I just wanted to talk about yesterday’s American Idol.
Best Performances
There were some really awesome performances yesterday - unfortunately, Ramielle wasn’t one of them. The judges were right in that her performance was safe, and even worse, kinda boring. She’s got a beautiful voice but she’s got to entertain more! My favorites of the night were:
Carly: I rarely mention her, but she really did a good job yesterday. She sang the song perfectly. She also knew how to work the audience and use the stage to her advantage.
Amanda: You know, in the past, I wasn’t the biggest fan, but in the last two weeks, she has changed my mind. Yesterday was what really did it for me. She finally looked like she was having fun, started connecting with the audience, and SMILED. Man, that smile makes her look 10 years younger, which is a good thing. It’s really great to see her having a good time and really loving the experience.
Chickezie: Man, I thought last week that his number was up (instead, my little star Danny was booted) but after his performance yesterday, I’m glad he wasn’t. His performance was by far my favorite. He really surprised me with how easily he worked the audience and how comfortable he was on stage. He totally rocked out and I was thoroughly entertained. I loved seeing the expression on his face, how much he appreciated where he was and the opportunity he had. He was living in a dream! Like a kid given a shopping spree at Toys’r'Us.
Goodbye…
Some people didn’t have the best performances. My picks for the bottom 3? David Hernandez, Syesha Mercado and Kristy Lee Cook. Who should be out? Kristy Lee. Her rendition of “Eight Days a Week” was awful, there was nothing special to it. She would be the only right choice, but it’s a popularity contest, and Kristy Lee has two things going for her - she’s pretty, and she’s country. So who’ll be out? Probably David Hernandez, even though he was awesome the first week. Strippers never win, unless you’re an ex-stripper that penned a movie about a pregnant teenagers.
This toy on Amazon has got to have the funniest reviews I’ve read on that site. Click on the picture to go to the site - it’s good for a laugh on a Monday morning!
Another interesting thing - check out the “Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also Bought” area - is there a link between Playmobil and Scientology I don’t know about?
Man, it seems like this blog has been taken over by American Idol! I really do much more than watch that show, but I just don’t have much time to blog about anything else!
Anyway, here’s my runthrough of the contestants over the last two nights…
Females
Favorites:
Ramiele - Because I truly do love that song, “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. One of my favorite songs from the 70’s! I wished she worked the audience more, she could have rocked the house if she moved around more.
Asia’h - She started off a little slow, but by the end, she was great. I also like her spirit, she seems very upbeat
Brooke - “You’re So Vain” was the perfect song for her to sing! She did a great job.
Who I want to go:
Kady - She’s just not producing good performances. “Magic Man” was a horrible song choice because, even though it’s a great song, it’s the wrong song to show off your singing skills
Amanda - She’s becoming a one trick pony to me, and her hair scared me.
Guys
Favorites:
David A - OK, I admit it, this little bugger won me over this week. I’m even tempted to buy his rendition of “Imagine” on iTunes, it was beautiful! After he performed I was like, ‘Throw in the towel, people, this is our winner!’ Awesome, simply awesome.
David H - I admit, last week I was going to say that this guy was forgettable, but he came out this week on FIRE! Loved how he came out singing “Papa was a rolling stone”. Did a nice job working the stage and the camera. Definitely a big surprise to me this week.
Danny - Yes, Danny, I still love you, Mr. Sassypants. He did a better job this week and I had to laugh as he was making love to the camera, but I’m waiting for him to sing a song that really uses all of his talents.
Who I want to go:
Jason - Man, Dave and I were totally laughing as he sang his song, “Without Love”. Dave said he felt like we were watching a cruise show. At the very end, Jason did this little shimmy dance thing that had us howling with laughter. Cheese!
Luke - He did a lot better this week, but when he was singing, I was like, “Huh? Is this a song, or his he just talking? Where’s the tune?” Horrible song choice! Looks like my eye candy may have an early exit.
Honorable Mentions
Alexandrea - I like her, I think because she reminds me of my sister Claudine. Maybe it’s the cheeks.
Jason - I forgot to mention him as a favorite last week. He didn’t do awesome this week, but he did a good job. Loved him more last week singing one of my favorite songs, “Daydream”. I like his easygoing personality, seems like a sweetheart.
I know some of you have been waiting for my American Idol reviews, but due to the lunar eclipse and a packed schedule, I haven’t had much time to sit down and write about it. For now, I’ll give you my favorites and not-so favorites.
Female Faves: Ramiele Malubay - Of course, my favorite female. I know about 10 people that look like her. You could argue that the judges like her because she’s a cute, little Asian girl, but she really is talented. My only issue is that I have to fight the urge to get up in front of the TV to push her hair out of her face.
Brooke White - She’s sweet…don’t know if she’ll make it all the way, but I like her
Syesha Mercado - Great voice, great hair
Truthfully, I didn’t pay as much attention to the ladies as I did the gents, basically because during most of their performances I was thawing off.
Male Faves: Danny Noriega - Sorry, my Rami, my little Filipino buttercup, I have to admit that Danny is my favorite. Sure, he kinda sucked last week, but I love him. That boy is FIERCE! And I never user that term, so you know it’s something special. Some people compare him to Sanjaya from last season, but Danny is sassier, has better hair, and is a better singer. Now if he could only stop pouting and try to have a good time when he’s not singing, he’d be purrr-fect.
Michael Johns - You know, when Harry Connick Jr. came out, I thought he was a nice looking guy and loved his music. However, after I saw him in concert, I thought he was one of the sexiest things alive. Michael Johns is a little like that. If you just look at his pictures, he just look ok. But once he gets on stage and does his thing, he has a way with the audience and a charisma that you can’t deny. This Aussie is going to go far, but I hope he doesn’t win - the foreigners already took over our Academy awards, I don’t want them to take over American Idol, too!
Luke Menard - Great singer? No. Striking stage presence? No. Yummy eye candy? Yes.
The Non-Faves a.k.a. THEY GOTS’TA GO! Jason Yeager - to me, completely forgettable. He doesn’t stand out. I actually had to look up the AI website to figure out what his hame was
One the the non-Brooke blondes - to me, they’re all the same. I think I like Kristy Lee Cook because she reminds me a bit of Kristy Swanson. Or was that the other AI blonde? Ack. One of them has to go, just so I can remember who’s who
Amanda Overmeyer - as much as I love Amanda Overmeyer, she is NOT having a good time. She has an awesome voice, a great stage presence, but unfortunately, one of the things you have to do in American Idol is the cheesey group song and dance, and I don’t want to sit through the next couple months watching Amanda hardly going through the motions in those performances wishing she was riding her Harley.
So who are your current faves? Who do you think should get a one way ticket to American Idol obscurity?
Hanging at the in-laws this year, watching the Oscars. I really don’t have too many opinions on this year’s nominees, since I haven’t watched anything things year, but one thing I can comment on - the fashion!
7:05 - Too bad it’s so loud on the red carpet - poor Regis Philbin couldn’t hear George Clooney comment on Notre Dame’s basketball score. If I was in Regis’ shoes, I wouldn’t have the problem, I would be standing there cheek to cheek with George, totally invading his personal space and trying to get his gorgeous girlfriend out of the picture.
7:07 - Anyone watch SNL yesterday? Thanks to that show, I can’t see Javier Bardem’s character in “No Country for Old Men” without thinking of Dora the Explorer.
7:08 - I admit - I’m a big fan of Hannah Montana. Hopefully in 5 years I’m not taking that back. Miley Cyrus looks good tonight, though Dave’s dad is annoyed by the kissy-fish faces she makes when she’s posing. She’s sixteen, she’ll learn. Also, I’d like to confess, I bought a Hannah Montana t-shirt when I was shopping yesterday. I’m badass.
7:11 - Katherine Heigl (is that how you spell it?) would look beautiful, except it looks like she went tanning with sunglasses on because her eye area is so much brighter than the rest of her face. I think it’s too much blush.
7:12 - Jennifer Garner looks great. I love her, she has such a beautiful and infectious smile. On a side note, anyone watch E!’s pre-show coverage? There was a VERY uncomfortable exchange between Ryan Seacrest, Jennifer Garner and Gary Busey that happened. Chances are, it’ll be youtubed tomorrow.
…and here it is. UNCOMFORTABLE!
7:18 - I’m hoping this year they don’t have a cheesey song montage of red carpet entrances right before the start of the Oscars. Please please please let the end of the writer’s strike so close to the Oscars mean that they didn’t have time to think of stupid lyrics for a song. It always makes me roll my eyes!
7:22 - As much as I love Ellen Page, she just looks OK. My best friend said that Juno reminds her of me. Don’t know what she’s talking about since I was never a teenage mom, but I guess I’ll have to check out the movie. I want her to win - who wouldn’t want Shadowcat to win?
7:27 - Jack Nicholson always looks the same. Not sure about the shades thing - why is that necessary?
7:30 - it begins!
7:31 - Semi-Cheesey opening, but at least there wasn’t singing and lyric changing.
7:39 - Opening monologue is ok…not awesome, but ok.
7:24 - I’d like for Across the Universe to win best costume…but Elizabeth wins. The movie involving the most fabric wins! Big props goes to the winner and her 5 second speech.
7:48 - The 80 year review was nice. Done quick enough that it wasn’t boring. Have no idea why they picked out the Rob Lowe and Snow white bit, though. It was great to see the older Audrey Hepburn, looking as beautiful as she did in her youth - she is the epitome of class. Touching to see and older and thicker Charlie Chaplin as well.
7:51 - Anne Hathaway and Steve Carrell present. Can’t wait to see “Get Smart”! Anne looks good, but the dress makes her look a little pregnant. Nice schtick together.
7:54 - Ratatoile wins. I have no idea how to spell that. I have to pee. I hope a commercial is coming up soon.
7:56 - Every clip of “La Vie en Rose” I see makes me want to see it more. Marion Cotillard looks like she does an amazing job.
7:58 - A song from “Enchanted” is up. Man, I need to go out and see that movie!
8:07 - Ben just fell off the couch. As he fell, he tried to hold on to something, namely his pants. Which he half-pulled off by the time he reached the floor. Since he was ok, it was pretty funny to see him holding his pants, lying on the floor.
8:08 - I heart the Rock aka Dwayne Johnson. Especially once I found out that the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark terrified him as well.
8:15 - Dang, Jennifer Hudson lost a lot of weight. It hasn’t helped her read cue cards, though…
8:16 - Best Supporting Actor - When I see Javier Bardem without the Dora haircut, I think of “Denny” from “Grey’s Anatomy”. I’d love to see Phillip Seymore Hoffman win. He’s had a TON of awesome roles, my favorite being “Boogie Nights”, because of the “like my car?” line. A Christine/Dave favorite. Javier wins, as expected, and surprisingly, I understand half of what he said in Spanish.
8:23 - OMG, they actually did a salute to binoculars and periscopes!
8:26 - A song from “August Rush”, a movie I really wanted to watch, is on. Can you imagine being 11 years old and singing for a billion people? Incredible, man.
8:28 - Owen Wilson! Good to see him. Didn’t know he was an Academy Award nominee. Ben just discovered the wonder of “Cars”, so I hear Owen pretty much all day.
8:35 - Best Supporting Actress - for some reason, I thought Alan Arkin was dead. Guess I was mistaken…because…ahhh forget it. It’s incredible how much Cate Blanchett looks like Bob Dylan. Ruby Dee can definitely make this contest into an upset. Keep your eye out for Saorise Ronan - she plays the lead in “The Lovely Bones”, coming soon, a movie I will DEFINITELY be seeing in the theaters!
8:38 - Hot damn! Tilda Swinton wins. Even though I lose a lot of pretend money because Fatty McBlanchett didn’t win, I am happy - she’s been different in every role I’ve seen her in, definitely a great actress. She definitely has an amazing speech, comparing the Oscar statuette and her agent, dedicating it to him, then talking about George Clooney coming to set in his Batsuit was great.
8:42 - Man, time has been flying during these Oscars. Probably because I’m also working while watching. Bleh. But I would have to say, this has been a better-than-average Academy Awards.
8:44 - Jessica Alba is in her third trimester and looks incredible. Bitch.
8:45 - But I still love her.
8:47 - Best Adapted Screenplay - James McEvoy looks like me friend/coworker Tony. Then again, any young man with a beard looks like him. Nice to see Sarah Polley, the girl from “Go”, nominated for an Oscar.
8:52 - Mileeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Mileeeeeeeeey! She has an awesome, smokey voice…and it looks like her braces are working. She’s announcing another song from Enchanted. Kristin Chenoweth is heaven singing, and adorable. I wish she could sing me a lullabye every night before I go to sleep.
9:05 - Best Presenter Chemistry of the Night goes to….Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen with their “No, *I’m* Halle Berry” exchange.
9:08 - These winner look-backs are really nice. I like them, and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
9:09 - Best Actress is coming up so soon? Wow! My virtual bets are on Julie Christie, but as I said before, my geek side wants Ellen Page to win. Crazier things have happened *cough* Marisa Tomei *cough*. A lot of talent in this bunch. Another favorite of mine is Laura Linney. She consistently has amazing roles but has not yet been rewarded with the little gold man.
9:10 - Marion Cotillard wins! Her accent is truly enchanting. I’m happy for her…as I said, from the clips I’ve seen, she looks like she did an incredible job. Beautiful speech, as well, “It is true there is some angels in this town!”
9:21 - “Falling Slowly” is a beautiful song…never heard of the movie it came from, though…
9:27 - Looking at the past Best Movie winners, there have been some really amazing movies that I have not seen yet.
9:28 - There is something that I don’t like about Renee Zellwegger. Is it because she’s so skinny? Because she looks like she’s always about to cry? Maybe her new short hairdo? Not sure, but although I do love her roles, her presence off-screen is just that - off.
9:31 - Oh, Nicole Kidman’s there? I thought she was taking it easy because of her pregnancy. Looks like there’s a bunch of preggo’s in the house! All we need now is Angie and Halle and we’ve got enough for baby poker.
9:51 - Glad to see “Falling Slowly” win.
9:57 - The brought out the poor woman who didn’t get to start her speech, and daggone it, it was good that they did. She had a wonderful, inspiring speech.
10:02 - Ahh, the “OMG, I didn’t realize that they died!” segment. I will cry when I see Heath. OMG, Suzanne Pleshette is dead? Ahhh, Heath, Heath, Heath. Ben goes “whoo!!!!” for you. Yes, he’s still up.
10:08 - Lucky Amy Adams, she gets to sing tonight AND present!
10:25 - Yay! “Juno” wins best Original Screenplay. At least I get one right in my Oscar picks….I missed the end of Diablo Cody’s speech. Did something happen? She looked upset as she was walking off stage. Or was she just overcome with emotion?
10:32 - I stand corrected, PSH (Phillip Seymore Hoffman) has already won an Academy Award.
10:39 - OK, I’m officially bored. Let’s get this business over with!
10:41 - Marty Scorcese seems like he’d be a fun guy to hang out with. Wouldn’t it have sucked if he didn’t win last year?
10:45 - Man, Denzel Washington’s getting old! Still lookin’ good, though! “No Country for Old Men” takes the top prize!
All in all, it was a good Academy Awards. The little Oscar run throughs of winners before each major award were pretty nice, and the ceremonies moved relatively quickly. Several surprises, and something I realized a little later is that the major acting categories all went to people who had accents. Right now it’s 12:41am and I’m watching the party cams on E!.
What did y’all think of the ceremony? Favorite moments?
7:01 - I’ve never been fond of “singing with dead people” duets. With that said, Alicia Keys looks and sounds awesome. Seeing Frank Sinatra’s reflection on the top of the piano is creepy. I wonder what Frank is doing while Alica is singing. Just standing there?
7:18 - Holy shit! Morris Day and the Time! I didn’t even know that Jimmy Jam was that guy. This is awesomeness. Complete awesomeness. Oh dang, and they bring on Rihanna - who knew that “Umbrella” went so well with “Jungle Love”?
8:00 - Ben was stinky and needed a bath, and then we watched the show from his room. The Beatles tribute was nice. I missed who won Best New Artist. Kanye’s outer space set for “Stronger” was just OK, but of course, “Hey Mama” had me all teary, especially since he had added the “last night I dreamed of you” line, then at the end where he said, “now I can’t wait to go to sleep” was beautiful. I’ve had dreams of my mother and upon waking, always try to go back to sleep to get a few more minutes with my mom. Fergie did well with John Legend (poor John didn’t even get to sing!), especially since I’d heard that she wasn’t good live.
8:11 - Dave is laughing at Tina Turner’s facial expressions while singing. She’s still pretty awesome, though! This performance gets another “Whoo!!!” from Ben, who is up past his bedtime.
8:18 - I know it has nothing to do with the Grammys, but I HATE those commercials from Comcast where people are talking, but music is coming out, for example, the commercial where the lady is baking but singing “Lady Marmalade”. Ugh. Shoot me.
8:13 - Nelly Furtado, Andy Williams and Rosalyn Sanchez - what an odd grouping of people! What’s even odder? Nelly’s hair. I like it dark!
8:55 - Everything up to this point has been pretty “eh”
8:56 - You know what is missing from this show? An awesome performance by Chris Brown. That kid always gives a great show!
8:57 - Fiest! Yay! Acoustic! Yay! Is she on top of a shag rug? Ben is lovin’ it, because it’s on his “Sleepy CD” we use in the car. Sweet and simple.
9:02 - the “Old Black Magic” was awkward to me.
9:13 - Well, at least the show has a performance by Alicia Keys, who always gives a beautiful, who is totally rockin’ her straight rock star shag look. Can’t wait for John Mayer to perform with her…oh wait, that was it? Hmm…kind of disappointing. I was hoping John would do more!
9:19 - Dammit, I missed Vince Gill’s joke. Now I have to look it up!
9:26 - Young America might be cringing (if they’re even watching this), but I am LOVING LOVING LOVING Rhapsody in Blue. When I was little, I had a record of it and loved to play it. One of my favorite songs for sure! With Herbie Hancock playing it, too! If I was a better piano player I would have loved to learn how to play this. I will be hunting for this on YouTube tomorrow. Ben is entranced.
9:31 - Rhapsody in Blue is still on, and I love the show for giving so much time to an amazing live performance of music. Almost makes me want to play piano again! I wonder if this song is on iTunes.
9:33 - The song is finished and rightfully gets a standing ovation. Ben shouts “Whoo hoo!” in appreciation, then shouts “Caillou!” because he wants to go to sleep.
9:43 - I’m happy to hear Amy Winehouse sing well. I’ve seen way too many vids of her sucking badly and I really do think she’s a talented artist. Her CD is one of the few CD’s I’ve bought in the last couple years, and it’s great. She has a good performance, not awesome, but I love it when she flirts a bit with the camera. A strong performance.
9:50 - Amy is shocked to win the Record of the year - I’m touched for her and hope that she turns her life around after this.
10:04 - Ahh, Josh Groban and Adrea Bocelli sing “The Prayer”, one of my favorite songs…so beautiful…*cries* This one gets another “Whoo!” from Ben, who is up way past his bedtime.
10:30 - The Grammy’s end, a little late and with a surprise win by Herbie Hancock. The show itself, outside of a couple highlights, was just ok…especially considering it’s the 50th anniversary of the show…
I know it’s a little late, but it’s been a busy couple of last days. Anyway, here’s my mini game and ad recap from this year’s Superbowl.
All along I’ve been rooting on the Giants. I’ve been cheering on anyone to beat the Patriots. Ever since I was a little girl and the Patriots played the Bears in the Super Bowl, I’ve felt a little animosity towards them. Even more so this year, for several reasons:
1) CHEATERS! I really don’t have to say much else.
2) I don’t like Bill Belichick. Rubs me the wrong way. More on that later
3) I can’t stand Tom Brady’s hair. There’s just something about it. I used to think he was good looking, but after he broke up with Bridget Moynahan (who later announced she was pregnant) and started appearing with Giselle Bundchen soon after (who I do like) he was no longer attractive to me.
So this year, I was all about the New York Giants. To me, they were treated the way the Bears were treated - no respect, their quarterback always under question, playing against a team that “deserved” to win, etc. So I had a soft spot for them.
For such a low scoring game, it was pretty exciting! How I enjoyed watching Brady make incomplete passes, snapping at his teammates, lying flat on his back after getting sacked. Randy Moss was catchless for a good part of the first half. It seemed like things were going great for the Jets, but there was always that looming dread, the knowledge that, as much as I didn’t like them, the Patriots were arguably the best team in the history of the NFL. Then the Patriots scored their touchdown. As the game wore on it was obvious that the Patriots were a little off, and that Eli Manning was playing the game of his life.
By the time the fourth quarter came and almost went, the Patriots were winning. The Giants had the ball with a little more than two minutes left in the game and my stomach was heavy, my mind thinking “Can they do this? Can we break the Patriots?”
Then the magic happened. In a play where it looked like Eli was going to get taken down, where he was smothered by the Pats’ defense, he was able to wriggle away and toss an improbable pass to David Tyree.
The clock was ticking, there was too much time wasted in between plays. “Stop the clock! Stop the clock!” I kept on screaming in my head. The Jets were knocking on the door of killing the Patriot’s season. Then Manning threw a beautiful pass to a very open Plaxico Burris (I always think of fish tanks when I think of his name). Whoo hoo! Brady still had a little less than 30 seconds to take history back, but it just didn’t work out that way.
Then with one second left, Belichick comes across the field, waving off the refs as they tried to tell them that the game wasn’t finished yet, shaking Tom Coughlin’s hand then running off the field, not staying to watch his defense finish out the game on the field. In a way, he stole that one second from New York’s victory, by not giving them the respect to stay for the whole game.
But hey, with that aside, it was an awesome game. The last 2 minutes were amazing! It was fun to see New England fall apart and to not see Eli Manning crack under the pressure. Big brother was in the stands, but the night was his!
Now for the commercials - to me, they were just “so-so” this year. Nothing really wowed me or had me laugh uncontrollably (like the running of the squirrels or boyfriend with knife spills spaghetti sauce on kitty of years before). But here are my faves from the night:
Tide Screaming Stain. I admit, I stare.
E*Trade Baby - there’s another one, but I like the one with the clown better.
Omaha Nebraska? What an interesting location to do auditions!
Since I’m home, working, and online, I’ll do my AI play-by-play LIVE!
- The Seacrest wannabe - Why was he so happy at the end? I missed it - tossing Ben around was more entertaining than his singing!
- The boy from Stout - I’m wondering how fair it was that they let him stop and try so many times. Was it because he had potential? Because he was cute? Good thing they did, because he did pretty well in his audition.
- The female arm wrassler - she reminds me of the actress Monica Potter…she was ok…now awesome
- Goth gal - They have goths in Omaha? She is REALLLLLLY scary!
- The girl who calls her daddy - she seemed really sweet, and I really liked her voice. She’s the kind of gal the America could love
Yesterday I was in Milwaukee at a client site. We had our whole team there and some executives, which meant that we were going to have a nice dinner, rather than a dinner at the hotel diner. I was thinking we’d be going to our regular steakhouse (Mo’s Steakhouse, which is YUMMY!) but our client suggested a new place. So I was given the job of looking the place up and making reservations (only female on team = secretary…j/k. not!). So I was told to look for a restaurant called Carnivorous. The women I was working with were like, “Carnivorous? I’ve never heard of it! Is that seriously the name of the place?” I made some jokes that it was a dinosaur-themed restaurant with velociraptors serving your food. So I searched on the internet for it, and the only think I could find for “carnivorous milwaukee” were links to the local zoo. With three people searching (and whispering under our breath, “I don’t think this place exists!”) we finally found the restaurant - “Carnevor”, which is a pretty new restaurant in downtown Milwaukee. I went to their website and lo and behold - their logo is a velociraptor claw! No joke! I must have ESPN or sumtin’.
Anyway, the restaurant is one of your typical trendy restaurants with the super friendly and almost dramatic waiters - nice and dark so you don’t really have to see who you’re talking to. The food I would give four stars out of five. Very good, though I think the appetizers could have had more flavor to them. I’m a fan of escargot, and their escargot appetizer, while good, didn’t have enough flavor for me. My steak was awesome - I got it medium rare with herbed butter on top. By the time I got it, I was full of bread (the butter they server with it is yummy, though a little salty if you put on too much) and appetizers. But the 5 bites I had from my steak were delicious - the garlic butter added the right amount of flavor to it. I wasn’t a fan of the brussel sprout side we got, but I did like the exotic mushroom and mashed potato sides.
All in all, I would recommend the place - if you can pay the $30 - $160 price for a steak (which doesn’t count any of the other stuff). “$160?” you say? Why yes - they’ve got Kobe beef that is actually from Kobe, Japan, the best 1% of steaks, so rich and tender you could cut it with a butter knife. Or at least that’s what our waiter said!
Every year, I try and get Cubs Convention tickets for Dave, since he’s such a huge Cubs fan, but every year I find out that it’s sold out. This year, Dave’s coworker was able to score some tickets and we were psyched! I gave Dave my quick tutorial on what to do at conventions (being a comic book convention vet myself) like wear comfortable shoes, bring something to read while you wait in line, bring things for them to sign, make sure you read up on who is going to be there and what sessions are available, bring food, etc.
It was a pretty cold day, but we had our Cubs gear on. Dave’s dad was wearing his Cubbie blue pullover, Dave was in his Prior jersey (which he will be removing the letters on before the next season starts), I had on Dave’s Zambrano jersey (because I don’t have my own :-() and Ben had on his warm Cubbie pajamas. He looked like a little Cub clown.
We got to the Hyatt downtown and it was PACKED with people in Cubs gear. Dave had dropped us off in the front of the hotel, so we waited in the lobby for him. While we were waiting, a man was walking through and people were asking him for autographs. He looked familiar to me, but I wasn’t sure who he was. Then I heard someone whisper to someone else, “It’s Jim Hendry!” (the general manager of the Cubs). He was actually standing right next to Dave’s dad signing autographs, and looked right at me, smiled and had a look of, “Anything you need signed?”. I must have looked like a deer in headlights. Since Dave had all the stuff to sign, all I had on me was my convention pass. I gathered up my wits, took off my pass and handed it to him, which he smiled and signed. Then he walked off or something like that because I really don’t remember.
As I said before, there were tons of people there. The two coat checks were full so I decided to take our coats and let Dave, his dad and Ben go off and start enjoying themselves. I went downstairs to check our coats and there was a long line for even the coat check. When I near the front of the line, I saw the sign that said, “$2 per coat”. Oh snap! I didn’t even think to bring any cash with me. So I started digging through my pockets, looking for cash. By the time I got to the front, I only had four dollars. “Um, I only have four dollars, so I can only check in two coats…” I said. Part of me was hoping the lady would take pity on my, wink, and say, “It’s alright hon, I’ll put two on a hanger…” But no….she said, “So which two is it gonna be?” I started lifting the coats to see which one wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to bring around, and I made one last effort, digging deep into my pockets. Then my Cubs miracle happened - two more dollars at the bottom of my pocket! Hallelujah! No coat left behind!
The convention was a ton of fun, though I have to admit, my comic conventions were a little better organized. Dave was hoping to get his bat signed by his childhood favorite, Bill Buckner, but the lines for him were crazy. He then decided to get into Ron Santos line, because the person right after Ron was Cubs hall of famer Billy Williams. So we decided to part ways while Dave waited in the HUGE line for an autograph.
The lines for autographs were CRAZY!
Ben, Dave’s dad and I headed out to some of the sessions. The first one we went to was a session with Cubs manager Lou Piniella. He talked a little bit about last year’s team and the team to come. What I enjoyed the most was the Q & A session. There was an older woman who came up to the mic and said something like, “I’ve been a lifetime Cubs fan (all questions seemed to start like that) and I want to ask Lou one question - Why do you keep pitchers in even after they’ve sucked for a couple innings?” Everyone laughed and went, “Ohhhhhhhh!” Lou said that sometimes he had to keep them in because he had to give time to the bullpen. Then she said, “You know sometimes I just want to throw my chair at the television! You need to get them out!”, to which Lou replied, “Listen, I’ll give you my cell phone number, and when you start feeling like you’re going to through the chair at the TV, you give me a call and I’ll take out the pitcher!” Lou was very charismatic and very quick witted when replying to the questions, yet pretty honest. I didn’t take notes so I don’t remember anything else.
Lou and his coaching crew (Lou has the blue shirt on)
Dave came back a little frustrated, saying that he had waited so long in line for Billy Williams autograph, and about 30 people before him, Billy’s time slot was over and Steve Trout and Les Lancaster took over. They’re still great players and Dave had them sign a baseball, but he was really hoping to get that bat signed! I think that’s one complaint I have, though I know that there are space restrictions - Dave waited so long in line for a specific person, but he got someone else. That would just not fly at a comic book convention - If I was in line for Jim Lee and got Rob Liefeld instead, I’d be pissed! At the comicon, they have one line per artist, and the last person in line has a sign that says, “I’m the last person in line”…the artist signs for everyone in their line. Take note, Cubs convention organizers!
Since we had front row seats in the always-packed grand ballroom, we decided to just chill there for the rest of the day, listening in on whatever sessions were up. The next session we watched was definitely the most fun - Win Lose or Draw. It pitted some Cubs legends - Tim Stoddard, Bill Buckner, Doug Dascenzo and Bob Dernier - against the current players - Bob Howry, Ryan Dempster (who looks 10 years younger in normal clothing), Michael Weurtz and Scott Eyre. Two lucky fans were put on the teams, as well, who ended up being ringers because they were so awesome at the game. It was cool to see the players so relaxed and having fun with each other. When the current players came up to the lightning round, 2 points behind the legends, Dempster came up to draw, to which someone in the crowd yelled, “Don’t mess this one up!”. We laughed. Howry, Eyre and Weurtz laughed, and Dempster shook his head.
Ryan Dempster draws for his team
The cool thing is after Win Lose or Draw, several of the players stayed behind to sign autographs. There was a throng of people trying to get things signed, and the players (mainly Bob Howry and Michael Weurtz from my vantage point) patiently signed as many as they could.
Bob Howry signs autographs for the masses
Dave got lucky a couple times and got signature from several of the players. Having Ben is an advantage in times like this!
Dave and Ben get a signature from Scott Eyre
In between sessions, I walked around the convention looking to see if I could find Zambrano to sign my jersey, or at the very least, to take a picture of him. Unfortunately, the session he was in was closed because of the capacity limit so I didn’t get to see him. I did get to take some awesome pictures of other players, since I didn’t have to wait in line if I just wanted to take a picture. Look in the gallery link at the end of the post for some nice pictures of players. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t always great and the rooms were pretty big, so I had to convert some to black and white.
Hall of Fame newbie Ryne Sandburg
Easy-on-the-eyes pitcher Sean Marshall
The next session up was all about 8-8-88 - the day the lights were turn on at Wrigley. I loved the way that the old players spoke about their time at Wrigley, and listening to their interactions with each other. Even after so much time apart, it’s obvious that they still enjoy each other’s company. I felt like an eavesdropper as they recounted stories from the times they were Cubs. Rick Sutcliffe was a great storyteller, complaining about how Ryne Sandburg always teased his toll booth skills. Andre Dawson recounted an at bat with Sutcliffe when he was with the Dodgers, and Sutcliffe almost ripping Dawson’s mustache off with a bad pitch. Ryne Sandburg talked about hearing the announcer say his name, then Wayne Messmer interrupted with, “Um, *I* was the announcer for that game” which became a little joke for the rest of the session since Ryne had forgotten that Wayne has been the announcer for the team.
Rick Sutcliffe tells one of his crazy stories
The last session of the day had some legendary players, like Mr. Cub Ernie Banks and Ron Santo and some new players, like Scott Eyre and Mark DeRosa come and talk about the Cub mystique - what it’s like to be a Cub, and what it means to them. Ernie Banks made a very touching speech about the energy in the ballpark, the quality of the fans and how playing with the Cubs is an honor. He truly IS Mr. Cub…he had the whole room (which was more than filled to capacity - even the balcony was packed) clapping and cheering. DeRosa had some great stories about when he was still playing for the Atlanta Braves, and the Cubs would be in town. He would come out to play, and more than half of the stadium was in Cubbie blue - it was as if it were a Cubs home game. He thought to himself, “Man, I wish I was playing with the Cubs!” Scott Eyre had a similar story, going to Atlanta with Mark as part of the team. They had decided to play catch before the game, and went out onto the field. There were tons of Cubs fans there, super early, and there was a loud cheer that filed the air as the guys went out - just to play catch. Then the Braves players came out - the home team - and….nothing. Crickets! Mark talked about how during the division championships last year, how he could hardly hear himself think - that’s how loud Wrigley was, and how proud he was that he was the person up to bat, and he was so overwhelmed he even thought about taking a time out (which he thinks he should have) and how disappointed he was to hit into a double play.
It was heartwarming to hear these guys talk about their team, what the Cubs mean to them, and to talk with the fans about their experiences. They appreciate the support we give them, not just at Wrigley, but the Cubs fans that are scattered all over the country, filling up seats in empty parks and cheering on their team. It was a nice way to end the day!
Ernie Banks makes me proud to be a Cub fan
Mark DeRosa talks about having the home team advantage at other parks
