In the presence of rock gods

There is not and will never be a more powerful form of music than rock 'n roll. Fads and trends come and go: pop, rap, R&B, country. Their popularity ebbs and flows, reaches a peak amidst a chorus of ear-splitting prepubescent female shrieks, then falls into obscurity. But rock 'n roll - true rock 'n roll - will always come back with a vengence...and Vengence, I name thee AC/DC.

The last time they toured was 2001, when I was in college. Of course, they performed in Philly in the dead of winter when I couldn't make the 4 hour trip home, which just killed me. After all, who knew when - or if - they'd ever tour again! There had been rumors of them hanging it up for years and I missed what could've been my last opportunity to see the hardest rockin' band EVER. I was devastated. And in subsequent years, there had been rumblings of a new album, a new tour, but nothing ever came of the rumors. So when the existance of Black Ice, their first LP since 2000, was confirmed this past summer, I got on every ticket notification system out there because, goddammit, NOTHING was going to stop me from seeing them live.

And nothing did. I got tickets the minute they went on sale (for my mom and dad too...are they not the coolest parents on earth??) in a freaking awesome part of the arena - upper tier, but side-stage and second row, a virtually uninhibited view. I got my hands on a copy of the new album, listened to some of my old ones and started feeling more excited about a concert than I ever had.

The Wachovia Center was a madhouse last night. I think Pierre Robert said it best in his broadcast on 'MMR: "It's all about the peace, love and rock 'n roll tonight, my friends." I wish I could describe the show itself for you, but there aren't words. The best I can do is to say that it fuckin' ROCKED. I was leaping to my feet and punching the air and headbanging with the other 20,000 people there. When the "Rock n' Roll Train" crashed onto the stage and Angus started wailing on his guitar in the first chords of that song, I screamed myself hoarse. And when they played "Thunderstruck", well, it was damn near orgasmic. The gigantic bell for "Hells Bells", the appearance of...ahem...a very buxom blow-up doll for "Whole Lotta Rosie", Angus and his striptease during "The Jack", his devil horns during "Highway to Hell." God, the whole thing was amazing.

There are very few things in life that make me happier than a kick-ass guitar, pounding drums, and a screaming front man. Need an example why?

Slight change in Scotland accommodations

The Terrace Room wasn't available, so we've reserved the Rob Roy Room, so named because it was the room in which Jessica Lange stayed during the filming of Rob Roy. If it's good enough for Jessica Lange, it's good enough for me (and to be honest, I've always liked this one better anyway).

My niece

Is she not the cutest little munchkin ever?

My sister is a mom...weird.

Must be a family thing...notice how all their mouths are open?

I'm an aunt!

My little niece Shelby was born tonight! She arrived at 7:44pm and weighs 6 lbs 15 oz. We don't know yet how long she is because Tim, her daddy, won't give her to the nurses. :-) Mommy and Baby are doing well, even though Kristen was a bit disappointed that she ended up having a c-section. Even though her water broke around 5am and she was loaded up on pitocin, Shelby just wouldn't drop. It ended up being a good thing that she didn't try to delivery vaginally though because the cord was wrapped around Shelby's neck. Kris hasn't been able to hold her yet either because of the epidural - she doesn't have any feeling in her arms or legs. When I called, I could hear the cutest little cries in the background. I can't freaking wait for next weekend when I get to meet her! Lots more pics and info to come!

Ready to RUN!

I've been in dire need of new running shoes for a while, so I figured that, since I was off today, I'd stop by the Charm City Run store in Bel Air to get outfitted by a professional. My last sneaker purchase was dreadful. I went to the Lady Foot Locker in the York Galleria and was waited on by a bored high school dropout who was no help whatsoever (moral of the story - do not shop there). I ended up getting a pair that was slightly too small, which meant that the more miles I logged, the more cramped my toes got and the nails even turned black for a time. Yuck. You could say I was peeved, yeah.

Earlier this week, I'd swung by Charm City Run to register for the local Turkey Trot (and to kind of scope the place out) and was impressed with what I saw - very friendly staff, a small but good selection of all sorts of running necessities, not too hard to get in and out of, considering that it's on the corner of Main and Churchville right in downtown Bel Air. So I made it my first stop today while I was out running errands. The girl spent a good 20 minutes helping me out, measuring my foot, watching my gait and bringing out a huge variety of sneakers to try. Of course, the pair that fit best was the $125 Nike Vomeros, but if I learned anything since I started running, it's that you can't scrimp on shoes. And not only did I get them, I splurged on an awesome pair of running pants too. And to top it all off, when I was checking out, she gave me a free shirt! I will definitely be a repeat customer. Can't wait to pull out the treadmill!


Sweet new kicks and the free t-shirt!

Another travel update

I submitted the reservation enquiry for The Grange in Fort William today! The owners will contact me to confirm everything, so I'm praying that the room we want is available. Isn't it amazing??


The Grange, Fort William, Inverness-shire, Scotland


Another view of the house


The terrace and gardens


A view of Loch Linnhe


The room we want has it's own private terrace

Only 8 months to go!

Yes...We Did.

Good job, America. Now let's get to work.

Tomorrow's the day...

After two long years of campaigning, Election Day is finally upon us. Is it just me, or has the race gotten exceedingly ugly in the last few days? I got one of those robocalls from the RNC this weekend that didn't say a word about John McCain's policies, but rather went on about how Barack Obama would raise taxes, consort with terorists, blah blah blah. Does anyone actually fall for that crap? Although I have to say, I was extremely heartened to see this hanging from my front door when I got home from work on Saturday:

Obama volunteers actually came to my house! I don't live in a neighborhood - our place is out in the middle of nowhere even though it's on a pretty big thoroughfare - and is not conducive to people just stopping by. So I never in a million years would've thought that either campaign would put forth the effort to come out to my neck of the woods. I wish I'd been home to reassure the volunteers that, even though we live in diehard McCain country, there definitely are pockets of Obama supporters. The move also impressed my husband, a registered Republican. I'm going to email my local field office to tell them how much I appreciated their visit.

Remember folks, the polls are open from 7am to 8pm tomorrow. Josh and I are planning on being there as soon as the doors open to avoid having to wait in ungodly long lines later in the day. That, and voting always makes me feel good, so I'll start the day knowing that I helped make history. If you need to find me tomorrow evening, I'll be planted on the couch, watching NBC's coverage. Obama-Biden 2008!

The Democratic National Convention