Snow Patrol Winter Tour 2009 - The Wiltern, Los Angeles, 10-09

Snow Patrol is one of the fastest growing brands in rock music today. A few days before they came on at The Wiltern, they opened for U2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. They’re big and getting bigger. I had seen them before, about 3-4 years ago at The Hollywood Bowl. That concert was an awakening. I had never heard of Snow Patrol before that night. Sitting a level up from the right side of the stage, I didn’t realize I was witnessing one of the best and unique concerts I’ll see. Snow Patrol at the time was young and not well known. Their music had just been introduced to America (from Belfast and Scotland). Their music was excellent, the sound tight, the production pure Hollywood. The rapport established with the crowd at The Hollywood Bowl was phenomenal. Just alot of bantering and funny stories coming from a shy kid and lead singer named Gary Lightbody who seemed awestruck and giddy that he was getting paid to sing his songs. One read of their early struggles and it was no wonder. Combining the acoustics of The Hollywood Bowl made this a night I would never forget.

While I enjoy The Wiltern and will always pay to see a performer I enjoy, its acoustics are not on par with The Orpheum and needless to say, The Hollywood Bowl. And, unfortunately, the boys in Snow Patrol have grown up. They’re not as silly or awestruck so the luster has sort of worn off. However, and thankfully, their music survives because of its brilliant composing, truthful beat, hopeful, spiritual and retrospective lyrics, group harmony and genuineness. The production level did not approximate that of the Hollywood Bowl but it was still Snow Patrol and it was still magnificent.

Snow Patrol Playlist and Song List – The Wiltern, Los Angeles (partial)

• Chasing Cars
• Run
• Chocolate
• Hands Open
• Open Your Eyes
• Grazed Knees
• Set The Fire To The Third Bar
• Shut Your Eyes
• How To Be Dead
• Wow
• Gleaming Auction
• Whatever’s Left
• Spitting Games
• Ways & Means
• Tiny Little Fractures
• Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking
• Same
• Make This Go On Forever
• Headlights On Dark Roads
• The Finish Line
• You’re All I Have
• If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It
• Take Back The City
• The Lightning Strike

Current Snow Patrol Members

• Gary Lightbody – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
• Nathan Connolly – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Paul Wilson – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Jonny Quinn – drums, percussion
• Tom Simpson – keyboards, samples

Former Snow Patrol Members

• Mark McClelland (left in 2005) – bass guitar
• Michael Morrison (left in 1996) – drums

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Back in May, 2009, we talked about the Breville Espresso Machine, the 800ESXL model that is a die-cast steel espresso maker machine. We liked that it had very few movable parts and that it was made of steel. We hoped that it would last longer than the Krups plastic model that had lasted about 2 years. Here we are about 1/2 year later and it still functions well and produces marvelous cups of espresso. It is noisy though so if you don’t want to wake the others try brewing your golden goodness in the cellar or with the room doors closed.

This brings us to wallets. We like things that make life easier and better. The WalletBe men’s and women’s wallet product line is a smarter and smaller design (and unique – we’ve found that there are many that try to copy them but none that produce the quality and durability) that really does make life easier. WalletBe wallets – despite its logo insinuation is located in Sacramento, California – are manufactured with genuine leather (you can smell it when you open the gift box), are ridiculously priced (where else can you get genuine leather, designer-type wallets for less than $30?), and the story behind the founding of the company is a true American success story that proves anyone with a good idea and persistence can make it.

A little less than 10 years ago, Jim Dimataris stumbled upon an ad that was promoting QVC’s annual product “try-out” where anyone from the United States or from around the world could come to Minneapolis to demonstrate their products. If QVC liked them, they would sell them on their cable TV show. Jim had just designed and manufactured a unique men’s wallet that was slimmer and more compact than the average men’s billfold wallet. In fact, it was not a billfold at all. It didn’t open! It was a smarter design in that essential items could be located without having to flip open and thumb through the non-essentials. The idea was to minimize the amount of actions needed to retrieve a credit card, license or receipt.

The front pocket wallet was still capable of holding a good amount of credit cards and pictures. The inner (or outer) identification window prominently displayed the license which meant that there was no fussing, not even a flip over, needed to display or access the license. As important, the front pocket wallet design did not create those unattractive impressions in shirt pocekts or in the back pockets of jeans or slacks. And for the money we spend on jeans today, saving on the wear and tear of jeans meant men could wear them longer and save more money.

Jim’s front pocket wallet was selected (with 7 other products) from a pool of hundreds of product contestants by QVC for retailing over their cable TV programs. The story gets better, and riskier. He had to basically mortgage his home to gain the financing to produce the amount of wallets that QVC wanted. There was no guarantee that they would sell and QVC was not in the business of buying wallets. If they didn’t sell, Jim lost his home. If they did, he lived for another day.

Thankfully, Jim’s risk and vision paid off. The wallets sold on QVC, by the thousands.

Today, 1 in 300 Americans now own a WalletBe wallet. He has a great online wallet store at WalletBe.com where he annually sells hundreds of thousands of his wallets to men and women of all ages across North America, Europe, Asia and beyond. Given his vision, Jim has expanded his product lines carefully yet aggressively. Today, he offers about 20 different categories of wallets, all made of genuine leather – some from the Tuscany mountains of Italy, in addition to laptop sleeves, folding reading glasses, business card holders, and travel money belts.

WalletBe’s mission is to help people solve the daily inconveniences of life by designing and manufacturing fashion accessories that are smaller and smarter. We’ve owned many of his wallets for men and women over the years. None have disappointed; none are in disrepair; all are attractive and all have made our lives easier – well, at least anything that has to do with the things that we put into our wallets or travel money belts.

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Geoff Spice returned from Sgarabhaigh (pronounced Scaravay) about a week ago. He was supposed to spend the entire month of August on this remote deserted island located in the Outer Hebrides just off the coast of Scotland. His idea was to finally quit smoking after 43 years by immersing himself in an environment that would not provide cigarettes (not matter how hard he beckoned for them) but one that would center him and prepare him for the second round – the one where he proves he can quit the HABIT of smoking. The only way to find out if he can succeed will be to re-enter society and mingle with smokers and to smell the cigarette smoke. But, so far, so good. Congratulations, Geoff Spice.

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Beware of Apartment Rental Scams on Craigslist!

I recently replied to a Craigslist apartment rental ad (you’ll notice that the posting has since been flagged for removal):

apartment includes a two car garage
Date: 2009-08-30, 6:37AM
Dreamy, charming one bedroom, one bathroom cutie in Santa monica. New everything…from paint, central air/heat, stucco, copper plumbing, sod, sprinklers and more. Hardwood floors and all appliances included (gas range, refrigerator, washer and dryer). Charmer includes a two car garage (off alley) plus a parking pad for three additional or RV vehicles. Offers a large,covered brick patio, exterior lighting, security screen doors and is conveniently close to shopping, freeway, school and park. Priced well … compare and see!

cats are OK – purrr
dogs are OK – wooof
Location: Santa Monica
it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Original URL: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/apa/1349697387.html

The Email I Received from the Apartment Rental Scammers

I received an email back from someone named Laurie Mae Adlington:

Hello,
Thanks for your interest. First of all, I must thank the Lord that I found an intending tenant for my apartment ,My name is Pastor Laurie Mae Adlington, I own the apartment you are interested in and I lived there with my Husband and my only daughter before we relocated to West Africa. My Job here in Nigeria involves going to interior villages to give food and clothes to the less privileged ones in the Niger delta region and I also use this opportunity to preach the word of God bringing them to the knowledge of the gospel of Christ,We work with the a charity organization. You can learn more from:http://www.orphanage.org/africa/nigeria/childrenofmary/index.html.

I came here with my family and It was due to my transfer thats we left the apartment and also want to give it out for rent. We are looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time, and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own.My Husband is also a pastor with christ embassy church here in Nigeria as well.

This 1 bedroom apartment at 1540 6th Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 which goes for $600 monthly.It has the following features: Air conditioning, Walk-in closet, Hardwood floor, Tile floor, Living room,Breakfast nook, Refrigerator, Stove/Oven,garage, Balcony, Deck, or Patio, Cable-ready, High-speed internet ,Garage parking.

This apartment is not furnished and We want to give it for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of the apt. for us.So for now,We are here in Lagos,and our house and the keys/documents of the house are with us here,we tried to look for an agent that we can give this document before we left but could not see and we are as well as don’t want our house to be used any how in our absence that is why we took it along with us here.

I hope you will promise us to take very good care of the house. If you are comfortable with the price and really need this apartment, Contact me immediately with the following details.

APPLICANT’S PROFILE

1)Your Full Name
2)Your Full Address
Phone Number?
3)How old are you?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the Apartment?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
9)What is your religion?
10)How long are you renting for?

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you,please we are giving you all this base on trust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that,we do not see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.

You can also call my Husband asap:+234 803 646 4993 or 011234 803 646 4993 for more details

The pictures are attached and you can also go see the building, though you cant view the inside because we have the keys here.

Thanks and you are welcome
Regards
Mrs Laurie Mae Adlington

Quick Details of the Craigslist Apartment Rental Scam I Encountered

After I read the pleasant email (which contained small images of the apartment also), I called James Adlington, the husband of Laurie Mae Adlington, in Nigeria to make sure all was legitimate because he was asking $600 per month for an apartment located only 6 blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. It was obviously worth considerably more on the open market. We spoke for a good while. He seemed rather nice, said all that he wanted was for someone to take care of his apartment while he and his wife completed their missionary tour which would end in 2012. He mentioned that he would come to the US next May and visit me in the apartment just to make sure I was maintaining it well. I told him the apartment looked great from the images but that I would like to see it in person. He said he couldn’t show it to me because they had the keys with them in Nigeria. He gave a reason but I’ve forgotten it. I told him I would go down to Santa Monica to look around and get back to him. So, I arrivesd at 1540 6th Street in Santa Monica, a beautiful building caled the Livorno. I asked a leasing agent for a tour of one of their empty apartments so I could get a feel for the construction, amenities, etc. I didn’t mention anything about the Adlingtons or their apartment because I told James that I was only going down to look at the building. The leasing agent was quite pleasant and informative. The one bedroom she showed me was renting for $2,200 per month. I wonderied how the Adlington’s could be asking $600 per month if they could obviously get alot more? James also mentioned onthe phone that his apartment had 2 bedrooms.

I drove back from Santa Monica and called James again in Nigeria. He unwavingly answered the questions I had and asked me if I could send the money immediately – the same day – because he had many people lining up to rent this apartment, wanted to take it off the market and wanted the peace of mind of not having to entertain so many emails for the remainder of the month. He would, in return, mail me the keys, leasing agreement and parking garage remote in the mail via FedEx the next day. I asked him if he had the legal right to sub-lease the apartment. He said yes. Still, I was skeptical. I asked if he would email me a copy of his lease. He said he couldn’t since he didn’t have a scanner or copy machine. I mentioned to him that I could use online banking to get the money to him. He preferred Western Union.

After I ended the phone conversation with him, I Googled James Adlington and Laurie Mae Adlington. I didn’t find anything. I then called back to the Livorno to find out if they were on record as tenants. I recounted the story to a fine and helpful gentleman who first informed me that tenants are not allowed to sub-lease their apartments and that if I did sub-lease the apartment I would not be able to have it maintained. He went on to say that there are many apartment rental scams on Craigslist originating in Nigeria. I hadn’t mentioned to him that I found tis apartment rental on Craigslist. The agent said that once the scammers receive the $600 they DO send keys via FedEx. However, the keys are fake. They do not unlock anything. Since I sounded like a legitimate person, he went further and asked for their names. After a quick search, he found no tenants named Adlington, James or Laurie Mae.

Meanwhile, I gave James my cellphone number and he continues to call. I also received an email from him, not Laurie Mae (not a surprise!), asking when I wold be sending the $600.

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Luis Tiant was born with baseball in his genes. He is the son of a Major League Baseball caliber father, Luis Tiant, Sr., also known as El Zurdo (lefty in Spanish). Luis Tiant, Sr. was a renowned pitcher for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues and many agree that Sr. would have enjoyed a propsperous major league career.

The question posed is whether Luis Tiant deserves induction into Major League baseball’s Hall of Fame. And the quick answer is yes. When compared to current members of the Hall of Fame who are pitchers, Tiant ranks right with them and remember that Tiant pitched the majority of his career in the bandbox that is Fenway Park whose left field extends only 315′ from home plate to the famous “Green Monster”. Moreover, one of Luis Tiant’s greatest accomplishments was resurrecting his career after severe arm problems and a 9-20 record with the Cleveland Indians in 1969. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins for the 1970 season but then to the Boston Red Sox in 1971 where he anchored the pitching staff for 8 years and earned 20+ victories in three of those eight seasons.

Almost as impressive was his 15 wins in his first full year with the Red Sox in 1972 where he led the Major League’s with an ERA of 1.91. Then, in 1973, Tiant won 20 games and completed 23 games. In 1974, he won 22 games and completed 25 games, astounding numbers especially when compared to contemporary pitchers. In 1973, his WHIP of 1.085 led the league. In 1974, he earned 7 shutouts which also led the league. Overall, Tiant won 229 games and although the magic number required for pitchers to be inducted into the Hall of Fame is 300, it should be noted that current members Catfish Hunter and Don Drysdale had fewer wins than Tiant. It is possible to conceive that Tiant wold have won 300 games without his arm problems.

Most sports fans are aware of El Tiante’s famous windup where, in the middle of it, his hips twist toward center field, his left leg and head swinging with the twist and his head adding the extra movement of looking up to the sky, all before finally swinging back to face the batter and his catcher for delivery. What is mostly unnoticed is that he developed that move in response to his arm problems in Cleveland. By swinging and twisting his body before the pitch, he was able to create greater torque from other parts of his body thus creating less stress on his arm. The added benefit is that the ball in this new windup was hidden in his glove until the last moment reducing the batter’s response time to the delivered pitch.

Comparing Luis Tiant to 11 pitchers previously inducted into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame

• Seasons: tied with Fergie Jenkins for most seasons pirched: 19. Pitched more seasons than Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Catfish Hunter, Don Drysdale
• Wins: Earned 229 wins, more than Catfish Hunter and Don Drysdale
• Losses: with 172 losses, has fewer lossses than Nolan Ryan, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton, Steve Carlton, Fergie Jenkins, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson
• ERA: At 3.30, better ERA than Fergie Jenkins and Phil Niekro
• Games: 573. Pitched more games than Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, Catfish Hunter, Juan Marichal
• IP: 3,486.1. Threw more innings than Catfish Hunter and Don Drysdale
• H: 3,075. Only Catfish Hunter gave up fewer hits and Tiant pitched in Fenway Park where the Wall is only 315′ from home plate
• R: 1,400. Only Drysdale, Marichal and Hunter allowed fewer runs
• ER: 1,280. Allowed fewer earned runs than Tom Seaver, Fergie Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro
• HR: 346, pitching in Fenway Park. Those allowing more home runs were Catfish Hunter, Tom Seaver, Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Fergie Jenkins
• BB: 1,104. Only Juan Marichal, Don Drysdale, Catfish Hunter, and Fergie Jenkins allowed fewer walks
• SO: 2,416. Struck out more batters than Hunter and Marichal
• WHIP (Walks and Hits/Innings Pitched): 1.199. Allowed fewer walks and hits per inning than Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Phil Niekro
• H/9: 7.9. Seems like alot of hits to give up per every 9 innings but Tiant allowed fewer hits than Don Sutton, Juan Marichal, Don Drysdale, Steve Carlton, Fergie Jenkins, Gaylord Perry and Phil Niekro
• SO/9: 6.2. Struck out more batters per 9 innings than Catfish Hunter, Phil Niekro, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, and Don Sutton
• K:BB: 2.19. His ratio of strikeouts to walks is better than Catfish Hunter, Nolan Ryan, and Phil Niekro
• # of 20-win seasons: 4. Enjoyed more 20-win seasons than Phil Niekro, Don Drysdale (2), Nolan Ryan (2), and Don Sutton (1)
• Playoffs: 4 GS, 3-0, ERA: 2.86 (less than his career avg of 3.30), 34.2 IP.

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On a beautiful, sunny and pleasant Sunday afternoon at Polliwog Park Amphitheater in Manhattan Beach Beach (August 9, 2009), Fantastic Diamond put on a show for the ages, playing for almost two hours with a 15 minute intermission. Fantastic Diamond was just another star entry to perform at the Manhattan Beach Concerts in the Park Series held at Polliwog.

Kevin Hogan as Neil Diamond, Lead for Fantastic Diamond

Fantastic Diamond Concert Review

Kevin Hogan, playing Neil Diamond, was spot-on in his impersonation of the pop superstar, speaking and singing voice equally. His intonation was guttural but not kitschy and he never jeopardized the song melodies in doing so. Fantastic Diamond, like any tribute band worth its salt, remained true to the beat, the song composition, lyrics, and lyrical license that is Neil Diamond. The greatest accolade a tribute band can receive is when an audience member can close his/her eyes and think that it’s the real band performing. In this case, you’d think Fantastic Diamond was Neil Diamond – albeit Neil Diamond playing in a park.

Hogan, like Neil Diamond, was dressed in sparkling Vegas shirt attire (with blue jeans, of course) and established an immediate and longlasting rapport with his audience of 5,000 people. The musicianship of his band was also impressive despite the challenging acoustics of playing in a park (Polliwog Park Amphitheater is not an amphitheater like the Hollywood Bowl or Greek Theater – it is a park). The piano playing of Alex Caselli was good – her riffs suggesting jazz training. Her keyboard was not a first rate one and the song compositions often made her playing seem a bit choppy but nonetheless she was a pleasure to listen to. Frank Browne’s acoustic guitar was consistent and often the glue that of the song but the show-stopper at times was the saxophone mastery of Rich Tyznik who was aggressive, confident, and like Hogan (Diamond), established his own rapport with the audience.

ABBA The Music with Super Diamond at The Hollywood Bowl

On Saturday, June 27, 2009, ABBA The Music performed at The Hollywood Bowl. Another Neil Diamond tribute band called Super Diamond was the opening act.

If Fantastic Diamond had played at the Hollywood Bowl backing up ABBA The Music instead of Super Diamond, the experience would have been better. I don’t like criticizing in a negative way but I feel I must, especially after listening to Fantastic Diamond perform in Manhattan Beach. The lead singer of Super Diamond over-emphasized the guttural tones of Neil Diamond to the point that it seemed as if he were doing stomach crunches while singing. The guttural miscues also served, I believe, to hide the fact that his singing voice was a half note or so below pitch so the end result was too much yelling and audience-grimacing on notes he couldn’t reach. Oh, and he over-acted his part trying to be way too cool.

Now, if Fantastic Diamond had played that night with ABBA The Music, the experience, I’m sure, would have been entirely different. That is to say, it might have been one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended. Fantastic Diamond would have benefitted from a professional stage with professional acoustics, back up singers to smooth the sound and equipment (a better piano) to simulate the real Neil Diamond show.

ABBA The Music was absolutely phenomenal as they had the audience shaking their heads continually because of how perfect they matched the beat, musicianship and singing quality of the authentic ABBA. ABBA The Music even flew in the original guitarist and saxophone player from Sweden for the event. It was truly ABBA redux.

If you are presented with the opportunity to see ABBA The Music, buy the tickets and go. Same for Fantastic Diamond. Buy the tickets and go see them. It’ll make you happy; you’ll reminisce and the musicianship will impress you.

Note to The Hollywood Bowl – book Fantastic Diamond with ABBA The Music in 2010.

Fantastic Diamond at Manhattan Beach Concerts in the Park

Fantastic Diamond Song List

(not in order)

• Longfellow Serenade
• Cracklin’ Rosie
• Beautiful Noise
• Brooklyn Roads
• Cherry, Cherry
• Love On The Rocks
• You Don’t Bring Me Flowers
• Brother Love’s Travelin’ Salvation Show
• Holly Holy
• Song Sung Blue
• I’m A Believer (performed famously by the Monkees)
• Solitary Man
• Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon
• Thank The Lord For The Night Time
• Kentucky Woman
• I Am I Said
• You Got To Me
• Forever In Blue Jeans
• If You Know What I Mean
• Shilo
• Hello Again
• Play Me
• Desiree
• September Morn

Encores

• Sweet Caroline
• America

About Fantastic Diamond

Fantastic Diamond is a Neil Diamond tribute band that includes Kevin Hogan (playing Neil Diamond) on lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Frank Browne on acoustic and electric guitar; Rich Tyznik on keyboards, saxophone, back up vocals; Alex Caselli on keyboards and back up vocals; Anthony Sileccio on bass guitar and back up vocals, and Dieter Weinzettl on drums, everything percussion and back up vocals.

Fantastic Diamond, Polliwog Park Amphitheater at Manhattan Beach

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Laura Ling Addresses Media in Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport

Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been pardoned by North Korean President Kim Jong Il.

Almost two days ago, President Clinton flew to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, with the hope of securing the release of two U.S. journalists detained, jailed and sentenced to 12 years in a hard labor camp for illegally crossing into North Korea from China in March. North Korea jailed the two journalists for sneaking into their country and engaging in what they termed “unspecified hostile acts”. Whether the two were hostile in any way doesn’t seem as relevant as the huge bargaining chip they represented to North Korea as tensions with United States has grown over their nuclear arms testing and development.

Negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea to secure Laura Ling and Euna Lee began almost as soon as the two young journalists were captured as they crossed the border from China into North Korea in March, 2009. Of course, it helped that both Ling and Lee worked for Current TV, a media venture owned by Vice President Al Gore. Key players in the negotiations were the U.S. State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama and his staff as well as the Swedish Ambassador representing U.S. interests in North Korea, Mats Foyer. Official U.S. diploamtic policy does not recognize North Korea and thus, diplomacy was routed through Sweden.

The detainment of the journalists had become, of late, a public relations burden to President Kim Jong Il despite his belief that the journalists were spies. He wasn’t fond of being the bad guy. President Clinton became the focus and the apparent key player to securing their release because of 1) his “unofficial” official status, 2) his long intentioned desire (when he was President) to visit North Korea, and 3) Jong Il’s desire to be acknowledged personally by a high ranking U.S. official. The negotiations and agreement to release the journalists obviously had been secured before Clinton left for North Korea; otherwise, he wouldn’t have put his political capital at risk. Thus, the Clinton visit was more celebration to consummate the agreement and even, perhaps, a move toward a softening relationship between the two countries.

Laura Ling, Euna Lee, Bill Clinton Land in Burbank After Overnight Flight from Pyongyang, North Korea

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TV Shot of Ashley Judd in Double Jeopardy

TV Shot of Licia Maglietta in Pane e Tulipani

Peter, Age 8

Mall Mannequin at The Grove in Hollywood

Getty Museum Outdoors

Getty Museum Art

Getty Museum Art

Getty Museum Art

Picture of a Monet taken at the Getty Museum

A Bit of Fun at California Adventure

More Fun at California Adventure

Christmas Spent in an Airport Hangar in Bangor, Maine

Bobby, Age 6

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This seems like a desperate yet creative attempt for a man to quit smoking cigarettes. As picked up on Quit Smoking Hub, Geoff Spice, an investment banker, has decided he really needs to quit smoking. His wife and kids agree. He has tried a host of things to try to quit: nicotine patches, nicotine gum, a self-help quit smoking book, the “cold turkey” method, and I’m guessing hypnosis, pills and capsules, as well. None of it seemed to work, at least not permanently.

So, he is doing what he thinks he needs to do after 43 years of smoking. He’s getting out of Dodge. He’s escaping the temptation of smoking, the triggered habits of smoking and the smell of it all. He’s going to a deserted island off the coast of Scotland to a place called Sgarabhaigh (pronounced Scaravay), a 40-acre island in the Outer Hebrides.

Cool Idea to Quit Smoking - Escape to a Deserted Island

He begins his quit smoking quest on August 1st and comes home on August 30th or September 1st. They say he’s spending a month on the island. He’s bringing with him a camp stove, bottled water, cellphone, laptop computer, guitar and an iPod that contains 120 books. The cellphone and laptop will be powered by a photo voltaic solar cell but he’ll have a windup handle with him to generate electricity in case he needs a backup power source. The island has no houses so he’ll need a tent. He also must do without electricity and running water.

Nice going, Geoff. And good luck. See you in September

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• Life In Technicolor
• Violet Hill
• Clocks
• In My Place
• Yellow
• Glass Of Water
• Cemeteries Of London
• 42
• Fix You
• Strawberry Swing
• God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
• Talk (techno version)
• The Hardest Part (Chris Martin piano)
• Postcards From Far Away (Chris Martin piano instrumental)
• Viva La Vida
• Lost!
• Green Eyes
• Sitting on the Dock of the Bay / Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will Champion)
• Billie Jean
• Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
• Politik
• Lovers In Japan
• Death And All His Friends
• The Scientist
• Life in Technicolor II
• The Escapist (outro)

Coldplay at The Home Depot Center

This was our first visit to The Home Depot Center. We’d never seen a concert there nor had we seen a Los Angeles Galaxy MLS soccer game with the venerables David Beckham or Landon Donovan. When we first arrived, The Home Depot Center appeared like a very well thought out venue: wide concourses, well placed concession stands and plenty of room to mill about. Upon entering the stadium area, it was apparent that it was not a football or baseball stadium retrofitted as an afterthought into a soccer stadium. The field was wide but still close to the stands – which is not the case in a football stadium. The promoters smartly placed the stage on the field itself a good many feet from the back of the stadium. Two parallel ramps jutted from the stage extending into the audience bringing Coldplay’s music even closer to its fans. Little did we know that at the other end of the stadium, a smaller elevated stage atop the loge seats was set up for Coldplay to perform a few songs in the middle of the show.

There were two back up groups and with our first listen we thought that The Home Depot Center would not be an enjoyable acoustic event. I’m sure that they sound great on a CD but this was not to be their night. The sound was tinny and jumbled, made worse when some of the musicians tried to get the crowd more excited with shouts of “I can’t hear you” or ‘How you doin’ LA?”. Frankly, we couldn’t wait for the first acts to leave the stage. Again, it was not that we didn’t enjoy their music. It was how their music was transmitted that made for an uneasy experience.

But, then Coldplay appeared on stage at about 9:30pm (the concert began at 7:30pm). While the acoustics did not equal those of The Wiltern in Los Angeles or The Colloseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, it was still impressive. From far away, the low setting of on-stage lighting precluded us from making out the figures of Chris Martin (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar), Jonny Buckland (lead guitar), Guy Berryman (bass guitar), and Will Champion (drums, backing vocals, other instruments).

The concert ended up as a brilliant experience. Chris Martin has an easy way about him and is quite comfortable talking with the crowd. He is honest in his singing and musicianship. He will admit when a song is not performed as planned as he did at the end of the song “42″ when he fumbled the timing and the lyrics. During the mishap, he inserted some fun lines of banter and rhyme relating to Los Angeles but then quickly admitted why he was doing so.

Chris Martin seemed to get sronger with each song and the fun he was having infected the crowd, even those of us laying on the grass “12 miles away”, as he remarked.

My brother’s favorite Coldplay song of the evening was Lovers in Japan because of the melody and lyrics but also because he got to witness Chris Martin’s mastery of the keyboards. My favorite tune is 42 and although the end was miscued a bit, the soft beginning, melodramatic middle and rousing end were stunning and moving. The song of the night, however, and as expected, was Viva La Vida, which gave the crowd an instant rise after the more laid back Postcards From Far Away was performed. We also must mention the tribute to Michael Jackson. Coldplay sung their version of Billie Jean – an acoustic rendition. Although the tonalities between Jackson and Martin are different, Martin hit every high and low note with utter dexterity and perfection. The song was performed at the other end of the stadium, up on a makeshift stage directly in front of the grass area where we were sitting. It was one of the highlights of the evening.

All in all, the experience was wonderful. I was introduced to The Home Depot Center, its decent acoustics, the reality that it is not so far away from the San Fernando Valley, and the reality that I need to go see a Galaxy game soon… and more concerts. Most importantly, I was able to witness the musicianship of the second coming of U2 – that is, if Coldplay can continue to record albums with the same quality of lyric and melody as Viva la Vida, X&Y and Parachutes. Studio albums are packaged for the masses. Live concerts let the audience in on a groups’ true interpretation of a song – lyrics and instrumentation included. In this regard, Coldplay did not disappoint.

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