Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth

...which is what you can't help but do when you are feeling DEVO!

I recently won DEVO concert tickets from a local radio station!  I was the 17th caller, on my second dial -- and on my first dial I forgot to dial "1" first!  That was fun, and I got to hear my voice on the radio.

So, a friend and I headed down to the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills on Friday night. What a neat venue!  It is small and intimate, and they serve dinner at comfortable tables, and there is a bar. We were seated with this actress, her husband, who is a producer for The Fairly OddParents, and their kids, aspiring entertainers themselves. Also at our table was another guy in the biz, a radio personality, but darn that I didn't get his name. Dang it! I wish I could do some more name-dropping!

The room was eclectic:  people of all ages, from kids about 7 on up!  And the room was electric!  Lots of DEVO fans ready to have a good time. It was a fun show.

Our table was situated one table removed from the stage, and we got to see DEVO!

What fun!  The Spud Boys are older and rounder, but they still rock it. Oh, my! are they good!  They played a couple songs from their new album, Something for Everybody (which is a good album, btw; if you haven't heard it yet, go listen!).  Happily, though, they mostly played their "hits," including "Mongoloid," "(Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Whip It," "Freedom of Choice," "Gates of Steel," "Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth," "Girl U Want," "Peek a Boo!," "Uncontrollable Urge," and of course, "Jocko Homo," where they ask the famous question, "Are we not men?"  Booji Boy sang "Wonderful World" as the final number of the set, giving a shout-out to Michael Jackson.  creepy.  In a good, DEVO-kind-of-creepy way!

I took pictures only with my iPhone Camera, so they are pretty crappy.  But, hey, it's proof I was there!

Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth

Mongoloid

You can see videos of their recent tour and get a taste of what I experienced on their official website.

Last time I saw DEVO was about in 1990, a really great concert where we were right up against the stage. During "Mongoloid," I got forehead-to-forehead with the Mongoloid himself, Mark Mothersbaugh.  *sigh* I've never washed my forehead since!

To end this post, here is a video from the kids' show Yo Gabba Gabba!

Into the Hole

This is the second of two installments of our trip to the Grand Canyon.  If you missed Part 1,  go here and catch up.  There is a link at the end of Part 1 that will bring you back here!

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Sunday was a great day!  We went down into the hole in the morning, and in the evening we enjoyed the unique community of the North Rim.

We got up early on a drizzly morning after awakening during the night to a rainstorm, and we boarded a van which took us to the North Kaibab trailhead.  Emily stayed behind to work on her artwork. Hopefully she'll share it someday (hint, hint!).

And we met our good friends who would take us two miles and 1500 feet into the canyon.

Kevin and Big Mac

Trish and Mike

Shoe and Shirley Belle

Kitty helping Trish

Ready for the trail!

photo by Kevin

photo by Kevin

On the way, we passed by five layers of the caynon: the Kaibab formation, the Toroweap formation, the Coconino Sandstone, the Hermit Shale, and the Supai Formation. We stopped at the Supai Tunnel. My camera died on the way down. Gah!  When you ride the mules or hike down the canyon, you can see the Supai Tunnel!

Oh, good, Kevin got a picture of the Supai Tunnel!

At the turn-around point. Kevin's camea has a cracked lens, thus the fuzzy look. D'oh!

On the way up, I spotted a big honkin' snake! Kitty identified it as a Blow Snake. We didn't linger, obviously, but Kev was able to get a shot!

Our wrangler was Kitty, and she took great care of all of us, but particularly Trish. She led Mike on a rope and reassured Trish.  Trish did great!



It was a wonderful three-hour tour!

After lunch I took my own hike on the Uncle Jim Trail, which is a couple miles through the woods to the Canyon's edge. It was beautiful: such a sunny day, with plenty of wildflowers, lots of gorgeous tall ponderosa pines and a new friend.

A Kaibab Squirrel, with its unusual white tail

There is something profoundly beautiful about a decaying log.

The Ponderosas were enormous!

It was a wonderful hike for many reasons, not the least among them was that I was mostly alone. The North Rim is so much quieter and less populous than the South Rim. The trails were very peaceful and quiet. As I trudged along, this buck bounded across the trail and headed toward some trees.

We considered each other for a few moments. He was as curious about me as I was about him.

Ah! My reward!

At the overlook, there were some steps made of rock, and in one, there were some fossil footprints!

That afternoon, we also took in a Geology Ranger talk (only slightly inaccurate at times!) and looked over Angel Point again, where we saw baby snakes!

It was tiny. Coiled up like this it could've fit on a 50-cent piece.

In the evening, we boarded this cute trolley and headed to the campground where we enjoyed "The Grand Canyon Cookout Experience," which was dinner and a show.  The food was so good!  I was surprised; it was most delicious, and there was a lot of it!  As we dined, we were entertained by Woodie and Cleda Jane Cochran, who sang cowboy songs, and Woodie told corny jokes in between songs. It was a fun, silly evening!  I recommend the cookout if you have a chance.

Woodie and Cleda Jane Cochran

They sang "Sixteen Tons" for us!


In the morning, we had to pack up and leave.  I want to go back and hike to the bottom of the canyon. I'm thinking Fall of 2012, when it's cooler, and the aspen leaves will be turning.  Can't wait!

We'll miss our little cabin...

....and the stunning lodge.

We'll be back!

I took more photos than I put up on my blog. Please, please click on the picture below to be taken to a slideshow!

Grand Canyon National Park, August 2011

Happy Birthday Annette!

It's official! I'm the mother of a grown woman!

Day 1:

Day 365:

Happiest of days, sweetie!  It's been an amazing 18 years!

Going Out on a Rim

Oh, the Grand Canyon!  So grand indeed!

Kevin, Emily, Trish, and I had a spectacular couple days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!

We stopped in Las Vegas for a night on the way, and as we drove to the Grand Canyon's North Rim, I realized that Zion National Park wasn't too far out of our way, and if we went there, we could visit the Flying Monkey, home of some of the best pizza in the country. So, we drove the extra few miles and got to munch on pizza and then marvel at the Navajo sandstone cliffs. I shared with you a previous trip to Zion.  You must go to Zion!  It is aaaaamazzzing!

Some monkeys:

Fueled and ready for adventure!

Angel's Landing. No time to do the hike this time!

Of course, one of us had to do a little poking around, too (outside the park, of course!).

As we drove toward the Grand Canyon, we were lucky to watch a nearly-full moonrise. Spectacular! We had hoped to catch the full moon over the canyon the next night, but it was too cloudy. Boo!

We stopped to enjoy the moonrise....

....and the sunset.

We checked into our cabin fairly late, so we didn't get a view of the hole in the ground till morning, but Wow! This is what greeted us in the morning!

It was a little hazy because of clouds and smoke from a managed fire.

At Bright Angel Point

That first morning, Trish and I set off on a few small hikes, right around the North Rim Lodge, and in the afternoon we drove to Point Royal on the Walhalla Plateau and walked to some more spectacular viewpoints.  We did over 5 miles altogether on these hikes!

We walked these trails:
Bright Angel Point (.5 mile)
Transept Trail (3 miles)
Point Royal Trail (.6 mile)
Walhalla Ruins (.1 mile)
Cliff Spring Trail (1 mile)

Come along and see a few pictures.  I don't pretend to be a good photographer; snapshots is where I'm at.  Pictures don't do the Canyon justice in any case. I hope you'll enjoy these, though.

Of course I took pictures of wildflowers.....

Indian Paintbrush

Penstamon

And  critters.....

These wixked-looking wasps were everywhere!

On the Transept Trail we saw a couple does.  One of them crossed right over the trail and didn't mind us at all.

At Point Royal, there is a natural window through which you can see the Colorado River. This area is the only place where you can see the river from the North Rim.

I played with the "Super Vivid" setting of my camera.  Here is vivid:

And here is "normal."

There are some Anazasi ruins on the Walhalla Plateau, but for some reason I didn't get any shots.  Guess you'll have to go see for yourself!

Our last trail of the day was down to Ciff Spring. This is where water seeps out of the rocks. There is a natural spring there.

Well, it's more of an algae-filled puddle than a spring, but still...!

Plants are happy growing right out of the rock above....

And there's cool minerals and moss gathering on the cliff-side, too.

Here is a video of the drips!

 There was an ancient Indian granary along the trail.  They built it under a rock.  It's pretty intact!

Trish was a hikin' fool, and she did great!  Even on the last trail of the day, a down-and-up miler, she booked along.  I was proud of her for hiking all day. Here she is.

Trish coming out of the Cliff Spring trail:

It was a super first day enjoying the canyon's rim.

Now, please follow this link to see the second installment!