Book Review: Conversations with Tom Petty

Day 249

I think I am now all caught up with my book reading. I finished Conversations with Tom Petty last night and I am pretty happy that I found this book at the library.

The book is one long interview that takes the reader all through Petty's early life all the way up to 2002. The author splits the book into two sections. One on the main history of Petty and the other section exclusively on his songs and songwriting. And in each section he devoted a chapter to each one of his albums.

His history was rather interesting. From an early age Tom was into music and was heavily influenced by Elvis. His childhood was a bit rough, he was unsure of his relationship with his father. His father did not see eye-to-eye with Tom on a lot of things but when Tom wanted to become a musician, his father accepted it and fully supported it. Tom started playing gigs at the tender age of 14. The best chapter in the book was his involvement in creating the Traveling Wilburys. It was quite interesting to read how they came together and how they created their music. It totally makes me want to break out my bass and start playing.

While I did find his history very interesting, I was more thrilled with the section devoted to his songs. I always thought his lyrics were fantastic and innovative but reading about how passionate Tom is about his music made me appreciate it even more. I had no idea that he wrote Mary Jane's Last Dance years before he released it. He had written everything but couldn't figure out the chorus. I also didn't know that he recorded a song with the Bangles called Waiting for Tonight, and I had to drop everything and get a copy of that song and he is right, it could have been a huge song for him. Reading about the creations of his songs makes me want to give songwriting a try.




If you like Tom Petty, you will love this book. If you like music or are a musician, I recommend this book too.

And of course I highly recommend his music too. Any of his albums are fantastic but if you want a smidgen of it, I would highly recommend Anthology.

Zombies!

Day 248

Zombies freak me out. I can really get myself freaked out thinking about zombies. I think what freaks me out about them is that anyone can become a zombie. I think what even freaks me out even more is that people you know, people you have close relationships can become a zombie.

So why do I have this weird attraction to the zombie genre?

I like zombie shows. The original Night of the Living Dead is one of my favorite movies.

I also like zombie comics as well and I have recommended the Walking Dead comic book to all my fellow zombie folks.  I will warn you though, this is not for the faint of heart. It is pretty gory and contains some extreme situations that some people might be offended at. If you have seen a zombie movie and like them, you should like this quite a bit. What sets this book above many others is that it is focused on the survivors and not the zombie apocalypse itself. You may never know what caused the zombie breakout and I personally don't care. I care more for the survivors and believe me, there are not that many. The author, Robert Kirkman is not afraid to get rid of some favorite cast members at any time. Oftentimes, the zombies are an afterthought. The real danger comes with those surviving with you.

And so I am stoked that AMC has picked up this series at a television show. According to Kirkman (who is very involved with the production) the only thing the show can't do is use the harsh language found in the comic. But that is it. Everything is fair game!  I cannot wait for this to start.

A Couple of Evenings with Bon Jovi

Day 247

I never went to concerts when I was a teenager. The only concert that I had went to was when the Beach Boys came to Logan. They played after the Utah State/Hawaii football game. It was a great concert only it was so hot! You could tell who was at the concert, half of them were sunburned.

It was many years after that I went to my next concert and that was on a whim. Kristy's friend Kristi Pixton, whom she taught P.E. with at South Hills Middle School down in Riverton wanted to go and we all thought that sounded fun. So I bought tickets off the Internet and off we went.

That experience totally made me a fan of going to concerts. I didn't think it would have been that cool but it was. Bon Jovi was also Kristy's first concert too. I was really impressed with how the band energized us all and they gave it everything they had to make sure we all had a good time watching the show. One of the best parts of concert-going is also one of my favorite past times. I love to people watch and the people that came to the Bon Jovi concert didn't disappoint. We spotted a daughter, mother and grandmother all dressed in the same slutty outfit. I would have loved to have snapped a picture of that, it was a sight to behold.

The first time Kristy and I saw Bon Jovi was on the Wild Night Tour at the Delta Center on April 28th, 2001. The band SR-71 opened for them and they were alright. I always feel bad for the opening act, rarely I want to see them and nowhere near the amount I want to see the main event band.

I was familiar with most of the setlist.

One Wild Night

You Give Love A Bad Name

It's My Life

Keep the Faith (Sympathy for the Devil)

Livin' On A Prayer

Born To Be My Baby

Mystery Train

Blaze of Glory

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

In These Arms

Just Older

Blood On Blood

I'll Be There For You

Lay Your Hands on Me

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Bad Medicine (Shout)

ENCORE

I Got the Girl

Wanted Dead or Alive

SECOND ENCORE

Tequila

Twist and Shout

I was taken surprise by their second encore. They said that if the audience is really into it they will keep coming out. I would totally see them live again.

In fact, I did.

Pixton told us that Bon Jovi was coming only this time our brother-in-law Eric and Terry (another teacher at their school) came. We met at Applebees and grabbed some food and then rode the train up to the Energy Solutions Arena and waited for them to take the stage. The Goo Goo Dolls was the opening band and I thought they did a solid job but we were all excited for Bon Jovi.

I am not a huge fan of Bon Jovi. I like their music and I have a couple of albums but I would consider myself a casual fan. But I was way excited to see them come out! They had a pretty cool stage, they had these three large satellite dishes (like on the album cover) and they were just TV screens.

Setlist:

Bounce

You Give Love A Bad Name

Wild In the Streets

Livin' On A Prayer

Everyday

Undivided

Runaway

Just Older

Wanted Dead Or Alive

The Distance

It's My Life

Misunderstood

Right Side of Wrong

I'll Be There For You

Blaze of Glory

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

Born To Be My Baby

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Raise Your Hands

ENCORE:

Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars

Bad Medicine (Shout)

Sadly no second encore. But I was really happy that they included Runaway, one of my favorite songs of theirs. It was a good show and I would go see them again.

Happy 4th!

Day 246

HAPPY 4TH JULY!

I hope everyone is having a nice and safe 4th of July. Thanks to all those that have fought and are currently fighting for our freedom. We appreciate your service so that my family and I can be free.

Here are some pictures that we got from Manuel from our adventures at Girl's Camp.

Logan acting.

The big pizzas we ate. This picture doesn't do them justice.

Told you those pizzas were big!

Logan posing with Bharti and Kristy.

Fam Cam!

Me taking a small nap in the sun at Bear Lake.

Random Ramblings

Day 245

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday Colleen!

This morning we all went out to breakfast at Angie's. I tried something new today, I got the Broccoli and Jack omelet. It had broccoli and Monterrey jack cheese smothered in Hollandaise sauce. It was so tasty. There is nothing like eating out for breakfast! I was going to go out for a run after breakfast since I skipped out Thursday but I instead decided to walk home from Angie's. It really isn't that far from home and it was nice and cool. And if I walk home now I don't have to squeeze in exercise sometime this afternoon.

I forgot that summer also brings about another one of my guilty pleasures. Otter Pops! Man, I can down a whole box within a day or so. Nothing beats Otter Pops on a nice sunny day. We bought a box on my birthday and already I have only about ten left and so Kristy went out to get another box. She couldn't find the Otter Pops but she came home with a Marvel Super Squad box of freezies.

mmmm.... Popsicles...

 I am a little leery of knockoffs but I will say that these were really good! They had cherry, tropical and creme soda flavors and I will say that the creme soda and cherry flavors make it worth getting them. They were the same price but the freezies were a bit smaller. I think I am already down half a box and we just got them yesterday!

Logan got a new bike today and he is quite the happy camper. The new bike came right at the perfect time considering his last bike blew up!

Look how happy he is!

Last night we met up with Kristy's family and went to see the fireworks. It was such a nice evening, it wasn't hot but then it wasn't cold out either. And of course, I forgot my camera.

Later this evening we are heading over to Jessica's birthday party. My niece was really born on the 4th of July but they are celebrating it today. It should be a fun time.

The Traveling Wilburys

Day 244

I am nearly finished with Tom Petty's Conversations book and I just finished reading the chapter devoted to the Traveling Wilburys. For those that don't know, the Traveling Wilburys consisted of Tom Petty, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison.

I discovered them through my parents and I am not sure how they discovered them. But we listened to their first album over and over again and we just loved them. They became a staple on road trips. Whenever my mom and I went traveling we always took the Wilbury's with us. Sadly, Roy Orbison passed away and we all thought that the Wilbury's were no more.

My mom and I were planning a road trip out to Colorado to visit the Case Clan and we stopped by Hastings to look at some music. And then I made a startling discovery! The Traveling Wilburys had made another album (Volume 3) and we quickly bought the cassette and we listened to it all the way to Greeley.

There was one song that both my mom really got a kick out of. It just had the silliest lyrics and was perfect for Petty and Dylan's voices. We laughed and laughed at the song and I still snicker a bit when I hear it. But I don't think the song is that silly anymore. It evokes some great road trips my mom and I were lucky enough to take.

You Took My Breath Away

You took my breath away

I want it back again

Look at the mess I'm in

I don't know what to say

I don't know how to feel

You don't care anyway

All I can do is wait

You took my breath away

You took this song of mine

And changed the middle bit

It used to sound alright

But now the words don't fit
It's getting hard to rhyme

Impossible to play

I've tried it many times

You took my breath away

One day when the sun is shining

There will be that silver lining

You knocked my headlights out (this was our favorite line)

So turn them on again

I can't see where I'm going

I can't tell where I've been

I don't know how to feel

This hasn't been my day

Seems like I've lost a wheel

You took my breath away

You took my breath away

You took my breath away

You took my breath away

I just love that line. I don't think anything else would have fit.

Greek Food Fest

Day 243

Yesterday we went over to my dad's house to celebrate my birthday and I forgot my camera. I hate it when I forget my camera.

It was a nice evening. We had Lemon Greek Chicken, Greek Potato Salad (it had red peppers and kalamata olives in it), baked beans from a crock pot, corn on the cob, pistachio salad and a boatload of olives and marinated cucumbers. And on top of that we had a German Chocolate Cake and an Oreo Cake. You have to trust me, the food was fantastic as always. I wish I had a picture of it.

While the food was good, the cards were openly mocking me for my birthday. We play a game called "Old Bob" and I was getting my trash kicked. I thought that my family was supposed to let me win? The cards were the only bad thing about the evening, that is until we got home.

I once got spoiled by my family. I got a Borders gift card (which I am spending this very second in another tab) and a Little Mermaid charm. Yeah, you heard me. My sister got me a Little Mermaid charm from when they went to Disneyland.

It is really, really tiny. When I get my baby girl, I'll make a necklace for her.

I also got a gift certificate to Famous Footwear from my dad and family. That was really needed since I rarely buy shoes. I am in terrible need of a nice pair of sandals and I might see what other shoes I can fit in. I am quite excited to do some shoe shopping. I cannot believe that I just said that.

When we got home, Kristy left to go do her water aerobics and Logan was complaining that he didn't feel good. I personally thought it was because it was past his bedtime and with all the running around and drinking four juiceboxes. He said he had to barf and I thought that was just an attention ruse.

Boy was I wrong. It was like something out of the Exorcist. And it wasn't just the barf.

By the fourth go around, Logan was dry heaving so badly. It was like a train wreck, I couldn't stop watching. Part of me was horrified and disgusted and part of me was strangely curious watching Logan wretch and contort his body like that as he dry heaved.

Poor kid. He is fine now and fell asleep after the last puke. Normally, I cannot handle barf. If he had pooped all over the place, I could handle that. But the sight and smell of barf really makes me gag. But I handled it like a man. I just turned my head when he started to heave and thought of the Little Mermaid.

Okay that last part was a lie. I wasn't thinking of Ariel, I just wanted to tie everything together.