Go-Gos at Universal Studios

June 12, 2011









Go-Gos at Universal Studios

Way back in 1984, while I was a student at Purdue University, I went to see a concert held at the school’s Elliott Hall of music featuring what was then one of the hottest musical acts in the nation, The Go-gos. The all female pop group was huge, with the help of catchy tunes and constant exposure of their videos on a still young MTV, had hit the charts in a big way. Now on the 30th, gulp, anniversary of the release of their smash hit debut album “Beauty and the Beat”, I found myself once again in the audience for one of their concerts.





Things have changed a lot since then and considering that we were at the concert with someone who wasn’t even born when the Go-gos were at their peak; it was sort of a surreal experience. The show, which was the first show of Universal Studio’s summer concert series, a concert is held each Saturday night throughout the summer at the theme park.









We arrived at the park well before the start of the show so that we could take in some of the thrill rides and attractions at the park before heading over to the concert stage. There are a lot of fun rides at Universal and we were able to take in most of the best, at least Kathy & Dakota were, I tend to avoid large coasters these days. They enjoyed the Mummy ride, the Rock-it Rollercoaster, the Men In Black Ride and others before settling in to watch the show.

Go-Gos singing “Mad About You”

The show itself was fun, I hesitate to call it good as it seems to me that the Go-gos live have never been known as a great live band. What they are is a ton of fun. They started with an amusing video that taught the mostly 40 something crowd how to dance like a Go-go, before taking the stage and launching into a set filled with most of their hits, a few covers from members Belinda Carlile’s solo career and even a Rolling Stones classic that poked fun at their ages, Mother’s Little Helper” featuring the opening line of “What A Drag It Is Getting Old”.









The sound was muddled at times, but the band kept up the energy throughout the 90 minute set and had many of the aging hipsters dancing throughout. It was quite a blast from the past, but really enjoyable without being particularly memorable or even that good.







They concluded the show with another video which showed highlights from their long career that was a hoot. We really have come a long way since New Wave first appeared in the 80s, thankfully the Go-gos have managed to age gracefully and still are pretty decent without having become a parody of themselves or the time that the originated.

Typhoon Lagoon & Downtown Disney

June 11, 2011



Michael & Kathy



Dakota & Kathy

Typhoon Lagoon & Downtown Disney

With time running out on the annual passes that we purchased last year for Universal Studios in Orlando, Kathy & I wanted to squeeze one more trip along with our friend Dakota. We waited until the school year ended for both Kathy and for Dakota, who is attending the University of Florida in Gainesville. Kathy had been Dakota’s mentor in the Take Stock In Children program while she was in middle school and high school, but now we simply count her as a friend and we have a great time hanging out with her in Orlando



Dakota & Kathy

Kathy & I flew up to Orlando on Air Tran late Friday afternoon, It was an easy 50 minute flight and before we knew it we were eating at one of our favorite Indian restaurants. There is a sad lack of Indian food availability in Key West and Kathy likes to enjoy Indian food when we get a chance.





After dinner and eventually getting settled in to the hotel, Dakota met us and we all headed over to the Downtown Disney complex for our first evening in town. Downtown Disney is an incredible complex of dining, shopping and nightlife that features a large number of mega- bars and restaurants such as a House of Blues, Planet Hollywood, a permanent Cirque du Soleil and the Pleasure Island complex of bars and stores.





We did not stay out too late, opting to get up early and hit our first theme park early the next morning. The weather was sunny and warm, so we decided to spend most of the day on Saturday at Disney’s spectacular water park, Typhoon Lagoon. The massive water park is home to the World’s largest wave pool, a large number of amazing water slides and water attractions, a long lazy river and a snorkeling attraction that allows visitors to snorkel with live sharks, rays and reef fish.



Dakota & Michael



By arriving early, we avoided the crowds that tend to build as the day goes on and were able to go on all of the rides and attractions with virtually no waiting. Some of the water slides allow you to ride aboard inner-tubes, even with multiple people and others are more traditional slides that plunge you through twisting and turning mazes without a tube.





Dakota, Michael & Kathy

It was a ton of fun, Disney knows how to design and engineer a theme park, water or otherwise and we had a great time. The wave pool is especially cool as giant waves are created every few minutes. The park is also beautifully landscaped and features plenty of sandy beach areas to relax as well.

Kayaking In The Wilds

June 9, 2011

Aunt Kathy





Kayaking In The Wilds

While I was off enjoying the Indy 500, Kathy was away on a short trip to Massachusetts to visit with some family for a nice little weekend getaway organized by her Aunt Kathy to get in a little kayaking. It was a nice little getaway for Kathy to unwind after the school year and a chance to hang out with relatives.

Alex & Carolyn





The kayaking trip was on the Agawam River which runs for 10.7 miles in Southeastern Massachusetts. It is part of the Wareham River estuary watershed system and the group of intrepid kayakers that included Kathy, her Aunt Kathy and her son Alex and a family friend Carolyn all headed over to Miles Standish State Forest in Plymouth where the river has its headwaters.

Alex





Carolyn

The river originates at Halfway Pond and flows southwest through Glen Charlie Pond and East Wareham before draining into the Wareham River in the town of Wareham. It is a popular kayaking site, but this early in the season the intrepid explorers needed to bushwhack through some narrow portions that were overgrown with plants.

Kayaking in the Wilds

It was a nice day and the trek took most of an entire day which was wonderful even with the occasional hacking a pass through the overgrowth. Kathy’s Uncle Al made a couple of youtube videos using photos and a brief video that Kathy made and those can be seen here.

Kayaking in the Wilds Part II

The trip to Massachusetts also included a trip to visit with Kathy’s Aunt Judy and Uncle Phil for a lobster feast. They managed to find a massive 8 pound lobster for Kathy, who devoured it without any problem. As you can see from the photos, it was huge and dwarfed the more traditional 1.5 pound lobsters that one normally eats. Kathy had a fantastic trip overall.

Judy & Phil



Kathy

Back home in Key West, I headed out to one of the more unique and interesting evenings at the Green Parrot Bar, which hosted its first ever Ukulele night. The Ukulele is an instrument that is making a big comeback recently, even Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder has just released a new CD of all Uke songs. The Parrot got into it by inviting Key West’s Ukulele talent out to perform during an open-mike performance.

David & Martha



Who knew that Key West had such a hidden reserve of Ukulele players, A number of our friends can be included in the Uke subculture and it was cool to see them displaying their talent with the unique instrument. Our friends Ashley & Gretchen are actually pretty well advanced in their playing and performed a number of stellar songs, but it was also fun to be surprised by others such as our friend David and Rick who each played as well.





It was a fun night that was also a pretty good success for the bar and will most likely become a regular fixture on the Green Parrot schedule. Certainly we are looking forward to more.