Diana Krall Concert

It was last week Ivy and I went to Wolftrap to see Diana Krall live concert. I was lucky enough to pull a connection and got a pair of nice front seats (10 rows away from stage). We were pleasantly surprised that Chris Botti was touring with Diana Krall. That one hour opening was energetic, entertaining and well-rounded. He was very different from his last concert. Most probably because the band he is playing with now is both playful and innovative. The drummer, Billy Wilson, played like a powerful octopus (no kidding) and many times, he almost stole the spotlight from the rest of the band. He, however, overpowered some of Chris Botti's music arrangements. Everyone still enjoyed it. I can't wait for his next album after he gave us a sneak peek of one of his new works releasing this coming September.

Diana Krall is good as one could expect. She was, however, pretty grumpy at times; complaining about her body shape after giving birth to a twin a couple months ago and complaining about how much she missed home when an audience yelled "Where is Elvis?" (she is married to Elvis Costello). She played excellent piano but she never forget to give her band credits for her successful concert. I am sure she understood her talented band is doing everything to support her, otherwise, her singing/piano alone might not be as attractive. I personally like her singing better than her piano. I guess I have seen better pianist performance. That's no doubt though, Ivy and I enjoyed this concert a lot and the feeling was surreal. For whatever reasons, her music reminded me about New York City, a jazzy summer in the city, especially when she was singing "A Case of you." I was holding Ivy's hand and enjoyed that moment immensely. I still believe music can melt one's heart and make two souls one.

Blogging the blog

Today is July 4^th, the Independence Day of the United States of America. Since it is a holiday in the middle of week, Ivy and I decided to stay home and relax. We did celebrate Independence Day at my coworker’s cookout last night though. He and his family lived about an hour away from the city. At the end of the party, there were about 15 minutes worth of fireworks display. We stood only 50 yard away, and we can smell the fireworks and feel the ashes dropping. That is probably the best way to enjoy fireworks.

Speaking of July 4^th, a lot happened since last July 4^th; I have tasted more than 100 different types of beer (me and a few co-workers host a beer tasting club every Friday 5pm after work). Ivy and I drank more than 50 bottles of wine (for anti-oxidant! We also collect wine cork). We watched more than 40 indie films (we have Netflix subscription). And, I turned 30 years old. With so many things happened, however, I wrote only 15 blogs.

This is the least productive year since I started my blog in 2000. I am slowing down partly because I’m overwhelmed with all other blogs mushroomed over the recent years. I remember when I start blogging; I have to write my very own primitive HTMLs and Java scripts. Blog is not as popular and not as interactive as what you can see now. I didn’t know anyone else other than me was blogging at that time. Now, with all the new free blogging service websites available, blogging is an infectious phenomenon. Without a blog almost like without an email account, so 90s. I believe most people below 30 have a blog, regardless what is in it.

Maybe it was just me having trouble to apprehend the rapid change of the blogging world. People disclose as many of their daily life as possible on their blog to gain attention. They photograph everything and share it on their blog. Camwhore is no longer a disgrace but rather a capital to gain more page hits. Sometime what annoy me the most is bloggers photograph every single dish they had in a fancy restaurant and blog about how tasty the duck confit or filet mignon was. The close-up and savory photos are the proof. All the sudden, everyone became a food critic. My coworker asked me if camwhoring is part of Asian culture. I was speechless and have no good answer for him. All in all, I have posted a lot of photos on my blog. Regardless what happened, I am glad to be a witness of evolution of the internet, and I hope I will continue blogging. Why wait, you should start blogging about your new pair pink hello kitty slipper.