Places to Go, People To See, Food To Eat

That's going to be my vacation motto, because my to do list for the three days I'm away is growing faster than the tail of Dicky Dragon or even Marie Hayward's teeth. (Yeah, I know, it's mean of me to pick on Mrs. Hayward, but it's fun and done out of ...hmmm...I'm not sure what it's done out of.)

Places to Go
Hard Rock Cafe - Cos I need a shirt with a city other than Pittsburgh on it.
Planet Hollywood - I've never been to one. (This girl doesn't get out much)
Rainforest Cafe - I've been intrigued by this restaurant for a year now.
Steel Pier - It's that merry-go-round thing again, oh and the Crazy Mouse.
The Boardwalk and all the fun shops - Is that not a given? Have I not expressed my love, nay obsession with the Atlantic City boardwalk for a year now? ~sigh~ I'm coming back Boardwalk, have you missed me? Damn, right you have!
The Atlantic Ocean - I love water! I love taking pictures of water...and I swear as soon as I set my eyes on that ocean I'm going to burst into a huge squee and cry! I love the ocean!



People to See
The only people I need to see are

Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Graeme Edge, Paul Bliss, Gordon Marshall, Bernie Barlow and Norda Mullen.



Food To Eat
Funnel Cakes - Cos I didn't get a good one last September, because my traveling companion was too cheap to eat.
Fudge - Yum!
Fralinger's Taffy - You can't go to the shore without taffy, damn it!
Any dessert from Brulee's. I'm determined to get to this restaurant.
Seriously if I had the time and the money I would eat my way through the boardwalk! There's just so many great things there. I can't wait. 2 more days!!! 2 more days!!!!!

The Moody Blues and Atlantic City

My two favorite things meshed together.

Pardon me while I squee with orgasmic bliss.

Oh and no trip to the shore is complete without a bunch of these guys!

In Need Of Sleep

One thing I really don't like about working the morning shift is the time I have to wake up to get to work. 5:30 a.m. is just not my time of day. I'm not a morning person, I never have been.

It's quite possible that with this job I'm going to be turned into one, but I can tell you one thing, I'm not going to like it.

I sure hope that I have a chance tomorrow to get a few extra hours of shut eye, before I start running around doing those last minute things I need to do for the vacation.

I'm drained right now, and I barely got any sleep last night. Not fun. I have about a half hour to get dressed and ready to start today and I'm in no way near alive enough to contemplate putting clothes on. I want to stay in my jammies all day.

But it's not going to happen.

At least I will have a full paycheck next week because of these two days. I wonder if a small cat nap at 1 o'clock would help? Just a half hour nap? Nah, it would probably make me more tired, and than I'd get cranky. Not a good thing.

Here's hoping I can get through the day without falling asleep or killing anyone because of sleep depravation.

Vacation Craziness

I went through my suitcase last night, in an attempt to pack more stuff. Yeah, I don't believe in traveling light. As a result, I did end up removing some of the things I was taking, as well as adding a few more. After all, how many times can I change clothes from Friday to Sunday? I guess we'll find out won't we?

So, the suitcase is all packed, unless I make a few changes. Now I just have to get the toiletries in their little bag and my jewelry. Then the hard part will come. Which purse will I carry in Atlantic City? ARGH!

I did buy batteries this weekend, a big 8 pack of AA lithiums, and the nephew already confiscated 2 of them. DRAT! But 6 batteries should hold both cameras for the weekend. I hope!

So far I've made 3 mix cds. I need to make about 7 more, so I'll be really busy in between shifts today and once I get home from work.

Other than that, and getting money in the bank, I think I've got everything done. Unless, of course something else comes up, and that's always a possibility!

Random 10

The weekly musical wrapup meme. Go on, click the link and play along! I dare ya!

This weekend was a little bit of everything, because I was making mixes, lots of mixes. I still have a few mixes left to make and I'm only halfway through the 60's mix! ARGH!

Herman's Hermits - (I Gotta) Dream On
The Moody Blues - Gypsy
The Beatles - It Won't Be Long
Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe - Baby It's You
Adam Ant - Hello, I Love You
Def Leppard - No Matter What (A fantastic cover)
The Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday
Justin Hayward - Nostradamus
Diana Krall - Temptation
Justin Hayward - Take Your Chances

The photo is of the delicious dessert I had at the Boston Beanery at Uniontown Mall where I bought even more clothes.

Obsessing

My friend Obsessing7 over at livejournal has a wonderful topic all the time, current obsessions. I've decided to steal that idea.

Today's obsessions include, but are not limited to the following topics:

1. The Atlantic City Trip and everything surrounding it. I'm leaving on Thursday night. Did I mention that? I still need to get everything packed. I have most of my clothes ready..but oye! I need to do so much more.




2. Making Mixes. I made two yesterday and I am working on the 3rd mix now. I just need loads more 60's songs.


3. The Moody Blues! Like you didn't think they'd make the list after number 1!



4. Weight loss. I still want to lose about 5 lbs and the scale is bouncing up and down a few lbs and it's so damn annoying!

5. My new job or soon to be new job. (I really need to know more, but no one is telling me anything)

6. Photography. I need to figure out the night setting on my damn camera! So far my evening pictures are crap on the new camera. On the old one I can get great shots, like this one



And getting a picture of that elusive cardinal that visits our yard for bread every day.

Still Mixing

I decided to throw together a mix of Beatles tunes for the car. I have a thing about the Beatles. I love em! I have since I was at least 5 years old, which was sadly 9 years too late to be part of the madness and mayhem of their heyday.

Drat!

Cursed by being born in 1974!

When it comes to driving to the Beatles, I stuck with songs from the early part of their career. Most is pre-Revolver stuff, though I did put Hello Goodbye, Here Comes The Sun and I Me Mine on the mix.

I can't drive to music that's too laid back, especially since this jaunt is going to start at about 7 p.m. on Thursday and we won't reach our destination until early early a.m. on Friday. No sleepy for me!

If you click here, you'll find the finished tracklisting for my Beatles mix.



Next up...the 60's mix!

The Covers Mix

Lady Starlight made a covers mix for our trip next weekend, so I decided to make one too.

If you're curious as to what's on it, click here. If you're really bored and want to see the other mixes I've made, click here.

Now I really have to think of some new mixes to make that long drive bearable, or I'll be like a ten year old saying "Are we there yet?" and I'll be the one doing the driving!!!

6 Days and Counting

Less than a week to go, until I reach the Jersey shore. I swear I'm not coming back! I'm going to run away and become a drink girl at one of the casinos. I'll get to wear cute little uniforms (which I can now fit in) and I'll make good tips.

OK, I do dream a lot, but everyone knows that.

I'm so ready for this coming weekend. Mostly because I won't have to work Saturday and then because I'll be seeing these guys.



~does a little happy dance~

I'm to the point where I don't even care if Hurricane Dennis dumps buckets of rain on us. Which he probably will. Damn hurricanes!

Today I'm going to start the major preparations for the trip, because Monday and Tuesday I'll be working 9.5 hour days so there won't be much breathing time. But when have I had much of that lately anyhow.

Oh and speaking of no breathing time, I've got an update on the job situation. August 1 or there abouts will be my start time for the promotion. Which means sometime in August, I'll be taking a working vacation to Waco, Texas.

I can't help but say I'm nervous as hell about that.

Dog Days

My sweet little Purbee dog was out to give me coronary today. At 5:45 this morning I was awakened to my father downstairs saying, "Where the hell is the dog?" Meaning he put the dog out and the dog escaped the yard.

ARGH!

Imagine if you will, me in my pink floral jammies. Running around the 2 block area screaming for "Purbee, the nice little dog."



See, he is a nice little dog.

We ran back and forth screaming for about 10 minutes. No Purbee. I woke my poor mother, to tell her that her dog had disappeared. I woke the nephew to get his help in finding the missing dog.

My dad was about to get in the car when my mother thought she heard the dog. So I told Raymond to look up the hill and I'd go down the hill.

When I started down through my grandmother's yard, lo and behold, on the next block was Purbee sniffing about someone's yard. I called for him. Did he come? Fuck no! (pardon my choice of words)

So I ran down the hill, which for those of you not familar with the area of Charleroi on Mon, is quite a nice one. I slid down the grade by her steps, on my ass! Yeah! Nice picture I'm painting, right? I jumped off the wall and tore across the street calling for Purbee.

I almost had to tackle the damn dog! He refused to come. I scooped him up and carried the blasted (sweet) animal back up the hill. I was amazed I wasn't ready to drop when I got him back in our yard.

Great way to start the day, isn't it?

Top Five On Friday

It's that Music Memoirs Meme again!

Top 5 guitarists and your favorite song by each guitarist or his/her band.

OK, I've thought long and hard on this one. I'm going to salute the guitarists that the world ignores when they do their top lists.

1. Justin Hayward



Gorgeous and a guitar god as well.

The song? The Story In Your Eyes (You can't beat the guitar riffs in this song...)

Honorable mention: Question (Best acoustic guitar)

2. George Harrison



Picking a song for George is much too hard, because I love all his solo works as well as his music with the Beatles.

I'm going to pick Wreck Of The Hesperus from Cloud 9

3. Elvis Costello



Looks like EC took some squirrelly lessons from Mr. Hayward. Mr. Costello is better known for his songwriting, rather than his playing ability and that's a shame, because his really a good guitarist too.

The song I chose?

When I Was Cruel's first single: Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)

4. Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)



I'm chosing a solo song of his, because Take It Easy is just an awesome song.

5. Michael Nesmith



Mike along with Peter were the only "real" musicians in the pre-fab four. Oddly as I grow older, I appreciate his country flavored rock more and more.

The best song: Listen to the Band

Now I'll nod the exceptional guitarists like Clapton (who has gone all wussy and pathetic since the 80's) and Jimmy Page.

Oh and bass players are guitarists too. So you know I couldn't forget to post a picture of John Lodge, bassist extraordiare. (And lazy butt)



Best song? Don't ask me! I love em all, though I'll give mention to Steppin' In A Slide Zone.

Countdown to Jersey

Well, next week at this time I'll be getting my rental car and preparing myself for the 7 hour drive from Charleroi on Mon to Atlantic City. (Which will start after I wrap up work next Thursday, sometime around 7 p.m.) It's going to be a long day and a long wait for that day to get here!

Starting this weekend, I've got to get things in order so I'm ready to go next Thursday. I need to sort through my suitcase to make sure I have everything I need. I have to make sure I have enough shoes! Erm, I mean that I have adequate coverage for my feet that match the few zillion outfits I've packed. Then I must get makeup and jewelry together. All that fun stuff.

Then there's the matter of making mix cds. I must have some new tunage for the drive. I'm going to do my "Covers" Mix as well as a Beatles Mix and who knows what else. But I'm going to be doing a lot of mixing this weekend.

Oh and I need to color my hair and buy batteries. The batteries are more important than the hair at this point, because the batteries will power my digital cameras. I'm taking all of them with me. The more pictures the merrier, regardless of what they are of. I'm not deluding myself in thinking I'll get any shots of my Moody Men this tour, but who knows, I might be lucky. Yeah and with my luck Justin will be wearing all three hideous shirts from hell. But hey, if he is, I will mock his bad fashion sense for years to come. I love him, but J'tiny poo needs to get a fashion advisor.

I'm also trying to prep myself for the eventuality that it's going to rain next weekend. Damn hurricanes! But regardless of the weather, I fully intend on having a great time, because there's just so much to do in Atlantic City! I can't wait to get there!



And the Hard Rock is just going to be one of the places I intend to go this time round!

It's Hump The Hunk Day

OK, I only wish. But it's Wednesday and it's Hump Day and all Hump Days have Hump Day Hunks, so why not Hump The Hunk?

Well mostly because the Hunks would object, but let's let fantasy take over, because it's more fun!

And now for my hunks:



The lovely Lodgey



Mmmm, suddenly I'm focused on the green eyed one.

Not to worry, I didn't forget ole' blue eyes!



And to add some variety...



Elvis and Justin...erm...I mean a squirrel.

What? I can't help it if Justin's squirrelly all the time!

The Clipboard Of Fun

Did anyone ever watch Full House? Ok, I'm the only one, I know. But when the Tanner family and Co went to Hawaii they had a clipboard of fun. Their whole vacation was outlined by Daddy Danny Tanner.

That's what I'm planning on doing for our Atlantic City trip next week. There are so many places we want to go to and things we want to eat..erm...do, that we need some kind of schedule.

So far I've broken the three days up.

Moody Concert 1: Friday
This day we'll spend mostly on the Marina taking in all the sites and sounds there. I'm sure we can find some great things to do there. I don't know much about the Marina in Atlantic City, so Friday is a day of exploration.

Moody Concert 2: Saturday
Saturday is all about "THE BOARDWALK!" I don't know if I'll be able to get everything I want in in the time we have, but I want to make sure that I get to see all the necessary sites. And damn it I'm going to ride the merry-go-round at the Steel Pier.



Seriously, could you resist such a beautiful ride?

Sunday we head back to Pennsylvania. I plan on going to Longwood Gardens to see all the beautiful flowers and the CHIME TOWER!



After we finish up there, we head towards home, stopping for dinner at Plain and Fancy Farm Then we'll start heading back to our sad pathetic boring lives, which will have been made better for a few days of moody filled fun and excitement.

Can you tell I'm ready to go now? I don't know if I can wait 9 more days!

Take Me Back Tuesday

1. Which band, past or present, would you like to see reunite?
Oingo Boingo, because I still think Danny Elfman has a lot of music left in him. Not just the fantastic film scores that he does either.



2. What are your three favourite songs by this band?

Try to Believe
Spider
We Close Our Eyes

3. Which album do you think was the band's best?

Dark at the End of the Tunnel



I've always been partial to this album. It was one of the first Oingo Boingo CDs that I bought. It has so many darkly beautiful songs on it, Try to Believe is one of them. It's Oingo stepping away from the 80's.

Recommended Reading

I think everyone that's battled with their weight should be required to read this book.



It's a fairly short read, clocking in at about 342 pages. It's fast paced and funny. The story of one woman's attempt to become fit and fabulous on a reality show.

I think just about everyone will identify with the heroine, Kat the Brat. Her thin goals are much like everyone else's. When she gets thin...this and this and this are going to happen and life will be wonderful.

The trials and tribulations of a reality show as well as an online relationship that suddenly isn't online help her grow and accept herself and her body. Something we all need to do.

In the process of all this, she manages to lose weight, though she doesn't become the size 4 she longs to be, she also finds love in an unexpected place.

I found myself wishing the story would go on long after I had finished it. The characters were real and I could identify with each of them in one way or another. They were very real people. In fact, most of them seemed to be a bit like people I know.

So if you want to read something fun and entertaining, you can't go far wrong with this book. It's a perfect beach book or a lay out on a lawn chair in your yard book.

Random 10

It's time to recap my weekend in music. This weekend was, of course, all about my birthday!

The Beatles - Birthday
The Smiths - Unhappy Birthday (I love this song)
Justin Hayward - Forever Autumn (I was listening to disc 4 of the Time Traveller Box on the way to and from Wheeling)
Tony Orlando and Dawn - Knock Three Times (One of the most annoyingly infectious songs. They played it while we were eating dinner at the Island Buffet)
The Eagles - The Long Run
The Moody Blues - Talking Out Of Turn
Question Mark and the Mysterians - 96 Tears (This was played at the car show in Wheeling)
The Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams
The Moody Blues - Highway (OK, this song so needs to be done live!)
Madonna - Like A Prayer (Her Live 8 set included this song)

Honorable Mention
Paul McCartney - Hey Jude (Again...Live 8. And can I just say Paulie's still looking fine!)



Personally I think because Paul looks so good, he deserves more than an honorable mention. That's why he's this weeks picture.

What a fun day!

I'm back from Wheeling and what a fun time we had! We saw the car show at Heritage Port.

There were some interesting classic and not so classic cars there.

This one




is one of my favorites.

The river was busy. There were speed boats, barges and ducks everywhere. It made for some interesting photo oportunities.



I never realized how well my zoom lens worked until I took a few shots of the speed boat and could really see the passengers inside. Oye!



Thank god for the ducks! One day I'll tell you the story about my childhood name for mallards.

But the real reason I was at this park was too get pictures of the Suspension Bridge. This bridge is probably the most beautiful bridge. Ok, not as pretty as the Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh, but it's unique. It's part of the National Road, which for those of you not familiar with that, it's US Route 40.



The bridge that runs parellel to it is part of Interstate 70. At night the Suspension Bridge is gorgeous, but so far I haven't really been able to get a good shot with the lights. I'm still trying to figure out some of the settings on my camera and nighttime shots are the hardest for me. I get some that are good and some that are awful.



I took that one a few weeks ago. It's not as good as I'd like it to be, but it's not as bad as the rest. I'll post more of my bridge pictures over at my photolog later. All in all, today was a nice day. Oh and I stopped at the mall to innocently pay my Kaufmann's bill...yeah, I spent more money on clothes. Bad me! Bad but very well dressed me!

Sunday already?

Why are birthday's always so darn disappointing? I mean it's not as if I was expecting anything earthshattering and life changing to happen yesterday.

Not like I thought



he would show up on the doorstep. Though I'll admit that would have been nice.

~Pauses for a moment to have a lovely daydream~

Mostly yesterday was boring. I went to work. One word: YUCK! I came home and piddled on the compter and I went to Red Dawg's for dinner. Oh and I went to Walmart.

I think I have all the clothes for Atlantic City that I'll need, unless I intend to change clothes every 15 minutes.

That probably wouldn't be a good thing, because I'd miss out on the things I really want to see in Jersey. (And I'd never get time to eat..and besides seeing the Moody Blues, I really want to eat in Jersey!)

Speaking of food, I had a really good dinner for my birthday. Which was about the only good thing yesterday. (Well that and those Moody mpegs)

I had a very very very strong strawberry margarita and some yummy spicy cajun chicken tortellini.



Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos that takes pictures of food.



The margarita put me to sleep before midnight last night. How sad is that? I was asleep before midnight on a Saturday night that was my birthday.

Ah, we know that's sad, but I'm going out on the town today. The town being Wheeling. So I'm going to get the party started now. I hope to have some pictures to post later today, that aren't of food.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Moodymistress sent me a wonderful present, 4 cdrs worth of mpegs, all Moody Blues clips.

Squee!

So I promptly attempted to screen capture a few of the clips. One of the prettiest ones was The Moody Blues on Solid Gold in 1986. Anyone remember that show? I used to watch it all the time.

Justin looked particularly lovely in these shots....but then again, so did Lodgey.



Is that a little pink Lodgey tongue I see there? Squee! I could think of a few things he do with that tongue.

BAD ME! But I'm entitled, cos it's my birthday.



Mmmmm what a lovely birthday present. I can't wait to screen capture some more things!

31 Songs For 31 Years

Ok, since tomorrow is my b-day, I'm going to list a song for each year I've been on this fine planet, starting with 2005 and working back to 1974.

2005 Rob Thomas - This Is How A Heart Breaks
2004 Duran Duran - Astronaut
2003 Elvis Costello - Still
2002 Grey Eye Glances - The One
2001 The Moody Blues - We Can Fly (One of the band's best!)
2000 Sarah Brightman - A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Another phenomenal cover of this song)
1999 Blondie - Maria
1998 Grey Eye Glances - The Lost Coast
1997 Justin Hayward - I Heard It
1996 Midge Ure - Breathe (The Swatch commerical song)
1995 Pulp - Common People (Best song of this year!)
1994 Erasure - I Love Saturday (One word, perky!)
1993 Robin Zander - Reactionary Girl (One of the best songs ever!)
1992 Shakespear's Sister - Stay (Gorgeous song and fabulously gothic video)
1991 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Shadowtime
1990 Oingo Boingo - Try To Believe (One of Danny Elfman's best!)
1989 Annie Haslam - The Angels Cry (W/Justin Hayward)
1988 Tanita Tikaram - Good Tradition (Kudos to Brian for introducing this album to me)
1987 The Smiths - Unhappy Birthday (Kinda appropriate, right?)
1986 Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone (86 was a hard year because the songs were all so darn good!)
1985 Arcadia - The Promise
1984 Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane
1983 Madonna - Borderline
1982 Paul McCartney - Here Today (A beautiful tribute to Lennon)
1981 Stevie Nicks - Kind Of Woman
1980 Justin Hayward - It's Not On
1979 George Harrison - Blow Away
1978 The Moody Blues - Top Rank Suite (Justin getting funky!)
1977 John Lodge - Summer Breeze (This and Street Cafe are my favorite songs from this disc)
1976 ABBA - Knowing Me, Knowing You (Elvis Costello does a smashing live version of this song)
1975 Blue Jays (Justin Hayward and John Lodge) - Saved By The Music (My favorite off this CD)
1974 David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (Bow Wow! Ruff Ruff!)

As always, if you want any of these tracks let me know and I'll upload them for you. That's a lot of music, but hey, I've been around for 31 years tomorrow!

Another Musical Meme

I promised Amelia that I'd do this meme again, just for her. I've done it a few times before, but most everything changes after a week, so what's one more time, right?

1. Total amount of music on your computer.
Well, if you've been to my playlist there's about 4420 songs. Some are from a few live shows I have waiting to be burned. (I really should do that soon)

2. Last CD you bought

I just got a shipment from BMG. I bought 3 CDs






3. What is the last song you listened to before reading this message?

Elvis Costello - Either Side of the Same Town

4. 5 songs you listen to often, or mean a lot to you.
I don't have songs that really have meaning for me, but there are some songs I can't stop listening to.

Justin Hayward - Penumbra Moon (I absolutely adore this song and I love the Night Flight CD. Justin doing cheesy 80's! Bless his cotton socks!)

The Moody Blues - Send Me No Wine (We know John really doesn't mean that!) Another Lodgey song that sticks in your brain.

Elvis Costello - Deep Dark Truthful Mirror/You Really Got A Hold On Me (Medley) This one does have meaning for me. It's one of the best songs he did back in 2002 when I met his sexy self.

The Moody Blues - Lovely To See You (It's quite likely my favorite Moody Blues song)

Manfred Mann - The Mighty Quinn (Love it, and the chorus is damn infectious!)
Again, if you want any of these songs, let me know. I think I might even have the live version of Deep Dark Truthful Mirror around here somewhere

Top Five On Friday

It's time for another Music Memoirs meme!

Top five songs with animals in the title.

OK, I could do almost all of this in Beatles songs. After all, there's:

Hey Bulldog
Blackbird
Octopus' Garden
And Your Bird Can Sing
Blue Jay Way

But that would be a bit too easy...right?

But on my list And Your Bird Can Sing is one of my absolute favorites.

The Monkees - All The King's Horses



Elvis Costello - Leave My Kitten Alone (This is an awesome cover from the Kojak Variety disc)


Mary Fahl - White Bird (This woman has an incredible voice. All her songs are wonderful)
The Moody Blues - The Swallow (Did you think they wouldn't have done at least one animal song?)



Justin Hayward - Silverbird

If you'd like any of these songs, give me a shout and I'll upload them for you.