Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Bash!

Last Sunday Jamie, Amy, Yee Ning, Aftin and I rocked out with thousands of teeny boppers at KISS 106.1's Jingle Bell Bash.

Thanks to some very hospitable folks who I work with, we were given "Artist All Access" passes that let us wander about the Tacoma Dome like the rockstars we truly are. These passes guaranteed us entry backstage, side stage, to the dressing rooms, VIP area and the broadcast room.

Needless to say, we meandered backstage every chance we had, even saying hi to the Pussycat Dolls while passing them in the hall and checking out the food Jojo grabbed in the dinner line. (The best part of the "Artist All Access" passes was being able to pee backstage rather than wait in line with all the "normal" folks!) ;)

Enjoy the pics from our row 10 seats as well as the video of some of the great performances we saw.

Included in the REAL rocker line-up were Natasha Bedingfield, Jojo, Nelly Furtado, Danity Kane, Pussycat Dolls, and Fall Out Boy.

(In the middle of her set Natasha broke out into Bob Marley's One Love. The five of us started skanking and singing along so loudly that our voices rang out with Natasha's while the entire teeny bopper crowd around us stood silent in consternation, trying to identify the "oldie" that Natasha was belting out.)

A big fan of Saturday afternoon Making the Band marathons, I was most excited to see Danity Kane's performance. I felt like I've seen them grow and thrive, but when they stepped on stage in their too-tiny outfits and their cheap, trashy hair-extensions, I thought "Ugh, what whores!"

Nelly Furtado was definitely more underground and indie than I had anticipated. She had back-up dancers who danced like horny little elves. Very modern. Reminds me of my days dancing as an electron.

The Pussycat Dolls were by far the hottest and most talented group we saw. Actually, Nicole stole the show. Their performance really should have been titled "The Nicole Show." The other Pussycat Dolls were just really good dancers.

In between performances, I spotted a teeny bopper wearing a black T-shirt with the word "FOB" on the back. I couldn't figure out if the little girl was Asian and proud, or if she was racist and mean. Throughout the night, I continued to notice the blatent misuse of the semi-derogatory acronym. FOB was everywhere -- on T-shirts, on hats, on the jumbotron, on clothing, even tattooed on faces.

"What a weird place, this Tacoma," I thought to myself, as I shook my head in disbelief.

I wondered aloud why people were so proud (or mean) when Aftin told me that FOB stood for Fall Out Boy, NOT Fresh Off the Boat. DOH!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1568490761

Spontaneous Apple Cup Road Trip to Pullman!

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Our road trip to Apple Cup started in the same way as all our spontaneous adventures -- with good friends and one craaaaaaaazzzzzy idea!

Like all crazy ideas -- (e.g. Greenlake in January) -- this one was alcohol-induced and fueled by plenty of smack-talking. It all started Friday night at Kona Kitchen (surprise, surprise), where a bunch of us gathered for drinks with out-of-towners Aaron and Deven. Initially, our mundane and safe Saturday plan was to watch the Apple Cup at a sports bar in Seattle. However, after several Mac & Jack pitchers and Washington Apple (Cup) shots, our plan morphed into a spontaneous road trip to Pullman, five hours away.

As our road trip excitement grew, the smack-talk heightened. Several key players guaranteed that they were in it for the long-haul. The boys, (of course), pushed in their chips and proclaimed "ALL IN!" while Amy and Yee Ning -- the token party girls -- were right behind them. In very Jerry MacGuire-esque form, the five of them turned to the rest of us with hopeful "WHO'S COMING WITH ME" eyes.

Court, Naomi and I paused slightly, stealing confused glances at each other, trying to determine if they were really serious, or if this was just another "talk the talk, walk the walk" challenge.

When the roadtrip idea started to materialize into a real plan, we frazzled few still on the fence got skittish and started spitting out conditional clauses:

Naomi: "I'll go if Court goes."
Court: "I'll go if Liz goes."
Naomi (whispering to me, in a last-ditch effort to form an alliance): "You're not going to go, are you?"
Liz (whispering back): "I don't think I have a choice!! Amy and Yee Ning are sleeping over!"

Finally, as our Friday night wound down, the realness of the road trip settled in and we all prepared for an early morning start. We made plans to be on the road by 8 a.m.

And here's where the picture story begins, at 8 a.m. on an Apple Cup Saturday. Enjoy the 46 shots of our 18-hour journey across I-90, through a streak of "nothing," down to Pullman, and into Cougar territory.
[Our "Before" picture, taken at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, after we loaded our sporty Buick Rendezvous with clothes, snacks and water. We six were in it for the long haul.]

[Can't go to the Apple Cup without a Husky foam hat! This puppy led the way.]

THE GORGE

Despite some of Amy's questionable facts (like the purpose of the pole on the boat), she never disappoints when it comes to unveiling simply GORGEous Washington scenery.

TAILGATING

Before parking at WSU, we stocked up on beer and brown bags for the tailgating portion of our road trip. We layered up and cracked open the alcohol to keep us warm. The weather outside was mighty cold at 37 degrees Farenheit.

With not much else to do in the parking lot but drink, we huddled in a circle and played drinking games. We started with the name game, then moved on to Categories. After a few hysterical, yet halted rounds of Categories, we decided to move on to something faster: Rhyme. The Rhyme game starts when one person says a word that starts the rhyme chain. Everyone else has to say a different word that rhymes with the first but doesn't repeat any previous words. Yee Ning threw out the first word.

Yee Ning: "Boat"

Amy: "Moat"

Matt: "Uhhh....Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay?"

All: "Huh?"

Apparently, Matt never got the memo that we were playing Rhyme (he heard "Wine") and thought we were still playing Categories. He thought "moat" was "Moet."

(IF this story's not funny to you, then you just had to be there. A story like this one is why I packed extra panties.)

Buzzed, happy and ready to see the Huskies kick some Cougar ass, we started to make our way to the stadium. As we meandered about the parking lot, we realized that there was no road or stairs down from where we parked. We asked a friendly Coug how to get down.

GAME TIME

"Just hold the fence," he said.

"Whaaaat?" we replied, quizzically and suspiciously, wondering if he was trying to dupe us.

"You've gotta hold the fence down the hill" he said, pointing toward a mud-sodden trail next to a flimsy wire fence.

FUUUUUCKKK, I thought, as I held a full Bud Light and realized I'd have to throw it away so I could cling to the fence.

Step-by-step we descended down that damn hill, passing a woman in the brush who wandered to a trail less traveled so she could pee in privacy.

[Holding on for dear life as we skidded down through the mud to get to the game. (But look how happy we were!!) This was another pee-in-the-pants moment for me. FREAKING fantastic.]

THE DRIVE HOME

There are no pics or stories from the drive home, because as you can imagine, after a 4.5 "mile" trip to Pullman, three hours of tailgating and a 4-hour game, we were exhausted. The ride home was pitch black and pretty quiet.

Huge chocolate KUDOS to Deven, Matt and Aaron for driving us to Pullmn and back. It was an insane drive for them, but the trip in its entirety was well worth the journey.

THE END

Eighteen hours and nearly 600 miles later, the six of us made it home safe, sound and happily exhausted. No maimed roadkill, very few bug splats on the windshield, no injuries or carsick follies, no food poisoning or pants-peeing. (Thank goodness.)

This trip just proves that spontaneity pays off when in excellent company. I haven't had so much genuine fun with these old friends in a long time. Definitely looking forward to the next whimsical trip. :)

Halloween and the Red Feather Boa

The morning after any social event is crucial when evaluating the level of fun and sobriety from the night before. My standard "morning after" protocol is as follows:

After waking up -- preferably hangover-free -- I immediately start gathering evidence. I hit up the usual suspects.

1) My trusty cell phone: It's the quickest way to figure out if I drunk-dialed or texted someone. If I'm lucky, my Call Log will read "Empty" and the text messages that I inevitably sent -- (I'm an addict) -- are G-rated and friendly.

2) My camera: If a picture tells a thousand words, a 256 MB memory card tells millions. I like how a sequence of photos truly reflects the progression of intoxication throughout the night.

Check out the following sequence of SHOTS (there's a double meaning, here), and see for yourself our level of fun and sobriety.

Here starts the story of the red feather boa. Much like the Red Violin (that film that leads viewers through the life of a single violin -- can't really remember the plot because I was bored and fell asleep), this picture sequence will lead you through the drunk half of my night.

The red feather boa made its debut around the neck of Superstar Spanish Eyes Angela, with Superstar Olivia and the Kokxx Cable guy.

The red feather boa found a green feathered friend to hang with.

Jenn pummelled the red feather boa and separated it from its green feather friend.

I finally got the red feather boa all to myself, and like the Mask did to Jim Carrey, the red feather boa did to me. It transformed into a whole new person.

..and finally ends, with me sporting the red feather boa on my head like the red comb of a rooster, and crowing out my "mating call" to anyone who'd listen.

Sidekick 3 LE Event in LA

Work took me to Los Angeles last week. This trip (like most of my trips) started out with pics of my hotel room.

BEVERLY HILTON

MELROSE

My Angeleno brother David picked me up Thursday afternoon to shop for a shirt for him to wear to Mr. Chow's. We spent the day walking up and down Melrose Ave.

We shared chocolates from Jin Patisserie on our way to Melrose Ave, where my heels took a beating from walking up and down a 10 block-range.

SIDEKICK 3 LE Event at Mr. Chow's

[Posing in the LRG section.]

Debbie Harry of Blondie performed. (Blondie became popular at the same time that Diane von Fursterburg did, circa the 1970's.) During the show, I called my mom and dad, who immediately recognized Debbie Harry's music. (I was clueless.)

AREA

After the SK3 LE event, we went to Area nightclub, where we saw Jamie Foxx, Dennis Rodman, Pamela Anderson and a stumbling Paris Hilton. LC and the Hills crew were also there, filming at the table next to ours.

Check out video from Area at the link below. (Don't blink, or you'll miss David and me!)

http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=1&pmmsid=1739979

(Look who's in the background! That's me sporting an ultra-cool hairband on my wrist. I always wear a hairband no matter where I am. It's a tell-tale sign of a non-fashionista.)