People, I still don't know what to think of this a week after hearing about it. Tinted Windows is a new band formed by James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins and it also has someone from Cheap Trick, someone from Fountains of Wayne, and TAYLOR HANSON as the lead singer. I am so confused. Now there is this video teaser:
Taylor is dressing for me, but I still don't know what to make of all of this. What say you?
Last Friday David and I headed to Hartford to go see the DeGraw boys in concert. It's not often that Joey opens for Gavin, so the double feature was a special treat for me. Since Hartford is about a two hour drive, we decided to book a hotel room because I knew I wouldn't feel like driving home if we were out late, which I planned to be. The rates were good at most of the hotels, so we just grabbed a room at a Days Inn that was about a mile away from the venue. Y'all - now I know why the rates were so cheap. David and I spent most of the night saying to each other, "We're going to die in Hartford tonight."
For those who have never been to Connecticut, it is generally a really pretty and nice state. Hartford, however, is disgusting. There's really no other way to put it. It's nasty. The last time I was in Hartford, I ended up having to get a tetanus shot a few days later. Seriously. (I had cut my foot somewhere on the filthy streets of Hartford.) Anyway, Connecticut traffic can get a little clogged in the late afternoon, so David and I decided to both take the afternoon off from work and head down to the city early to avoid any of that mess. Surely we could find all kinds of things to do in the city, right? Eh, not so much. Sure, we could have gone shopping for CAT BOOTS:
WTF??? Can you get tabby boots? I am intrigued by the dingo boots, but cat boots????
Creeps.
Anyway, in lieu of cat boot shopping, we decided to just drive around the city and see where that took us. It...was scary. We almost ran over the same rabid-looking chihuahua TWICE, and the rest of the time we bemoaned the fact that our wills weren't ready yet, which was a shame because we were pretty sure we were going to die. Then we went to McDonald's for dinner and I was about to use the restroom until I saw a sketchy-looking woman wandering around the whole restaurant openly scratching her hoo-ha through her filthy sweatpants. She was just scratching that thing for days. Then she headed into the bathroom, so that was enough for me in terms of any need to use that bathroom EVER. Instead, we headed next door to the only other happening place around, VIP. VIP, of course, stands for Very Intimate Pleasures. I assumed it was a sex shop, while David thought it was a strip club, which led to both of us wondering what we would do if it were a strip club.
DAVID: How do titty bars work? Do they just come up to you?
PAM: I don't know, I've never been to one! What happens in the movies?
Because clearly, everything you see in the movies is totally true to life. Anyway, lucky for us I was right and VIP ended up being a sex shop, and it was gigantic. We wandered around for a while and then headed back to the hotel, where I noticed an odd looking stain on the rug in our room:
Is that a face? And is it made out of blood? What is that? Does he know Bedface? And still, and most importantly, IS THAT BLOOD??
Instead of pondering the horrors that could have taken place in our room, we busied ourselves getting ready and, doing things like taking a time out in the random chair in the corner:
Reading The Bible:
Wrapping a towel on your head and singing into the hair dryer:
And building pillow forts:
You know, the usual things you do to get ready. We then headed out to the show, and all of the thoughts of impending death drifted away as soon as I the first of the DeGraws hit the stage. Joey opened the show, sounding terrific yet sporting a new Freddie Mercury-inspired mustache. He had the mustache when I saw him at the bar a couple of weeks ago, but I just figured it was a fluke. Apparently, not. So now Joey looks a little like a child molester:
Okay, maybe he looks more than a little like one.
Eh, no matter, because he put on a great show. Here's a clip from my favorite Joey song:
After Joey's set, there was the little matter during intermission of some drunk girls who wandered off trying to reclaim their spots in the crowd near me, but people had taken them. This prompted one drunk girl to start pushing up against the new people that were standing there, trying to get them to move. It ended with drunk girl being removed by security and having to stand in the back for the concert, but there was a brief moment in the middle where I turned into a completely different person when one of her drunken pushes sent two people flying into me and led to me knocking into other people. I may have shoved the girl hard and yelled something along the lines of, "STOP IT, YOU STUPID BITCH!!!" That may have happened and David may have loved every minute of it. Moral of the story: don't mess with me while I am waiting for Gavin to take the stage. Speaking of which, shortly thereafter, he did take the stage, and all was right in the world again:
By the way, this was my first night using my new fancy camera and I love it to death. Especially when it captures Gavin shooting at me:
I love that.
The sound is also better in the videos - here's a clip from a non-album track that I have a live version of and love, but have never seen Gavin perform, so I was quite excited when he did. I mean, how can you not love a good ol' fashioned drinking song?
Here's a couple more of my favorite shots from that night:
And a montage of clips from a bunch of songs, including my favorite clip at about the 1:53 mark when Gavin is singing Proud Mary and shaking his ass. When he starts doing the train-rolling arm motions at 2:35? Pure bliss for me:
Oh, Gavin - how I have missed your shows. Now I'm going to be in withdrawal since there aren't any coming up anytime soon. But hey, at least I have lived to see the next one since David and I weren't so sure about that when we returned to the hotel to crash and were met with the soothing and dulcet tones of people drag racing outside.
PAM: What is going on right now?
DAVID: Are we going to die?
PAM: Who drag races anymore?
DAVID: People in Hartford since there's nothing else to do besides go to VIP and shop for cat boots.
PAM: What is this, Tokyo Drift? Are they Days Inn Drifting?
DAVID: Help!
Ah, but we made it and were quite happy to make our way into the nicer parts of Connecticut the next day, where there were homemade chocolate shops and such. Plus, I'd still go to Hartford any day to see a great concert like that. Double DeGraws makes everything better, even Days Inn Drifting.
Because even though these aren't the highest quality on earth, they'll get me through until the DVD comes out. Or until I see this again in the theater, which, let's be honest, will be soon. Paul and I went to see it for the second time tonight and cried together because we are 10 year-old girls. Anyhoo - here's where we get excited the most:
That one is Paul's favorite. I do love it very much myself, but my heart belongs to Scream, aka the new Bet On It:
You know, oftentimes when I may catch a glimpse or seven at a High School Musical movie, I find myself telling Zac Efron to pull up his pants already. However, let me stress to Mr. Efron that this advice only applies to those movies, and not, for example, when he is out on a beach somewhere. In other circumstances such as a beach walk or something, I am QUITE happy to let him let those pants hang as low as he wants to, and I highly encourage it because DAMN:
ahdjagfasjkfgagfbcmsbnfjskohfwhorjbnahdadkfnajs
____________________
"We Are Creeps" Winners of the Week: Me and David, during a showing of High School Musical 3 on Saturday night. (What? I went. I know. But it was 10 PM and there were 8 other people in the theater. But I'm going to go again. What? I sort of liked it.) ANYhoo - David and I cemented our "We Are Creeps" status right at the opening shot, when the screen fades from black into a close-up of a heavy-breathing, sweaty and soaking wet Zac Efron.
PAM: Guh! DAVID: HOT.
Fast forward to a scene where Zac is lying on the floor in his girlfriend's room:
PAM: I want him to come lay in my room like that. DAVID: Mmm hmmm.
Later, right before he is about to sing Scream, which is totally the new Bet On It, Zac goes to his locker and turns with his back to the camera and takes his shirt off so he can put on his basketball jersey for the big number. This is what transpired during the naked-back moment:
PAM: (all whispery) Turn around. Turn around. DAVID: C'mon, do it. PAM: Turn around!
Zac puts on his jersey before turning around....
DAVID: Aww! PAM: Dammit! THE PROFESSOR: [The universal "How old is that boy, you creeps?" look]
We are total creeps. Still - now you can see above what we were missing when he wouldn't just TURN THE EFF AROUND ALREADY. Wow, I need help. Does anyone have the number for Creeps Anonymous?
What a way to end my weekend of three concerts - with my boys. The brothers Hanson were playing two nights in town at the same venue - I went the second night and was treated to all kinds of fun songs because they were trying to do an almost entirely different setlist from the night before for the repeat attendees. The boys played one song that I've never heard them do live, a B-side from their third single off of their debut album. It was awesome. And, of course, the boys were as awesome as ever. They played for two hours and it just flew by. The Professor went with me to experience his first Hanson show, and it seemed like he was pleasantly surprised by the talents of the boys. However, the crowd was well-behaved that night, so he didn't have to experience any shoving or craziness. People gave each other plenty of room to move, so that was nice. Especially since there was some creepy older man standing next to The Professor, lip-synching along to every word. He was creeepy.
Anyway, since there is no way to top the greatness of the last time I saw them with the whole pre-show interview and security pit viewing access, I didn't care about trying to get close to the stage this time, so we stood in the back near the bar. The venue we saw them at was a wide and shallow room, so even with being in the back, we weren't very far away. I had a nice and clear view of my Taylor, so I was happy. Speaking of Taylor, he remains too beautiful for words. I have so many pictures from previous shows that I didn't bother taking very many this time around, but here's a couple that I did grab. I know the last one is blurry, but damn!
I also didn't take much video, but I did put together a short clip that really has almost nothing to do with the music and pretty much everything to do with Taylor being hot as hell. So please, do enjoy my "Damn, you one FINE mofo Mr. Taylor Hanson" montage:
Why you gotta be married with 3 kids and another on the way? Eh, who cares as long as you keep shaking that fine ass. Sheeeiiiit.
Apology of the Day: My apologies to The Professor for turning to him during the Hanson concert and saying, "Look at Taylor's crotch in those tight jeans. And that ass." Just the words you want to hear from your girlfriend. Still - even a guy should be able to appreciate that sweet ass.
Hey, so remember when I got to be an extra in some scenes from Gavin DeGraw's new music video earlier this month? Well, the video officially debuted today and here it is in all its Gavin-y Goodness:
Now don't go crazy trying to find me in it since almost everything we shot didn't make the video, so my scenes are somewhere on a cutting room floor. But hey, that's okay with me because I had the time of my life and want to shoot another one RIGHT NOW. Seriously. What time should I be there?
Anyway, I think the video came out fantastic - GAVIN ANGRY! GAVIN SMASH WINE GLASS!! Love it. And you do get to see The Professor's shoulder in a couple of shots, so that is his new claim to fame. All I can do is point out things like, "Hey, when you see the Joey cameo, I'm sitting to the right of the girl he's serving! And when Gavin is looking in the window of the bar to see the cheating girl, I'm sitting at the bar in one of the views - you can see my drink and a couple of my fingers! Also, when he's walking down the street by the flower shop, I'm walking about 30 feet behind him, but I'm not in the shot. But I was there, walking!" So basically, I'm in most of the long shots in the second verse, but those aren't in the video. I love watching it all because it brings back great memories of such a fun day.
The one thing I was looking forward to seeing the finished product of is what is now known as the "Circle of Death Around Gavin." We shot this a little after 2 AM, and Gavin stood in the middle of an island between two streets and we all had to keep walking by him, circling up and down and in front and in back of him about a hundred times. The director was going to have Gavin standing still and in focus and then have all of us be a blur in that zippy fast motion stuff around him, which sounded quite awesome, but it's not there. Upon seeing the final video, it probably wouldn't have fit with the whole storyline, but it still sounded like it would look cool. But hey, that's the biz, baby.
Anyhoo, The Professor did take quite a few pictures and a couple of videos at the shoot but I didn't want to share them before to spoil anything before the video aired, but now that it's out and about, here are a couple of shots the Professor took for me (what a nice boy he is):
The cheater and her other man - they were super nice.
Gavin on his mark, watching the cheating.
And then there's my favorite:
I just love this one because that's me on the right, just watching it all happen.
Next single and video? I want to be there to do it all again. Circle of Death? BRING IT.
After the thrill of the whole Gavin video shoot craziness, it just so happened that I had tickets for his concert 2 days later in Boston, so I had quite the Gavin week. This time, Lucy came along for the ride and got to experience her first Gavin concert, which she enjoyed immensely. Seriously, he is so good live. Here we are after the show, with me sporting my standard "I just saw a Gavin DeGraw show" glow:
Sadly, Lucy didn't get to meet Gavin since he didn't stay around after the show for a signing (Lucy: "I feel like I know him already." HA!). He normally stays after most shows, but I think the boy was still recovering from his 26 hour video shoot, which was followed by a show later that night and an after-party and then our show the next night, which was preceded by a radio station event in the afternoon. So yeah, I imagine he was a weeeee bit tired. However, not one bit of that showed during the concert - Gavin was high energy and in perfect form. We stood right in front all the way to one side of the stage, so most of the few video clips I took were ruined by being next to the speaker. Stupid drums. I did manage to get this intro to one of my favorite tunes, though:
I love that odd accent of his that you just can't place (why is it southern when he grew up in northern NY?) - "Let's go to a party." Indeed.
Even though my videos didn't come out that great, I did nab a few good pictures from the show:
I love that one. Then there's the "Hi, Gavin!" shot:
And finally, my favorite:
_______________________________
Score of the Day: On our way out of the parking garage after the show, Lucy yelled out, "Hey, is that a cane? Pull over!" Sure enough, there was an abandoned cane and foot brace just lying there in a parking spot. Of course, the cane had to come home with us, since it led to such fun things as this:
I can't wait to do a whole cane photo shoot. Maybe the Bagheads have some leg problems....
Where to begin? Where to begin? Well, as you can see from the entry below, there may have been some sort of a "film shoot" involving Gavin DeGraw in NYC on Tuesday. Lucky for me, I was chosen to be an extra in said film shoot, which was actually the shooting of the music video for his new single, Cheated On Me. Y'all? Do I even need to say anything more? It was, in simple terms, AWESOME. (I'm probably going to use that word a lot in this entry. But it was!)
The Professor was chose to be an extra as well, so he came along for the jaunt. It was his first time in NYC, so that was exciting for him. Of course, he didn't really get to see much of the city since we spent eleven hours at the shoot. (Poor Gavin still had much more filming to do after we were done with our part, so he ended up having a 26 hour shoot.) However, The Professor still had fun. At least he got to see the skyline from our hotel rooftop:
And, he got to experience the first place I would have taken him in the city anyway, which was The National Underground. That's actually where most of our scenes took place, so it pretty much makes perfect sense that I would be in the background in Gavin's video hanging out at his bar since there's always a good chance that I would be there anyway. And Joey is making a cameo as the bartender serving me, so it all seems logical. The Professor is actually in the video more than I am, which is pretty funny. When we heard we'd be in a bar scene, I figured there would be about 50 extras, but there were only 11 of us, so that made it all the more awesome. We'll see how it all turns out when the video should be ready in about a week or so. Don't worry, I'll be posting it here. But if you happen to come upon it before then, you can look for a blur of a person walking through the bar looking like this:
I love those shoes more than I can say.
The Professor wore a plaid cowboy shirt and jeans for the video, as you can see here in the picture I like to refer to as "We started at 4 PM and it is now 2:45 AM and I've had those heels on the whole time and just had to do "The Walk of Death" around Gavin about 50 times. I am tired.":
I actually wasn't all that tired, just worn out. I could have gone another 8 hours, because I was having the time of my life. Being around my favorite musician for 11 hours and having the chance to be a small part of one of his videos? That is so amazing to me. It was just crazy great and I now want to be in every one of his videos. So much fun. And speaking of Gavin and his video, here's what he'll be wearing in it:
Since there was a lot of downtime while scenes were being set up and what not, we got to hang out with some of my NY pals and have some star sightings. Of course, I missed the big ones while I was inside for a scene - The Professor got to see Carrie Fisher and Adrian Grenier. Me? I had to settle for Fatima from the last cycle of America's Next Top Model (which was fine with me, since I love that show, but still - Princess Leia!):
And, of course, we got to hang out with my buddy Sasha, who was showing off his new ride:
I could go on and on about all the fantastic things that occurred throughout the day including unexpected hugs, Gavin dancing at me while brushing his teeth, watching him just walk around, singing all the while and then having him come and stand right in front of me and sing right in my face - there are no words for that - the list would just go on and on, so I'll just sum it all up by simply saying it was all ridiculously fantastic and amazing and one of the best times I've ever had. I want to do it all over again tomorrow. And the next day.
Recent Comments