HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

Labor Day Weekend, and all is nuts on Beacon Hill... Everyone, it seems, is moving in or moving out... We have all been juggling key-fetching/ tenant-calling/ landlord-chasing/ etc etc all for the big turnover that is September 1 (complicated further by the fact that it is Labor Day). The is the first time in 3 years that I personally haven't moved, so its nice to just have to deal with everyone else's craziness. Its also the first time as a real estate agent that I was a part of this concentrated period (last year I started a week AFTER it all). So no big holiday weekend plans beyond a cookout at Ken and Brett's tonite> Will take Tuesday off... I imagine the rental-push will ease up a bit in September, but much of the month will be spent on the final condo sale that just went through (Woo-hoo!!)/ the closing is set for 9/30. Will try to solicit more sale properties, as this was my 3rd and last of the summer (and of my career in this so far...). Not too much else to report...

Random link, but too funny!

http://www.lovefred.com

Now why didnt I think of this??? I love the TShirts...

After 25 years, still feeling "Fascination"

Another blast from the past/ last night 4 of us headed over to the Pavilion to see the Regeneration Tour, with Naked Yes, A Flock of Seagulls, ABC, Belinda Carlisle, and the Human League. 10th Grade all over again, and not a bad thing. Once again we were moved up extra-close (3rd Row), and made friends with the people around us. This show, much moreso than the disco tour we saw a few weeks ago, showcased the actual bands (the previous concert featured the vocalists performing to prerecorded tracks). The Human League, as headliners, delivered a solid set of all the hits and near-hits (the highlights being 1982’s inescapable “Don’t You Want Me”, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", and the encore “Together in Electric Dreams”). Belinda Carlisle drew from her solo catalog, and pleased the faithful with 3 Go-Gos hits as well, before closing with her biggest “Belinda” hit, “Heaven is a Place on Earth”. ABC scored as well, with “The Look of Love” and “Poison Arrow” among their biggest hits… Naked Eyes had the unenviable task of opening this show, which didn’t reach capacity until halfway through the concert. They opened with their signature “Always Something There to Remind Me”, which left the audience with nothing to look forward to. Five songs later, they finished with MTV near-staple “Promises Promises” before A Flock of Seagulls took to the stage. Lead singer Mike Score, looking paunchy and without his iconic/notorious 80’s hair, left pretty much everyone scratching their heads. By the time they closed with “I Ran”, all was forgiven, and the audience was back to going nuts…
Another great nostalgia trip, with perfect weather and that great waterfront location. The seat upgrades didn’t hurt, either!

TROPIC THUNDER

Last night we checked out TROPIC THUNDER, which turned out to be the funniest movie I have seen in forever. Have always like Robert Downey, Jack Black cracks me up and killed in SCHOOL OF ROCK (but kinda lost me with NACHO LIBRE), and Ben Stiller has been grating on me since Zoolander, so my enthusiasm level was only so-so for this. Needing a laugh, and the showtime was right, we found ourselveves plunking down our ticket money...

This movie is BRILLIANT. Hilarious satire of all things Hollywood, lampooning pretentious actors, genre filmmaking, Hollywood insiders and all the behind-the-scenes machinations that go into making a big budget film. I can’t really give anything away, unfortunately, because (not knowing much about this film until the credits rolled…) the best parts all come as surprises. From the opening moments, where we are introduced to the characters via “trailers” to their respective upcoming projects (and in one case, a product endorsement/ alternate “revenue stream”…), to the surprise cameos (The secret Tom Cruise appearance has already been revealed and lauded), TROPIC THUNDER is right up there with WAG THE DOG (1997’s political satire) as one of Hollywood’s smartest and most effective send-ups.

The gist of the plot centers around the film adaptation of a Vietnam War vet’s memoir, and what happens when the plan to shoot the film in a hyper realistic guerilla-style (drop the actors in the jungle with a vague script outline, hidden cameras and special-effects devices planted along the way) goes horribly awry unbeknownst to the actors involved… (To say any more wouldn't be fair to ya...)

Gleefully over-the-top, at times comically violent, and incredibly self-aware, TROPIC THUNDER is so much better than it even deserves to be. I laughed for 105 minutes straight...

DISCO

Last night we got free tickets (THANKS, Robert!!!) for the “Solid Gold Disco Party” concert on Boston’s waterfront, headlined by the Village People, along with various 70s one-offs and minor icons Evelyn “Champagne” King, Maxine Nightingale, the Hues Corporation, Musique, and emceed by Jimmy JJ Walker.

Totally fun, and totally worth the cost of the free ticket! It was basically Karaoke night up there, with the performers doing their signature hit/hits along with a bunch of disco-era numbers. So we got to hear Maxine Nightingale do “Right Back Where We Started From” along with other period tracks, Hues Corporation’s “Rock the Boat” alongside their renditions of similar chart-toppers, etc… It was cool, in that I think everyone was happy to see that, say, Maxine was still getting work!

Best surprise of the night was how strong a performer King was—She sounds better than ever, and really involved the crowd, one of the strangest cross-sections of an audience I have yet to come by—the gay contingent was obviously represented, but there were tons of suburban couples, a much older contingent, and plenty of 20-somethings… Pretty much everyone was on their feet the whole time, and by the time the Village People came out the show had already been going nearly 3 hours..

Okay, the Village People. How crazy is it that these guys have become beloved American icons??? Initially, they were a bunch of guys who responded to an ad to “perform” as gay cultural archetypes that would be the basic concept for this 70s version of the Boy Band; the "visuals" to session musicians... It was an “in-joke” that most of America didn’t even get, and they were all over the airwaves (and TV) in the late-70s, performing songs with double-and-triple-entendres that would never fly on pop radio today. Now, after 30 years and a few personnel changes, they are still performing to packed houses. They have become the Disco Beach Boys. Im sure none of them ever bet what probably sounded like a gag in 1977 would take them through the next 30+ years, essentially performing the same 6 or 7 songs!! To their credit, they were self-depracating and very hammy, and for what seemed like the ultimate guilty pleasure, it was encouraging to know that everyone was in on the joke!

A really fun (and FREE!!) show that brought me back to my elementary school days. In two weeks we have the "Regeneration Tour", with a bunch of 80s acts that will take me back to the 10th grade...The cool thing is that I think these shows are as much fun for the audience as they are for the performers.

SOLD!

Just closed on the first deal, which had hit numerous snags (I already closed my 2nd condo)! Still one listing on the market, on which we just dropped the price>> This one should go pretty quickly now that we have hit August...

August 1

August already. The non-Summer is hitting its final stretch. This time last year I was wrapped up in the closing of my business (and all that entails), had just moved to the South Shore, and had yet to sign on at my current employers. The past year has proven to be the longest (and, at times, the fastest) 12 months I’ve yet to experience. A lot has happened, some good (and some very bad). Have grown apart from some people, and gotten closer with others, and have seen people at their best and at their worst…
I know this isn’t the calendar year, but to me it feels like the beginning of Book Two/ Chapter Two. Not sure how this book is gonna end yet, but there were twists along the way that I didn’t see coming, a few heroes, some villains, and plenty of drama. (Should make for a fairly quick beach read, regardless)
:)