Entertainment Review

Let me start with the movies. If you haven't seen "The Help," then you should. I NEVER say this, but the movie was as good as the book. So, if you haven't read it, don't waste your time---see the movie. It is exactly the same and really good!

On the other hand, "Sarah's Key" is really, really good, but the book is better. Still worth seeing if you do not plan to read the book.

"Contagion" was fabulous. It kind of reminded me of Stephen King's book "The Stand"---about how a virus spreads rampantly. Now, if you are a germ-o-phobe, or a hypochondriac (like Steph), then it might not be for you.

That means I'm batting 1000 with the last 3 movies I've seen.  I guess the next few I see might be bummers!

On to live entertainment. Butch, Steph, Nicky, Mindy and I saw Journey and Foreigner in concert last night. We started with dinner at The Palm---an upscale steak house. We picked it on Mindy's recommendation that if you eat here and valet park, you get to park for free. It's right across the street from the Bridgestone Arena. Probably not such a great idea after all---or it goes to show how expensive parking is here! We really miss, not only the free parking, but the service we used to get---a guy just standing there "holding" the best spot and waiting for us whenever we came. Oh the perks to being married to the head honcho of parking! The food was fabulous---as always, but very expensive. Let's just say without revealing the actual bill (since Butch reads my blog) that the alcoholic beverages---which did NOT include a bottle of wine---were 100 bucks! And I only had water.

After dinner, we walked across the street to the concert. We had floor seats which is never good for me. Everyone stands up, so I can't see a thing. But, truth be told, even when everyone sits, I can't see either. The pains of being short. Anyway, the first band was Night Rangers---who we had never heard of. Turns out they had a few hits in the 80's that we recognized---including "Sister Christian." They were good.

After a 15 minute set change, Foreigner performed. The problem with the arena is that the acoustics are very bad. It takes nearly a full minute in to the song to figure out what it is. Still, they sang many of their hits for an hour.

Next up---after a 30 minute set change---was Journey. They were good too, but they played too many songs from their newly released album. Songs we didn't know or really enjoy. Kind of a bummer. They performed for an hour and fifteen minutes. They did "Don't Stop Believin'" for their encore.

I think these 80's bands owe a debt of gratitude to "Glee" for exposing a whole new generation of kids to their music. There were a lot of young people there. Mindy even had a Journey t-shirt! She said she got it in New Orleans a few years ago. I'm surprised she could even find it. I'm just sayin'...

What I didn't like is how Journey and Foreigner add all this instrumental stuff in the middle of the songs to basically kill time and let the lead singer rest. Journey added to this by starting each song with a long instrumental too.

Right off the bat, my ears were starting to hurt from the girl behind me shouting so shrilly that the sound pierced my eardrums. I got a kleenex from Steph and stuffed it in my ears. After that, I could hear the concert perfectly, but was shielded from the screamer behind me. She was also a "head banger"---meaning she kept banging me in the head while she was dancing. I couldn't stand the whole time, so sat a good part of the concert and watched the screens. Like I said, I couldn't see much anyway. Really, that's okay, I'm used to it. But the gal behind me kept knocking me---one time so hard that I saw stars. I was going to say something, but decided not to. I figured she was just having a good time---and a little drunk. I didn't want to ruin her night by complaining, or run the risk she would get "pissed" and spill her beer on me. I hate the smell of beer and didn't really want to wear it. I also didn't want to look like a crabby old fogey!

We had a really good time and all agreed that we liked Foreigner best. At least they played all songs we knew and loved.

Oh, and Nicky plays a really "mean" air guitar!