The Sounds, Nico Vega & Tofurkeys

The family and I were lucky enough to head back to the newly-renovated Hollywood Palladium on the 20th for one fantastic night of music!  I even dyed my hair for the special occasion. ;)

This time, The Sounds, a band from Sweden that all five of us love, was in LA recording some of their new album and booked this gig at the HP.  Lucky for us, because it was one incredible set!!

Maja, the singer, is such a firecracker!  She is FULL of energy, spunk, and passion!!  What an electrifying performance they presented.

Check out this video (near the end) when she kicks off her shoes, backs up and runs off the stage, leaping into the audience and crowd surfing.  RADNESS, I tell ya!!

The kids really had a good time too.

Since the kiddos were old enough to tag along, live music has been an integral part of our family outings,and I'm glad it's become a common activity for this little familial gang.

I took quite a few videos that night.  Here's a link to my youtube channel if you are fan of The Sounds and want to see more:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jinxxxi

But I think this was my favorite of the bunch.  It includes the songs, "Queen of Apologies" and "24."

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the opening band, whom I was totally taken with that night and plan on following the calendar of, in the future:  the three-piece dynamo, Nico Vega.  This band from Los Angeles was on fire that night as well and quite unique and fascinating (and I mean "unique" in the good sense ... not the "unique" where you mean "weird" but don't want to be mean - ha)

I am now baking apples and yams, in preparation for tomorrow (Thanksgiving) and trying to get the other dishes (all vegan-ized) that I am contributing to the feast, measured out and ready to pop in the oven in the morning (this includes two Tofurkeys - yum!)

So much to be thankful for ... that's for sure!

Over & out, 

j-boo

Read more!

38

It's funny how the concept of birthdays have changed in my mind as the years go by. You would think that as I age, the apprehension would grown stronger as the day approached, but funny enough, I have found that just the opposite seems to occur now.

On Saturday, I turned the big 3-8.
I remember when I first hit 30, I thought my youth had totally disappeared and could not believe that I was entering this decade of life (ha - so funny now). I played the "I'm so old game" and "let me latch onto age 29 forever" dealio. But something happened as the "mid-thirties" crept up on me and I sort of shifted that mindset and stepped back a bit to view the "bigger picture."

I know it sounds cliche, but I realized that every year I am around, I learn so much more, become so much more, and experience so much more. All of this growth sort of accumulates and the repertoire of who I am and "What Makes Me Jinxi" seems to culminate together, just as a new 365-day-span starts again.

I would like to think that I'm just playing the optimistic card, but strangely enough, it's kind of more than that. I really DO feel that way. Kind of like I "earned" each tally-up on the age clock and am glad I got each experience necessary to reach it.

It also didn't hurt that my family made the day extremely special for me.
All three kiddos made me sweet, heartfelt cards/letters (my favorite) that are the ultimate treasure.We had a nice dinner out - despite having made plans to trek down to The Native, a vegan restaurant in Costa Mesa, when our plans were cut short due to every freeway from Corona to CM being closed due to the horrible fires - we still ended up finding nice vegan-friendly fare locally.And I got to embark on a little "splurgy" birthday shopping, which is always fun to buy things that you really don't need, simply because you are extra special that day. =)

All-in-all, tiptoeing into the "official late-30s" was pretty sweet. And I'm stoked to hit 39, because there is a Cure song about just that, entitled "39." (wink wink)

Over & Out,
j-boo

**me on my 38th birthday**

**With Steve at dinner**

**my three little monkeys playing "Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Speak No Evil."

Read more!

The First Of Many Steps

HEAR, HEAR!!!



"No one wins, unless everyone wins." - Bruce Springsteen

Read more!

Bittersweet

I am so disheartened today. On the wake of such a monumental milestone of Obama becoming president-elect, it is so bittersweet to know that the majority of Californians just YANKED away civil rights from so many!! In an election with resounding liberal triumphs, the principle of equality suffered such a discouraging defeat as California voters actually approved a ban on same-sex marriages.

To me, the euphoria of the Obama win is a bit marred today by the cruel bigotry directed at the gay population. It was not long ago that interracial couples were fighting for the right to marry one another. It took years of reasoning, protesting and battling to educate the ignorant as to the ridiculousness of such a limitation. Today, we look back in horror and disgust that our laws ever included such bigotry and racism. Yet this simple principle; that equality, freedom and justice is for ALL and applies to EVERYONE, still remains so difficult for the "sheeple" to understand.

To those who voted "Yes" on Prop 8, am I to assume that the United States Constitution doesn't mean much to you?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal"

sounds so much better than,

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal UNLESS YOU'RE GAY".

or that

"nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"

sounds so much better than,

"nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws UNLESS YOU'RE GAY".

The irony is incredible and disheartening. I was so overcome with emotion this morning that I literally had to cry to get out some of the frustration from knowing that so many amongst us have declared that it is alright to treat another person as though they matter less.

I could write it a million different ways and still not be able to express the intense emotion and vexation I feel over this. I just cannot believe that people's fear, divisiveness, hatred, ignorance and self-righteousness gets SO CONVOLUTED and ends up resulting in actually TAKING RIGHTS AWAY and deeming anyone unworthy of such basic equality.
Shame on the bigots (and shame on the Mormons, in particular) for bearing false witness, distorting the truth and abridging the rights of other citizens.

It is such a bitter pill to swallow, but we just can't allow falsities or shallow tactics to deter us from fighting harder for the equality for ALL. The fight must continue. We WILL make a difference. We have to. One step forward - two steps back is what we were handed ... but we've got to get three steps in and educate and bring awareness to the severity of this injustice until "they" GET IT, CHANGE and once-and-for-all allow everyone in this nation the right to move forward, to be equal, and to be free!!!

j-boo


Read more!

Music & Equality

Last week was sprinkled with all sorts of my favorite things.
Among them, was a healthy dose of music, that was prevalent throughout.

On Tuesday, October 28th, The Cure's long-awaited album, "4:13 Dream" came out. Brynn and I hopped over to Best Buy when she got out of school that day and EACH got a copy of the fantastic-ness, so we didn't have to "share." ;)

I also got my paws on a superb AFI rarities which I find myself playing QUITE often. My kids especially love track #12 "I Wanna Get a Mohawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One)." Though that would NEVER be an issue in our house (ha ha).

On Saturday night, we took the kiddos down to the Hollywood Palladium, a venue that has significant importance in our lives, as it was the location of Steve and my VERY FIRST DATE, back in February of 1989, when we saw The Sugarcubes and The Primitives play. Bjork was the lead singer of The Sugarcubes at that time and screamed/sang so passionately, that she literally lost her voice half-way through the set. She was incredible; as was that night - and without the Palladium as a part of our memories, who knows HOW or IF we ever would have become the little family unit that we are today.

The incredibly inspiring and compelling band, Rise Against, was the headliner on Saturday and WOW, what a show it was! Especially given the significance of this week being election week and their passion for making a difference in political circles (as you can see from the video I shot below). It was a moving performance and we thoroughly enjoyed the night and getting to experience it all together.
**I somehow didn't catch a shot of Brynn while we were there - but she was, of course, rockin' out too**

Sunday, we took the boys with us to a rally for NO on PROP 8, where we stood for EQUALITY for ALL and tried to spread the message so that enough people take a stand tomorrow on Election Day and make sure that we protect basic human rights for EVERYONE! It was an interesting afternoon. While we did get many "honks" of support throughout the day, it was incredible to see vehement opposition and the anger and hatred from the "yes" side as they drove by yelling obscenities, flashing a particular finger more times than I can count, and assuring us all that we were headed straight for Hell.

I guess when you have that much bigotry and fear inside, you only see things one way and unfortunately, it is such a pathetic and ignorant way indeed. I truly do not understand how a civilized person in the year 2008 could not want everyone to be treated the same. It was not long ago that interracial couples were not allowed to be married and today, we look back in disgust and horror that a group of citizens could be treated with such disregard and inequality; yet the principle seems so hard to grasp for so many today.

Over these last few months, Steve and I have become increasingly aware that we live in an ultra-conservative area of California and that bigotry abounds around us. We are just hopeful that tomorrow, the REST of the state counterbalances the overwhelming side that we are exposed to in our neighborhood. Here's a photo of our yard (**we had to be overzealous to balance this suburb out a bit - ha)

I can't believe that tomorrow is finally Election Day!
Here's to hoping that a little change is in the making.

Over & Out,
j-boo

Read more!