Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year's Eve! Seeing Cheech & Chong with the band War was really fun as expected. We were really impressed with War - super tight band & a great fusion of funk, soul, bluesy groove with some latin & reggae thrown in here & there. When I listened to some of their greatest hits albums on Spotify, I was surprised that I recognized/knew so much of their music besides their biggest 70s hits like Low Rider, Cisco Kid, Spill the Wine, & Why Can't We Be Friends - songs like Slippin' Into Darkness
http://youtu.be/-6te_t4n5NU , All Day Music, & The World is a Ghetto
http://youtu.be/oKKMdmPBWRk Since the show started promptly at 8 pm, it was over already by 10:30 which was great because we got back early enough to do a little bar hopping in our neighborhood before a bottle of champagne at midnight at our house.
New Year's Resolutions?
Hmmm....still thinking about that, but one fun idea that we came up with is that 2014 will be the "Year of the Dinner Party."
We got together with many old friends in 2013 (partly due to my college reunion and a handfull of graduation, retirement, and other party/events), and we all said how we have to "get together more often." Well, you know how that goes - we all are busy, and before you know it, a lot of time has gone by, and so on. So, our goal is to entertain a lot in our home (more than usual) and have at least one dinner party a month (maybe more). We already set one up for this month and early February & I'm excited! We often go out to eat with friends & family, which is nice, but I really enjoy entertaining in our own home (and going to other people's places as well, of course). The goal of all this is to stay in touch with friends in a fun way.
This will also be a Year of Prog for me as I plan to continue to revisit my prog rock roots of my youth and discover more contemporary prog rock/metal bands, and those older bands I missed. There is no doubt in my mind that the Progressive Nation ar Sea cruise will be an amazing journey toward that end.
I also want to learn all I can about Glacier National Park, Montana before we all go this summer. This is a place I've wanted to visit for many years. We've got three different historic lodges (3 nights each) in different parts of the Park (it's huge). We booked flights out there and decided to take the train home which will be a long (29 hours), but beautiful ride.
Oh...thought of a few more things....want to continue to watch some older (and some newer) classic movies I've never seen or not seen in a very long time. I'm using Sight & Sound's top 100 films as one of my guides....but there are other criteria, such as filmographies of favorite directors, actors & so on. High on my list starting off this new year are films by Akira Kurosawa...I've heard of him all my life (and we have tons of books on him & his films where I work), and yet oddly, I never saw any of his films. Similar story with me & Fellini - saw some of his movies for the first time in 2013 & really loved them.
Also want to see more live theater this year - saw more in 2013 than I had in awhile and really enjoyed all. Chicago is such a great theater town.
And last but not least....I want to start a blog where I plan to "ramble" on anything & everything -
I don't even care if anyone reads it. It will be semi-anonymous and simply be called
The Heavy Metal Librarian.