Figure Skating Show 1991

My mother, brother, and I went to this show at Madison Square Garden. I wish that I had been keeping a journal back then so I would have the details about it now. I did write on the back of one photo that Underhill and Martini did their routine to "Unchained Melody". I forgot to write the names of the skaters on some of them and don't recall who they are. I do know that I had a very good time at this event.

 

Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt-

                             
                                               Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini-

                                                 
                                                                   Others-

                                              
                                                                  Finale-

Dreamtime-

December 23, 2014- Autographs

I was at an autograph signing show with Mike and Dad. It was being held in a warehouse type building. The inside of it was nice. The guest list would be a surprise to me because I wasn’t in this holodeck program until we got there. They had run out of the booklets that contained this info and my brother really wasn’t talking about it.

   We saw Johnny Crawford from “The Rifleman”; my brother likes that show a lot. He said that he would get his autograph later. Dad went off on his own. Mike said that he would meet up with me in the other room in about 10 minutes. I wasn’t sure where he was going.

   That room had 4 stars from “CHiPs”- Randi Oakes, the actress who played Sindy, Erik Estrada, and Larry Wilcox. I was wishing that Robert Pine and Michael Dorn were there too. The latter probably would be at this event more for his role in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” though.

   I summoned up enough courage to talk to Estrada and Wilcox. Mike returned and was happy to see Randi. He got her autograph. I needed more cash so I went to an ATM. Estrada’s was $35.00, $5.00 more than Wilcox’s.

   Mike helped me pick out the photos. He was chatting with them, including telling them that we have been watching “CHiPs” on MeTV lately. He also got their autographs.

   “NCIS” star Cote de Pablo was also in this room. Mike wanted her autograph but needed more cash. As I was waiting for him, I suddenly felt very tired and weak. I was surprised when Erik noticed this and got a chair for me to sit in. I thanked him.

   I was getting a little annoyed that it was taking my brother so long to return. Maybe he and Dad were talking. Or he might have run into Tony who had told us that he might be there.

   I was glad when he did finally get back. He talked to Cote for about 5 minutes. I had overheard a guy saying that Mark Harmon was in the big room. As if either or both “NCIS” stars would show up at such an event. I did wonder why they weren’t in the same room.

   Mike and I went to the big room next. I saw Huey Lewis sitting at one of the tables. I found out that he and The News (where were they now?) would be performing there later. This room had a stage in it.

   I didn’t really want anyone else’s autograph. I went with my brother to meet Johnny Crawford. As he was talking to him, the scene began to fade. My time at this show was over. It was interesting that I got to see these and other stars at it.

   I actually did see Erik Estrada at a Chiller Theater one in 2008 but wasn’t interested in getting his autograph. I wish that I hadn’t been afraid to go with Mike and Dad to the show that Michael Dorn was at. Mike said that he had told him “My sister remembers you being on “CHiPs”. 

Mark Harmon

 

Note- the bottom photo is from the internet.

 

April 9 2016- 2 Duran Duran Casino shows-Part 1

I am still feeling a bit tired from my 2 DD adventures this week. It also feels like I am coming down with a cold, probably from the craziness of this schedule. I devoted so many hours towards this group for these shows, most of it travel (12 hours via buses and rail) and waiting time.

   The bus arrived at the Sands in Bethlehem by 2:00 p.m. I hadn’t been able to use my NJT discount card on the ticket. I didn’t even realize that I would be getting a $45.00 card to use at the casino; that is $10.00 additional to the ticket price.

   I don’t normally gamble but Jenny told me that I should use it. I am glad that I followed her suggestion; I won $205.00. This is the first time that I really gambled at a casino. I don’t count the 50 cents that I put in one machine at AC in 1992. I don’t plan on doing so ever again.

   I would have probably won more if I had just gone to the simple machine (with the cherries, bars, and such) to begin with. Before this, I was on a couple that were too confusing to me. I only won like $3.00 for the $12.00 that I bet on these.

    The show was great. Of course, we both wished that we could be closer to the stage. I was wondering aloud how many rows were the more expensive ticket. The lady behind me said only the first 4. I had thought it would be at least 1-10.

   I had looked in the outlet shops there to kill time before the show. They have Puma, The Farmer’s Almanac Old Time General Store, Tommy Hilfiger, Chico’s, Guess, Corelle and Corningware, Charming Charlies (a lot of nice jewelry), and others.

    I went over to the concert venue area at about 5:30. I wasn’t in the mood to hang around the other fans so I sat on the floor at a distance. I did hear one mention a past concert experience and John’s name was a part of this but I don’t remember what she said.

   Another reason that I didn’t want to be over there was because if I had been at this event on my own and had the GA ticket, I surely would have been like within the first 3 or 4 rows. A girl was selling an extra one for $25.00 and asked me if I wanted to buy it. I felt sad when this happened.

   I was surprised that they opened the doors at 6 p.m. Jenny didn’t arrive until about an hour later. We looked at the souvenir area. She saw a nice shirt but it didn’t come in women’s sizes. I got the tour book which was thick for the $30.00 price. Jenny and I looked through it before the concert. I saw a shot of them on the “Today” show.

   The two girls sitting next to me had been talking about Tony Orlando; one had been to his concert there. I told her that I like his song “Knock Three Times”.

   Jenny mentioned that her friend had ordered 2 tickets to the Camden show and asked her to go with her. She wants to but it is on the day of her husband’s birthday. She is going to try to go though. I hope that she is able to so we can meet up at yet another DD event.

   Those tickets are in row D which is 2 ahead of mine. I am a little jealous. Of course, with the pit area, this will make us further back. I can’t remember how big that area was from when I was there for the 2 Luke Bryan and the Tim McGraw shows. Maybe about 5 rows.

   I wonder which section these are in- probably to the left which is where I wish that I could be. I bet that my seat is all the way over to the right of that middle section.

   I told her that I was looking into getting a ticket on Stub Hub. I was afraid to tell her that I actually got one during the presale. I didn’t want her possibly being mad at me for keeping this from her.

   I should be including details of the concert but I don’t remember that much about it, unfortunately. I wish that I had not danced around during it. I had told myself beforehand not to do this and to just focus on the performance. I see doing both as multi-tasking, something that my brain is not good at. I hate that I wasn’t able to listen to my smart side.

   I have this general memory that I had a pretty good time despite our crappy seats.  Was I thinking about how shitty they were during the show? Maybe a few times. I definitely was beforehand and am now.

   They did 15 songs, I think. It was only about a 95 minute show. I didn’t care for John’s outfit. I can’t recall what Simon was wearing- I think that ugly, scary mouth t-shirt. I didn’t really look much at Roger and Nick which I feel a bit bad about.

 

 

John Taylor and Dom Brown

 

Duran Duran - NYC October 25, 2011

My brother and I really enjoyed this concert 2 weeks ago. The seats were better than I expected - 5th row in the bottom section towards the left in a section towards the left but not close to the stage. Those seats would've cost 30.00 more. I might have been willing to pay that if my brother hadn't wanted to come with me. I suppose we could've gotten tickets in seperate sections. Nah- I would've been cutting into my computer savings fund to do so. I guess that I got a little spoiled after the last 3 concerts of general admission and being pretty close to the stage.

My brother was happy when they did The Reflex, Notorious and Wild Boys, the latter being not a song of theirs that I really care for. I was pleased that the did Planet Earth, Is There Something I Should Know and Careless Memories. Mark seemed a little disappointed that they didn't do Girls on Film, nor did they perform Save a Prayer. I wasn't that upset about this but felt bad for the people who had either never seen them in concert before or haven't in a long time so if they liked these songs I'm sure they would've been disappointed just as I would've been if they hadn't done the 3 that I mentioned.

They did 7 songs from the new album. I like Leave a Light On and Before the Rain. Mark said that they should've only done 5. I didn't even have the new album yet. I ordered this a couple days after the concert. I usually buy the souvenir tour books at Duran Duran and Bon Jovi concerts but did not do so this year for either group. It was 35.00. I need that money for more important things now. Rio, my former #1 favourite song was last and right after the show I was already wishing that I could see them again.

Yes, I did look into getting tickets for Atlantic City but there were none available when I checked a few times. No way would I drive down there. I looked into options and taking a bus from NYC seemed the best bet. The Borgata just happens to be the place furthest from the station so I would've had to take a cab. It's probably for the best that this didn't work out because that Saturday was the day of the storm and power outage in New Jersey. I feel kind of embarrased for hoping that they will return to this area sometime next year so I can see them for one final time. This was the 8th time in 6 and a half years. The first was also at Madison Square Garden in 2005.

Someone spilled their beer on my jacket and my arm which was kind of upsetting. I've always been afraid that this would happen. I dislike the smell of beer. I tried to let this go but it was in the back of my mind a little during the first few songs. She did give me tissues to wipe it up and 5.00 toward the dry cleaning. I can sort of laugh about this a bit but it would've been nice if I didn't let it affect my enjoyment during those songs and also I was too embarrassed in the beginning to really get into the music because I was afraid that my brother would tease me alot about that. He is always teasing me which is annoying. He actually thinks that I have a crush on Simon LeBon. I'd rather him think that then know who it really is that I like in that group. I was using my binoculars alot, esp. on John Taylor. It was like being in the front row then. I wouldn't let myself use them as much at first though, also because of the shame issue.

I am so glad that I somehow found out about a presale for this event for WPLJ listeners. I forget how. This is why I was able to get such good seats. I haven't really listened to that station in a long time but I used to often. The 2 morning djs were on stage before the show. A group called Neon Trees was the opening act and they were on for about 30 minutes. I don't know anything about them. The one song did sound familiar.

Figure Skating Shows

My mom and I really enjoyed watching figure skating during the Olympics in the 1980s and early 1990s. We got to go to 2 shows in the early to mid 90's. Brian Boitano was at both of them. We took some pictures but they did not turn out that great. Boitano and Witt are in the first 2. In the bottom 3 are Petrenko, Kerrigan and Boitano. You can clearly see on the program page who was at the first one but it's harder to see on the second - Torvil and Dean, Nancy Kerrigan , Oksana Baiul and Victor Petrenko are included in this one. We went with a couple of friends. Skating 2 was at MSG in New York City and the 1994 show was in New Jersey at the Meadowlands. I'm not sure why after 1994 I lost interest in the figure skating. I must've been watching it in the late 70s a bit too because I remember getting the Dorothy Hamill haircut a couple of times back then.