased into an upbeat, acoustic version of the Abbey Road single "Something." After a couple verses, the rest of the band joined in.
I was surprised to see McCartney strap on a guitar and riff through a brief instrumental jam of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady."
A couple quibbles: McCartney's voice and piano were overpowered by the synthesized strings on "The Long And Winging Road." It was a bit cheesy to see the keyboardist covering the saxophone part on "Lady Madonna" through some kind of electronic wind adapter on the synthesizer. Can't McCartney hire a couple horns and strings? Those were my only real complaints with the show, and they were small ones.
Fittingly, the final encore was "The End," a pleasant cap to an electrifying show.
Here is the set list:
1. Drive My Car
2. Jet
3. Only Mama Knows
4. Flaming Pie
5. Got to Get You Into My Life
6. Let Me Roll It
7. Foxy Lady (instrumental jam)
8. Highway
9. The Long and Winding Road
10. My Love
11. Blackbird
12. Here Today
13. Dance Tonight
14. Calico Skies
15. Michelle
16. Mrs. Vandebilt
17. Eleanor Rigby
18. Sing the Changes
19. Band On the Run
20. Back in the U.S.S.R.
21. I'm Down
22. Something
23. I've Got a Feeling
24. Paperback Writer
25. A Day in the Life
26. Let It Be
27. Live And Let Die
28. Hey Jude
Encore
Day Tripper
Lady Madonna
I Saw Her Standing There
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Get Back
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)
The End
From http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/midnight_sun/blog/2009/08/
Audience report 2 with setlist
Paul McCartney performing at FedEx Field Aug. 1. (Photo by Bob
Gannon.)
Bob Gannon is back with a report and pictures from FedEx Field.
More photos are in the slideshow at the bottom of the page.
Take it away, Bob!
Hi gang,
Just getting back from the show and getting my photos together. Another good show but lacked the energy of the New York shows.Not that Paul and band didn't deliver, they most certainly did. There just was much less audience banter on this stop. Two major changes was of course the addition of Washington D.C. being the first city that the Beatles played a concert in and a tribute to Michelle Obama by playing "Michelle" last time did in 2007 in Paris and the 2nd Half of the Driving USA tour. Set list other than that was basically the same.
Point and shoot cameras were allowed in despite some employees in the parking lot telling myself and others that no cameras of any kind would be allowed in. We were early and decided to try anyway and got it in with no problem. For the most part, they didn't bother people unless the cameras were held up constantly. It was also very a muggy night.
Also during "Hey Jude" instead of asking the men to sing first, started with the people in the back and then to the men and finally to the women. Can't think of anything else of note to report...
01. Drive My Car
02. Jet
03. Only Mama Knows
04. Flaming Pie
05. Got to Get You Into My Life
06. Let Me Foll It/ Foxy Lady
07. Highway
08. The Long and Winding Road
09. My Love
10. Blackbird
11. Here Today
12. Dance Tonight
13. Calico Skies
14. Michelle
15. Mrs. Vandebilt
16. Eleanor Rigby
17. Sing the Changes
18. Band on the Run
19. Back in the USSR
20. I'm Down
21. Something
22. I've Got a Feeling (with extended jam)
23. Paperback Writer
24. A Day In the Life
25. Let It Be
26. Live and Let Die
27. Hey Jude
Bows
Encore #1
28. Day Tripper
29. Lady Madonna
30. I Saw Her Standing There
Bows
Encore #2
31. Yesterday
32. Helter Skelter
33. Get Back
34. Sgt Pepper reprise into The End
First complete audience report (with pic of Paul)!
Paul McCartney performing at FedEx Field (Photo by William Smith.)
From William Smith:
Steve,
Some quick thoughts for you now; I'll try to put more down in the morning.
Paul mentioned how D.C. was the first stop on the Beatles first tour of America. He appeared on stage in a black sui, the jacket with a Beatlesque Nehru collar, and wearing black boots. His one announced "wardrobe change" for the evening came when he removed his suit jacket after "Flaming Pie."
The setlist was the identical to N.Y, with one exception. After "Calico Skies," Paul noted that someone here in a certain house in Washington might want to sing this, and he played "Michelle." At the end of the song, he said, "That's for you, Mr. President."I thought overall his voice was strong, and he delivered well on "I'm Down," which I thought would really test him with the high notes. There were a few scripted bits of banter between songs, such as the familiar story about George and the ukelele on "Something." After "Foxy Lady" he noted how Jimi Hendrix heard the "Sgt Pepper" album on a Friday and was performing it in concert two days later. He kept his emotions in check after dedicating "Here Today" to John. At the end of that song, he quipped he needed to change the suicidal mood , and pulled out the mandolin for "Dance Tonight." "Back in the USSR" and the pyrotechnics show during "Live and Let Die" are concert staples of his that are guaranteed to bring the house down.
There was a bit of confusion pre-show. The ushers told us that everyone in the first six rows on the floor when given the signal , could run up to the fence in the front row, separating the stage from the crowd. We were told this was Paul's way of thanking the people who got their tickets early, being real fans. Well, a couple hundred of us gladly took advantage of the opportunity, but it was short lived. One lady in the front row got furious and told off an usher. He politely said, "Ma'am if you'll give me ten seconds to explain," but she cut him off telling him to (expletive deleted - himself). He waived away a police officer who was ready to respond, not wanting for things to escalate. A minute later, her husband went away to complain, and the excited group that had formed were told they had to return to their seats. We didn't let it ruin our evening, it would've been the icing on a very delicious cake, anyway.
My seats were far stage left, so although small point and shoot cameras were permitted (who know?) I have attached a shot from my iphone of the giant screen to the left of stage, taken during "Let it Be."
Cheers
William Smith
Lutherville, MD
Live and Let Live: Sir Paul McCartney
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 30, 2009
NEW YORK Paul McCartney likes to get out of the Beatle bubble he's lived in since he was 21 and just be a regular bloke. So he does. No disguises, no bodyguards. Just Paul.
Sometimes he goes bowling. Or does the grocery shopping. Or goes to movies with his girlfriend and gets shushed by strangers for talking too much. A couple of years ago, he recalls, he found himself on a New York City bus ("Luckily, I had the right change"). Or rather, New Yorkers found him on the bus.
Everyone stared as the famous passenger took his seat, but no one said a word. Finally, someone -- "it was the African American lady" -- spoke up. " 'Hey!' " McCartney imitates, his voice rising, his delight at the memory evident. " 'Is you Paul McCartney?' "
" 'Yeah, I am!' " Sir Paul answered. "I'm in their face. I don't shrink away. No point. I'm from Liverpool, you've just got to get with it.
"So I said, 'Look, honey. Don't shout across the bus. Come and sit here!' "
The woman accepted the offer and the unlikely couple had a merry chat for several more blocks. And then the world's most celebrated songwriter reached his stop and melted into midtown Manhattan.
McCartney will play in front of 60,000-plus people at FedEx Field on Saturday, the third stop on his summer mini-tour and a milestone of sorts (the concert comes 45 years after the Beatles made their American concert debut in Washington, at the long-gone Coliseum). He'll be surrounded by the usual rock-god trappings and airtight security. But he says he savors encounters like the one on the bus because they remind him of who he was and where he came from before he and a few of his friends got together and revolutionized popular music.
"It grounds you, you know," McCartney says. "It's a balance thing. I'm just one of the people on the bus. I'm the famous one, but I'm behaving normally. . . . Really, it's important."
McCartney is telling this story a few hours before taking the stage for a sold-out show at Citi Field, the gleaming new home of the New York Mets. He's in his sound-check casual duds this afternoon -- basic white shirt with tiny dots tucked beltless into dad jeans, set off by some comfy black sneakers. He's ensconced in the ballpark's visitor's clubhouse, which has been retrofitted for its royal guest. McCartney's inner sanctum is all drapey curtains and plush couches, with low lighting and some kind of incense burning on the coffee table. "All right if I chomp?" asks McCartney, a vegetarian since the 1970s, as he stuffs a snack of grapes and almonds in his mouth.
For an official senior citizen -- impossibly, he's now 67 -- McCartney looks remarkably youthful. He's slim, almost slight, and truth be told, could even stand a few more pounds. The famously cherubic face is fleshier and lined just enough to remind you that McCartney isn't 21 anymore. The tousled hair is a flat brown. This is reassuring; who wants a Beatle, particularly the doe-eyed, ever-boyish Paul, to seem old or even to age at all?
The even better news is that McCartney's voice remains as strong and supple as it was in his youth, even in this, his 50th year of performing. Critics generally applauded the vocals and writing on his last album, "Electric Arguments," released last year under his Fireman alter ego. But McCartney is a revelation in concert. He plays straight through for about 2 1/2 hours each night, offering more than 30 tunes from his vast catalog. The set list ranges from such sweetly sung classics as "Blackbird" and the inevitable "Yesterday" to the frantic, voice-shredding chestnut "I'm Down." (On this day, even his sound check is a mini-concert, featuring a dozen or more songs, including a lovely version of "Midnight Special.")
McCartney's show also has several nods to souls departed; "My Love" is dedicated to his late wife Linda, "Give Peace a Chance" goes out to John Lennon, and "Something" is sung in honor of its creator, George Harrison. A nice touch: McCartney plays the latter song on a ukulele that Harrison gave him.
McCartney says the emphasis on vintage McCartney (and McCartney-Lennon) is calculated to please. "It's always difficult to do new songs," he says. "You know, I look at myself and think, 'Okay, I'm coming to see this show, I'm just an ordinary audience member, what do I want to hear him do?' And you know, a lot of it is hits. If I went to see Prince, I know the songs I want. I want 'Purple Rain,' please. You know if he doesn't do it, someone says how was it and you have to answer, 'Well, he didn't do 'Purple Rain.' . . . I don't want [fans] to go home thinking 'Oh, I would have liked to have heard 'Hey Jude.' "
He doesn't mind the nostalgia; McCartney sees it as something akin to giving back to people the things that made them love him in the first place. "Oh, I want to do them," he says. "We made hits so people would like them. And so it's gratifying that people do. You can't be annoyed that people got to like these songs."
As genial as McCartney is, interviewing him can be a slightly disconcerting experience. He's answered all the important questions dozens, even hundreds of times, but his career has been so varied and rich and storied that the potential questions are endless. What's more, each time you look up, you're conscious of a little out-of-body voice reminding you of just whom you're sitting next to (every media encounter with McCartney is, of course, stalked by Chris Farley's hilarious mock interview with him on "Saturday Night Live" in 1993; Farley to McCartney: "You . . . you . . . remember when you were in the Beatles and you did that album 'Abbey Road' . . . ?")
McCartney himself doesn't seem all that impressed by his own legend. "The whole point about it, the Beatles, Wings and me now, is that I'm too busy living it to think about it or reminisce." His friends like to look back -- "They'll say, 'What was your favorite Beatles show?' " -- but McCartney isn't quite as keen.
Well, perhaps he can clear up at least one tiny mystery of several decades standing: What exactly is McCartney's maddening lyric in "Live and Let Die"? Is it, "In this ever-changing world in which we live in"? Or "in which we're living"?
McCartney considers and seems genuinely puzzled. "Yeah, good question," he says. "It's kind of ambivalent, isn't it? . . . Um . . . I think it's 'in which we're living.'"
He starts to sing to himself: "In this ever changing world. . . . ' It's funny. There's too many 'ins.' I'm not sure. I'd have to have actually look. I don't think about the lyric when I sing it. I think it's 'in which we're living.' 'In which we're living.' Or it could be 'in which we live in.' And that's kind of, sort of, wronger but cuter. That's kind of interesting. 'In which we live in.' In which we live in! I think it's 'In which we're living.' "
Ah, thanks, mate. Clears things right up.
The larger mystery about McCartney may be this: Why, after all these years, is he still showing up at all? What could he possibly want after so much -- the frenzied adulation of the Beatles years, the Olympian collaboration and bitter split with Lennon, the money and fame and personal tragedies, the tabloid divorce -- and why is he still after it?
McCartney brightens at this line of discussion. "I like what I do," he answers instantly. "It's pretty simple really. Also, I'm very darn lucky to get this job. I've had others that weren't as good as this. Second man on a lorry -- it was not the greatest job.
"And then you get the relationship with your audience, which sort of grows as you do shows. There's great warmth there [and] it's sort of healing . . . .I find it's just a great pleasure just being able to plug an electric guitar in. It's what I wanted to do since I was a kid. Only now the amps are bigger."
McCartney notes that the hours are pretty good, too. His current tour is almost ad hoc, with a date added here, another there. Including a well-received performance at the Coachella Music Festival in April and a memorable appearance atop the Ed Sullivan Theater's marquee on the David Letterman show earlier this month, McCartney and his band will play in only eight cities; the current tour winds up in three weeks.
The former Fab Four moptop says he's "energized" by the performances, but the limited touring is a lifestyle choice. "My personal situation at the moment with my little 5-year-old daughter [Beatrice, with ex-wife Heather Mills] gives me certain periods of time when I can do what I want. Which is the strange thing about divorce. On the one hand, you become a single parent suddenly. But the upside of that is that it's changed the way I tour now. So this, we call it Summer Live, is a little series of dates that are fitted in the gaps when I'm not being a dad. I love the balance. It's really nice. The other few days, I go home and I'm dad, and when that period is over, I come back."
He acknowledges that he has thought about retirement, but not seriously and certainly not soon. "It's what everyone else does, and that thought has to occur to you," he says. "Even 15-year-olds will be looking at the year 65 and think that's probably when I'll retire," he says. "But strange things happen in music. You look at people like Tony Bennett, B.B. King -- people who are as good if not better than they were. And you sort of think, oh! And you look at that as your beacon kind of thing. Plus, the thing is, I always said when people don't want to come and I'm struggling, then I have to look at it more seriously . . . I certainly couldn't just give it up like that. I like it too much."
Which suggests that the once unimaginable is now not just possible but highly likely: a Beatle, rocking out at 70, even 75 years old. Paul McCartney is almost there, and it doesn't seem odd at all. In this ever-changing world in which we live in, it even seems kind of normal, like riding the bus.
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072903542_pf.html
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Leaving in just a few minutes...
WooHoo!
Paul McCartney Adds Thievery Corporation To Washington D.C. Show
When Sir Paul McCartney touches down in Washington, D.C. Saturday for a show at FedEx Field, he’s bringing Thievery Corporation with him as his opening act.
Well, the eclectic duo will most likely already be there seeing as they hail from the nation’s capital.
It won’t be a full band performance, rather a DJ set from the eclectic duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. It’s definitely an inspired choice by McCartney, perhaps surprising to some, but a nice selection that should thrill fans in D.C.
“We’re excited and honored to open for Paul McCartney in our hometown of Washington, D.C.,” Thievery Corporation’s Rob Garza said in a statement. “Having a chance to play to his audience is unique for us and we’re really looking forward to it.”
The 67-year-old former Beatle’s visit to D.C. is the third stop on his seven-city North American tour. The FedExField show will feature classics from McCartney’s extensive catalog, including Beatles, Wings and solo career hits as well as selections from his most recent album Electric Arguments, released under his alias The Fireman.
There’s a nice link between McCartney and Washington D.C.; the city is home of the Beatles’ first performance on American soil. The Fab Four played the Washington Coliseum on February 11, 1964.
McCartney isn’t exactly meeting Thievery Corporation for the first time either Saturday; they crossed paths back in April when both played the Coachella Festival.
A limited number of tickets are still available for the August 1 show at FedExField.
Do you think Thievery Corporation will join McCartney on stage? Or maybe Paul drops in on the DJ’s opening set.
From http://beatcrave.com/2009-07-30/paul-mccartney-adds-thievery-corporation-to-washington-d-c-show/
I'm Going to a Paul McCartney Concert Tonight!
I can't believe my good fortune. Late last night I got a call from a friend. A friend of hers, who I've met once or twice, managed to score 4 free tickets to this concert. Her husband didn't want to go. She asked another friend who I also have met a few times - and whose husband declined. My friend said she'd go and guess what HER husband said? So I got the fourth ticket. (BTW, my husband said he would have gone had he been asked. Oh, well)
I'm so excited about this. Of course, I'll have to take meds to stay awake this long. We're leaving about 3:30, getting some dinner, then won't be home until very late. What a great surprise, an offer I wouldn't pass up for anything.
Paul McCartney to perform live in Washington DC on Aug. 1
CONFIRMED!
McCartney Returns to Washington D.C., the home of the Beatles' First Performance on American Soil, for Stadium Concert
Tickets Go On Sale Friday, June 26 at 10:00 A.M EST
Press Release -- LANDOVER, MD -- Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul McCartney will perform at FedExField - the home of the Washington Redskins – on Saturday, August 1.
Tickets go on sale Friday, June 26 at 10:00 A.M. ET and are available at all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-551-SEAT, and online at LiveNation.com. Tickets will be available at the FedExField Box Office on June 26 only. This concert is rain or shine.
This concert event at FedExField marks the latest in a series of landmark performances that link the beloved Beatle with Washington D.C., beginning with The Beatles' first concert on American soil in 1964 at the Washington Coliseum, and continuing with McCartney's critically acclaimed appearances in the District over the past forty-five years.
"This will be a great concert by one of the world's most-loved performers," said Daniel M. Snyder, Owner of the Washington Redskins and FedExField. "I've been a fan of Paul's all my life, so it's going to be a memorable night for us all."
The FedExField concert on August 1 will feature classics from McCartney's extensive catalog, including Beatles, Wings and solo career hits as well as selections from his most recent album Electric Arguments, released under his alias The Fireman.
Additionally, the FedExField show will be among McCartney's first U.S. appearances since his recent headlining stand at the first night of this year's Coachella festival and the same weekend's record-breaking one-off opening of the new Joint in Las Vegas.
The FedExField concert will also come on the heels of Paul McCartney's three sold-out shows at the new Citi Field in New York, with the public snapping up tickets minutes after they went on sale.
McCartney gave his first ever American performance at the Washington Coliseum on February 11, 1964, a concert so historic that it was released to the public on DVD in 2003. Joined by the Caravelles, Tommy Rose, and the Chiffons, the Fab Four played to a capacity crowd of over 8,000 people, heralding the arrival of Beatlemania in the United States.
The show on August 1 at FedExField marks McCartney's first performance in Washington D.C. since October 8, 2005. Dave McKenna raved about the show in his review for the Washington Post, stating "folks came to hear McCartney sing, in a voice still strong enough to leave listeners awestruck."
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