Kickin' the Dust Up with Luke Bryan

Thanks for an awesomely fun concert!
Another great evening with very cool people and very cool country music!  Thanks to Courtney for the invite and the ride, thanks to Amanda for hooking up the parking and the lawn entertainment (see below), thanks to Kayla for buying and holding the tickets and for luring the one dude over who was trying to hook up with you... that was hilarious... thanks to Lindsey for insisting on bringing the blanket.






Play It Again!
Yes, I like country on occasion.  I have to say I didn't really know Luke Bryan's songs about a month ago.  So one Courtney invite later, Luke has a new fan.  I picked up what his concert playlist and "Play(ed) it again" and again and again.  I have to say the music is fun and I love the words of all the songs.  There's definitely a lot of drinking involved, in the songs that is.  So who would've thought I was going country for a night... Not me... I'm hip hop, R&B.  However, I have to say when I saw Luke do the Smule duet with Jason Derulo, I figured he would be cool...

Head's up! game in the parking lot.  To pass the time and in between people watching, mostly watching to pee up the hill... We played "head's up"... Apparently we're only good at "Acting Out"...


Culture Shock
I think the most hilarious part of the night for me... CULTURE SHOCK!  So my friends were talking about what they would be wearing for the concert earlier that week... And I kept hearing BOOTS and FLANNELS.  I understood the boots completely... but the flannel thing...  From where I grew up, people who wore flannel were in gangs hahahah.  Seriously... and they would button only the 1st button with a wife beater underneath.  So the flannel thing was a bit perplexing... Boots, cut-off jeans, and sleeveless flannels heck any flannels... Yeah... so when we were driving into the parking lot... My head did a bit of a tilt... and I realized what country is... I mean I've gone line dancing before and I've seen cowboy hats... and I've seen people on occasion dress country... but... I was a bit wow'ed by it all... I think the only thing that I was trippin' out on were the cut-off jeans and boots on this one dude...  I mean he can wear whatever he wants... but I think that look looks way cuter on girls... hahaha

The Lawn and GUARDIN' show
So the "not sure what the name of it is anymore" Amphitheater is a cool little venue and Amanda hooked up the right parking lot for quick in-n-out privileges.  However, this lawn concept is pretty entertaining.  I've been to many a show, but I've always had a seat.  So this whole lawn thing was interesting.  Good thing Lindsey brought the blanket and good thing the blanket was a light color.  We used it to stake out space... For the opening acts (Dustin and Randy, they were great by the way), it was manageable.. We would stand, the blanket would be there behind us... The closer and closer to Luke time... all of a sudden the blanket was curling and people were nudging us away from it.  By the time Randy Hauser was finished, it was pretty much rolled up but we managed to get some sitting time before Luke.  The most entertaining part was watching Amanda protect her space with her legs outstretched... And the under-the-breath, Yoda like subliminal conversations she was having with people encroaching on our space.  She became a compass for all the people looking for their friends.  They would all stop at her boots and use their phone.  She would proceed to use her barely audible (in a concert setting) voice to shoo them away... And it worked.  However, a group of girls streamed into space, hurdling Amanda's legs while Court took a picture.  And all I could think... they're gonna trip on Amanda... So for a good 15 minutes laying on the lawn, Amanda was guardin'.

The COUNTRY
Awesome awesome entertainer... 1st off Luke was battling a cold and he was strugglin' at times, but still pulled off a great show.  You gotta give him props because in the state he was in.. he still sounded excellent.  And that white boy can move... His music makes you wanna move... and he does move well.. Mad props!  His setlist was fun.. and I totally appreciated his hip hop/r&b references... Gotta love how music connects people.  I loved all the songs, because I studied his set list.  At least I could sing along... Dustin and Randy came out and sang Sugar with Luke.  That was fun!


In-N-Out
Post concert, we bolted out of the venue and the parking lot.  Headed out to in-n-out and was a bit tripped up that I just had in-n-out just the day before.  The time warp of anticipation and a concert definitely throws off all semblance of what a day is... Seriously it felt like a Saturday concert...

Drunk on You!
So yes... I'm a new fan.. So I had to learn at least one of his songs on the guitar..

Movie: San Andreas

It's just fun!  I love apocalyptic events.  This one takes you on a ride and it's a fun roller coaster.  Anyone trippin' on the "could that really happen" notion of movies, move along!  If you wanna just enjoy some man vs. nature adventure is in for some fun.  I love The Rock and although this is an action film, he hits a chord with being a dad.

Go for the ride... Let it take you!

Belmont Park Fun Night

Blast to the past!!!  Visiting old haunts with cool new friends.  Hitting up Sandbar with Drama, Court-es and Kenny Lee.  Then kicking it old school with bumper cars and the Dipper!  Fun times.

My Fan Video for Jathea - The Rich Man's Daughter

Sometimes it's too hard to watch the drama... And you have to remember the love. So I put this set of my favorite clips and words to a favorite love song...

The Rich Man's Daughter - A Twist on the Filipino Drama

First and foremost I'm not much for drama, especially Filipino drama.  As I have told mom a million times, "It es TOOO DRAHHHH-MAHHH-TEEK".  When I say drama, I mean everyone is messing with each other's someone and ends in a shooting, a fire, backstabbing, someone coming back to life. It's like DYNASTY and DALLAS of the 80's...  It's soap opera dramatic.  

So I didn't come across this drama because I was looking to watch a drama.  The draw is the main characters, Jade and Althea, and their "forbidden" love.  It's the first time a Filipino TV show has centered on a lesbian pairing.  And I say pairing for good reason... The couple-dom is complicated from the get go, as this is a DRAMA!

From the title, The Rich Man's Daughter is Jade, who is dating David, but falls for a girl during her brother's wedding.  Oh by the way, Jade outed her other brother Paul, who is shamed and stripped of all social outlets.  Jade is the jewel of the family because she's how her parents, who were originally shunned some 24 years ago, got back into good graces when she was born...

And the above is all the setup!

Look this thing is gonna play out in 13 weeks, starting back from May 11 and it runs every weekday for about 30 minutes.  Fortunately, TRMD Videos on www.dailymotion.com provides subtitles.  Otherwise you have to depend on recaps, for us English only speakers.

TRMD Pilot - Episode 1 (1/5) (English Subbed) by TRMDvideos
I'm hooked for many reasons, but the initial hook was definitely Glaiza De Castro and Rhian Ramos.  They're beautiful no doubt, but their chemistry is on fire.  Unfortunately Filipino censors may never allow a kiss to happen, so you get a lot of eyes, music, forehead / nose touching, and caressing, but the kiss is still to be missed.  It does make for a good build up, for sure.

Another complicated character is definitely Paul... Love him, hate him?

Then there's the whole pride thing built into Filipino Chinese families. I grew up in the USA and both sides of my Filipino-ness are pretty chill when it comes to pride and "name-saving".  I understand it, but the extremes of the dad and the grandpa... AUGH... Makes you want to gouge their eyes out... It is so awful... The sad part is that I wouldn't be surprised if those events occur...

The unfortunate construct of tradition is how tradition, honor and pride taint the whole point of family... love and support.

Well if you want to punch the screen and really care about some very complicated family issues, especially for Filipino families, then watch this show.

The twist may not just be the LGBT issues that this show addresses.  The "twisted" may just be in how our cultural and societal expectations impose ill will on good people - gay, straight or whatever.


Glaiza and Rhian are awesome in their roles!  Talented and beautiful.  They both honor the LGBT community in their very compassionate portrayals.  Love is Love...  and you have to give them tons of praise for not only taking on the roles, but giving people a voice.

The Last Five Years - Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan

Watched The Last Five Years.  This poetic musical about the growth and decay of a relationship through song... There was no happy ending, just a commentary of the ebbs and flows of love, dreams and yearning.  I'm not entirely sure who's "fault" the end of the relationship is.  I guess as with many, it is both.  The relationships that work out are the ones indebted to the committed partnership.  The relationships that do not are the ones indebted to selfish preoccupations.  I may be oversimplifying what a commitment is, but isn't it really that simple?  Commitment is selfless yet equal.  One of the two in decay, ruins the commitment.  Loved the music and loved Anna Kendrick's voice.  Jeremy Jordan is super talented as well.  

Filharmonic - Represent Philippines with Harmony!

Watched Pitch Perfect 2 and learned about this group!  http://www.thefilharmonic.com

You won't be disappointed if you love acapella and fun music.  

Check out their Filharmonic on YouTube site...

Awesome Dance Energy: Maasa Ishihara

It was on the TLC tip literally that I came across her dancing.  She is a dancer for TLC as part of The Main Event tour - summer 2015  Awesome tour with TLC and NKOTB.  So the music alone makes you wanna get up and dance.

But when a dancer can hit it and you just can't forget it, you can't help but ask question "Who is that?"  Maasa Ishihara just has that WOW factor when she dances. Call me impressed.  She is awesome!

It was definitely a joy to watch TLC and the whole dance crew.  The icing on the cake was getting introduced to someone to watch out for on the dancing scene.  Best words to describe how she dances... SMOOTH, HARD, SWEET, EXPLOSIVE, CONTROLLED, RAW, FINE, POWERFUL, PASSIONATE, NATURAL, SHARP, JOY... AUGH I can go on and on...

You can find her dancing in my concert footage down below!  She's danced in videos by Neyo, Taj Mowry, Nikki Minaj, Alyxx Dionne w/ Jason Derulo.  No doubt that you'll find her in ever more videos.
TLC:  The Main Event May 11, 2015 - San Diego

YouTube: Stitchy Daze

I love Taylor Swift... Check out "Bad Blood"

Her music is just wow... And this collage video is just cool.  So hot, so cool.. so damn.. Just watch.

Anna Kendrick, Filharmonic and the James Corden

I was impressed by all of the above. I loved this riff off to kick off another Pitch Perfect movie... If you don't know who Anna Kendrick is... ummm... I didn't know there was a LATE LATE show... but that James Corden can sing. And I love how I got introduced to Filharmonic ... play on words yes... because they are a Filipino apace group. Super talented... Loved it..

Platonic Solid by Melinda Stephan

A short film... Discovery is a really interesting thing to me.  I've always known me.  I've just had issues with my own personal acceptance of that knowledge.  Living and how things work out for folks is the definition of journey.  Destination is not the story.  The bumps and obstacles are what make the destination worthy of a story.

Simple and sweet... Check it out!  Give some props to Melinda Stephan for a story well put.



platonic solid from Melinda Stephan on Vimeo.

TLC on The Main Event Tour 2015 - Compilation Video Done

I had the awe inspiring pleasure to watch TLC live in Anaheim on May 2, 2015 and San Diego on May 11, 2015.  I was blown away by the memories of some of the greatest hits in R&B, Hip Hop and Pop.  TLC embraces what it means to be a woman and what it means to be empowered by that privilege.  Tionne "TBoz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and the powerful memory of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes makes this trio forever inspiring.

This concert brings home some of my roots that I have forgotten.  It's not just a throwback concert... It's a soul revival for who I was and I have always wanted to be as an adult.  TLC music brings you home and carries you forward.  Much love to TLC,  the TLC family of fans, dancers and crew that bring these concerts to life.