And so passes another week.

Every once in awhile I get the feeling that I'm doing too much and reflecting too little...

Maybe it comes with having a day job.

The weeks blend together too easily in the simple passage of time...

The last thing I was talking about was the Oysterhead shows in California...

Brian, Jason and I flew down to Los Angeles on a noon flight from Oakland, rented a car and headed off to the valley. We ended up hanging out at Brian's older brother John for most of the afternoon.

Finally, around 4:30pm or so, we headed off to the Palladium. I've never been. I lived in LA for 17+ years and never once went *inside* the Palladium. I actually had it confused for "the Palace" for a bit, but now stand corrected. Anyway. Oysterhead at the Hollywood Palladium. What a rush. Group decision to bring E to the show, however getting it past the freaks with metal detectors was the first challenge. There was a double frisk, feeler check. Full pat down (and up) the legs, lift the skirt (even though I'm wearing sandals with no socks), check inside the pockets of my coat, etc. I have *friends* who've never touched me like that!

I suppose I had to appreciate being a chick tho. I only had to wait in the 30-second-girl-line... it took me longer to finish my coffee-bean-and-tea-leaf blended iced mocha then it did to get to the door...

Ah well. Through security... collectively we had a 4 ricola cough drops, several tablets of vitamin C, a pipe (boxers?), a lighter (inside shoe, flush with sole), a half a pack of Marlboro lights (um, boxers, need I say more?), 2 hits of e (survived deep inside the wallet folds of wallet), a plastic baggie (survived by shoe!) and a pocket full of weed. I'm sure that everything, except for the cough drops wasn't supposed to get past the metal detector and the full body pat down.

We were there early enough to get pretty close to the front. We were sitting right behind two 14 yr old phish phans, next to some dude with horns, his friend in head to toe tie-dye. It seemed really empty at the beginning. Just a handful of folk hanging out front/center stage, then *BANG* all of sudden, I looked behind me and the room was full!

The North Mississippi All Stars opened again.

For all the effort to keep smoking out of the Palladium, as soon as the lights went down, every third person had something smoke-able in their hand.

Again, the NMAS played a pretty rocking show. We were *so* close, I could see the drummer sweat! The bass player was getting down and funky. I *must* say, shows are so much cooler up close and personal!

Set Break!

Brian and I split one of the tabs of e, right as Oysterhead was coming onstage... as if I needed more stimulation!

There's just something amazing about how it feels when the lights start to dim.

You're standing in a room full of people. Your eyes adjust to the lower lighting and the feeling of impatient expectance builds inside... then, the stars take the stage, and there's an explosion, tension gives way to excitement. Then there's only you, the band, the lights, the stage... and the Music.

They opened up with Owner of the World. I was one person away from the very very front. I was blown away yet again. Trey and Les and Stew blew my mind, and I came back for seconds.

Wow.

I don't know if its because I'm tiny or that I'm particularly sensitive to it, but e always knocks me on my ass. The e started kicking in three or four songs into the show. I started feeling it come on slowly. Tingles all over, and warm.

I was *so* close, but the 6ft tall yahoo in front of me was blocking a significant portion of my view of Les (my bass hero!). I asked 'im, if I could stand in front of him for *one* song. He seemed very un-thrilled.

I said, "c'mon! just one teensy little song? please please please?? I've been waiting for this show all summer!"
"Did you wait in line for 4 hours?"
"Um, not today! I did yesterday tho."
"Uh, I don't know."
"C'mon! Please? Just one, then I'll go back to my spot."
"Fine."

He was unthrilled and kept pushing me. Oh well. Fuck 'im. I had a great time anyway. Got to see the close-ups of Shadow of a Man! When I was done, I returned the spot.

Sheesh. People can be so uptight, eh?

Anyway. During Radon Balloon (I think!), I had to escape to go to the restroom and get some water. The e was hitting hard and I needed some fresh air, so I took a couple of bucks and elbowed my way out of the sea of people. I went to the restroom, etc. Saw a girl in the *best* cat woman outfit. Very sexy. Full cat woman mask, vinyl *everything* and a tail. A full 4 alarm fire.

So, I'm standing at the counter ordering two waters. The lady pulls out two see-through plastic cups (like the ones they sell cheap beer in) and put some ice and water from an Evian bottle in them. Whoa! "Hey! Wait a minute! You don't sell bottles of water?" "Nope. You could fill it with water and use it as a bludgeoning device!" "Seriously?" "Yep. Even a pen cap can be used as a dangerous weapon!" (I'm incredulous.) "Jeez." (She's exasperated) "You don't understand, this is HOLLYWOOD."

:) Oh, right. Hollywood. By day, Home of the Stars. By night, near War Zone!

I smiled and made my way back to the crowd.

Much to my surprise, I got all the way back up to my spot in the front. *grin* I offered a drink of water as toll.

After the show, we went out for soup and sandwiches. After that... I crawled into bed with my honey. A wonderful end to a great day.

:) heh. sometimes, I'm such a sap.