Everything's More Fun In Pigtails!

My Inner Monologue While Watching NKOTB On The Today Show

PAM'S HEAD: Oh, that's right, I recorded The New Kids on the Today Show this morning - let's check out the ol' TiVo. Becoop! Becoop! Oh, here it is. And there are all of the screaming people - nice to see some things never change. Oh no, are they really going to drop the curtain dramatically to reveal the guys? Yup. You know what would have been even better? If the guys ascended in a covered cage from beneath the stage and the projector put their cartoon likenesses on the screen for them to pop out from behind. Remember that shit? Oh, man. Back in the daaaaay.

Oh, singing has commenced! That's all we get of Step By Step in this opening medley? Wait, are they really going to do the whole choreographed dance thing the whole time? No...they can't. NO. Oh sweet Jesus, they are. I figured they would have outgrown that by now. Jonathan looks like he is going to throw up. I feel the same way. Donnie is now trying to get the crowd going and apparently still believes that he is a tough street hood at the tender age of 40. Wow, this is uncomfortable to watch. I don't feel right. Why did I think this was going to be good? Did I forget that I listened to some of their old stuff when I unearthed my cassettes last year and realized how bad many of the songs were? Like Cover Girl? Donnie is really not a singer. Hey, on the plus side, Danny looks a lot less like an ape now - he's actually not too bad. Jonathan? Still looking like he is going to throw up. And throw his back out. Wow, this is bad. OH MY GOD, JOEY DID NOT PULL OUT THE HAT WITH THE HOLE IN THE TOP OF IT. OH MY GOD. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! I can't...oh Lord. Wow! No! Holy shit! What am I watching? Did someone put acid in my drink at dinner? WHAT IS GOING ON???!!!

Oh, commercial - becoop! And...we're back. Look at all of those people who have been there for 48 hours in the rain waiting for this. Those poor things. Oh, they're going to sing their new song from the upcoming album - let's see if their music has improved over the last 15 years. Summertime? Like the DJ Jazzy Jeff song? What...wait...what in the world is this? Is this LFO all of a sudden? Why are these 40-year old men doing a choreographed dance while singing about the hot girl in her flip-flops and short shorts? "Don't call after ten, but you know that I did...." WHAT IS GOING ON? WTF?? Wow, this is horrible. I can't even...I can't watch this. Yet, I cannot look away. Jonathan is seriously going to hurl himself off the stage to his death. Poor Joey - he looks so jazzed to be doing this again. Oh, now I'm sad. And now there is a ridiculous bridge to this song happening and I can't take anymore. THIS is what made them get back together? "We found some amazing songs, so we decided to do this." You found this song? REALLY?? (Oh my God, here are the lyrics in all of their glory.)

Ah, blessed commercial break. I need a moment to regroup. What is happening right now? Why was I excited to watch this? Am I going completely crazy?

One more song before they're done - oh, there's a piano on the stage. OH MY GOD, PLEASE LET IT BE THIS ONE'S FOR THE CHILDREN!!! And...it's not. Dammit. That might have turned this whole thing around. Why no This One's For The Children? Many people are happy, many people are sad. So this is...no. NO. NO! They are not going to sing what may be their most ridiculous song. They are not...oh, yes they are. "Remember when we said, 'Girl, please don't go?' And how I'd be loving you foreeeeever?" Tonight?!! Seriously???!!! (Oh my God, I forgot that Jordan was wearing leggings in that video a la Milli Vanilli.) I generally dislike songs that reference a previous hit song by that artist, but this one takes the cake. Not only does it reference about 5 previous songs, but it is one of the WORST songs ever written. "Remember when we traveled 'round the world?" And OH MY GOD, THEY ARE SINGING THE ENTIRE SONG. We got all of 5 seconds of their big hits (and not even the whole "Step One! We can have lots of fun" part of Step By Step, which is so ridiculous that it is actually awesome), but we get this whole song? And the dancing? "Old school!" OH MY GOD. Help me! Why am I watching this? Why are they doing this? Is this the apocalypse? We're all going to die tomorrow, aren't we? I knew I should have eaten an extra candy bar tonight. And did Joey really pull out that hat with the hole in the top earlier? I am so embarrassed for these people right now. Wow, they are really into it. Well, except for Jonathan. He still serves no purpose in the band. Why didn't you go the way of Kevin Richardson from the Backstreet Boys and stay out of it the sad second time around? And why am I still watching this? And why is this song still going on? Who thought it would be a good idea to sing Tonight? Ah, it's finally over.

Wait, what just happened?

...What did I just watch? Was that real??!

I...what...how...who...WHAT??!! I feel like I'm going to either cry or throw up. Jonathan looks like he agrees with me.

I need to go lie down, or else my head may explode. Pray for Mojo.

Bizarre Work Conversation Of The Week

ME: Hey, you know that guy with Tourette's that you had? Well, I just called him to tell him that he was all set and he yelled that he was going to rape me.

CO-WORKER: Oh, that means he likes you!

...great? I'm curious to know what he would have said if he didn't like me.

NYC Love!

Whew.

So after the craziness of the past few weeks, I decided to treat myself and headed to NYC last week for an overnight jaunt. My girl Lucy Woodward had a show in the city on Tuesday, and I have always wanted to see her play in New York since she does it up full-band style there, so I decided it would be a perfect time to do so. And, since I was headed to the city, I had to make a stop at my favorite NYC bar, The National Underground. The hotel that I usually stay at was sold out for that night, so in the spirit of indulging myself, I booked a room at this place, and it was swankalicious. Seriously, check out the bathroom in my room:

The room was really big for a NYC hotel room and I may just move in there and never leave. And that surely doesn’t have anything to do with the cute valets, either.

Ahem.

ANYway – so I headed to Lucy’s show over at The Cutting Room, and let me just tell anyone in the NYC area – the next time Lucy Woodward is performing, you must go. I’ve seen her live 3 times before, but only with a 2 person set-up so she couldn’t do all of her songs. All three of those times she has been amazing, but this NYC show with the full band? Beyond fantastic. It was a whole new energy and vibe and I was blown away. Girl is fierce. (Her CD will be out in Barnes & Noble stores in June, and is on iTunes now! Get it!) Lucy asked me to help out at her merch table, so I wasn’t able to get very good videos or pictures from the show, but I did grab this picture:

She and I also had a Shoe-Off that night, and I thought for sure I had it in the bag with my badass stripper-y shoes, but she outdid me with some killer strappy numbers. I’ll get you next time, Woodward!! (shaking fist)

After Lucy’s set, I stayed for a little of Toby Lightman, but then was off to the lower east side to go and say hello to Joey DeGraw over at The National Underground. Man, I love that place. They finally have a sign of sorts there during the day when it’s closed now:

The band Yarn was playing upstairs that night, and any band that names themselves “Yarn” is okay by me. Plus, multiple cuties in the band. Here they are doing their thing:

It was really nice outside that night, so I spent a lot of the time outside talking to Joey and the bar’s totally awesome Yugoslavian Stallion door barker, Sasha. Here he is with his “brother” from the bar:

And here’s James the bouncer looking quite menacing:

He was a sweetheart. I tried to get him to take a picture fake-throwing me out of the bar with the whole picking-me-up-by-the-waistband thing you see on TV, but he was too nice to do that to me. hahaha Next time. But seriously, I love this bar – and not just because they are serving Country Time Lemonade there now - that is plain awesome in itself (coming soon – Yoohoo). I just love it because it’s so chill and low-key and I always have the time of my life when I go there. I didn't know how it would be going by myself for the first time, but I had a ball, so thank you boys for a great time. I can’t wait to go back in June.

Anyway, here’s me and Sasha:

And me and Mr. DeGraw:

And as if my night hadn’t been awesome enough, I came back to my hotel to find my bed turned down and a plate of cookies waiting for me on the nightstand:

Delicious cookies at 2 AM + Italian robe + plush bed = pure bliss:

Sadly, that picture was taken with the timer on my camera and not by any one of the cute guys I met that day. Boo! Anyway, I ended my trip with a stop at Magnolia bakery the next morning for some red velvet cupcakes and then I headed uptown to meet a friend from high school at Café Lalo (as seen in You’ve Got Mail) for some more delicious goodies. Red velvet cupcakes made from heaven, cute boys, amazing concerts, fun-filled bars, cookies by the bedside - man, New York rules.

I can’t wait to go back next month.

Lucy's Wedding!

So my best friend and partner in many, many crimes and embarrassing moments got hitched over the weekend and I was honored and very proud to stand by her as her maid of honor. Anyone who has read my page at all has heard about Lucy over the years and many tales of our adventures together. Happily, she has found herself one of the good ones out there, which gives me hope for myself. They do exist! (I also like the fact that he doesn't mind when she comes along with me on one of my many crazy idea-adventures, because there are still many more to be had.) But seriously, I have never seen her happier or more content and she's never been with a guy who has treated her so well. They still look at each other with wonder, and I hope that never goes away.

Okay, now I'm getting a little misty-eyed, so let's just get to the pictures so I can compose myself. Shall we?

Ah, but first, a little set-up: the wedding was very nice and intimate. There were just 24 guests - 2 friends each and then family. It was held at a gorgeous hotel that overlooks the water, and even though the skies were a little overcast that day, it was still gorgeous. Mike's best men were his father and step-father, and then Lucy had me as her maid of honor and her older sister as her matron of honor. Also? Easiest bride ever. She didn't care if we had the same dress or even the same material, just as long as it was the same color (we ended up both liking the same dress anyway). She didn't even care about how we did our hair (I opted for the 'That Girl' flip, which was one of her suggestions. I added the headband to complete the look.). It was just a very casual and low-key affair, and it was perfect.

The night before the wedding, Lucy, her sister and I stayed overnight at a hotel near where the wedding was taking place, and we all know that wherever there's a hot tub, there is me:

It was a nice way to relax before the big day. Lucy, of course, was not stressed for even one moment the whole time. It was crazy!

Here's the bouquets, fresh upon arrival at the hotel:

Pay no attention to my iridescent-white legs. (Remember when my vampire GPS voice fell in love with me? Well, two weeks ago, my doctor called me out of the blue (which is never something you want) to report that my blood tests from a month ago showed very low levels of Vitamin D, which is mostly absorbed through sunlight. I had to go on prescription strength D to try to bring it back up - do you think he has made me a vampire? Look at those white legs! No Vitamin D! Wait, why is it so bright in here?? Help!)

Ahem.

Now what was going on? Oh yes, the wedding!

Lucy and her dad (aka, Carlos Solis in about 10 years), who was killing me when I looked over at him during the ceremony and saw his eyes all puffy and red. Awww.

The happy couple.

The bride and her best friends! Joe also acted as my date - we always have a great time, especially when taking pictures demonstrating the patented Tyra Banks "smiling with the eyes." Those I'll just keep to myself. :-)

I was giving the toast - not singing as my dad thought when he saw the picture.

I love that picture of Lucy and her dad. Doesn't she just look so happy? And beautiful? Gorgeous to begin with, but make that girl a bride? Dear lord.

Since I jokingly requested that our DJ friend spin some Mmmbop, Mike made me dance to it with him. It was hilarious.

So there you have it - beautiful ceremony, beautiful bride, and just an all-around beautiful day. May the magic last forever, girl.

____________________________

Of course, since we are dealing with me here, I had to have at least one moment of jackassery during the day. When we stopped at the hotel where the wedding was going to be the night before, the first thing I noticed when I walked in was a cupboard under the staircase. I immediately blurted out, "Is Harry Potter in there? I need to get a picture of that." I got my wish on my way out of the wedding the next day. Pam Potter, y'all - just send all of my mail c/o the cupboard under the stairs:

If The Writers Strike Ends, Does Anyone Still Watch Farmer Wants A Wife?

Y'all - I swear I was kidding when I wrote this post in December about being so desperate during the writers strike that I was going to be reduced to watching Farmer Wants A Wife. Fast-forward to last night's premiere of the show. Was I watching? Yes, yes I was. The shame...The Shame!!! Will I be watching it again next week? Yes, yes I will. Should you? Yes, yes you should. All you need to do is watch the opening credits with the ridiculous hip-hop/rap theme song (?! And no She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy?) with his big super-imposed head on a little body riding a tractor to know that it's going to be so-bad-it's-good. Also, there's Josie. Watch just for her.

Damn you, Farmer Wants a Wife! And damn you, my love of bad reality dating shows!

Reason #1 To See Baby Mama

There are at least 3 scenes in the movie that revolve around people playing Karaoke Revolution.

Awesome.

Pam's Favorite Music Month Continues With The DeGraw Boys

Blur, blur, blur. That’s how things have been lately and will continue to be for the next two weeks, but it’s all a good blur. I’ve got Lucy’s wedding happening, so I’ve had all of the bachelorette and shower things going on, and then I’m in the midst of what I’d like to refer to as Pam’s Favorite Music Month. Within the span of one month, I will have been to concerts by my favorite male singer, my favorite female singer and my favorite band. I am loving this so much right now. Anyone who knows me would tell you how much music means to me, so to be able to see all of these people who inspire me so much and then get to interview them or talk to them or hang with them? It is beyond awesome. I’ve got two down so far with Hanson in Milwaukee and then 2 Gavin DeGraw concerts last weekend (with a bonus Joey set thrown in – yay!) and then I head to NYC to see Lucy Woodward the first week of May. Music madness! Happy Pam!

But before all of that, there’s the matter of my best friend getting married in 10 days, so I have to focus on all of that in the meantime, so updates will most likely be sporadic around these parts for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures I grabbed over the weekend when it was all DeGraw, all the time:

Here’s Joey during his set at Harvard University’s Yardfest. (Luckily, I was able to utilize some connections to get into this student-only event.) I didn’t get any pictures of Gavin that night because by the time he took the stage, my kickass shoes had decided to turn against me (damn you cobblestone streets in Harvard Square!), so we went and stood back on the lawn so I could take off my shoes and feel my feet again. They both sounded amazing as always. On the way home, David and I stopped at IHOP where he astounded me by devouring a burger and fries AND pancakes. Crazy boy:

I was busy enjoying my delicious cherry coke. Man, those things are good there:

Saturday night, Paul and I had tickets to Gavin’s show at Assumption College, and he was just as great as ever. He is seriously SO good live. We lucked out with some front-row standing room, so I got some good shots without having people’s hands and heads in my way:

I love that one. And this one:

My favorite picture of the night is Paul’s CREEPY Sylar-esque picture with Gavin:

He looks like he’s going to eat him or something. I love it.

Here’s me and the man:

And since I can’t properly explain how much fun Gavin’s shows are and how happy I am to be watching my favorite singer rock the house, maybe this post-performance picture will help give you an idea:

Excited? Happy? Euphoric? Crazed? I’m just going to go with “feeling awesome.”

Lucy's Bachelorette Night!

Wow, it has been crazy and busy and crazy some more up around here, and it’s not going to stop for another two and a half weeks. I’d better buckle up, man. Lots of stuff going on. This entry has to do with the main thing that is happening, namely my best pal Lucy’s wedding, which is taking place in less than 2 weeks. Her sister and I are sharing maid of honor duties, which will be helpful for her shower this weekend because her sister has been charged with the cooking tasks. Oh my God, imagine if I had to cook for it? Hot dogs from my roller machine roller for everyone!

Anyhoo, last weekend we took Lucy out for her bachelorette night. Since Lucy is thankfully not about the strippers and she is having a very small wedding, we made it a co-ed invite so she could have all of the people that she would like to have there. And it was fun, fun, fun, even if some of us were running on fumes (Lucy had a work function early that morning and I came straight from the airport after getting home from Milwaukee). We started the night with dinner at Lucy’s favorite restaurant, and then we headed over to do some karaoke at a really fun new place that we found for it. Then those who were left after that headed downtown to end the night with a little bit of dancing. As I said, we all had a blast, but especially Lucy, which was the main point of it all to begin with. And even though we had some fun activities going on, what really made it was having all of us together to help her celebrate. Here’s some pics from the night:

At one point during the karaoke portion of the evening, these two women got up and sang Does He Love You, which is one of two signature duets that Lucy and I have. And these women did bad, bad things to the song. They changed the words, they didn’t harmonize, they sang poorly – it was just all NO GOOD. Of course, this led to some anger issues within our group:

Lucy’s sister was all ready to flip the table, mobster style.

After the anger subsided, we started having fun again, especially when this couple started dancing while Lucy and my brother were singing Love Shack (My brother does a mean Fred Schneider):

It all looks so innocent there, but this woman had on a short dress and the guy kept rubbing her ass and her thighs and lifted her up twice during the song so that she was straddling his waist, showing off WAY more than any of us needed to see. Frito was singing, "Rape Shack," and announcing, "He is going to penetrate her right there on the dance floor!" It was HIGHLY disturbing, yet highly entertaining at the same time. Funny how that works.

Even with that creepiness going on, we all still had so much fun, which I think is evident in these candids that I grabbed at the karaoke place:

Lucy and I also found a sign that I clearly need in my bedroom:

As it was getting quite late, only a handful of us made it to the bar downtown, but Lucy was happy to be able to make her “Aw, shoot, oh no, mmm mmm!” dancing face:

The night ended with my favorite picture from it, just really showing what a great time Lucy had and it made me so happy to be able to be part of that. Go on, girl.

No Garlic For Me, Please

As you may know, I generally don’t talk about my love life on here (mostly because there’s usually nothing to tell), but I feel like I need to talk about my new gentleman caller. There is someone who has been in my life since Christmastime and he has slowly been courting and wooing me. I’ve witnessed him interacting with my friends and family and no one gets him the way that I do – some even ask me to get rid of him! But he and I understand each other completely. He takes care of me, and I favor him. And now lately he has stepped up his game out of nowhere. Do I give in to his charm?

I’m speaking, of course, about my GPS guide, Count Whackula. Oh, Count Whackula – we’ve shared so much together! You’ve taken me through the streets of Boston, Connecticut, New York City and even Milwaukee. We’ve traveled the world together, my love! It’s just you and me and your comically vampirish voice on the open road together, with nothing in our way. So my friends and family can’t understand what you’re saying (“Did he say first or third left?” “WHAT?!” “Put Mr. T back on!”) – I understand every fanged word, baby. And so what if my mother calls you “Count Chocula” or “You asshole,” it will never change the way I feel about you when you tell me to take the motorway in 400 yards. Oh, Whackula.

Ahem.

So friends, I figured it was time to tell you all about my would-be paramour since he has suddenly become more attached to me. I think he has fallen in love. You see, when we were in Milwaukee last weekend, he uttered a new phrase that I have never heard him say before. I haven’t connected my GPS to my computer to get any new or updated content, so it’s not like anything about him has changed. But now all of a sudden he slipped a phrase into his direction-giving on two separate occasions and it’s something that he has never said before. I was driving along in Milwaukee all, tra la la la la, when he piped up and told me that I was going to be taking a left in 500 yards, but right before he said that, he nonchalantly stated, “Your soul will be mine.” I turned to my dad and asked, “Did you just hear that?” All my father repeated back to me was the part about taking the left. He totally missed the whole, “Your soul will be mine” portion of it, but I heard it. Later that day, Whackula slipped it into his directions once again and I was all, “See! There it is again!” Dad? Didn’t hear a word.

Y’all – Count Whackula is totally stalking me. And I kind of like it. Immortality, here I come….

Hanson Madness: The Aftermath

Okay, so I'm tired and tired and tired some more (did I mention that after I got off the plane from Milwaukee yesterday, I stopped at home for 3 minutes to change my shirt and shoes and then headed out to Lucy's Bachelorette Party? More on that in another entry....), so this entry is pretty much just going to be picture and link town.

As you all know, I did a phone interview with Taylor Hanson not too long ago to promote their upcoming show in Milwaukee. Then I wrote up a little Q&A article for OnMilwaukee.com. Added to the package was the opportunity to go to Milwaukee for the show, meet with the boys for a video interview and then write a review of the concert. You know, pretty much one of the best assignments anyone could ever give me, especially since there was no research required on my part.

Anyhoo, I said most of what needed to be said about the concert in the review here, so you can read that if you would like since I'm too lazy and tired to get into more of it here. I'll just add that I was secretly happy that the band didn't perform Mmmbop just because it validates that I'm not a completely crazy person in telling people that I've seen them not play it once before. This was my 8th time seeing them in concert, and it was one of the best, so I was very pleased with the outcome of all of this. Plus - they played the song I requested during our interview that afternoon, and it is not one they play often, so I was jazzed about that.

I spent a half hour talking to the boys before the show, so the video of the whole thing was way too long and the file too large to post all at once, so I put up some select clips on YouTube. You can view the playlist and the clips here. The room they put us in was only lit by candles and a giant light between Isaac and Zac, so the videos were on the dark side to begin with, and got even more so when I uploaded them. Isaac turns into shadow man most of the time like he's giving some anonymous and scandalous interview on 60 Minutes or something. But you can really tell how knowledgeable they are about the music business and all that jazz - my videographer was very impressed with the boys.

The other perk to being with the press? The Photo Pass, aka One of the Greatest Things Ever. It grants you access into the security pit in front of the stage (and most importantly, in front of the fans) to take pictures during the first 3 songs. It was so nice not to have to try to reach over people not to get their hands and heads in the shots. Plus, I got to watch my favorite band perform 3 songs (one of which is in my personal Top 3 Favorite Hanson songs) 2 feet away from me. I had my hands on the stage, people - and NO ONE next to me, pushing and yelling. It ruled.

Here's my favorite shots out of the 70+ that I took:

That last one is my absolute favorite. Taylor is seriously the best looking guy I have ever seen in person (and I've met Jared Leto, who was a jerk, but gorgeous). Taylor's face is stunning. Even my dad was all, "That middle one is really good looking." Hey - he hasn't been a celebrity boyfriend of mine for almost 11 years for nothing. Anyway, here I am with the boys:

And finally, two quick videos I took from "The Pit":

There are no words for the awesomeness of being able to do all of that.

Big thanks to Andy from OnMilwaukee.com - you rule, my friend.