Being "Warped" in Boise

I originally posted this on a private family site on Aug. 11, but thought why reinvent the wheel. LOL I will add notes and photos, too. I neglected to mention that when Lauralee and I arrived at the hotel at 5 mins. to 6 one of the first things we did was figure out our World Wide Moment photos. We took a pic of each other, simultaneously. It seemed appropriate. Here is my pic of Lauralee:

On with the show...




"Thursday night, I left for Warped Tour in Boise. Initially, I had a room at the Hampton Inn in Nampa, ID booked. IT sits practically in the venue parking lot - at least they are adjacent. I found out Brittany and Ann were going to the Boise Warped tour and asked if they had a room yet. Ann said, "no", so I offered to share mine. Then a friend I meet here at concerts a lot said she was planning to go, so there were four of us. When Ann and Brittany got to the hotel around 9:15 p.m., Ann tells me they are picking Kara up at 11:16 at the airport, and that she is staying in the room with us. Needless to say, we didn't sleep a whole lot. We also terrorized Wal Mart at least three times. LOL Mostly just with silliness. Lauralee (the friend I went with from UT) and I had gone to Wal Mart earlier, and the gal at the front couldn't seem to figure out that Lauralee's Glaceau vitamin water, and the smart water were both on the receipt and from the same company. Yea.. now we're water thieves. Sigh...

SO, we did finally sleep a little. In the morning we ran into John Warne in the hotel lobby. He went to do his laundry and we "accosted" him later in the laundry room. Brittany was too chicken, and I wasn't going to bother him, so Ann did. LOL We all followed, of course. He said it was o.k. I left my Smart Water and he caught me later to make sure I had it. Lauralee was working at the show for ecogreen (which got her in free, basically) and Kara was working for RK's merch table and she took the road manager a cup of coffee with messages from Relient K boardies written all over the cup. I was trying to figure out how she would get a cup of hot coffee into the venue, but apparently one of the crew she knew arranged it. She also was able to be on the side of the stage when RK played. I was front and center, but left because I had a photo pass. The stage was extremely tall, so photos were difficult. Then instead of the usual 3 songs to shoot, I was only told I could shoot for 2 songs. But I was able to take pics from the side of the stage. I really didn't think I had much, but I ended up with some decent photos after all. When RK was done, Matty came over to where I was and gave me a big hug. Then he was mobbed by 50 other people all wanting hugs. It was kinda silly. Afterwards, I went to the Kia tent for a Relient K signing, and I had some things for them. I found a really adorable Spiderman pj set - 12 mos, and Jon is a big marvel comics fan who has a 6 month old son. He loved it. We were able to hang around a little after the signing, and Matty showed me his iPhone and scrabble game. The graphics are really amazing.
Really bad pic at the Kia tent, but it was fun:


Then I met Fred of The Color Fred really briefly, hung out at the RK merch tent, watched a few other bands, and left a little early after hearing about a song and a half of Reel Big Fish. They weren't bad, but I was beat. Ann and Brittany were back at the hotel since Ann wasn't feeling well. So, I left early so as to be able to say goodbye to them. The hotel was booked, but Ann managed to get one due to a cancellation so we stayed at the Hampton again. I was lucky enough to get Motel 6 in Twin Falls to cancel my reservation at 8 p.m. at no charge. I think it ended up cheaper in the long run. The only downside was that it was a smoking room, so I just bought some claritin to be safe. WE all went to get food. They all ended up at Taco Del Mar, except Brittany who went to Walmart to get something to eat. I went to a sandwich shop. Two of the guys from All Time Low came in and we chatted a bit.

Ann, Brittany & Kara left really early (like 4:30 a.m.) since they were headed for Warped Tour at the Gorge in WA. Lauralee and I slept in a little bit longer, had breakfast in the lobby, then headed for home. We stopped at Jack in the Box at Twin Falls for lunch, and I took her to Perrine bridge to see the Gorge and to Centennial Park to see the snake river a little closer, and the waterfall there.



Then we made it home around 6:10 p.m. It may take me a bit to recover. IT was fun, though. The only downside is that my 50 mm lens came apart. Those things are great low light lenses, but they are too darned fragile!

I think my "mini tour" is over for now. I saw The Fold on the 21st of July and the 22nd, then on 23-26 I was at the Gorge in WA for Creation NW, on the 30th to see Switchfoot in Rock Springs, WY (not really as far away as it might sound), to USANA in West Valley to see James Taylor on the 2nd, and Warped Tour on the 8th. Jerome of Switchfoot said I had my own "mini tour" and I said, "Yea, I don't know how you guys do it!"

Anyway, it's kept me pretty busy and in trouble of late. I'm tired though. LOL "

Now for my addendums:

I don't mention the "Pizza Party". Not sure how I left that one out. LOL Kara and Brittany bought frozen pizza at Wal Mart, and I bought the Dreyer's fruit popsicles. Almost all of the popsicles had multiple sticks. It was really odd. The other thing I didn't mention was that I got into a conversation with a guy from a band called "Allura" in the elevator, and when he got off on the second floor, I started to follow him out. I was on the 4th floor. Pretty embarassing. hahaha
And, I knew All Time Low's merch guy. He's a good guy, even if I keep wanting to call him Alex instead of Andrew, which is pretty funny since the lead singer of All Time Low is Alex.

Anyway, Ann put together a video here for our pizza party:


It's what happens when you put a bunch of silly RK fans in a hotel on the same night.
Did we really sleep at all?

Girls just wanna have fun:


Yes, I did see other bands besides Relient K:

My Warped and Wacky Weekend

The problem with long, fun-filled days is trying to remember and recount every detail and not bore everyone to tears. :) The other is trying to decide where to begin. This tale begins on a Friday night, the night before Warped Tour, or more accurately, extremely early on Saturday morning when I finally got off work at 1 a.m. I still had to head for my daughter's place to feed her dogs and check up on them, finish getting my camera gear ready, run to Wal Mart and pick up a memory card to replace the one that went bad the night before. All those goals were accomplished, but by then it was close to 4 a.m. I finally was able to hit the sack and try to catch some zzzzzzz's. It took a while for me to drift off. At 6:30 a.m. my daughter and husband returned from Phoenix and I was awake, sort of. I took care of some business with my daughter, and went back to sleep for a couple of hours as best I could. So much for my plan to actually get enough rest first.

My intent was to set out by 8:30 am. By the time I actually got out the door, it was past 9:30. I also wanted to get a Coldplay ticket which went on sale at 10 a.m. and a ticket to see Bob Dylan, which also went on sale at 10 a.m. When it rains, it pours. I had convinced my beloved mother to take care of the Coldplay ticket for me. She was to call me if the seat wasn't in the first 10 rows so I could decide what to do. I had pulled up row 21 in the presale, and had hoped to do better with this one. So, the natural thing for me to do was to forget my cell phone. I turned around and went back to get it and got out the door at about 10 mins. to 10. I figured the line would be huge. I was worried about missing someone I really wanted to see. As it turned out, I ended up with Row 24. My mom pulled up row 21, and I decided just to get a cheap seat. They were out. We tried again, Row 24 came up. I took it. At that time, I was already well on the road to the Salt Lake Fairgrounds for some hot summer fun. Through the graciousness of friends, I was able to get a photo pass for Warped Tour, so I was pretty excited about it and definitely happy to finally be there.

I don't recall exactly what time I finally arrived at my destination, but it was probably around 10:30 a.m. The line was getting longer by the minute -- no, make that by the second. I ran into someone I always see at concerts right away, and he told me he was considering paying $5 to bump the line. It sounded good to me. I was ready for it. We chatted and I headed up to the press table to get my photo pass. It all went really smoothly. I was supposed to have a photo only band, but they forgot to cross of the "press" part, so I had a photo/press pass. I was told that I didn't have to go through the line. As it turned out, I wasn't even searched, so it went really quickly. In the end that was a huge blessing and relief as Relient K was playing first. I was really surprised that they were playing so early, but apparently this year at Warped the play order was determined by drawing and RK drew early.

My first stop, of course, was to the big red balloon to find out the schedule. I discovered that on too little sleep, remembering any of it was more than a challenge. I took a photo to help me remember, but then it was too bright to read it most of the time. LOL Then I headed for the Main Stage to see my favorite band, Relient K. When I arrived I went up to security so I could try and find out what I was supposed to do. She looked up what was on my wristband and said I could go backstage if I wanted to, so I did. I'm trying to remember who I saw first, but I think it was Warne. Eventually I was able to have a nice conversation with everyone. I probably seem kinda weird and chatty, but to me it's like running into someone you know that you only see once every 6 months or so and trying to fit everything you want to say in 30 seconds or less and you can't remember half of it. LOL

Finally it was time for the show to start and I went around to the barricade. I was nervous about getting anything good in the bright sun, and shade combo that is Warped. At the end of the three songs I went back to the front of the barricade. I asked security if I could still use the camera from the pit, or if I had to use a different one, and was basically told, "I don't know." So I just said if there's a problem let me know and I'll stop and swap cameras, so I was able to keep taking pics with my DSLR. I had a secured a spot in the front before the show and told someone I was there and I would try to get back which I did. My friend, Lauralee, was pretty much dead center, but I couldn't make it that far and was situated to the right of the stage near the piano. At one point Thiessen seemed to notice me in the crowd, and he said later that he did see me there. I guess I am like most people and it's nice to be recognized. LOL It's also nice when you are told that you weren't imagining things. ;)





Relient K's set was longer than I expected, but as always, it just seemed too short. They played Sadie Hawkins Dance, which I wasn't expecting and it was very well received indeed. I headed off to find something to drink and another show. If I remember correctly the next show I wanted to see was "We the Kings". I stopped at a few merch booths first, purchased a Relient K tee, preordered a cd from The Maine (which reminds me, I need to take care of that online with a code), etc. and hunted for the stage. I cannot recall the exact order of things at this point, but I saw, "The Maine", couldn't find the stage for We The Kings and missed half of their set. I was looking for the stage for the Color Fred and found it just as they started, and took pics from the barricade for the first three songs, and then stood to the side and watched the rest. I really enjoyed Fred's set a lot, and the sound for that set was probably the best for some reason.


After seeing The Maine, We the Kings and The Color Fred, I did a major search for the Kia tent to see RK again. I was pretty much next to the last person in line, and I squeaked in. I wanted to get something autographed and send it to April. (Now I need to write her!!!) All I could get was this huge, weird poster, but I got it signed. I stuck around for a photo. The gal wanted me to go outside, and I thought she meant without a photo, so I said something to her and ended up staying and she didn't make me leave. When I left, there was a photo line, and I felt bad because I kinda bumped it. That wasn't my intent. LOL I hated leaving the Kia tent, though, because it was cool in there.

After bugging RK some more, I headed back out into the hot sun, bought a smoothie and started looking for the stage with Between the Trees. Along the way I discovered a band called 1997 on the Friday Says stage and loved them. I stayed for their set. I finished my smoothie and headed out again. Along the way I took pics of a band on the Smart Punk stage because the gal with the painted stand up bass was just way too interesting not to take a few snaps. And somewhere in that stretch of time I believe I saw the Aggrolites, and took a few photos. They were a bit of fun and talented. At some point in time I ran into my friend Lauralee, and she was getting ready to go to the Myspace Tent for an acoustic set with Between the Trees. I definitely wanted to see that, so I joined her. I took quite a few photos during the set, and really enjoyed it quite a lot. I had a pic taken with two of the guys after the set (only the lead singer really played, though) and went to their merch booth to meet the whole band. At 6:35, I went to see Between the Trees again, but the sequence of the day's events escapes me completely. Somewhere in the rest of the day, I managed to watch a good part of Cobra Starship's set and take pics behind the barricade, and some other bands here and there. I talked to one guy quite a while about music. He loved RK and missed their show, but we liked a lot of the same things. Now, I know the order is completely jumbled, because he headed off to see Gym Class Heroes which was one of the last bands to play. I stopped to inquire about a hat. I ended up at Family Force 5 instead of GCH, but they looked like just to much fun not to photograph them. At that point no one really seemed to care about any photo time limits and I just took pics. I didn't get anything spectacular that I know of, but a few passable shots. Afterwards I went back to the "hat" venue and played "Let's Make a Deal" on the hat because I couldn't find which pocket the rest of my money was in. I paid $13 instead of $15 and promised I would give the guy $2 if I saw him in Boise. He's like, yea (just go away so I can leave.) LOL

Then I headed for my car, which looked rather lonely out there in the dirt, the gas station and 44 ozs. of heavenly Sprite; and finally home sweet home.

Now I just have to sort through the pics and see if I have anything. I did get a few good pics of Ethan Luck and Jon Schneck, but the rest I have yet to determine.

Now I'm just waiting to see what August has in store.

Peace out,

--Melanie

Current Events

So much has happened lately, and yet not much of anything. I'm really not sure where to begin relating current events in my life (or maybe it would put you to sleep anyway), but I will give it my best effort.

I'm going to start with the most recent event which happened probably less than an hour ago on my way home from work. I was navigating my way through the usual construction mess in the dark as I do every evening after work. I noticed a car on the right that was about to "overtake" me and then saw something in the road, probably slightly illuminated by his lights. He was difficult to see, and at first it almost looked a bit unreal, but there in the road, was a deer - a mere fawn by the looks of it. He stood there for a sec. and for a minute I thought the UHP officer to my right would make contact in a most unfortunate way. Fortunately the deer turned and ran. Now I've lived here for nearly 9 years, and I have worked at my current job for 5 years, and this is the first time I've seen a deer on the road here. I would have more expected it just a little further north on the freeway, and I'm not at all surprised that there are deer about, but it isn't really the usual thing to see them so close to the general population. :) If it were only daylight and I didn't have to drive. But the photo is still etched in my mind.

Shortly after the deer incident, the UHP put on his yellow lights, and crossed over in front of me, eventually turning all his lights on and pulling into the left lane. I thought the way the road looked, I should probably do the same, but then quickly realized I had it backwards. He was stopping for an accident. I could see past the emergency vehicles and flairs to a car almost turned completely sideways, and I could see a young lady in the driver's seat sitting and writing (probably filling out paperwork for the police report.) I hope everyone was o.k. It brought back memories - and not necessarily all of my favorite ones. LOL

I started physical therapy last Wednesday, and my third visit will be tomorrow. I was told that I could do some therapy in the pool if I wanted, so I'm looking forward to that. I love the water. I have this stuff called theraband that I use for a couple of exercises. It is comprised of a strip of stretchy material that looks and smells much like a thick ballon and is about 4-5 inches wide with a knot tied at each end. The smell caught my attention as I was typing.

Work is coming along well, for the most part. I am working on a different document now (I am a data transcriber) and it is one of the longer, slower documents. At the end of the night, my rates amounted to about 11.2 docs per hour. I thought I was going along at a pretty good clip, too. LOL Not long ago we met an important deadline and the entire section was being rewarded with a nacho dinner. We bring the food, we get no extra time. I'm still trying to figure out how this was a reward. LOL By the time I heated up the beans I brought in the microwave, got my food and ate, I used up my lunch break and 2nd break, so it made for a very long night. My last thoughts before leaving were, "Is it Friday yet?"

And for those who are wondering what my concert plans might be for the near future, I do have them. The next show I have plans for is the Warped Tour in Boise. I know for certain that I am not missing Relient K for anything. I am still trying to sort through what bands I want to see, but other than RK, the two I most want to see are probably Between the Trees and The Color Fred. Fingers crossed (and prayer to be said) that they will not be playing on opposite sides of the venue at the same time, as is often the luck of the draw with Warped. LOL It's a week from Saturday, so I'm getting a little excitedd about it. :) Two days later I am going to see The Spill Canvas. They are having a bowling party before the show for Aids awareness, so I've signed up to attend. I have'nt been bowling in years, and I wonder with my wrists as they are (too much keyboarding) if I can pick up the ball. LOL Please.. no video. LOL On July 19, I am seriously mulling over the idea of driving to Henderson, NV to see The Fold. I haven't seen them in about a year, and that's just waayyy too long! Although, there is some possibility they may come closer before then, and if that happens I will be a happy gas saver. At the end of July, my travels will take me near George, WA to the Gorge and Creation NW. Usually when I go I have a plan. This year, there are so many bands I want to see on both stages that it will be tricky. I'm especially looking forward to The Myriad, Esterlyn, Switchfoot and Ruth among others. On July 30, I am most likely going to head for Rock Springs, WY to see Switchfoot. The show is free with the entry to the fair. Free is good, since gasoline is far from it. I hadn't really thought about going until I decided to look up the distance and discovered it was only 2-1/2 hrs. from my place. In August, I have a ticket for row 6 for James Taylor, and will be at the Warped Tour in Boise. Unfortunately, I have had to cut back on a few shows simply can't afford all that benzene. Still, I have plans to visit my daughter in Sept. and catch Third Day, Jars of Clay, and Switchfoot all at the same concert. I have a meet/greet for Switchfoot, so I'm pretty excited about it. I met Jon in CA and was quite impressed.

In other news, I am trying to help promote The Worldwide Moment and will probably blog about that in the next day or two. If you haven't checked it out, I urge you to check it out and get involved. http://worldwidemoment.org

On myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/worldwidemoment

On facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22582875002&ref=mf

And just I promised here is the link to hear my lyrics put to music by the lovely J.S. James. If you would like to hear the song Jennifer created out of my lyrics (with a few small alterations), check it out here:
http://www.myspace.com/jenniferscottjames
Doesn't she have a pretty voice?

And so another novella is brought to a close.

Peace out,

--Melanie

Help Wanted

I have a big favor to ask. I want to enter the Warped Tour photo contest, so I was wanting some feedback before I enter the pics. I posted 9 or 10 pics from Warped Tour 2007 in my Flickr account. On Flickr, I am wmn4lif

I would really appreciate feedback, especially rating the pics 1, 2 & 3 for your favorite, 2nd favorite, etc.

Thanks!

--Melanie

NOTE: These are the photos I ended up entering:

I inadvertantly posted the Warped Tour blogs in the wrong order. :( The one on the top, and the one in the middle need to trade places. But since I know of no good way to make that happen, I will just warn you. LOL

Enjoy a few more Warped Tour pics

Warped Tour 2007

Reposted from my myspace yesterday:

Technically I got off work last night at 1 a.m., although it took me a bit to actually get out the door. I was already tired, but I had miles to go before I slept. I went to Wal Mart. I came home. I got on the computer for a bit and caught up with e-mail, etc., and I got ready for bed and for my Saturday. It was 4 a.m. when I finally hit the pillow - not literally of course. I'm not a pillow abuser. LOL My alarm was set for 8:12 a.m. It was close enough.
Today Warped Tour happened in Salt Lake City. I intended to make it to the venue, also known as the Salt Lake Fairgrouds, at 9 a.m., and made it about 9:15 a.m. At least it was close. The line was already getting a bit long, but at least wasn't completely out of the Fairgrounds parking when I arrived. The first thing I saw, other than the line, were people with signs that said, "Free Hugs." I remember seeing this on YouTube, so of course, I hugged them all. The gals all gave rather tentative hugs, but the last guy (who was obviously into this whole thing) gave me a long, bear hug. I said, "Whoa, you don't mess around, you mean business." LOL Then it was just a long wait as they slowly processed everyone and sent us to a "holding pen" as I like to call it. Bascially, it's a large area covered with asphalt and bleachers. Then we waited until 11 a.m. as the temps began to climb. 11 a.m. did finally arrive, believe it or not, and we were let into the gate. Nearly everyone made a beeline for the schedule board (or large balloon, or whatever that thing is called), including me. I made a list of the bands I intended to see for the day. The first was Anberlin at 12:30, so I decided just to watch Play Radio Play since it was at the same stage. Somewhere along the way, I saw Brittany from work, and we were together for the first few bands. We kept losing and finding each other during the day.
Since I am extraordinarily exhausted, I will skip much of what happened and just go straight to the bands I saw during the day. After Anberlin, I wandered around with Brittany until we lost each other,and then went to see Circa Survive then Coheed & Cambria.. Afterwards I made a pit stop at one of the "smoothie" stands and had a Wildberry Smoothie. It was pretty good, but did I get a "brain freeze." Next, I found Brittany again at the Hurley Stage where we watched Meg and Dia. The were pretty good actually, and cute. :) I made my way over to the Lucky stage to see Yellowcard... 4 minutes into their set. New Found Glory played after Yellowcard, and I had decided I'd like to see them. Overall, they were pretty good, and used the stage well. I got a kick out of the fact that they sang Kiss Me. It was the only song they did I knew all the words to. LOL After a pit stop for some Gatorade, I found my way to the 13 Stage where Killswitch Engage was playing. Nice guitar work, but a little on the screamy side for me and a little vulgar at times, but Paramore was up next and if I had any hope of being anywhere near the front, I would have to get there while Killswitch was playing. I was able to move a little forward, but still was mor to the side than I had hoped for Paramore, but overall, it was a good place to be. Paramore pretty much rocked the place, and just get better every time I see them. Today was no exception. They did a lot of songs from the new cd, and they played Emergency. It was a great set. And finally, I stayed at the same stage once again to watch Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. There was a gal there with her daughter who was probably a little shorter than I am -- which means she was definitely short. She had a long sleeved shirt on, and I thought she must be dying from heat. She was able to move up front next to me. She seemed to enjoy Red Jumpsuit's set quite a bit. I know her daughter did. :)
It was time to leave the place, so I stopped to take a few pics of the "trash" as I find it so unbelieveable, and headed for my car. I was glad I was parked close to the exit because my feet were killling me....
And, I noticed that I don't smell so wonderful either. :)
So, I'm really tired, really sore, but content just the same.

Peace out,
Melanie

Note: I should have more pics up here soon:
http://woman4life.smugmug.com/
But keep checking. It may take a bit. The pics are with my Canon S3 IS since I couldn't take the 20D into Warped Tour.