DLR LotD 06/13/21

Disneyland Resort 

Line of the Day

Sunday, June 13, 2021

"Is there a drop on this ride?" -- The Niece and The Nephew, multiple times, in multiple places

It was one of those
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah Days

DLR LotD 12/26/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, December 26, 2019

"Fearlessly Facing Fourteen Ferocious Felines" -- Miss O and Sherry, multiple times, in multiple places, using multiple accents

Favorite Ride of Tita and Me Day

Golden Dreams

Earlier this month, July 9 to be exact, marked 50 years since the day that my parents and I immigrated to the USA from the Philippines.  Unfortunately, we didn't own a camera at the time, so I don't have pictures to share with you from that day, but I thought I'd write down what happened in our early days, according to my parents.

Mom was allowed to go to the USA on a green card through a petition from her uncle.  She was going to go ahead of my dad and me and send for us later, but my dad's father asked her to wait until we were allowed to join her.  10 days shy of my being 18 months old, we took a Cathay Pacific plane leaving from Manila.  From Manila, we stopped in Hong Kong, and then stopped in Tokyo.  I had an ear infection.  I asked if I cried for the entire journey.  Mom said that I only cried on the first leg, but that the most I cried was when we got to Tokyo.  I guess I wouldn't leave one of the stores until Mom bought me a doll that I wanted.  She says that it was big, but I wouldn't stop crying, so she got it for me.  Chrissy is now in my niece's room.  I hope that if she ever grows too old for it, she gives it back to her Tita Sherry, because that has always been my favorite doll.  Now I know why.  Our first touchdown on US soil was in Seattle.  

We were originally going to meet Mom's Uncle Paul in Chicago, but he didn't think that the weather would be good for the baby (me) because it gets very cold (Uncle Paul is wise.  I do not like cold weather).  He suggested that Dad try to find a job in LA, and if it doesn't work out, then come out to Chicago.  So we flew to LAX, and my godparents met us at the airport.  We stayed at their place for a couple of weeks.  So it took me 50 years to actually get to Chicago, to attend Star Wars Celebration. (This is not counting a few hours I spent in the O'Hare airport).

Dad was able to acquire a job on our 3rd day in LA.  Yes, THREE DAYS.  He started working the next day.  Impressive!  It's a good thing Mom waited for us!  The job paid $400.00/month, and he bought his first car, a VW Beetle. By then, my godfather had taught him how to drive so he could actually take it home.  We were also able to afford our own place, on Bonnie Brae, for $80.00/month, which mom said "included utilities and cockroaches."  Back then, $20.00 bought a cart full of groceries, including 3 dozen eggs for $1.10 total, and a gallon of milk for $0.29.  Gas cost about the same as milk then, so we were in good shape, and Mom was able to stay at home with me for about a year before she got a job working with the State.

We were friendly with our neighbors, and one day we met a man named Tata.  He let me sit on his lap so I could hear his radio and listen to Dodgers games with him.  Yes, I've been a Dodgers fan almost my whole life!  We didn't even know about the Lakers back then.  Tata probably would have been happy to know about all of the cool Dodgers stuff I've done this year, even though I haven't been to a game yet this season.

Once mom got a job, she got a babysitter for me.  Mom came home one day and found me in a paper bag because I was crying, so she changed babysitters to Auntie Menchie, whom had two kids of her own named David and Aileen. We were all close in age.  Mom said that David bit me a lot because I didn't want him to kiss me.  I have a picture somewhere of some other boy trying to kiss me, and I'm making a face like "I can't believe they're forcing me to take this picture."  I've always been picky, I guess.  Take note of that, any boys I've allowed to kiss me!  You were SPECIAL  They're probably not reading this, but whatevs.

Eventually, we moved in to an apartment on Carondolet, where Auntie Evelyn (mom's cousin) and Auntie Gaye stayed secretly.  They hid when the landlord came so that we wouldn't be charged more money.  My earliest memory of living in LA is the morning of the Sylmar earthquake in 1971.  I remember all of us screaming and running around the apartment because we didn't know any better.  Auntie Evelyn and I were "buddy buddy", according to my mom, and I was jealous when she got a boyfriend and eventually married him.

Mom and Dad tell me a lot of stories about those days, some having to do with their crazy friend Fernando (whom Mom credits with getting the two of them together back in the Philippines), and how I always asked her to carry me when she and I walked home.  "Carga!", I would say, as we started going uphill.  That's me, lazybones.  Thanks for carrying me anyway, Mom, and thanks for all of the dresses you bought me on your way home from work.  They were $1.00, and I'm sure they made my face light up every time.  New dress!

Later that year, my parents had saved enough money to get a house in Arcadia for about $40K. I lived there until I grew up.  I still miss that house, but can't really go near there without crying, so I don't.  Bro was born 4 years later.  He's the first American-born child in our family.  He doesn't understand as much Tagalog or Ilocano (my mom's dialect) as I do, but we still try to understand when people around us are talking in my parents' native tongue.  Mabuhay, Pilipinas!

I am grateful to be an American.  Our country may be full of strife these days, and I've been quite frustrated with the leadership lately, but I'm still a citizen of my favorite country in the world, and I hold out hope that it will be looked at as that ideal place again for people to build their dreams, just like my parents did.

I'm grateful my parents brought me to this land of opportunity, this melting pot of races, beliefs, and cultures.  I wonder what my life would have been like if we had stayed in the Philippines.  (I'm thinking that I would have had a bunch of children and stayed at home and actually learned how to cook Filipino food properly, but would have never known the wonders of Disneyland, Drum Corps, and Rockapella...at least not until the internet).  

Thank you to my parents for being my role models of faith, love, respect, humor, and ambition.  Thank you for raising me in a world full of possibilities.  

Happy Golden Anniversary of our immigration, Mom and Dad. 

Christmas in L.A. 1970

The Story of Tonight

Puerto Rico Trip

Day 3

"Hamilton"

Centro de Bellas Artes - Luis A Ferre

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Some sharing prior to writing about today:  Back in LA, Miss O eagerly gave me a piece of paper with the Puerto Rican flag on it.  

Text:  Pinch (at bottom), Pull (at top)

Here is what happens, like a pop-up book!

Isn't that the coolest?!  V made that.  I left it at their house because I didn't want anything to happen to it during our travels.  

When I woke up this morning, I decided that I would make it a routine to go downstairs, get coffee, and sit at the pool while Bro and V got ready.  We decided to go to breakfast on the way to the theater box office to get our tickets for the show at will call.   We saw a few Church's Chicken signs that showed the company as one of the sponsors for "Hamilton".

Thank you, Church's!

Several places were not yet open, probably because it was Sunday morning.  We ended up at El Meson Sandwiches.  V ordered her food in Spanish, until the woman taking her order started to ask her questions in Spanish.  I was going to order my food in Spanish, but was afraid that I would receive questions, so I ordered in English.  The food was super inexpensive, and I thought of getting more stuff to go for later, but never did.

We continued to the Centro de Bellas Artes, and I needed to take a photo of one of the barricades.

AT&T was one of the sponsors, too, but their sign was not as cool as the one for Church's.

Thank you, AT&T!

There was a long line of people trying to buy tickets, and I wasn't sure if they were for the ticket lottery or a regular box office line.

Sign Over Theatre Entrance

I really liked the sculptures of the different women of art.  Maybe they were supposed to be muses.

I also liked the Hamilton decor, of course!

Meet Me Inside

There were a few people with "I love PR" photo-op signs, and decided to take some pics.  V calls this one a Hidden Mickey, but it seems more like a "Hidden Sherry".

You'll Be Back

We walked back to the hotel and got ready for the show.  We were glad that the venue was moved from the University because this one was closer to us (the venue was changed due to security issues for possible protests on campus).  I decided on the hilly morning walk that I didn't want to walk to the theatre in my heels, and V agreed, so we called an Uber.  We saw on the app that our driver, Diane, was driving very quickly to get to us, and were a little concerned, but traffic was a bit of a pain, and she dropped us off before the regular dropoff point, which didn't bother us because the line to enter was long and we just wanted to go inside and get souvenirs before the show.

I love these PR Flag shirts with the Hamilton logo as the star!

 I was able to get to two different kiosks and get to the restroom before getting to my seat before the show started.  Our seats were in the balcony, 3 rows up, about halfway to the left center of the row.  The levels of the seats were very well-situated, as the whole stage was visible from our vantage point.

When Lin-Manuel Miranda entered the stage and sang the words "Alexander Hamilton", the entire audience gave a standing ovation for at least a minute or two before Lin patted his heart as a "thank you" so that we would sit down and they could continue the show.

• I may have cried even more this time than I did when I saw the show in LA.   I tried to reach for my tissues at one point, and couldn't find them, so I just forgot about that and tried to wipe away the buckets of tears accumulating on my face so that I could see the show.
• I think I even lost some air in my lungs because I screamed so much for LMM when he took the stage.  There he is!  AAAHHHHHH!!!!!
• The cast was superb, especially the lead guy.  I loved Sabrina Sloan's voice (Anjelica), Julia K Harriman's raw emotion during "Burn" (Eliza), Simon Longnight's playfulness (Lafayette/Jefferson), and Rick Negron's humor (King George).
• This was the same George Washington as I saw in LA, Isiah Johnson, and he was great again.
• I love all of the clever turns of phrase. 
• Everyone was clearly having a great time performing the heck out of this show. 
• Funny to see the conductor raise his own copy of the Reynolds Pamphlet when the four guys walked toward him. 
• "Hurricane" was especially profound, because here was LMM, playing the role he originated, in his home country, singing about a storm that caused the kind of devastation that brought him here to raise funds to help the people recover.  
• I don't remember seeing the lighting of the target on the floor at the last beat.

At intermission, I had time to ask someone to take a picture of me with the big sign.

Not Throwing Away My Shot

There was no real curtain call with the performers receiving individual recognition.  They just had the whole cast at once.  I'm glad I had my camera ready for the moment when LMM pulled out the Puerto Rican flag.

Viva Puerto Rico!

We bought more souvenirs because Bro and V hadn't seen the kiosk for LMM's company Tee Rico, and I saw something else I wanted.  While taking pictures outside, we met Edin and Carmen, PR natives whom told us the different activities we could do around the island.  I asked where we should eat for dinner, and they told us that our hotel was in a great location because one of the cross streets was a street that had a lot of restaurants.  Edin had just eaten at CRU the night before, and highly recommended the farm-to-table restaurant.  We told them that we were trying to get used to the "PR Time" style of service, and Carmen said that they weren't really proud of that.  That's OK, Carmen, my tribe has "Filipino Time".  We took an Uber back to the hotel and told our driver, Gustavo, to try to get tickets to the show via lottery.  I hope he wins tickets!

I might have bought a bunch of stuff 

We walked to CRU, which was a few doors down from Bebo's Cafe.  Our dinner was delicious!  What a great way to end a once-in-a-lifetime day!  Thank you, Bro and V, for the awesomer than awesome birthday gift!

Raise a Glass to the Four of Us
(I'm counting LMM as the fourth)

Next up:  Take A Break

  

DLR LotD 12/20/18

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, December 20, 2018

"I didn't used to like this ride, but I think I like it now because now I know how to swim." -- Miss O, on It's a Small World Holiday

Happy 9th Birthday, Miss O!

Ah, Belle!

Beauty and the Beast

5-Star Theatricals

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

Saturday, July 21, 2018

My friend Jeff posted on Facebook that Susan Egan would be reprising her role as Belle in Beauty and the Beast one day, and as soon as I saw the post, I alerted Bro and V.  Very soon after that moment, tickets were purchased.  BatB is one of Bro's and my favorite musicals, and Susan is my favorite Belle, so we HAD to go!  

Due to some car trouble I'd been having this week, I took a lyft to Bro's house.  My driver was very friendly.  When I arrived and rang the doorbell, Bro answered the door. Not seeing a car in the driveway, he asked how I got there.  I told him and he said I should just take lyft everywhere so I could have a driver and never have to worry about my own car.  Well, there's a thought!  After curling Miss O's hair (V's first time using a curling iron!), and Mr. B changing his shorts to pants, we were on our way to Thousand Oaks.

We had lunch at Umami burger, which was yummiful.  I had an Impossible Burger for the first time and enjoyed it, so if I see that as an option on hamburger menus, that just might be my new go-to healthy option.  

The theater was located on the same block as the restaurant, so that was convenient!  We did need to drive to the parking structure because of the time limit of the street parking, though.  Bro had his two Beauty and the Beast jackets, so V wore one over her fancy dress.

Our seats were in row L, in the center of the row, so it was a nice view.  The theater is quite nice, and I hope to see other shows there someday.

• Patrick Cassidy (yes, of THAT family!) took the stage and introduced himself as the Artistic Director of 5-star Theatricals.  He talked about the arts program and how thrilled he was that Susan Egan would be reprising her role after 20 years in this production.  I was loud with my appreciation.  He also stated that all of the performances throughout the run were dedicated to Gary Beach, whom was in the OBC as Lumiere, and had passed away this week.
• As soon as I saw Susan Egan, my eyes started to well up with tears.  Ah, Belle!
• Those tears happened a few times, especially when she sang my favorite piece from this musical: "Home".  She still sounds wonderful!  I do not know why it is called "Is This Home?" in the program.
• Also, during "No Matter What".  This song always makes me cry anyway because of the love between Belle and her father, but I think it was bittersweet for me because it made me think of Tom Bosley, and I miss him.   This is not to take away from David Gilchrist's Maurice; he did a great job.
• Jason Chacon did a lovely job as Beast.  He has a beautiful voice and it matched well with Susan's.
• Adam Hollick was hilariously evil as Gaston.  I've always loved "Me" and he and Susan were quite funny together.  Also, he's buff.  I mean, hubba hubba.  It's no wonder those silly girls were so crazy for him.  But Belle knows better.
• "A Change In Me" is a new song to me, which was APPARENTLY added when Brandy took the lead role on Broadway.  
• When the villagers arrived to take Maurice to the Maison des Lunes, Belle was supposed to stand on a bench to show the magic mirror to all of them.  But the bench fell on its side.  She said, "AUGH!", but it was a perfect moment because her character was frustrated with everyone anyway.
• Cogsworth was supposed to have a winding key on his back when Lumiere noticed that he was turning more into a clock, but it wasn't there.  Then a few minutes later after he had gone off stage and come back, the key was there.  Then it somehow got lost again later.  Props can be a pain.  I was worried that the snafus would also affect the transformation, but it was ok.
• I also enjoyed the performances of the secondary characters: Mark Ginsburg (Lumiere), Gregory North (Cogsworth), and Daisy Bishop (understudy for Mrs. Potts).  They worked well together, and were fun to watch.
• The dancing was fun, especially my favorite dance piece: the stein clinking portion of "Gaston".  I teared up a little bit, though, when Lumiere danced with Belle, as I thought of Gary Beach.

After the show, we were treated to a Q&A with the cast, director Yvette Lawrence, music director Dan Redfeld, and choreographer Cheryl Baxter.  This was the only show for which they did this, so we were happy to attend.  (We had also been invited to a little reception before the show with a couple of the actors, but weren't able to make it to that).  

Yvette Lawrence, Susan Egan,
Jason Chacon, and David Gilchrist

• Yvette Lawrence also played Belle at the Shubert Theatre in LA, so she and Susan kept reminding each other of Belle's nuances during rehearsals.
• Adam Hollick's muscles are real and he works out a lot.  
• Jason Chacon kind of got into performing by accident, and soon realized when he had the lowest voice in his class that he could get meaty roles like Beast.

What a great experience for Mr. B's first theatrical show, and for Miss O to hear in person the woman whose song, "Home" she used to listen to every day on the way home from school.  I told Miss O that when I met Susan Egan, I told her about Miss O singing her song, and she was astonished and wished her own kids knew the song.  I also remembered that SE taught me how to take a selfie.

So here you are, in honor of Ms. Egan, a selfie with my halo-halo from later that afternoon.

A Roommate, A Doctor, and A Gentleman

WhedonCon - Day 3

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Marriott - Woodland Hills

Bro and family had plans for the day, so I left their house earlier than I originally scheduled, and Dodie met up with me before the Sunnydale Mall opened.  Since we couldn't go shopping yet and both of us had already eaten breakfast, we wandered around the first floor of the Marriott.  They had a chess team to their decor.

Big Chess Pieces

Wall decor

We saw that one of the first panels of the morning was a panel regarding monsters and makeup, with James Leary (BTVS' Clem) and Camden Toy (multiple BTVS characters, including one of the Gentlemen).  James hadn't quite arrived yet, so the makeup artists (both had been on the show "Face Off") interviewed Camden by himself. Camden's father was also an actor, and when Camden showed an interest in the makeup box, encouraged him and they played with the makeup all of the time.  So when Camden became an actor, he had no problem with the different kinds of makeup they would use, or the amount of time it would take them to do it.  Camden was told that he needed to leave, but he was really liking the discussion, and hung around for a few more minutes, even after James finally arrived.  I really enjoyed this discussion, and it made me even more excited about our scheduled activity for the afternoon.

Leary, Toy, and Makeup Artists

Leary and Toy

James Leary was hilarious.  He showed up late because he didn't realize he had a panel to attend, and asked for coffee.  He didn't seem to need coffee as he was knocking over the water pitcher, and was pretty excitable, though.  The panel moderators asked the same questions of James that they had with Camden.  Next time we come to the Con and James is there, I'll make sure to go to at least one of his panels.

We then attended the panel "The Science of ...WHEDON!"  Panel members were brainy guys who taught science ranging from elementary school to CalTech.  The lady sitting next to Dodie really should have been the moderator or something because she almost took control of the whole thing with her loud statements.  I moved over because a very tall guy sat in the seat in front of me, and also because I was self-conscious sitting so close to her, because everybody turned to look at her for half of the session.  At least it was a small room.  I was grateful for the elementary school teacher, because he would draw while the others were talking so that we could visualize what they were discussing.  It was basically a Q&A with audience members asking questions like colonizing other planets if we use up Earth's resources, as well as how Thanos' Infinity Stones powers worked.  

Science of Whedon panel

We were hungry and went to Starbucks to get something to eat.  As we were waiting for our orders, a woman asked if we wanted to attend the Sunday luncheon because she had some extra wristbands.  OK!  We still ate our food because we didn't want it to get cold, and still needed to wait a few minutes after that before going inside, so I'm glad we ate.  

The Sunday Luncheon was in one of the hotel meeting rooms, and we sat down at one of the tables.  Dagney Kerr (BTVS Kathy) arrived first, and decided to sit by us.  I introduced myself and reached out my hand, but she had just washed hers and knew we'd be eating soon, so she offered to hug me instead.  Then later we heard the rules of No Photos, No Autographs, No Touchies, and No Selfies.  Oops.  Dagney confessed to hugging me and we were told it was OK for them to initiate as long as they had consent.  So no, I don't have any pictures from this event.  Dagney was really cool to talk to, and she is currently a playwright, but still does acting here and there.  She said that she really likes this Con because it's small and she doesn't get overwhelmed by the amount of people.  She hadn't eaten all day yesterday, though, so event organizers need to squeeze in some meal time for them next year.  This day was OK because of the luncheon, but she couldn't eat the sandwiches because of the meat in them.

Then came time for them to switch.  I was hoping that Sean Maher (Firefly's Dr. Simon) would come to our table even though he had arrived a few minutes late. He did!  Because he was late, he wasn't present when they handed out free keychains of the Mutant Enemy logo, which was on wood, just like the pin I had purchased on Friday.  I gave him mine, and he initially refused to take it, saying he would get one, but I insisted, so he took it and thanked me.  If Sean hadn't already portrayed my favorite character of the Firefly series, he would have quickly become my favorite that day.  He talked about his family and living in Michigan, and the show he is trying to develop.  I'm not going to say what it is, but I offered him the name of the series, and he liked it.  I even said he didn't need to pay me for the name.  Yes, Sean gave me a little hug, too.  I was so happy!

We couldn't stay to meet with Andrew Ferchland (BTVS' The Annointed One) or Gigi Edgley (Farscape's Chiana), because we had an event scheduled.  I'm disappointed that we weren't able to be present for the group picture, but I have these nice memories.  I keep hoping that they'll post some of the candids from the event, but I haven't seen any yet.

We then went across the hallway to another meeting room to make a Gentleman Doll with Camden Toy!   Yes, Camden was going to make one, too!  A couple of the gals from our table at the luncheon also attended this one.  We didn't have enough time to finish our dolls, so they gave us the rest of the materials we needed to complete them.  Camden got really involved in making his doll, and asked if he could get his materials, too.  They said they were going to give him a finished one, which he happily accepted, but I think he also wanted to finish his doll anyway.  That was fun!  I need to find time to finish all of these crafts!  

Cute!

We sat outside the next panel room for a little while and I people-watched as Andrew F came by and attended the panel.  I love that!  It was some kind of writers' panel, and he knew one of them.  We went inside, too, because we wanted to have seats for the Sean Maher Q&A, which was taking place right after that one.

Sean did talk about a little of the same stuff he talked about during the luncheon, but mostly received questions about his career.

• On what revival of a series would you want to be?
• Besides Firefly?
• Sean's favorite Simon line (mine, too!):
• "This must be what going mad feels like."
• Sean's advice to his younger self:
• "Fail.  Be imperfect.  I'm a recovering perfectionist."

Sean and moderator Ian

Sean Maher

We went shopping so we could get more Buffy bubblegum:  they're little stakes!  I bought some tea, too.  

We attended the Closing Ceremonies and were told that next year's WhedonCon will be closer to LAX to be more convenient for the guests.  We would also have a discount for next year if we signed up before the end of the month, and it would include a couple of perks.  Then we sang the "WhedonCon" song with The Fallen Stars again before we adjourned.

Dodie left before me because she had an appointment, but we both bought tickets to next year already.  We had a great time!

Thank you, WhedonCon, for a fantastic weekend!

DLR LotD 12/09/17

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Saturday, December 9, 2017

"Well, he *could* scream...I mean he has a mouth, but I don't know." -- Miss O, at Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Tita and Me Day 2017

Sing Out Strong

Even though Miss O had already seen "Sing" the night before, she agreed to help her Tita Sherry with an early birthday celebration by seeing it again with her family.  Thank you, Miss O!

Or should I call her Miss Moana?

• Proofreading is important.
• I liked most of the main characters, but Mike the mouse got on my nerves.  I like Seth MacFarlane, but I just couldn't feel anything nice for him because he was such a jerk.  He sang wonderfully, though.
• Buster drove me a little crazy, too.
• My favorite character was Taron Egerton's gorilla, Johnny.  I loved his soulfulness, and his story.  I also loved his voice.
• Those dancing squid walls were awesome.
• Loved the way Ash's quills shot out at everyone during her song.
• I enjoyed all of the performances at the end, especially Rosita and Gunter's dance.  
• I cried a few times.  How can I not cry when it's a movie about singing from your heart, and living your dreams?  I mean, come on!  
• Johnny's dad escaping to see him made me just lose it and I was sobbing.  Ah, that feeling of when your parent is proud of you!
• I need the deluxe soundtrack to this movie. 

After the movie, we had Fluff Ice for lunch.  YUM.

Bananaman with my Fluff:
Taro Fluff with mochi, red beans, and
condensed milk

DLR LotD 12/22/16

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, December 22, 2016

"I feel bad for myself when I was little, because this is a fun place." -- Miss O, on It's A Small World Holiday

Sooo different from DLR LotD 12/30/12

PusherPix 12/19/16

PusherPix
Monday, December 19, 2016

7 years ago today, Miss O was born.  One month later, she met Bananaman.  

Happy Birthday, Miss O!  Your Tita loves you very much.  Even more than she loves Bananaman.

I'm Gettin' Pella for Christmas

Rockapella at Pepperdine

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts - Smothers Theatre

Malibu, CA

After a morning of baking and preparing goody bags for the guys, I still had time to get pretty before Wendy and Jeff arrived.  Well, I was mostly pretty, just putting on some finishing touches.  I had received a text from Rudy 20 minutes earlier, saying that he was in Chino Hills.   Wendy said, "He's not going to make it."  I don't know why she thought that when we had 6 hours before the show.  He was there about 10 minutes after she had given up on him.  We were still at my house, and all was good, so they helped me carry the goody bags to the car and we made our way to Malibu.

I told the guard at the entrance that we were dropping off something at Smothers Theatre, and she gave me a token for the parking lot.  We briefly contemplated just finding a place to eat on campus and leaving the car in the lot, but we didn't.  I asked the folks at the box office if I could give them or the house manager the bags, and they said I could leave them there and they would get delivered.   I also picked up my will call tickets.  They had trouble finding my tickets but were able to print them on the spot.  Technology worked!  Yay!  JT arrived as we left the theater.  HI!

We walked around campus for a little bit and talked about the Battle of the Network Stars and its role in helping me choose Pepperdine as my school when I pursued my Masters degree.  We enjoyed the view of the Pacific Ocean until we got hungry and decided to go to dinner.  We saw that some students were setting up the plaza around the Christmas Tree, and they said that there was a social function taking place there later that evening.  We figured maybe we could check it out if we got back early for the show.  

Weff chilling in Malibu

Sher and Roo chilling, too

While walking to my car, the guys pointed out to me that there were spots reserved for Rockapella cast and crew.  Hey, that could be us!  Kinda.  Well, I figured I should at least take a picture with the sign.  So I moved my car and JeffEvs took this picture.  Yes, I'm well aware that the school colors are my least favorite combination of colors EVER.  There is a reason you don't see me wearing Waves gear very often.

I usually like to go to Coogie's before a show at Pepperdine, but the restaurant is now called Ollo, even though it is still owned by the same people that own Coogie's.  Whoa, it looks really different.  First of all, there's a bar.  They had closed for 6 months to remodel the place, and it looks swanky now, instead of the homey, beachy feel of Coogie's.  The menu is Farm to Table fresh.  I changed my mind about my order about 5 times before I finally chose the Seared Sea Scallops with cumin, basil oil, bacon mashed potatoes, and spinach.  It was delicious!  I wish that I had some bread to sop up the oil, and somehow refrained from just picking up the plate and licking it off.

Rudy and JeffEvs ordered drinks, which made a nice backdrop for GingerGeorge and Scotcherbreadman to pose for a photo.  Rudy liked his drink, but later ordered the Spice Cabinet Margarita, which he really enjoyed.  JeffEvs ordered the Watermelon Lust, which he also enjoyed. I think everyone really liked their meals, so I'm glad we went there instead of some place on campus.

We had fun with our server, whom decided that whatever we ordered, he would just say that we ordered margaritas.  I don't know why because I was still changing my mind about my order at the time.  When it came time for dessert, Rudy told him that he was allergic to kiwi and asked if it could be taken out of the panna cotta.  The server checked with the chef and told Rudy that it was mixed in with the other fruit.  Rudy ordered it anyway and told him that he's not actually allergic, just doesn't like it.  The server threatened to have the chef double the kiwi.  When the dessert came, Rudy took one bite of his, then tried mine, and asked if he could change his.  I don't know why he just didn't avoid the panna cotta in the first place.  The server was appropriately snarky with Rudy while I was mortified. This whole exchange inspired a new band name, though, which is always a plus: Sarcastic Kiwis.  Anyway, here's a picture of my yummy dessert, the butterscotch creme de pot.

When we had finally taken up as much time as possible without being totally irritating to the restaurant staff, we returned to campus for the show.  We still had a little bit of time and checked out the plaza, but some of us didn't feel right about crashing the student party even though the folks setting it up had told us to return.  So we sat on very heavy wooden chairs and chatted until Bro informed me that he had arrived.  Bro and V were able to bring the kids because Jenn and Katie had both dropped out due to illness.  As I was saying hi to all of them, who should come up to me but my dear friend Gordon!  Gordon was the first friend that Angela and I made while standing in line for a Rockapella show.   I don't know what show it was, but it was very early on in PellaPusher years.  He was even wearing his Rockapella varsity jacket that I love.  He said that he was hanging out with the band before the show.  I asked him later where they went to lunch, and he said Wahoo's.  How am I NOT surprised?  

GORDON!!!!!

We did some ticket exchanging so that the family could all sit together, and I sat by Rudy in row G.  Thank you, Dodie, for allowing for this to happen!  Let me tell you right now that I don't like being so far away from the stage when Rockapella is there, even though our seats weren't bad.  It didn't help that my original seat in row B was still a little bit farther than I would have liked because there was so much space between the stage and row A.  But I was happy to sit by Rudy because we hadn't sat together at a Pella show for a very long time.  Besides, I knew that I'd be in the front row later in the week, so it was all good.  Linda arrived and introduced us to her sister, Diane, whom was attending her first Rockapella show.  They sat behind me and Rudy.  Dodie was on the other side of the theater, sitting by KP and Nicole, in Jenn's seat.  We all finally settled down to watch the show.

Wait. I need a picture of the stage first.

SUN BROTHERS

I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas

Here we are, sitting in our seats, all mellow, listening to the dulcet tunes of the Sun Bros, and lo and behold, the lyrics to the new song turn out to be based on this year's presidential election. "I said Obama's from elsewhere...(Somebody snitched on me) / I said a ferret was my hair...I wrote in Gary Johnson's name...I know that Hill will win the same..." Scott forgot a line somewhere in there, I think because he was laughing. Something something "authenticity".  The line "now I'm Mister President" had a reaction of silence, then boos.  The song was mashed up with Michael Jackson's "Bad", and I laughed at the background lyrics of "Can I get a tic tac?"  Oh, Scott Leonard, I love you and your wit.

Rudy's reaction to Bryant:  DANG!

ROCKAPELLA

I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day

I miss you, Steve.  I was like this when I first heard Steve sing because I missed Kevin, too.  It's just that the first notes I want to hear at the start of a Rockapella Holiday concert are the ones from the lead's voice, you know?  The one that I last heard, at least.  I actually still miss Kevin's voice on this song because it's the one on the CD.  

BTW, Steve is now listed as "Guests" on the official site.  That's just a whole other blog post and I need to hash that all out in my head first, so....yeah.

Scott introduced himself as Hermie the Dentist.

Hope We Hold

The harmonies were a little off.  Oh, Hi, Mitch!  Nice to see him smile over at me.  Maybe.  Well, at least in my general direction.

Scott loves California.  We love you, too!  

Scott: How many are celebrating Hanukkah this year?

(Response from several people)

Scott:  That's about ten times more than we had in Texas for three days.

Dreidel

Mitch was all crazy.

Scott (spontaneously after the song was done):  HANUKKAH!

Silver Bells

Bryant tried to get in on the action, and the tenors finally let him join.  I don't think they ever let George join.  Scott stopped the music with some hip action.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

There's my whistle!  

Glow Worm

Jeff tapped Scott's butt during his face drumming solo.  

Scott: Thank you, Jeff, for your sound effects.  It's a good thing you have a beard.  Of course, when you have a beard, it gets hard on those hands.

Walkin' in A Winter Wonderland

I love that when the guys copy Scott's steps at the end, they also slapped their own butts then walked funny.

Scott:  We have a brand new group of guys.  Mitch was filling in for us in Branson and Laguna.  He was subbing then, but then we said, "you be sounding good, you look so fine, will you join the group?" 

Scott then introduced the next song as a mix of McCartney and Tchaikovsky.

Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

Nice.  The next time I'm in this theater, I'll be hearing Tchaikovsky again, watching the niece in "The Nutcracker"!

Scott started to talk about growing up watching "Rudolph" on TV.  Somebody cheered.

Scott: You grew up, too, I love it.  We all grew up.  

Scott:  If you missed that thing, you missed it.  I would sit there and wait from 3:00, no bathroom break, that's it....I now have Rudolph.com.  Nothing's been happening for about 40 years. (Talks about the scientific possibility of a red-nosed reindeer).  So there, all you naysayers, all you haters.  Don't throw that at me, I'll take you down.

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

Mitch showed off his stanky leg.  Bryant was getting down during the V formation.

Calvin: (Yes, Calvin talked!!!)  I came from a really large family.  Christmas would be like American Idol. We'd all sing, and my uncle would be like Simon Cowell (thumbs down).

Cal dedicated the next song to his wife.

Merry Christmas, Darling

Scott introduced their new bass, Bryant:  That truly basso profundo voice doesn't come every day.  He's in high demand, singing with Vocalosity and VocaPeople, but we snagged him for California.

Scott, about Jeff doing everything that requires intelligence: He holds all the money.  We're always short.  What's the deal?

JT: Your shortness is not my problem.

Scott:  Ouch.  I've let you abuse my bottom, and now to my face.  We'll see where it goes from there.

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

I like this song, but I miss my favorite original Rockapella song that they used to do in this part of the show.

Christmas, Don't Be Late

Calvin did the hula hoop motion for Bryant.

Scott:  Me, I want a recount, please.  (Big laughs and cheers from the audience)

<Intermission>

Bro asked me if the sound was bass-heavy or was it due to his being near the speakers.  I didn't think it sounded like that from my seat.  He also asked me if Mitch was looking at me or him, but I only paid attention when MR looked at me, so I don't know.

Sibs

Jingle Bell Rock

HO!  Bryant: "Get your ding dong".  Did they always sing that?

Scott:  Oh my goodness.  That was a little...a little stupid.

Calvin really knows his steps now (I'm thinking of when he first joined the group and was concentrating on the notes so much that he hardly danced).

Please Come Home For Christmas

Nice catch, Scott!

Scott: Malibu is ready for Kwanzaa.

Matunda Ya Kwanzaa

Nice bass performance, Bryant!

Scott said to a woman in the front row, Samantha: You are tickled by me.  I hate it when we get a shy one.

Samantha said that she's from California.

Scott: I could tell.  What do you do?

Samantha: I rock and roll.

Samantha said that she doesn't sing, but she does dance.  Oh, boy, and she did.  So much so that Mitch clearly didn't know what to do.  Calvin motioned for him to go over and sing to her, but as soon as he sang his line, he went back downstage.  They looked frightened.  I was frightened. Jeff did some hip checks with her.  There was a lot of confusion, especially from me because I'm not used to JT dancing with the girl on stage during this part.  Or perhaps because I thought to myself, "Should have picked my niece.  WHAT was he thinking?"

Bryant: My favorite part of singing with these gentlemen is looking out and seeing all of the smiling faces.

Grinch

Go, BV!!!

Scott:  I didn't know you had that much aggression in you, Bryant.

Auld Lang Syne

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Go, Mitch!  That was nice.

Scott and Cal pointed to each other during the slide show.

Angels We Have Heard On High

Bryant needs to conduct the audience more for the participation portion.  

Scott said that they were going to Tracy, and we cheered:  Road trip to Tracy!

Encore

All I Want for Christmas Is You

Samantha stood up and danced.  Girl, there are people behind you that would like to watch the show.  Did she not think we had watched enough of her before?

Rockapella sang on the Carmen show for 59 years, according to Scott.

Carmen / Billie Jean

Go, Mitch, with your MJ kick!  

Hold Out for Christmas (off mic)

Meet and Greet

Jeff walked through the lobby door, came up to me, hugged me, and said, "I could hear you cackling out there."

Sher: Somewhere out there.  Sorry I'm so loud.

JT: No, You're perfect, you're perfect!  It kept me going!

Aw, thanks, JT.  When did this become a thing?  I didn't have to hunt him down to greet him.  He found me.  What?!

With the newbie

Calvin told JeffEvs that they went to Wahoo's for lunch.  JeffEvs informed him that it is a local chain.  I love getting hugs from all of the guys, but Cal's seem to be the tightest. He's such a sweetie.

His hugs make me smile this way

Mitch gave me a bunch of hugs and I told him I was glad to see him (last time I saw him I wondered if I'd ever see him again, and he hopefully said, "I'm going to say yes.  Yes.  I WILL see you again").  I introduced him to Rudy and Rudy mentioned Steve.  I said that Mitch and I have already talked about that, he knows I love seeing him, and we're good.  Mitch nodded in agreement.  Rudy asked if I went to Disneyland with Mitch and MR gave Cal a hard time again, especially about Tower of Terror.  Cal: Why did you have to mention that again?  They're so darn funny.

Mitch and Sher

Yay!  She took a picture with the guys!

I said hi to Bryant, and he said, "I saw the writing on the bag and said, 'Dammit!  I know who that's from!  And I bet there are 90 cookies in that bag.  DAMMIT!"  You're welcome, BV.  Bryant said that he had three weeks to learn the music.  Yeah, but you're a pro!

I waved to Scott as he talked to other people.  KP said that once Fred arrived and started talking to her, Scott looked at the two of them and said, "I'm going to go say hi to Sherry."  Aw, sweet.  His first words to me as he hugged me: "Thank you for the cookies."  I told him that their videos have been getting me through the last couple of months.  "Because I don't love you enough already, you go and make those videos and make me love you more.  Because (I mouthed the actual words) WTF?!?"  He laughed and said, "Yeah, I knew it would go over well in California, but didn't know about Texas.  They were OK with it, but probably only because he won.  If he had lost, they probably wouldn't have liked it at all."  I told him that I got a promotion and he congratulated me.  He kept yawning and I asked if he was tired.  He said it was 2 AM for him.  I told him I"m not used to them coming over the day before the show, but maybe they just wanted to get adjusted to the time.  Or leave Texas.  He smiled.  Gordon came over to talk to us and I told Scott that Gordon was my first friend in line at a Rockapella show, 19 years ago.  Wow.  That was a long time ago.  

I love the color of his shirt

As we were saying our good nights, JT asked, "Are you coming to the San Francisco show?"   Um, yeah, if he means "Tracy".  We told them all to travel safely and would see them on Friday.

We took a different route home than we did on our way there because I don't like driving winding roads at night.  On the way, Rudy learned that Rockapella had made a third Christmas CD.  I told him I'd get one for him in Tracy.  But I forgot.  Sorry, Rudy.

You know what I don't like?  Having to go to work the day after a Rockapella show.  Because, like, I'm tired, and I can't blog before I go to bed, and this had to wait several days.  Sorry for the delay, Posse.

Next up:  Pella at Tracy, CA