Pearl Jam Concert
Madison Square Garden
July 9, 2003

Following an afternoon of touring Wall Street/Battery Park area, stopping by my office and a brief visit to Times Square [saw radio DJ Cousin Brucie] … Josee, Michelle and I headed down to MSG. We placed voicemail messages to Erica and Andrea’s cell phones in hoping to meet up before entering the venue. We heard back from Erica, but couldn’t find her outside, so went in about 7pm. Again we agreed to meet up after concert in MSG lobby. This time I went with Michelle and Josee went her way. Shortly before entering the venue, Josee sold her extra 10 Club tix to a nice chap from NJ. Michelle was hunting down a particular t-shirt. So we hit most of the vendors, but sadly the t-shirt she wanted was sold out.

At our seats, which were pretty decent, we spotted Josee in her seat across venue from us and waved. We also spotted Erica in her front row seat and called her on cell phone. Michelle asked her if she would stop by Josee’s seat and inquire about t-shirt, then she walked over near our area and we talked abit on the stairs. She went to see “Phantom of the Opera” matinee with her step mom earlier. Which she enjoyed. Still no word from Andrea and I was getting concerned.

It was close to 7:30pm and Sleater-Kinney was the opening group. Their okay … personally I thought the Buzzcocks were more entertaining. Anyhow, 45 minute set later and done. Now comes the 30-minute wait, while the roadies set up the stage for Pearl Jam.

Lights go down, 19,000 fans rise as one, as well as letting out collective screams of joy and its show time! Hell yeah!

OMG! They started the concert with CRAZY MARY. We fans get to hear this cool song again, as they’d played it the night before. As Boom Gaspar starts ripping into a groovy keyboard solo, Michelle and I are hoping that Mike [lead guitar] would stroll over and do a musical duet or duel. We flipped out when he does stroll over, cause he didn’t the night before. Next song up is the fast paced SAVE YOU. The next few songs [ie: HAIL HAIL, WHIPPING & CORDUROY] have the whole venue going berserk. Totally! Michelle and I are dancing our asses off. We be in happy mode! Next up is one of those Pearl Jam songs I’ve been wanting to hear in concert ever since I purchased “Live on Two Legs” cassette back in 2000. RED MOSQUITO! WooHoo! Next up was DISSIDENT and I AM MINE, which had many from the crowd singing along. Then another song from “Riot Act” called GET RIGHT, followed by one of my favs … GIVEN TO FLY. It was breathtaking. They kick into EVACUATION, which isn’t a fav of mine, but the next song is … EVEN FLOW. Long, killer guitar solo by Mike, who is again on fire this evening.

Eddie called Johnny Ramone, but he wasn’t home to hear the next song [Ramone’s I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES], so we left him a message. [ie: “Johnny, its me Ed, why the fuck aren’t you home.”] That was amusing, seeing Eddie on a cell phone during mid-concert. The next two songs [MFC & DEEP] were a great addition to the gig and kept things rockin. This was followed by two fav songs of mine from the Pearl Jam catalog, PRESENT TENSE and NOTHINGMAN. Especially the latter song … it was sooo good. Sigh! Couldn’t tell what next song was by its intro, but knew it was a rare good song cause Michelle was going nuts. She yells in my ear … STATE OF LOVE & TRUST. Wow! Then rounding off the set the ever-popular PORCH. The guys played a great jam set during it with Eddie wandering around the stage.

Then the guys depart stage for a “break”. The crowd [us devoted fans] wants more and we scream and stomp up a fuss. MSG is vibrating! This crowd was just as intense as the night before. Long live rock! After about five minutes or so Eddie comes out on stage. He talks for abit about different stuff, reads fans signs [ie: “Play LEACH U Pussies”] before singing a Beatle tune … YOU’VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY. Then the rest of the band came out on stage and jumped into another fav song of mine … ELDERLY WOMAN IN A SMALL TOWN. OMG! Can’t believe it … they did GLORIFIED G! Another 10 Club fan fav. Eddie does abit more talking and they do ALL OR NONE. Which they first performed live up at the Albany show I attended back in April. This time around it sounds so much better. It’s a slower, blues type of song. Several folk in the crowd head out to concession stand for beer during this time. Makes no sense to me … I wouldn’t want to miss any moments of the show. Next up is DO THE EVOLUTION … which seems to be another crowd pleaser. And finally … last song of 1st encore … ALIVE! Yeah baby … this song totally kicks ass in concert and the whole crowd is responding in loud unison. Gives me goosebumps! Plus I try to imagine what it’s like for the band on stage when entire crowd is screaming YEAH on the backbeats of this awesome song.

Another break, only abit shorter than last one. And they come back out to do a 2nd encore and start with GO. Hell yeah! Then Eddie talks briefly about the Clash and late Joe Strummer, before the band does a groovy version of KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Right-on! OMG! A song I’ve been wanting to hear live for quite some time … KEEP ON ROCKING IN THE FREE WORLD. The band [ie: Jeff is jumping, bouncing & spinning all over the stage] and crowd are whooping it up. If you stand still for about 30 to 60 seconds you can feel the floor vibrating. Whoa! Its an event and we’re all totally into it. And finally, the closing song of the evening, yep, you guessed it … YELLOW LEDBETTER. During the closing guitar solo that Mike rips off, the rest of the band sit around watching and listening. An awesome moment, to be sure, then they all line up on stage and bow to the audience. Sweet! What a terrific show!

Michelle and I make our way down to the lobby to meet up with Josee and Erica. We’re all happy, smiling and chatting with others. After awhile Erica takes off for her hotel and we all stroll outside to locate Andrea. Using cell phones we finally hook up outside MSG. Andrea is with her friend Tieran and they showed up 10 minutes or so into Pearl Jam set. We’re all standing around on sidewalk chatting, gossiping, drinking soda/water from a street vendor and taking group pix. Lots of fun! We part company shortly after 12:30am and head to our respective transportation. There is talk; even Eddie mentioned it, that the band will do a mini tour next summer. Damn … I sure hope so!

US NOBEL LAUREATE SLAMS BUSH GOVERNMENT AS WORST IN AMERICAN HISTORY. Article from Der Spiegel magazine, which is based in Berlin. Here is the link ... check it out if you wish:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0729-06.htm

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"Will Congress Impeach George Bush over WMDs?"
By Mark Dunlea
The Albany Times Union
July 9, 2003
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0709-04.htm

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HOLD BUSH ACCOUNTABLE

If President Bush won't stand up and take responsibility for himself, then the American people will have to do it for him. If you haven't already signed the petition calling for an independent, bipartisan investigation into President Bush's statements in the State of the Union address, sign it today.

http://mailer.democrats.org/rdr/002L701IMo0001F

And be sure to forward this message on to your friends to help spread the word that it's time for President Bush to stand up and take responsibility for the words that come out of his mouth.

http://mailer.democrats.org/rdr/002L701IMo0001G

Click the link below to read the full UPI report on how Bush's claims about the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda contradicted U.S. intelligence.

http://mailer.democrats.org/rdr/002L701IMo0001E

More interesting articles on current events and news:

AMERICAN REBELS
by Jack Newfield [The Nation]
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16262

MY COUNTRY - THE WORLD
by Howard Zinn
http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/7726

MATRIOTISM FOR MOTHER EARTH
by Elouise Bell [Earth Island Journal]
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12918

TOUGH LOVE
by Michelle Chihara
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11930

A PRAYER FOR AMERICA
by Dennis Kucinich
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12477

Get Involved - Write Your Vision for 2020 America
http://www.2020democrats.com

MISREPRESENTATION
http://www.moveon.org/r?458

POWELL & BLIX HAVE THEIR DOUBTS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,968581,00.html

IMPEACHMENT!
http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/dean/20030606.html

Some good news on the work front ... after two days at the Times Square office I've finally been assigned not one, but two assignments. Now that I'm a floater, trying to find a new permanent position here at the office, I'll take whatever assignments they give me. Yah know? So, for now, I'm covering the secretarial [admin] position of a gal who had to start her maturnity leave sooner than expected. [She's married to a NYC cop.] Seems pretty straight-forward of handling travel arrangements, timesheets, expense reports, set up meetings or conference calls, etc. The department is Tax Insurance and the other smaller assignment is also with same department, and working on audit spreadsheets. The folk in this area seem pretty decent and helpful. On that note, time for this gal to sign off and make the commute home. Remember to keep rocking in the free world. :-)

Well folks, since my last post about the work situation, much has happened. Found out last Wednesday afternoon, July 16th, that we doing the "big move" on Friday and not end of the month. Ugh! Lots of last minute work to do, calling vendors, cancelling accounts, packing up supplies and offices, etc. Much paid overtime. Then I find out in a meeting with my Administrative Manager on Thursday, that my position with STS Group was eliminated. Imagine my surprise and shock upon hearing that! Whoa! But they had good news for me, until I can find a new permanent position in the firm, I'll be a floater/temp admin. Actually, I have three months to find a new permanent position. In September the firm is doing a major restacking [hard to explain] and promotions. Which means there will be lots of openings. Yeah! So, in the meantime, I float and am now at the Times Square location.

The move on Friday from downtown office was long, but successful. My computer from downtown office has been temporarily set up in the TSS department on 8th floor. So thats why I was able to access several times yesterday and today. Felt good to deal with office and personal emails, plus check out PJ stuff on the net and IRWTpt2. Anyhow ... I hooked up with my Administrative Manager and we discussed what will be happening during this "transition". I also touched base with accounting and facilities department to go over invoices and such regarding downtown office. I also briefly connected with the secretary who's now covering for the partner I worked with. Passing on his info, emails, calendar, etc. During all this I was running into people I hadn't seen in months and they were wondering why I was up at Times Square office. Many explanations, yah know. Also, my Admin Mgr gave me the company link to the "job openings" database. At least twice a week I have to check it to see what openings in the firm are available, discuss it with my recruiter and then apply for the position. Then there was lunch in their cafeteria, which I'm not going to do often, as I'd rather "brown bag" it and save money. I already miss the nice small parks down in Wall Street area. Then yesterday afternoon I had two meetings ... one with new Admin Mgr and secretary to main partner in STS group. Have met a few cool new people. Everyone has been nice and helpful. On a good note, the commute was only 20 minutes this AM and I utilize two subways, not three. Big difference!

Lets see ... lighter news ... I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon at a park in my neighborhood. The weather was wonderful! Blue skies, not too hot, and a slight breeze. Took a blanket, small pillow, bottled water, snack, reading material and ventured forth. Parked my ass under a nice, shady tree for 3 1/2 hours. Sometimes I napped, read or watched folk play softball. Last night, on the local PBS station [telly], I watched several cool programs. They were "History Detectives", "American Experience - Ansel Adams" and "Charlie Rose". Time to sign off ... for now ... lunch time.

Review Of Pearl Jam Show
July 8, 2003
MSG in NYC

OH MY GOD! What a f--king amazing show! This band blew me away at Saratoga 2000 and again at Albany 2003. Let me tell you, those two shows paled compared to the first of two MSG gigs. I'm being totally sincere in this statement. Yeah baby, its coming from the heart and soul.

Start with the beginning, which was way back in late January, when we 10 Club members first heard the tix were going on sale for North American tour. Sadly, I had messed up on my membership, which I wasn't able to renew until after the deadline for concert tix. All was not lost ... my dear PJ fan/friends Josee and Michelle came to bat for me. [A big thanks from bottom of my heart & enjoy those rumballs. More to come at Xmas time.] They were both coming to NYC for the shows and I said your more than welcome to stay at my place. Save on those pricey hotels in Manhattan.

Ordering tix via the 10 Club, upon submitting info/money, member got two tix for show of request. One could go to as many shows as one wanted, as long as one had the funds to cover price of tix. The average tix was about $40 each and thats darn good. Anyhow ... Josee offered me her first night extra tix and Michelle offered me her second night extra tix. I paid them for the tix back in February. WooHoo! As the dates were drawing nearer, we three had to coordinate on arrival times and pickup destination. Got a little bit anxious on some things, but it all worked out in the end. Michelle flew into Newark Airport, then a bus to Port Authority and Josee took a bus down from Canada to Port Authority. I picked them both up on
the evening of July 7th.

Now about the show! Yeah baby! We got thru security with no difficulties and they seemed pretty cool. In the main lobby of MSG the four of us [ie: my Texas pal Erica was with us] picked a spot to "meet up" after the show. Michelle and Erica went their way and I ambled off with Josee. We checked out the merchandise booths, as Josee wanted to purchase a poster and t-shirt. Posters were sold out, but she got a really cool black/red t-shirt. Found our seats, which were on the floor, row W, about a little center-right. I'm thinking ... holy shit ... I've never been this close to the stage in MSG. We saw Michelle [her Ticketmaster tix were just behind the stage, which she later said provided her with some interesting views] and waved to her. Erica stopped by to chat for abit and pointed to her front row seat. Her stepmom was attending the gig with her. Josee noticed Michelle waving at us again, but pointing behind us. We looked around and I saw my friend Andrea waving at me from the section behind ours. I went up to the barrier and managed to talk the security guard in letting Andrea come over to chat with me for five minutes. It was great seeing her again and she too is also a big "jeff ament" admirer like me. Sigh!

Back at my seat, we waited for 7:30pm to roll around, for when the Buzzcocks came on stage as the warmup band. Their a British punk band thats been around for about 25 years or so. They played their set at a fast pace with little breather space in between songs. Josee said its the same setlist, as she'd seen them open for Pearl Jam in Detroit, Montreal and Toronto, before coming to NYC. Personally, I thought their set wasn't that bad and better than the group SPARTA, who opened for Pearl Jam in Albany. Both Josee and I noticed Eddie standing on stage right. He was watching the set and enjoying it. On the left, I noticed Jeff trying to hide behind the speakers and then Mike joined him. For the last song ["Why Can't I Touch It?] on the Buzzcocks set they were joined on stage by Jeff, Eddie and Mike. What a treat for us fans. They ended the set and all left the stage. Now comes the suspence of waiting for the main band ... Pearl Jam. only 30 minutes or so, but it seemed like an eternity.

When they did finally come on stage, all 19,000+ fans stood up and cheered wildly. Its show time! They started off the set with LOVE BOAT CAPTAIN, then ripping into LAST EXIT [Jeffs bopping all over the stage] and SAVE YOU. Two kick ass rocker tunes. Josee and I are bouncing and dancing with absolute joy. We later learned that there were 7,000 Ten Club members at this show and 8,000 at second show. WOW! Next song was GREEN DISEASE and then a slightly different version of IN MY TREE, which I liked. Through all this one could tell that some folk were lighting up and smoking pot. Thankfully it wasn't as "thick" as it was at Albany show. Anyhow ... next up was a wonderful rendition of CROPDUSTER, followed by one of my fav songs, EVEN FLOW. This song really lets Mikey showcase his terrific guitar solo skills. Then they do a John Lennon song called GIMME SOME TRUTH, followed by the bands first single [I AM MINE] off of latest LP called RIOT ACT. What's up next, oh my gosh, a song they hardly ever do and a fav of mine off YIELD. Its a Jeff song called LOW LIGHT and they follow with another YIELD song called FAITHFULL. Both are favs with 10 Club members. Up next one of my least fav Pearl Jam songs ... WISHLIST ... but the tag is cool which is the Buzzcocks WHY CAN'T I TOUCH IT? If I remember correctly, it was around this time that some guy shows up and tries to take Josee's seat. Claiming it was his seat, we're like NO WAY DUDE! Looked at his tix and he's suppose to be in row Y, not W. Geez! Next up is the fast paced LUKIN. The next five songs [ie: GRIEVANCE, 1/2 FULL, BLACK, SPIN THE BLACK CIRCLE & REARVIEWMIRROR] are more favs of mine and the band is sooooo on fire. Eddie is in fine form this evening, Mike's a live wire & playing amazing solos, Matt as always is a powerhouse on the drums, Stone is providing groovy rhythm and watching Jeff play that bass makes me sooooo happy. Plus his jumps on stage were amazing.

The arena is going nuts during the break between main set and 1st encore. The guys come back out on stage to near deafening cheers from the fans. And kick off the 1st encore with the funky song YOU ARE utilizing strobe lights. These type of lights usually bother my eyes, so I spent most of the song with closed eyes and bent head. Every so often they throw in a quiet song and this time its THUMBING MY WAY. The next song is DAUGHTER and during the tag Eddie brings out Ben Harper to help out. The tag is a Harper song called WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS. This is a terrific surprise. Harper is there with his girlfriend, the actress Laura Dern. Josee and I damn near flip out when they roll into the next song, after some chatter from Eddie, plus passing wine bottle to Jeff and Stone. We were like ... OMG ... their doing CROWN OF THORNS ... which is a Mother Love Bone song. Then to add to our euphoria ... BREATH! Great song! I knew it was bound to happen, they did another of my least fav Pearl Jam songs ... BETTERMAN. What makes it interesting is the audience sing-along response, their reveling in this song, which is about spouse abuse. [Earlier that evening I saw a young chap wearing a t-shirt that said "Betterman Club". Very strange.] They cap off the 1st encore with DO THE EVOLUTION. The audience during the next break before 2nd encore is even more deafening. Everyone is rocking on all four cylinders. WooHoo! OMG!

Back on stage Eddie mentioned to us that they were told the stage only bounced up and down that much [which freaked them abit] for three other bands. Can you guess? Well it was the Grateful Dead, Iron Maiden and Bruce Springsteen. That last mention got a Bruuuuuce chant from the crowd. They start off 2nd encore with CRAZY MARY. Love this song live and Boom Gaspar plays a great keyboard solo. At this point I mention to Josee ... how will the band top this fantastic show tomorrow evening. It boggles the mind. Eddie brings Ben Harper out again and they duet the next song ... INDIFFERENCE. So sweet! Then Tony from the Buzzcocks comes out on stage to play bass for the next song, while Jeff sits this one out. Another fav
cover song of mine ... SONIC REDUCER. Did I mention the band was on fire this evening? Hell yeah! They close out the evening with an amazing rendition of The Who song BABA O'RILEY. And the show closing number is another fav of mine ... YELLOW LEDBETTER. Which again showcases Mikey's guitar prowness. They played a 2 1/2 to 3 hour show with such energy and enthusiasm. Everyone was excited and pumped afterwards. Josee and I met up with Michelle at our designated spot. We got to chatting with other cool fans ... mostly those that Michelle knew via Synergy BBS. We were all hot, sweaty and dying of thirst. Found a vendor outside the venue and quenched our thirst. One of the best concert experiences I've had in a long time.

Finally getting around to posting a new entry in my journal that is not politically related. This entry is based on some fun stuff I've been doing over last two weeks. Those of you waiting for reviews on my Pearl Jam MSG 1 & 2 experience, will have to wait abit longer. Sorry, still working on the reviews. For now ... the latest tidbits.

First of all ... work news ... it may not be "fun stuff" but its interesting. Its officially confirmed that the downtown E&Y space I've been working at for 2 1/2 years will be sublet by another company. That means in a few weeks we are moving to the Times Square offices. [Over 3,000 people in that one location. Whoa!] I'm actually looking forward to the move, as its been sooooo slow at current location for 2 1/2 months and I want some challenging action. NOW! Lately we've been busy with packing a few Senior Manager offices and shipping out lots of computer equipment to other E&Y locations. Stay tuned for more updates.

Back on June 29th I went up to northern Yonkers with my good friend Debbie to visit friends of ours. It was a delightful day trip. Judy and Don have a charming apartment overlooking Hudson River. Last time I saw Judy was on my b-day back in October and last time I saw Don was at their wedding in May 2002. Judy and Don drove us around the area [lots of nice houses et al] from Yonkers on up to Tarrytown. Weather was sunny, warm and abit hazy. We had ice cream at a charming place in Tarrytown and also strolled along part of "the trail". Next time I'm wearing sneakers instead of fashionable sandals. Band-aids and blisters on my feet ... not a pretty sight. Back at their apartment we watched some "Buffy" and "LOTRs" DVDs. Judy whipped up a yummy middle eastern dinner, followed by drinking wine on the terrace and viewing the sunset over NJ. Overall a most enjoyable day.

Headed up to the family homestead for the long July 4th holiday weekend. Left the office Wednesday afternoon on July 2nd, as E&Y was officially closed on July 3rd & 4th. Sweet deal! Weather was warm, humid and occasional breezes. Spent most of the time relaxing with Mom on the screened in porch doing pastels, chatting or reading. Did I mention that I finished reading the Harry Potter book and gave it to Mom to read. Loved the book! Highly recommend it to others. While upstate NY I did some shopping, cooking, reading, pastels, sketching, chores around house, watch some cable tv, out to eat a few times, cut & color, etc.

This past week was fantastic. Got to see my fav band, Pearl Jam, perform two gigs at MSG. I'll be writing up a review to those shows soon and posting it here. Worked on July 7th then went up to Port Authority to pick up Josee and Michelle. Josee came down by bus from Canada and Michelle was flying in from Seattle. They were staying at my pad for a few days and we were going to the Pearl Jam gigs together. We've met online, chatted back and forth via email, talked on the phone and now finally meeting for the first time. Their both terrific gals and we hit it off right away. Got back to my place in Brooklyn around 8pm, settled in my place, hit the grocery store and then picked up dinner from the local pizza joint. Sat around my livingroom chatting away that evening. Next day we headed into the city and got off subway at 34th Street Penn Station. Got some lunch there and hooked up with my TX Pearl Jam fan friend Erica. This was my first time meeting her, tho we've been emailing/phoning each other since October 2000. She's also one terrific gal and been a big fan of the group since the early days. We strolled over to Southgate Towers and got on line to pick up 10 Club tix for both shows at Garden. No troubles there ... long line ... tix showed our seats to pretty decent. [Erica had front row! Lucky girl!] Thanks 10 Club! After that we jumped on the subway and headed up to the westside to do some sightseeing. I showed the three of them the Dakota [where John Lennon was shot in 1980], Strawberry Fields ["Imagine" memorial] and a fun stroll thru "the rambles" in Central Park. Man oh man ... it was a sunny, warm, humid day. Then it was back on subway to head to Erica's hotel on 31st Street, but I accidently got us on the uptown subway. Silly me! We switched at Cathedral Parkway stop and went back downtown.

We hungout at Erica's hotel to cool off, freshen up and talk until close to showtime at Garden. Left another voicemail with my Pearl Jam fan friend Andrea, who was also going to the gig that night. We headed into the arena at 6:45pm. Erica went to her first row seat, Michelle had a tix for behind the stage and Josee and I were sitting in fan club section, which was in row W from stage. We waved to Michelle in her seat and then Erica stopped by briefly to chat. She had a primo spot right in front of Eddie. Then Michelle waved at Josee and me again, then pointed behind us. In section behind us I could see Andrea waving at me, as she was on her cell phone chatting with Michelle on her cell phone. In cases like this cell phones are a beautiful thing. I went up to the barrier and managed to persuade the security guard to let Andrea over to barrier so we could chat for a few minutes. She was at the gig with her sister. Sadly we wouldn't be able to meet up after the gig, as she had a train to catch back to NJ. I'll talk about the Pearl Jam gig in another post sometime this week. All I got to say for now is it was an awesome show. They are a great rock band. Afterwards we met and chatted with some cool people in the arena lobby ... Dan from Brazil, Melanie from Toronto, plus several others. Our throats felt like cotton fields, so we headed outdoors to picked up drinks from a street vendor. The three of us made it back to my place, via subway, at around 1:30am. Took showers and went to bed exhausted, but very happy.

On wednesday, after placing several voicemails to Erica and Andrea [plus a late breakfast], the three of us headed into Manhattan for more sightseeing. Todays weather was cooler and not as humid. I took Josee and Michelle to lower Manhattan. Showed them Ground Zero, St Pauls & Trinity Churches, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Stock Exchange and Federal Hall before we picked up a late lunch to eat at my office. While at office we checked out emails & posts on IRWTpt2 Yahoo Group. Then we left my office, jumped on subway and headed up to Times Square for a quick visit. Then back on another subway to zip down to MSG for the gig. Waited outside for awhile in trying to locate Erica and Andrea. Josee had an extra fan club tix, which she sold to a nice chap on the street. I was sitting with Michelle this evening. This time we all had decent seats, but Josee's seat was abit closer to the stage. We called Erica on her cell phone, as we saw her sitting in her front row seat already. She stopped by to briefly chat with Josee and then over to our section to chat with me and Michelle. She went to matinee that day with her stepmom to see "Phantom of the Opera". [Whoa! This entry into journal is turning out longer than I thought. Hope I'm not boring anyone.] Will provide review of show later on this week, but suffice to say, it was another awesome gig and I danced alot to the music. WooHoo! Afterwards we hooked up with Erica, Melanie and her friend Rita in MSG lobby. This night the Garden security was kicking us out soon than evening before, so we hungout outside arena. Melanie and her friend took off, but we finally located Andrea and her friend Teiran. Much chatter going on about show et al. Erica took off for her hotel ... she's a terrific gal and lots of fun. So the five of us hung out on the street corner, sipping drinks from vendor and gossiping until after 12:30am. From there we jumped on our respective transportation.

Back at my pad I called car service for Josee, as she had to head into the city at 7:30am to catch an 8:30am bus at Port Authority. Set my alarm clock for 7am, woke up Josee and got her on her way at 7:30am, then I went back to bed while Michelle slept thru it all. Didn't wake up again until 10:30am! We took our time getting breakfast and dressed. Finally left my apartment around 2:15pm and subways didn't get us to the Wall Street area until 3:30pm. Michelle had to be at Port Authority at about 4pm to catch bus to Newark Airport for a 6pm flight. So we decided to forgo the downtown area and made a beeline for midtown. Her bus was waiting upon arrival to Port Authority and I saw her off. I then picked up a late lunch and hoofed it to my Broad Street office to utilize the computer for a few hours. Then back home to tidy up the pad. Wow! What a fun and exciting 3 to 4 days. A major highlight of my summer, so far. Gotta jet.......................

DENNIS KUCINICH SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER. And the word is getting out about what Dennis is doing on the campaign trail and in Washington, where he co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus with the courageous Barbara Lee. If you have friends and relatives who still haven't gotten the news, please, send them this link today:

http://www.kucinich.us

This is just a quick, and I mean quick, post on my journal. I've been meaning to write in here sooner, but have been busy with work, enjoying the past weekend [more on that later] and getting ready for July 4th weekend. Can't believe the great summer weather we've been experiencing since Monday, June 23rd. Awesome! In less than a week I'll be seeing Pearl Jam at MSG and my friends Josee and Michelle will be visiting me. More news on Monday, July 7th, when I'm back in the office. Until then ... hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th and remember to keep rocking in the free world. Yahoo!!