An Evening with Billy

I've only recently become a concert-goer. I didn't attend my first "rock concert" until two years ago, when at the age of 37, I attended the Bon Jovi show at the Pepsi Center in April of 2013. I followed that up with a Heart concert at Fiddler's Green later that summer.

My concert bucket list isn't very long - I haven't actually put pen to paper and produced an actual list - but I think I have a pretty good idea of artists I'd actually pay my hard-earned money to see live and in person. One of them made an appearance in Denver earlier this month (No, I'm not talking about Taylor Swift) and so I actually coughed up the cash for a couple of nosebleed seats in the Pepsi Center.



Billy Joel. I went to see Billy Joel. The real guy.

I gained an appreciation for Billy Joel mainly through my ownership of a cassette tape containing his Greatest Hits Volume I & II, which remains as one of the best-selling albums of all time. He certainly made his name in the 1970s, before I was of music-listening age, but his eleventh album, Storm Front, came out when I was in junior high school. It featured his third and final Billboard #1 song, "We Didn't Start the Fire", so he also had some pop culture relevance during my teen years.

We got pretty much the cheapest seats in the house, because while I like Billy Joel I guess I don't like him several hundred dollars worth. As you're buying the tickets they really caution you - WARNING! THESE TICKETS ARE BEHIND THE STAGE! - but I didn't think they were that bad.

Billy Joel  is old. And kind of large. In case you didn't know. One of the first cracks he made was, "I'm Billy's dad. . . Billy couldn't make it tonight." But physical appearances aside, he's still got it. He's an amazing musician. So many different styles of music, from the more tender piano-based "love" songs to the harder-edged "rock-and-roll" numbers to his "doo-wop" influenced the 1983 album An Innocent Man, which was a tribute to the music of the fifties and sixties. He also has his share of socially themed music and whatever category "We Didn't Start the Fire" fits into. Heck, Garth Brooks covered his song "Shameless", which reached number one on the country charts.

His last pop album, River of Dreams, was released 22 years ago, but he has such a huge catalog of beloved numbers that there were several he didn't even do during the 2 1/2 hour concert. He didn't sing "Just the Way You Are", which won a couple of Grammys back in the day, nor did he use "Tell Her About It", which is one of the three Billboard number one hits he has to his credit.  (Although I just read that he hates playing those songs in concert so I guess that explains it.)

He played pretty much all his best loved and adored songs. I don't need to tell you what they are but here is the setlist if you want to see it. I enjoyed yelling "JFK/blown away/what else do I have to say" along with everyone else during We Didn't Start the Fire. Piano Man, of course, was the last number (before the encore) and of course everyone knows all the words. I don't necessarily have a favorite, but let's just say he played all my favorites. The photo below was taken during his performance of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood."



One of the great things about live concerts is how they "customize" the music for the evening. We heard stuff from The Four Seasons, The Lion King, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and John Denver. Also many others that I didn't pick up on.

My favorite part of concert-going aside from the music might be watching the other people. We were sitting about five rows behind a group of guys. One showed up wearing a white shirt and a tie and another had a ponytail. The first hour they were rocking it pretty hard, totally into the concert. The second hour, still rocking, but in between a lot of trips for more beer and probably trips to the restroom. And then the last hour they were nowhere to be seen. Not in their seats. So I'm not sure where they went, although we did see the white shirt guy reappear after the concert ended to retrieve something. I observed a similar phenomena of people starting off strong and then burning out when we went to Bon Jovi.

There was someone nearby who wasn't getting sufficient enjoyment from the music and so had to participate in some recreational drug use, which was really annoying, but legal, right? Actually, no, it seems like it would fall under the clean air act and is expressly forbidden per Pepsi Center policy. Otherwise it was a great evening.

Here's a link to the Denver Post's account of the concert, along with photos much better than what I had to share.

How Do They Stay in Business?

I don't have a lot of money for clothes shopping, but I do like to keep my duds somewhat fresh. I recently tossed a polo shirt I'd been wearing for 8 years. It was time. Usually I turn to Kohl's for help with my clothing needs. I recently bought three new polo shirts. They were on sale for $10 each and then I had a 20% off coupon. So $8 each.

Whenever I'm in Kohl's, I always head for the clearance rack where they have stuff marked down 70-80%. That's my price point.

The clearance rack is tough because you have to not only find something that you would wear but also something that fits. It's not always easy as I'm a pretty traditional male size so there aren't a lot of 36x30 pants available at clearance prices. The discounted merch includes a lot of stuff from the Big n' Tall section like 48x32 pants and XXL shirts. I've been looking for some dress pants in clearance for awhile and have been struggling. If I do find some, they are almost always pleated, which I kind of hate. . .

However, I scored big this past Saturday. I was just going to get a clearance item or two so that I could use my $10 Kohl's cash, even if it was just a pair of shorts or a t-shirt. But on this beautiful morning, they had all the clearance items marked down an additional 20%. And they had a pair of washable wool gray dress pants on the clearance rack for $21. I also found a patriotic T, which I kind of need for 4th of July festivities, on clearance for $4, and a pair of shorts for $8. With the additional 20% off and my $10 Kohl's cash, I was planning to pay $16-$18 for my items - a little more than I had planned, sure, but I finally got my pants!

Imagine my surprise when the cashier rang my up and gave me my total - $5.88. Apparently there was a $10 additional bonus cash reward and then a 15% off promotion. Not bad at all. I guess Kohl's has plenty of people who pay the full price for stuff (I never do), otherwise how do they afford it?

Mickey D's of the Future

So I promised this wasn't a food blog. And it's not. But writing about things that you've had to eat is quick and easy. Recently, a brand-new McDonald's opened up about a mile from our house. I thought it was going to be just another run-of-the-mill McDonald's. Turns out, it's not. It's a new concept called "Create Your Taste" which allows you to build your own burger or chicken sandwich according to your own preference. We got some promotional coupons in the mail for free sandwiches and decided to try it out for our date night.

You order your food using a touch-screen kiosk, which guides you through the process of your own creation. You get to select the type of bun, the type of cheese, and any additional toppings or sauces. Some items add to your price - for example, bacon - and others are included in the price. We actually went kind of wild because it was completely free regardless of how much we added. So I wound up with a double-bacon cheeseburger, with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, guacamole, and barbecue sauce.



They had a lot of different toppings, everything from mushrooms to tortilla strips, and sauces from Big Mac sauce to chipotle mayo. It takes a little longer - you go and have a seat and they bring it out to you about 10 minutes later. And it's served in a wire basket just as pictured above, not smashed together and wrapped up.

The interior of the restaurant is fancier than your typical McDonalds. Although it looked really nice, I kind of wondered how long it would be before it ends up trashed. They had these pristine white pull-down shades over the windows and I can just imagine little kids smearing ketchup and grease all over them. But maybe kids won't come so much as it's more of an adult place.

They do have these tablet computers attached to some of the tables, for kids to play, and I can guarantee those will be destroyed and then pitched into the trash within two years.

So we'll see how this goes for McDonald's. It's kind of like McDonald's meets Smashburger meets Subway, but with some technology added in.

We're not really McDonald's people, so I'm not sure if we'll go back as full-paying customers. It's kind of a pricier meal, in the $8-$10 range, if you were going in without any coupons. We'll have to see.

Book Review: David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory A. Prince

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Different than the traditional biography of an LDS Church President, which have been typically published shortly after their ascendance to the office but before their death, this telling of the David O. McKay story focuses on the time period of 1951-1970 when he served as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For this reason I enjoyed the book as it detailed the accomplishments and difficulties of his actual term of service. Looking back at those years through a 21st century lens added a unique perspective. I would love to see similar volumes emerge in the coming years, for instance a record of the years 1995-2008, when Gordon B. Hinckley led the church, perhaps the most dynamic church leader since McKay.

I am of a younger generation, born a few years after McKay's death, so I did not know a lot about him going in, but I did gain an appreciation for his marvelous service. Holding such a high calling is not easy, as McKay in many cases had to separate his own personal convictions from his responsibility to members of a worldwide church. He also had to manage competing opinions and agendas of other church leaders, often at his own expense. But there are a few people in the world whom everyone seems to respect, regardless of differences, and David O. McKay was one of those, as indicated by the tribute given by the Cathedral of the Madeleine Catholic Church in Salt Lake City during his funeral procession.

As indicated in other reviews, the book does tend to get a bit gossipy in sections and the authors seem to draw a lot of unsupported conclusions about what a particular individual's motivations may have been in various situations. But it was interesting to read that the Quorum of the Twelve do not necessarily agree with one another on the various issues that come before them. Although we're insulated from it in our day, there are certainly still heated debates that go on in their meetings. With fiery personalities such as Dallin H. Oaks, Jeffrey R. Holland, and David A. Bednar populating church hierarchy, do you honestly think they just sit around and say, "Hey, I'm chill with that if you are, brother"?

I do kind of wonder what bias the authors may have had given the voluminous resources they had at their disposal. To a point, they could have told just about any story they wanted to. They seemed to go out of their way to make heroes of "church intellectuals" then and now but disparaged Harold B. Lee and Ezra Taft Benson to the point that left you wondering how either of these men eventually became successors to President McKay.

Probably my favorite story in the book was the relationship between McKay and Lyndon B. Johnson, and how McKay inquired of Johnson regarding an Army policy which made it difficult for LDS chaplains to serve. Essentially Johnson demanded the Army accommodate the church, based primarily on his friendship with McKay and his respect for the Mormon way of life.

I would recommend this book despite its flaws. It left me with a testimony of David O. McKay's calling as a prophet.



View all my reviews

Media of Yesteryear

Part of my childhood went out with the trash today. This stack of old VHS tapes. Of course, it was my plan all along to dispose of these. About three years ago, I started a project to convert all of my old treasured recordings to DVD to save storage space and protect against the day when VCRs are no more. I filled a box full of converted tapes, ready to throw away, but instead I just put it on a shelf. Because I might still need them for something, I told myself. But the truth was that I wasn't ready to toss them just yet.



You see, me and these tapes have been through a lot. Some of them I've had since 1986. A lot of them have been recorded on again and again and again. Sports mostly, but also TV shows and movies. When you were a kid, recordable VHS tapes were scarce. I maybe had two or three that I scored from my dad. But once those were full, what did you do? Figure out what was expendable, and tape over it. If you were a kid with only a few dollars of spending money, you weren't necessarily inclined to use it to acquire new blank tapes. You just recycled and scavenged. And over time I did build up an impressive collection. (I have more that are not pictured here).

One tape features Pee Wee's Big Adventure and the made-for-TV classic Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Another tape has the 1991 and 1992 Grammy Awards. I have a lot of old Broncos games. I have the 1990 World Series (in its entirety) spread out over three tapes. Now it is all preserved on DVD (Pee Wee excepted).

So I figured if I took a picture, it would make the parting a little less sorrowful. I suppose with modern technology, I really don't still need any of this on VHS or DVD. Because it's all probably on YouTube.

Opening Day

Well, I've been away for awhile. Today is opening day in major league baseball. Or was it last night? I don't know. I can't keep track. It's hard here in Denver, Colorado. Because who cares? We have nothing to look forward to but another lackluster season from the Colorado Rockies. The debate this morning seems to be whether or not the Rockies will be able to surpass the 70-win milestone this season. I'm going to go ahead and say yes. My reasoning has nothing to do with my evaluation of the pitching staff or any assumptions about Troy Tulowitzki staying healthy. The Rockies won 73 games in 2011, dipped to 64 in 2012, rebounded to win 74 in 2013, before falling back to 66 in 2014. It's an odd numbered year, so that means that the Rockies should win at least 70 games. I'll make my official prediction 72-90, good for 4th in the NL West.

I was excited as anyone when Colorado finally got a major league team in 1993. Before that, the closest big league stadium was located in Kansas City or Arlington, Texas. However, I selected as the team of my youth the Cincinnati Reds. My favorite player was Eric Davis, their swift centerfielder who was dangerous with the bat and glove as well as on the bases. He homered 27 times and stole 80 bases in 1986 and followed that up with 37 home runs and 50 steals in 1987. He was also known to make fabulous over the fence grabs to rob the opposition of home runs. I loved the uniforms and had a couple of Cincinnati Reds hats. I became acquainted with their history - supposedly the oldest major-league team, dating back to the 19th century - their glory days came when they were known as the Big Red Machine during the 1970s and won the World Series the year I was born. I tolerated their flaws - most notably the fact that their owner at the time, Marge Schott, was more or less a racist, and that their manager and most famous player in club history, Pete Rose, was banned for betting on baseball in 1989.

The Reds won the World Series in 1990, led by manager Lou Pinella, Eric Davis, shortshop Barry Larkin, third baseman Chris Sabo, pitcher Jose Rijo, and the "Nasty Boys" Rob Dibble, Randy Myers, and Norm Charlton. That was probably the apex of my life as a baseball fan. I still have all four games of that World Series on tape and recently burned it over to DVD - their four-game sweep of the "mighty" Oakland A's. I followed the Reds less and less as the years passed by. Eric Davis was traded to the Dodgers in 1992. The Rockies arrived on the scene in 1993. I graduated from high school in 1994 and left on a two-year mission in 1995. School, marriage, family all followed soon after, and now I barely follow baseball at all anymore, let alone a specific team. I'm usually aware of what's going on with the Rockies, not because I'm a huge fan but because I live here and that's what gets talked about most often.

I did follow the run of the Kansas City Royals to the World Series last year, even watched a few of the games. It reminded me of the 1980s, when there were good teams in places like Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland, and Cincinnati and it wasn't just all about the stupid Red Sox and Yankees.

So anyways, happy opening day! Maybe I can pay a little closer attention this year.