ACL

Saturday Nathan and I went to ACL - Austin City Limits Music Festival. It was the first time I'd gone, and really enjoyed it. Luckily the weather wasn't bad - just a little hot, but it was overcast and had a nice breeze, so definitely manageable. We got there around 1:30. ACL is set up so several stages are playing at once. We first checked out I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, cause, really, that name just cracks me up. But, they didn't really do it for us, so we mosied on over to Phoenix, which is a French band. Normally, I think the French are a bunch of pussies, but this band was pretty good. I got their CD, and it's decent. We also saw a jazz band called Galactic which was really entertaining. After that we tried watching Nada Surf (band from the 90's - remember Popular?) but after a few songs we were bored so we wandered around. Ended up gravitating toward a band called Ghostland Observatory (http://myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory) which I'd never heard of. Turns out they're local. I picked up one of their CDs and really like it. It's like electronic/funk/alternative. I thought the singer was a female - tight pink shirt, long hair in two braids, and we were far away....but turns out it's a guy. Heh. I'll try to catch them next time they're playing in town. Their myspace page has a few of their songs. After that was The Shins, which Nathan really wanted to see. They're not particularly my favs. The music just doesn't pull me in. Then watched The Raconteurs (which has Jack White from the White Stripes). They were awesome! Incredibly good performers. I would def recommend their live show. Very energetic. (oh my god...check out their site http://www.theraconteurs.com/ It's like an old computer from the 80s where you have to type the command! That is so cute!) We left before Willie Nelson came on - just didn't want to deal with the crowds. Got back to Nathan's around 8:45. Tony had made us dinner - leek & chicken soup which was amazing, homemade cheesy bread, AND HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS for dessert. I've never had homemade cinnamon rolls before. I'm usually all about Pillsbury. But, holy cow were they good! I asked Tony to marry me if he'd cook for me everynight, but alas, was turned down. Too bad I don't live closer, I'd be coming over more for homecookin'!

Sunday I woke up late and went to a last minute b-day party for Annette (one of the people I'm going to Italy with). When I got there she, Matt, and Mike (her husband) were getting ready to put up a new fan in their living room. I'd put up a few in my house, so I gave some pointers while the men worked and the women watched. :P After that we went to dinner at Dominicks - a local Italian eatery where the owners are immigrants from Naples. I was able to practice my Italian a little. I'm actually kinda intimidated now about trying to speak in Italy. I'm really rusty, and my listening skills have never been good. They just talk so fast! I'm sure I'll muddle through. After that we watched 40-yr old Virgin, which none of us had seen yet. Funny! Very enjoyable.

Monday Melanie came over after work and we finshed Lost. That's right!!!! We are finally done!!! All I can say is What. The. Hell.??? Very strange finale. It starts Oct 3, and hopefully my DVR won't crap out on me while I'm in Italy. I'll probably watch the premiere and then tape all the rest to watch over the summer. Lost is too annoying to only see once a week. They keep bringing people back they showed for 2 minutes 7 episodes ago. If you don't watch them all close together, I think you'd miss a lot of that. This show really makes me wonder how much of the arcs are planned out ahead of time and how much the writers are just pulling things out of their asses, trying to make everything connect.