Janet Jackson concert

We went to watch our first American concert at the Oakland Oracle Arena yesterday : Janet Jackson 2008 “Rock Witchu Tour.” SQ got offered by a business associate a pair of free tickets to watch the concert in a private suite. The suite was in on the Mezzanine level, kinda far from the stage but it’s nice and private - food, drinks, private bathroom…I think we should book a suite to watch a concert one of these days. Don’t know how much it costs though…Probably expensive. There were about 15-20 people in the suite, so it’s at least $3-4K??

The concert was great! Neither of us were Janet Jackson fans, but she did put on a good show. She could sing AND dance. I was amazed with the production, complete with gigantic LCD screens, superb lighting, techs, etc. — nothing compared to the Chinese concerts! The best part is that I was still able to sing along to maybe 2-3 of her old songs! She sang & danced for 2.5 hours straight - breaking only to change clothes. She changed outfits about 7-8 times…transitions were seamless.

Oh yeah, the opening act was Nelly. So before Janet came on stage, there was a group of people on stage with one guy particularly in charge. They rapped a few songs. We had no idea who was singing, and then someone finally told us that the guy on stage was Nelly. In my head, I was asking, who the heck is Nelly?? Name sounds familiar, but I know nothing about him. When he started to sing “It’s hot in here,” the audience went crazy. So anyways, he left after a few songs and Janet Jackson came on stage with her show.

Overall, a great 1st time experience. I must admit that it was super nice to be in the private suite. It was an excellent way to enjoy the show without going too crazy. We’re way too old to be hanging in the mosh pit anyways.

Surprise on the Beach

For whatever reason, SQ decided to drive home via Geary Blvd on our way back home. We drove to the end of Geary and around the Cliff House curve. Then from a distance, on the beach – something caught our eye. What is it? Are those horses? Are those people? Are they moving? We quickly parked our cars to take a closer look. What we saw was simply amazing… over 100 boards of Indians (Native Americans if you want to be PC) stood along the beach. The size of each board is over 10 feet tall. I took these pictures with my camera phone.

Intrigued by this display, I went on-line to find out more information. Apparently, this is a moving exhibit that travels around the nation. It is created by an artist named Thom Ross, who was inspired by Buffalo Bill Cody’s 1902 photograph of his Wild West show. The artist then re-created the scene with these 120 pieces. Exhibit will remain at Ocean Beach until Sept 15. Below is the original 1902 photo and today’s re-creation.

Planter & Trash Shield

After many hours of hard labor during the weekends, SQ finally finished the planter and trash shield outside our front yard. Here is a picture of it:
The project started out when we found out that a recent San Francisco law prohibits the trash bins to be in plain view after garbage collection day. In other words, we will get fined if we have our bins sitting outside our yard. We have always had our bins outside the front yard since our downstairs remodel when access to our back yard was limited. We didn’t like putting the bins in our garage because of bugs, garbage smell, etc. So long story short, we decided to put up a trash shield to ”cover-up” the bins.

Along with the trash shield, we wanted to get a planter. We would like to grow some ornamental grass/flowers in the front, but we often get dogs ”doing their business” (pee’ing and poo’ing) in our front yard. Yes, there are despicable dog owners who allow their dogs to poo on other people’s yard (regardless of how nicely maintained the yard is) and worst is that they don’t pick up their dog’s poo. So that’s how the planter came about.

We still have to complete the other side with a similar planter box. I think we might paint it… or maybe not. But for sure we will put some nice plants in these planter boxes. Hopefully the next time you come by, you can see it.