giraffes on horseback salads

whew, what a long strange week it's been . . .
the u2 show was great! we had a blast, ('specially s.a.), and we got the shirts to prove it.
i thought u2 to be a little flat, but even a mediocre show from them is light years better than some acts i've seen in the last few years, (um, fleetwood mac comes to mind). then again cali is so laid back . . .
i really think bono is eyeing popedom. i know u2 is a very spritual band, but before the song 'yahweh', bono went on and on about the pope while he played with his magical rosary beads. i guess since he didn't get the world bank position he is setting his sights a little higher. pope bono I. it's got a certain ring to it, eh?
the highlight was during 'mysterious ways' as bono grabbed a girl from the audience and danced up the runway together. soon this chick starts to really dance, (she was quite good), and bono just stood amazed. she danced him back to center stage while the crowd howled in delight.
here be the set list:
01. Intro
02. Love and Peace or Else
03. Vertigo / Stories for Boys / Hello
04. Elevation
05. The Cry / Electric Co / Send in the Clowns / Miles and Miles
06. An Cat Dubh
07. Into the Heart
08. City Of Blinding Lights
09. Beautiful Day / We Shall Overcome
10. Miracle Drug
11. Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own / No Regrets
12. New Year's Day
13. Sunday Bloody Sunday
14. Bullet the Blue Sky / Johnny Comes Marching Home
/Hands That Built America
15. Running to Stand Still
16. Pride
17. Where the Streets Have No Name
18. One
19. Original of the Species
20. The Fly
21. Mysterious Ways
22. All Because of You
23. Yahweh
24. "40"

the kings of leon seemed a little over-whelmed by the size of the arena, but they got a great reaction from the sparse crowd, (most people were standing in shirt lines up until u2 hit the stage). and while not familiar to their music, i think the king's would shine in a smaller venue.
the staging was similar to the u2 shows of the recent past, just scaled down a bit.
but they didn't work it too much. with just bono using the circular runway and the band settling for the main stage, the show lacked the punch of the u2 i've seen in '82 and '97 or some of the videos like the elevation show or slane castle. tho, like i said, i think it may have something to do with san jose, which is one cold-hearted city.
before we left for the concert we were sure made to feel welcome as two of san jose's finest came a-knockin' on our motel door lookin' for someone with an outstanding parking ticket. it ended up like a scene from 'cops'. deputies fife and tootie went to almost every door and were soon accompanied by another 4 squad cars. there were numerous parking lot arrests, breaking into of cars and other overdone police-state activities. it was a more thorough search than tora bora. and they still had no suspect by the time we left for the show.
afterwards we ended up walking the 3 miles back to the motel because we couldn't catch a cab, ('the taxis are all over', we were told, but they lied). that wasn't such a bad idea at the time, in fact it was quite fun, being all hopped-up and giddy from the show. but i paid for it dearly all week. with every joint in the hands and feet swollen from the fun of it all, it has taken me this long just to get up the energy to punch this out.
ahh, but this week i did get to catch up on my marx brothers movies, (we have both box sets, 12 of the movies and extras, worth every penny. tho we had to get 'love happy' separate). i did the whole marathon thingy, starting with 'cocoanuts', giggling all the way thru to 'love happy', (stopping twice for 'duck soup'). that made the smell of ben-gay easier to tolerate, and s.a.'s pain pills helped too.
and here is a story about a wrecked movie collaboration with the marxes and salvador dali called 'giraffes on horseback salads', (i am changing the name of the album!). very strange . . .
some more marx related goodies:
'duck soup' (part 1) radio promo (real stream from 'why a duck?')
'duck soup' (part 2) radio promo (real stream from 'why a duck?')
you bet your life - 10-10-49 (complete show download)
groucho sings everyone says i love you (real stream) and lydia, the tattooed lady (wav file)
video - groucho's dance (from duck soup)
video - the mirror scene (from duck soup)
goin back to cali, (i don't think so) . . . and i just found out we're going to see brian wilson in berkley sept 2nd. i guess we go to cali once more. then no more!