The Buzzcocks rockin' Club Nokia

The Dollyrots

I enjoyed the Dollyrots, but I am not sure you can trust my opinion when a band has a charismatic, funny blonde lead singer. The bands overall skill was middle of the road, I really liked that they ended with Joan Jett’s “My Bad Reputation”.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars // Grade = C

The Buzzcocks

I had heard of the Buzzcocks in casual conversation about punk rock theory, but really wasn’t very familiar with them.  How did I get in a concert to a band I had never really heard of?  Well, I won tickets again!  Actually XX and I both wow tickets.  There was twitter contest from the blog grimygoods.com.  It said to write a reason why you should get tickets to the Buzzcocks so XX and I put out thinking caps on an came up with this gem.

I drank some coffee today and when I went to tinkle, I zipped my knob in pants! Ouch! I would send you a picture, but I really wasn’t thinking about it at the time! My GF was a bit concerned, but I assured her that my cash and prizes are OK.

I feel like winning these tickets would not only make me and my wounded member feel better, but it would also be a great celebration for graduating the same weekend of the show! (I graduate college 6/4!)

Oh. I also have a big mouth on twitter and will blog about the show.

XX and I both won tickets which meant we had 4 tickets total, we tried to find people we thought might enjoy an old school punk show to avail.  So we rolled to the concert and ended up giving the other 2 tickets to a young couple outside the show.

I have to say for coming in a big punk fan but essentially a Buzzcock virgin,  I was impressed!  I felt a little special to see this reunion show which did start a little late with the Buzzcocks starting at about 11:20 or so.  They played almost non-stop for an hour and half without much talking at all, which didn’t matter since it was hard to understand old buzzed british dudes.  Overall I enjoyed the show and was glad I got to rock out with them.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars // Grade = B

Club Nokia

I have talked about Club Nokia before.  Club Nokia is always a little bit of  a stiff venue but they make sure everyone has a good time and really that is what counts.

The Cranberries

Blue October

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars // Grade = B

Get Your Addyson the Awesometown Gnome Shirt

We Won!

Olenka’s name was pulled for the Magic Mountain xtreme passes. Wasn’t what we wanted to win but it is way better then come away empty handed.  We will have fun with these, I hope they work at the waterpark too because I have never been to a waterpark.  Weird I know. Thanks Newhall Land, You guys are AWESOME.

Addyson Merch

Just incase anyone doubts Addyson’s star power.  You can now pick up an official Addyson the Awesometown Gnome here or follow his twitter feed.

Follow on Twitter @the_cranberries

It Pays to Be On Twitter

This could be the biggest score from twitter yet!  Early this week I saw a tweet that said Win tickets to The Cranberries with a link which sent me over to Lucinda Michele blog at MetBlogs.  After enter my readers digest version of my break up with Becky, she emailed me a couple days later saying, “Boy, that is rough. You win! Need your name to give to will-call for your pair of tix.  Send that on over.  :)”  Which was Awesome, who can say they have won anything for getting messed over in a relationship?  LOL  Thanks Lucinda, your a doll!

Ice Skating in LA OUTSIDE?

I was very surprised to see an outdoor skating rink in the middle of LA Live.  Really cool!

Club Nokia

As a venue, Club Nokia is one of my favorite venues in LA.  Last time I was here was back in March to see Blue October, that time I guess I had purchased VIP tickets which was awesome!  Club Nokia has an upstairs Lounge, which would have been amazing last night!  I was in General Admission which I am never a big fan off mainly because I always seem to be around people that are high on paint or something.  Last night was no different, with a rather large girl continually touching me for some reason, I am pretty sure blitzed off her ass.  Her group was pretty rowdy, I was impressed with the way the security handled them.

Griffin House

Griffin House was possibly one of my favorite opening acts I have seen to date, maybe only losing out to Eagles of Death Metal.  Amazing considering he is just one guy with an acoustic guitar.  This was about as close as I can come to country, although his themes were not country like at all!  I loved that he did Folsom Prison Blues Cover!
Griffin House  - Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars // Grade = A

The Cranberries

I have always liked The Cranberries, but now I LOVE the Cranberries!  Dolores O’Riordan had such a connection with the crowd!  I loved her comments about her children being the most important thing to happen in her life, and the comments to the ladies about being beautiful just the way they are.  Very positive message which isn’t being sent from female musicians today!  Bravo!  All parts of their performance were amazingly captivating, even songs I had never heard before!  Probably the only negative I can say about this concert was I wasn’t a big fan of their shirt selection, I love to pick up a concert tee or hoodie because all the cash goes to the band, opposed to the $1.60-3.00 most bands make off the sale of a CD.
The Cranberries – Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars // Grade = A

The Trip

Anyone that knows me for any amount of time, knows that I am rarely in a hurry and typically procrastinate whenever possible.  This Saturday was no exception, I really should have left Friday night, but I was really tired and didn’t want to ward off the sandman while flying down the I5 freeway.

So Saturday I left about 12:30pm or so which should normally give me plenty of time to get down there.  I decided to fill up and get something to eat in town before taking off.  So I started to head over on the south side of town.  Things started to suck when I was trying to get over to merge and this guy was riding in my blind spot, which is pretty much stupidity on a stick but ok I am cool.  I put on my blinker and wait… NOTHING, OK… I begin to brakes, He brakes, I brake more, He Brakes More, I stop, HE STOPS! AHHHHHHHH.  Ok Deep breathe.  It is just one guy surely this can’t be national idiot day RIGHT?

Subway

So I get to Subway still shaking my head and not looking forward to this upcoming ride.  I get in there and it packed!  They have about 5 sandwiches and a line going pass the glass counter order area.  One of the employees calls over to me asking what I wanted…  she wanted me to yell my order over to here.  First I am not confident they can keep things straight… and I like see my sandwich being put together, I like to look at the stuff make sure it looks good.  So I tell here I will wait, so lady asks the guy behind me!  So then he thinks he can cut in front of me, which he did!  I think, “Whatever douche monkey…  go in front of me”.  So it gets better there is now a guy paying that is complaining, or confused, I wasn’t really sure and didn’t care!  All I cared about was getting my stuff and getting on the road.  So that fiasco ended!

Jamba Juice

Jamba Juice was just across the way and I was craving an Orange Berry Blitz!  Love those, Orange Juice, Pineapple Sorbe, Blueberries, Magic Fairey Dust.  There was a young emo looking girl that took my order.  I gave her my order and she said something really fast to me that ended with “it’s cheaper”  so I said “OK”.  I waited for my order and to my surprise the guy handed me 2 power jamba juices!  I said, “Wait? Why do I have two?”, the girl said she gave me a buy one get one free for another drink Blueberry Blitz.  So here I am with 2 POWER [largest size] smoothies and a foot long sub!  I wolfed down 6 inches of my 5 dollar footlong and started to drive drinking my smoothie.

Intelligentsia

The 210 was pretty much shut down so that made my decision easy on what way to take plus the 5 is always a nicer drive once you past San Clemente.  I decided to stop at my favorite Coffee shop in the world Intelligentsia in Silver Lake maybe get a coffee and pick up some beans for my parents and I.  This was the highlight of trip down!  The Mocha I order was freakin’ awesome!  Picked up 2 lbs of whole bean coffee, one for my parents and one for me!  Leaving here I was in a great mood!

Traffic

Then the traffic hit!  Total unreasonable gridlock from Irvine to the 78!  So frustrating!  I am still trying to forget that torture!  The 78 opened up a little bit, and I hauled ass!  78 ends in Escondido, I get to the stop light go straight right into a Soberity check at 5:45 in the afternoon!  I was like it never ends!  It was pretty much just a pain in the ass.  I got through pretty quick.

To The Game

I didn’t have much time to relax because we had to head down to the game so as possible if we wanted to make it before kick off.  Well as you can see by the rest of my day not much was going my way.  Once we got down there we spent about 1 hour trying to find parking and dealing witht he lack of organization on the part of the San Diego Chargers..  We ended up parking at the top of the hill with a very steep incline, which just about killed me going back up.  Remember Lauren running circles around me… this incline was 3x steeper and about 10 solid minute walk!

The Game

We finally got to our seat about the middle of the second quarter!  I had a blast with my dad.  Don’t get to do that very often.

After the Game and Sunday

Got to spend time with my brother on Saturday night.  He told me about the near S.I.D.S. incident that happened with my niece the previous week!  Scarey luckily she is ok!  Got breakfast with Nick and Melody, then drove around to some bird stores picked up a few toys for my parrotlet flock I have.  Had dinner with my parents and discovered my mother’s obsession with Mayo.. LOL [See Pictures]

Westin Bonaventure // Downtown LA

After weeks of trying to win a free night at the beautiful Westin Bonaventure in Downtown Los Angeles.  I finally won!  So Lauren and I decided to make a date night of it.  I thought I had it all planned out!  We would go to the MOCA [Museum of Contemporary Art], get some food at Café of Lost Souls, then get coffee at spring for coffee.  I was proud of myself because I actually planned, something I usually never do.  Funny thing is this reaffirmed why I never plan stuff like this!  Nothing went right!  From traffic to getting lost [my gps was acting up].  Long and short was we improvised.

It was unusually crowded because it was the Art Walk which happens every other thursday.  I wish I would have known that because then I could have read up on it and maybe enjoyed some of the art.  Instead it was “Disneyland-like crowded”  which kinda SUCKED!  We ended up going to an pizza place because we couldn’t find the Café we were looking for and then walked around for a while looking the Spring for Coffee which we never found!  Tired of the crowd and frustrated with walking blocks of crowded people getting no where.  We decided to head back to the Hotel Lobby Bar  Lauren was walking circles around me as we were walking up some inclines on our way back.  Once we got back it was like a breathe of fresh air!  Calm environment, fountains, and BEER

Out Window of Westin Bonaventure

Over all we had a good night.

Yelp Reviews

Westin Bonaventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Rocket Pizza Lounge Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

U.S. History is starting to really heat up.  I have been chipping away at 130 pages of material for the exam on Tuesday.  The Good news is it is one of my favorite times in U.S. history the Roaring 20′s up to WWII.  My roommate is out of town till tuesday, which is perfect so their is less distraction.  I will take my Strattera, A.D.H.D. Meds and just keep my nose in the book.

Downtown LA

Westin Bonadventure

Lauren and I have a fun date planned thursday in Downtown LA.  This last week, I won a free night at the Westin Bonadventure through what else?  Twitter!  So Lauren and I decided to make it a date!  We are going to try to go to MOCA [ Museum of Contemporary Art] and/or LACMA [ Los Angeles County Museum of Art].  Probably try Spring for Coffee and Dinner is still to be decided.

YELP Reviews

Origami Bistro & Bar // Valencia Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Black Angus // Lancaster Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Jack In The Box // Newhall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Submarina // Santa Clarita [Updated] Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Zumiez // Santa Clarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pita Pit // Santa Clarita Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Cammarano’s Bar And Grill // Santa Clarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Cammarano’s Bar and Grill Blog

It was nice to unwind after a rough day.  Dodger fans are quiet interesting.  We were next to the guy that had the world’s smallest bladder and family that I felt crossed the line as far as team spirit.  Lauren and I took it in stride though and had a good time.  We got some Dodger Dogs and Drinks.  I was a little disappointed that Manny Ramirez didn’t start the game, he did pinch hit and had the opportunity to tie the game up but hit a grounder and was thrown out at first.

Overall, We had a blast at the game! Hadn’t made it to a game in probably 6 years or so. Would like to go again maybe when the Cubs or Padres come to town.

Related Blogs:

Free Stuff from Twitter

Lauren’s Dodger Game Blog

They will play some songs til your ears bleed!

There are as many opinions today, about social media and it’s impact both positive and negative on our society.  Many people a year ago believed Twitter was a ridiculous fade, that would go the way of MC Hammer’s Parachute Pants.  Over the past 12 months twitter has shown it’s muscle, first by help Obama win the white house, and then becoming one of the only outlets for the Iranian People to speak out against the tyranny of the dictatorship they forced to live under!

The History of Twitter in Pictures

I have another reason Twitter is awesome… I keep winning stuff because I am on there! In the past couple months, I have won 3 times!  Twice from Star 98.7′s Twitter weekend, although they actually only let me win once! I got 2 Remastered Beastie Boys Cds.  I was a bit disappointed though because I was trying to win concert tickets… and both times I won, they gave me the CDs.  Not complaining though, I can’t look a gift horse in the mouth… Right?

Andrew Bird

Then Yesterday the Greek Theatre had a Retweet Contest for 5 people to win 2 tickets to see Andrew Bird in Concert that night.  I didn’t know who Andrew Bird was, but why wouldn’t I Retweet their message? I am glad I did because I won!  While I missed the first 2 opening acts, because I was getting food and trying a new coffee place.  Andrew Bird was a very enjoyable experience with his unique blend of Indie Rock, Jazz, Blues.

So the Moral of the story?  Free stuff awaits, just past the twitter door.

My Rating for Andrew Bird concert Experience – Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars