Best of 2010

So, I know I probably should have written this post during the last week of December, but I have been busy. Sue me.

Movies
Hubby and I are big movie fans. Our normal routine seems to be to watch the new discs that arrived from Netflix each week over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Of course, we may have other things to do those evenings, but we do seem to watch a ton of movies. Provided I have not seen every movie that came out in 2010, here are a few of my favorites:
Inception-Unique, thought provoking, and full of action
Toy Story 3-Made me long to play with my Barbies and remember the beauty of childhood
Easy A-Smart, funny, made me want Patricia Clarkson & Stanley Tucci for my parents
Black Swan-Beautiful, fragile, absolutely insane

TV
We do watch TV, and really like our DVR. I have to say though, there are not many new shows that debuted in 2010 that have made me a loyal viewer. We have watched No Ordinary Family and Raising Hope, but I have to say I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if they were gone. I am much more impressed by the shows that are still going strong in their second seasons:
Modern Family-this crazy family makes me laugh every week
The Good Wife-passion, drama, and law with the amazing Julianna Margulies
The Vampire Diaries-tense, sexy, always twisting plot of vampire goodness
Being Human-what's not to love about about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost living together as roommates?

One exception - FX's Archer. This cartoon about an inept spy agency is definitely for adults. It make us laugh out loud every episode with its outrageousness. Look for Season 2 to start January 27.

Concerts
Hubby is definitely a classic rock guy, and I guess I enjoy a strange mash up of music that is not necessarily current, but not really classic either. We did see some kick butt shows this year:
Steve Winwood-we had never seem a harpsichord in action
Eric Clapton with Roger Daltrey-Hubby says Slow Hand was the best concert he'd ever seen
Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon-Double trouble from the 80's under the stars at Koka Booth Amphitheater
Joe Bonamassa-The best young Blues guitarist around - it was our 3rd time seeing him
Mollybond-our neighbor and her 6 bandmates making amazing music. Each woman writes and performs lead vocals on their own songs
Daniel Tosh-the handsome comedian has great sense of humor. Check out Tosh.0 on Comedy Central starting January 11.

Vacations
The Netherlands and Belgium-the best vacation we have taken to date. The beer was intense!
Asheville-our first trip with the dogs. It didn't go as expected, but we will try again.
Wilmington, NC-our first real visit to this great seaside city that hosts NC's only Iron distance triathlon
Charleston/Kiawah Island-One can never be tired of Charleston. We have been over and over and I will always want to go back. This trip included a new destination - Kiawah Island.

Races
This year was full of races for us. We each completed our first international distance triathlon (1500m swim, 45K bike, 10k run) in White Lake, NC, with our group of tri friends. Hubby went on to complete his first Half Iron distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) race in Wilmington, while I finished an additional 6 triathlons at the sprint distance. We both completed the Kiawah Island half marathon as well.

What a great year 2010 was!! What was your best of 2010?

Daniel Tosh Live!

This past Saturday night, hubby and I went to see the comedian Daniel Tosh perform live. We have been fans of his ever since we started watching his show Tosh.0 on Comedy Central. We also rented a DVD of a stand up concert called Completely Serious that he did. I just think he has a wonderful sense of humor. He is so quick, and he can point out things that are really funny in everyday life. I thoroughly enjoyed his show Saturday night. I had tears in the corner of my eyes for the entire show.

I think the thing that impresses me most is that he seems to have no limits. He is frequently nude (with the appropriate areas blurred-darn it!) on his show. He has no problems dressing like a woman or a fairy, or pretty much anything else. He is also very good at everything. Viewers will send in challenges for him to do, and he always succeeds in fulfilling the challenge-running faster, jumping over more folding chairs, bicycle stunts - you name it. He seems to have so much confidence-something I lack. Of course, that being said, he could be a total manic depressive nut case who can only pull his sh*t together when on stage. Somehow, I doubt that is true.

On top of all of that praise, he is really good looking. I think I need to add him to my list. Yep, Jason Statham and Daniel Tosh. A strange combo, but it works for me.

Check out the new season of Tosh.0 in January and look for his new concert DVD, Happy Thoughts.

Baba O'Reilly Meets Slowhand

On Monday night, hubby and I had the great joy of being able to see two legends in concert - Roger Daltrey and Eric Clapton. Hubby says it was the best show he has ever seem, and I have to agree it is definitely near the top of my list, too.

The show took place at the RBC Center - home of the Carolina Hurricanes and NC State Wolfpack. The stage took up a good portion of the oval shape floor. We had great seats - row N on stage right about 3 sections from the stage. Those seats were worth every penny.

The show started promptly at 7:30pm (gotta love the more seasoned musicians - no need to stroke the ego by having the crowd wait). Roger Daltrey and his band (which includes Pete Townsend's brother, Simon) started the crowd rocking with a favorite from The Who "I Can See for Miles." Hubby and I were lucky to see Daltrey in another venue in October. His set list was a condensed version of that show, and just as fantastic as it was. He did several Who songs as well as a few bluesy covers and his own music. It was an absolute treat to be able to see him again. My hubby is a huge fan, and to see Daltrey twice in 5 months was just great. He finished with Baba O'Reilly, which is now on my short list for greatest song ever written, and the whole arena was on its feet. I have never seen an opening act receive a standing ovation, but it was no ordinary opening act.

Clapton took the stage about 20 minutes later. Again, no making the crowd wait. He said very little to the audience over the course of the show, but his guitar sure did speak. He is probably the most amazing guitar player I have ever had the pleasure of seeing and hearing. It was wonderful just to watch his hands. His voice sounded great - just like the new Cream of Clapton CD I purchased. His set focused mostly on the blues side of his music. I never realized just how much the blues influenced Eric Clapton. I know the blues brought about the birth of rock and roll, but I had always associated Clapton more with rock. I was glad to be introduced to these other songs. He did play some favorites - I Shot the Sheriff, Layla, Wonderful Tonight, and Cocaine. He closed after a single encore song - Crossroads.

It was just a fantastic show. I cannot say enough about how wonderful it was. I feel truly lucky to have been able to see these two legends in concert. The talent, both from years of experience and natural born, was great to see. Even over 60 years of age, these two men can put on one heck of a show. The younger guys should take note.

Photos courtesy of John Rottet, newsobserver.com

Up next - George Thorogood and The Destroyers

So Much to Say

Sorry I have been gone for so long! There is no real excuse - life just got busy on me. Well, there are many things to update now.

1. Still undecided about book club - I did not go to the first meeting of the year. It was the same night as a beer tasting at The Flying Saucer, so I went with Bill to that event. We drank yummy pumpkin ales (Cottonwood Pumpkin) and Oktoberfests (Old Dominion rocks). To me, it was much better than a book club meeting. I was all set to quit the book club for these monthly beer tastings when they announced that the tastings would move to Thursdays starting in October. I have no excuses now. I still want to quit, but the conflict was so easy. Now, I am uncertain again.

2. Junior League is going full swing. I am actually liking what I am doing this year. It has been fun so far, and I have had a chance to get to know the women in my committee better. I am having issues with my Extra Hands assignment, but we will see how it goes in the next few weeks.

3. I am still running. We went to a happy hour last Thursday for the Galloway group. It was fun to see people in regular clothes, and I enjoyed talking to our friends Lesley and George. On Saturday, I had the longest run of my life - 23 miles. I felt great for the first 14 or so miles, but then the hills and the sun really started to affect my energy. There were 3 of us still running at 18 miles. I told the other women that I was ready to lie down on the trail and be still for about an hour. I was glad to know everyone felt that way, too. Somehow the camaraderie made it easier to keep running. I will say that I was very excited to see the lake which signaled the end of my run. Had you told me to go another 3.2 miles to finish marathon distance, I am not sure I could have done it. I will have to do it in less than 2 weeks. It will be an adventure. Finally today, my legs are feeling back to normal.

4. Hockey season opened in Carolina on Friday night. I was able to go to the first game with my friends Heather and her friend Tammy. Tammy was able to get us a 3 ticket package that included the opening game. The arena has a cool new Jumbotron in the center with many screens. We have several new players as well. Still, the crowd, the Jumbotron, and the new meat were not enough to get the win. The Canes lost to the Flyers 2-0. As of today, they have yet to win a game and have an 0-2 start. I hope it changes tonight against Tampa Bay.

5. I saw what was quite possibly the best concert of my life - U2 at Carter Finley (NC State) Stadium with Muse as the opening act. I have never seen a production like the U2 stage. It looks like a claw with four talons over a round stage with an additional outer ring. There were bridges that allow the guys to move over the crowd to the outer ring. There was a huge screen over the stage that showed the concert and expanded for an extra light show. The music was amazing (I am a new fan of Muse). U2 played all of there hits with one notable exception - Pride (In the Name of Love). It was really the one song I wanted to hear the most, and I was disappointed. I did get to hear Beautiful Day, The City of Blinding Lights, Magnificent, Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found what I am Looking For, With or Without You, and many, many more. If U2 comes near you, I would highly recommend you see the show.

6. My company has hooked me up with an executive coach to help me with my interpersonal issues. I met with her last week for an initial introduction. It should be interesting to see where we go from here.

Well, I think I covered all the news pretty well. I will try to be better about keeping up my blog. I should have more to post soon.