Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Lights! Music! Ice!!!

Stars On Ice
Honda Ponda
Anaheim, CA
Saturday, May 12, 2018

Yes, I know that's not the actual name of the venue, but that's what I call it, so there you go.

When I heard that the 2018 Olympians would be participating in Stars On Ice, and they would be performing on a day I was actually available in May, I knew I had to go.  Who better to bring with me than my mom on Mother's Day weekend?  I couldn't leave out my dad, of course.  The rest of the family had an early dinner with us for our Mother's Day celebration, then we headed out to Anaheim for the show.  Parking took a while, as did the line to enter the building, so this is a note to self:  pay for premium parking next time, especially if Mom doesn't have her placard to park in disabled spaces.  (She was OK, but I felt bad because the parking was far).  The lines were so long that they delayed the start time for a few minutes.  We made it to our seats during the opening number.

Our seats were in section 222, row S, seats 4-6, so we had a good view.  I wasn't as cold as I thought I would be.  Isn't this the same ice they use for hockey games?  Because I'm cold at those, even when I'm wearing a couple of layers of clothing.  I wasn't sure I would get any good pictures, but I did!  So my thoughts are interspersed with captions in the photos below.

Karen Chen skating to "Never Enough"
from "The Greatest Showman"

Mom wasn't familiar with Karen Chen because she wasn't
in the top groups that aired on NBC.  Mom also hadn't
watched the other skating competitions this year, I guess.

I wasn't able to get a good picture of Jason Brown performing his Hamilton routine.
  He fell at one point, but it matched the lyrics so well that it seemed deliberate.  

Mirai!!!  I'm glad that she and Adam still tour with SOI
even though they're currently dancing on "Dancing With the Stars".

Her confidence shows now as she does Queen's "Body Language",
as well as later on, with "No Good Deed" from "Wicked".
She was wearing a cape from the latter, but took it off soon after
she started.  I didn't get any good shots during that piece.

One of the gals in my row commented that she didn't do a triple axel
when the announcer had just called her "The Triple Axel Queen".
Girl, do you realize that she needs to TRAIN to do that, and
she's kind of training for a dance competition on the days she's not performing?

Maia and Alex Shibutani performing "That's Life",
by Frank Sinatra and Jay-Z

I love the Shib Sibs!  This is the piece they performed
during the gala events this year, and it's fun to watch.

Bradie Tennell in the group number "Dream",
sung by Priscilla Ahn

She's such a pretty ballerina in this piece.

Mirai in "Dream"

Spin, spin, spin, spin!
Beautiful laybacks from Karen, Mirai, Bradie, and Ashley


Adam Rippon after performing "Remedy" by Adele

He is LOVED, and deservedly so.
 
I also like the shadow effect on the ice.

Bradie performing her long competition program,
 "Cinderella" by Patrick Doyle

Before every performance that they had done for competition,
each athlete was shown on the big screen,
talking about their Olympic experience.  Nice touch.

Nathan Chen performing "Back from the Edge" by James Arthur

I like this music!  Very fitting for him.

Aw, look how happy he is when he bows for the fans!

Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue perform their
competition program "Across the Sky / Caught Out in the Rain"
by Ring ' n' Bone / Beth Hart

I like this action shot.  I couldn't get a shot of their
sexy vibe, but it was sexy!

Ashley Wagner, mid-jump,
performing "I Am Here" by Pink

Oh, that's why the lights on the ice were pink!  Duh.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White performing
"Hold My Hand" by Jess Glynne

They are just the BEST!  

Group number: "Shape of You"

I loved this piece.  They were all so cute with each other,
at times trading partners, and look!
Nathan and Ashley are dancing together!  


I have a ton more pictures of these two during this piece
because they were in front of us and just so darn cute!

Boys watching girls talking

May I have this dance?
(Sorry I cut you out of the picture, Zach!)

Yes, but only if you dip me!

Jason Brown performing Justin Timberlake's
"Can't Stop the Feeling"

He has sooo much fun out there.  Here he is doing "the worm".

I love his energy, and his smile, and his skating.

Guys doing group number of "Feel It Still"
by Portugal. The Man

Dig their hats!

Adam is back, slaying "Let Me Think About It"
by Ida Corr vs. Freddie Le Grand

I mean, come on!  He killed it, and we ate it up.

The Shib Sibs, performing their competition piece,
"Fix You / Paradise" by Coldplay

Mid Twizzle shot!  Their forte.

Meryl and Charlie performing Sia's "Elastic Heart"
The red sash around her waist was actually quite long and wide,
and they folded it different ways.
  I could totally see this as a color guard thing in drum corps.

Nathan performing his competition piece, ironically named
"Nemesis" by Benjamin Clementine.

I love this shot because it shows off his balletic training.
I mean, how do you point your toes in skates?

Mid Quad (Toe?) from the Quad King

Last number: "You Will Be Found" from
"Dear Evan Hansen"

I love this song!  

Meryl and Charlie had the most time in the spotlight,
of course!

Ooh, rainbow of spotlights!

Bye, Stars!

Thank you for the great show!!!

I waved back at them even though they weren't waving at me.
I'm such a dork sometimes.  OK, a lot of times.
I purchased a program because they were out of the Nathan Chen autographed photo.  That's OK, because I'd like for him to personalize it, although I don't know when that will ever happen.  I thought of getting Mirai's, because ARCADIA!   But I figured the same thing above about Nathan's autograph.  I would love to meet them, and I'd probably gush all over the place.  Oh, from the ShibSibs, too!  And Meryl and Charlie!  Do you now see why I ended up not buying any?

I liked all of the music they used.  We had a great time, and although it was a long walk back to the car, my parents were troopers and still drove home that night after we returned to my place.  

Thanks for the fun, Mom and Dad!


Friday, May 4, 2018

DLR LotD 05/04/18

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Friday, May 4, 2018

"Please sacrifice your tauntaun to my wampa." -- Katie, to Cindy, at Star Trader

Happy Star Wars Day!


DLR LotD 05/03/18

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, May 3, 2018

"I eat Darth Vader's head." -- Sherry, at Rancho del Zocalo

Licking the Dark Side
at Disneyland After Dark

DLR LotD 04/29/18

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Sunday, April 29, 2018

"If you have another hour to wait, I can get you a drink to go, ma'am." -- Server Anthony, to Sherry, at Wine Country Trattoria

Team Dig Dugs with their long-awaited drinks
after MouseAdventure Under Construction

Saturday, April 28, 2018

To Infinity! Beyond?

It's Avengers Time again!  My friends and I assembled at the El Capitan Theater for "Avengers: Infinity War", although we weren't all sitting together this time.

Marquee

Poster

Stage


I was seated between two pairs of guys: the pair on my right was very excited throughout the movie and were quite emotional at the end.  The pair on my left arrived just before the movie started, and left during the movie to go to the restroom, probably because they didn't have time beforehand.  But, of course, they left during one of the few quiet moments and there isn't much leg room so that was kind of distracting.  But I digress.  
  • The title of the movie has the word "war" on it, so you know there will be death.  The first one in the movie was very, very soon, and showed that they were not going to be kidding around with eliminating characters.  It also gave us all a reason to despise Thanos in case you didn't already dislike him for killing people all over the universe for whatever reason.  Overpopulation?  Getting rid of the bad genes?  Something.
  • The "natural" makeup on the human characters, especially Pepper and Cap, was a little much, not because they wore more than usual, but probably because of the high definition.  
  • "I'm going to allow that."
  • "Well, I swore off dairy and then Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me."
  • "Earth is closed today."
  • How does one just stick a new eye in like that?  That's some crazy tech.
  • "Why has she been up there this whole time?"
  • That Iron Man suit!  That Spidey suit!  WOW.
  • Groot plays Defender!
  • "He's not a dude.  You're a dude.  This is a MAN."
  • "Stop massaging his muscles."
  • Does Thor not know the difference between a rabbit and a raccoon?  I mean, I know he didn't grow up on Earth, but still.
  • "I'll do you one better.  WHY is Gamora?"
  • "We kick names and take ass."
  • Ebony Maw reminded me of Voldemort because he didn't have a nose.
  • I think Pepper is pregnant.
  • DINKLAGE!!!!!  I love that he's a gigantic dwarf.
  • Fun to see the way they individually came out from the wormhole thingies, attacking Thanos on Titan.
  • "Get this man a shield!"
  • "The Olympics, maybe even a Starbucks."
  • Fury's last word: priceless.
We went downstairs to check out the costumes.

Cap with his new (divided) shield and
Bucky with his awesome Wakandan arm

Falcon and Cap

Just Cap

Guardians

Rabbit Rocket

Gamora and Nebula

Drax and Mantis

Starlord and Friends

Thor and Loki

Fe Dude

Infinity Gauntlet

Many, many people were excited throughout the movie, and I enjoyed it.  Yet, with all of the emotional stuff that happened, I didn't cry.  Not even once.  I don't know if I was just not feeling that day, or if there were too many storylines to follow, but it didn't make me as excited as the others in the audience.

I do want to see it in IMAX because of the visuals, though.  Maybe I'll have a different response if that happens.  I do love the standee for it, though.  I took this picture in Ontario where I saw "Ready Player One".  



Sunday, April 22, 2018

A Cappella In A Cupcake

m-pact
Beckman Auditorium at CalTech
Saturday, April 21, 2018

My friends and I saw m-pact at DCA last year, and said they'd be willing to see them in a full show someday.  I had seen them previously, but not this current iteration.  As soon as I saw them post on twitter that they'd be in Pasadena, I rounded up the posse.  Well, a couple of them couldn't make it, so the Posse Personnel changed a bit, but all was good as everyone in attendance is already an a cappella fan.  I'm glad the tickets weren't going to be wasted.


With the 2 Substitutes

Linda, Bro, and I arrived early and got good parking (thanks, Varez family!), and wandered around a little bit before going inside to see the show.  

Pool between Beckman Auditorium
and Beckman Institute


Wisteria is so much prettier than ivy!

The Polyhedron of 432 Symmetry Fountain

A hawk landed on a tree nearby and
perched for a short time before
flying away in dramatic fashion

We went inside, and Bro's ticket indicated that he should go through another door because he was on the other half of our row, but he was feeling rebellious and went through our door anyway.  Our seats were in row D, Seats 201-209, house left of center.  The house never did fill up completely, but I would say it was about half full.  That's a shame, because this is a quite talented group, and people are missing out!  

I did not take notes during the performance, so here's what I could remember.


  • Nice opening with the Beatles' "Come Together"!  They won a Contemporary A Cappella Recording Artist (CARA) award for it this year for Best R&B Song.  Well deserved, guys!
  • Jeff welcomed us to being inside a giant cupcake.
The Ceiling

  • "Whoo!!!" is acceptable as meaning, "I'm having a great time tonight and I'm ready for more." (or something like that).
  • I'm not a big Miles Davis fan (I think he's way talented, just not my thang), but their rendition of "All Blues" was awesome, especially Aaron's trumpet. I mean, WHAT?!  Amazing.
  • Hmmm...they took The Flintstones out of their TV medley.  This one included theme songs from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, I Love Lucy, The Muppet Show, The Jetsons, and The Jeffersons.
  • "My Funny Valentine" was gorgeous, as always.
  • Love the "stinnnnng" during "My Favorite Things."  Also, those chords! 
  • Wow, Drew sings high.  So different from his stuff at Disneyland as a Dapper Dan, and his "Human Nature" was my favorite of many songs he beautifully sang during the evening.
  • Absolutely loved "Just The Two of Us", sung by Jamond and Tracy.  It started off with Tracy singing a bit, and Jamond approving, and Bro and I wondering what the heck they were going to sing...then us recognizing the chords but still not knowing what the song was going to be...then total realization, and aahhhhhh!  Our side of the house rocked the audience participation of singing the bass line.    Halfway through the song, I thought, "and it's being sung by only TWO of them!  Perfect!"
  • I love Tracy's mellow bass sound.
  • The gal sitting next to Bro was way excited, and I wondered if that's what I look like during Rockapella shows.  But I'm usually surrounded by my friends so I don't stick out TOO much, but maybe I'm obnoxious.  Sorry, people, I can't help loving my boys!  Oh, right, this is about m-pact.
  • I've never heard that "Guillotine" song before, but I like it!
  • I was happy every time they sang a Stevie Wonder song.  Oh, "I Just Called to Say I Love You"!  Memories of my teenage years camping with my family abound.
  • I almost couldn't look at Andy sometimes because he reminds me of my ex-boyfriend, and I would imagine that guy singing instead, and then I remembered that he doesn't sing as well as Andy.  Then I'd snap back into reality and there was Andy, singing beautifully!
  • That drum solo was long, awesome, and deserving of the standing ovation my friends gave him.  I wanted to get up but was afraid my skirt would fly up with me and I'd flash the folks seated behind me.
  • I liked the ways they played with the microphones to make different effects with their sound.
  • The group's sound is wonderfully tight, and I love the way they glissando to the higher notes with no issues.
  • Their last song was done off-mic, but Aaron and Jamond were seated in the back and not singing.  Why?  I want to hear them, too!  Bro and I agreed that we liked Drew off mic better.  His voice is just so pure. 

    I'm looking forward to their new CD, which should be released later this year.  

    We did not stay to say hi to the guys.  Maybe next time.  Thanks for a great show, m-pact!