More Like the Moon

With a full moon shining down bright, it was a great night to see a concert. Last night I mosied on down to the Hollywood Bowl to catch a double bill of Wilco and REM. It was one of the best concerts I'd ever been to. Lots of ex-hippies, unshaven nature grrls and middle-age geeks filled the audience. Despite the all the nerd sweat, the only obnoxious smells were spliffs being blazed up. No biggee though.

The ticket said 7:30. Right at 7:30:01 Wilco came on stage to begin their set. I'll say this for Wilco, they're one of the most prompt bands in rock 'n roll. Even though there were plenty of Wilco shirts in the audience, there was a tepid response, with Dave and I being the only guys in our section to hoot and holler when they came on.

Here's Wilco's set list:

I'm the Man who Loves You
Poor Places
Reservations
I am Trying to Break Your Heart
War on War
Jesus Etc
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Kicking Television
Misunderstood
I'm Always in Love
California Stars

AWESOME:
- Kotche's fills during I'm the Man..

- The swirling feedback and building percussion at the end of Poor Places as the "YHT" refrain played over and over gave the song a far more dark and chilling feel than the album did.

- Tweedy screwing up the verse order of Misunderstood ("No, sh*t, wait that's not it"...."Welcome to Amatuer Night at the Hollywood Bowl") Classic!

-Mike Mills and Peter Buck helping out Wilco on California Stars closing it out on a mellow, feel-good note.

Then came R.E.M., who still know how to put on a great show. I was a little disappointed that they didn't play anything from Monster, but the variety of the set more than made up for it.

Here's the set list for R.E.M:

Begin the Begin
So Fast, So Numb
Imitation of Life
Drive
Animal
Fall on Me
Bad Day
The One I Love
Don't Go Back to Rockville (Mike on lead vocal!)
Great Beyond
Orange Crush
Daysleeper
Electrolite
Losing My Religion
Find the River (dedicated to Warren Zevon)
She Just Wants to Be
Walk Unafraid
Man on the Moon (w/ Tony Clifton and lots of water)

Everybody Hurts
Finest Worksong
Nightswimming
Final Straw
End of the World

AWESOME:

- Michael Stipe pulling a Tweedy and forgetting which stanza of the chorus he was supposed to sing on Imitation of Life . Mike Mills quickly jogged his memory for him by singing backup.

- Tony Clifton coming out to do a duet w/ Stipe on Man on the Moon. Whoever played Tony (Andy?) did a bang up job. He pretty much trailed Michael on the stage shoving and mocking him whenever he got the opportunity. Then it got a bit out of hand. Tony grabbed two huge cups of water and completely drenched Stipe and Mills. The band looked genuinely surprised, kinda like "We didn't rehearse that". Nonetheless they were all laughing and having a good time. When the band returned for the encore, Mike uttered into his mic "I'm a professional" over and over again as if trying to convince himself.

Great night.

This was good for a laugh in the morning.

REQUIRED URJENT ASSISTANCE

DEAR SIR / MADAM,

I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, AND CURRENTLY SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION, WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF A HUGE SUM OF MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.


I AM WRITING YOU IN ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE PRIMARILY TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN ACQUIRING OIL FUNDS THAT ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ. MY PARTNERS AND I SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN COMPLETING A TRANSACTION BEGUN BY MY FATHER, WHO HAS LONG BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE EXTRACTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,AND BRAVELY SERVED HIS COUNTRY AS DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.IN THE DECADE OF THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES, MY FATHER, THEN VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SOUGHT TO WORK WITH THE GOOD OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TO REGAIN LOST OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN. THIS UNSUCCESSFUL VENTURE WAS SOON FOLLOWED BY A FALLING-OUT WITH HIS IRAQI PARTNER, WHO SOUGHT TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING EMIRATE OF KUWAIT, A WHOLLY-OWNED U.S.-BRITISH SUBSIDIARY.
(Read More)

It's been quite an emotional week with blogging being the last thing on my mind. The Nehemiah family has been shaken with the news of Jessica's ordeal, but we are plugging along trying to help out the Ogleys as much as we can, all the while trying to stay focused on moving NCA forward. Since we are a very small school and the families are very close to one another, this has been a difficult task.

The children are starting to question the absence of their classmate. It's been difficult to explain to Josh just exactly why Jess has been in the hospital for this length of time. Though we haven't really told him the full details, he is starting to catch on to the cruel reality. One of Josh's classmates asked his mother if Jessica was going to die. I mean just exactly do you say to that? I don't even know where to begin with explaining all this to Josh.

Not to keep up the morbid tone, but I just get sick to my stomach when I think about what Jessica's parents are feeling right now. My mind won't let me think about it. I immediately "change the channel" when I start to dwell on these things. The Ogleys are a strong and vibrant Christian couple though and I know that they are handling this with a grace and dignity that I could never imagine having.

Nevertheless amid the darkness, there is hope. They're ready to begin the process of chemotherapy. Since the cancer is at stage 4, the chemo is going to be aggressive. It's going to be ugly. But now is the time where God's saints will rise up to pray and the incense will flow to heaven. Now is the time to pray for the blessings of the new creation and get a little taste of what a world without illness or death will be like. May God be magnified in His work.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame
he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!