Coldplay Concert - Shoreline Amphitheater

On Monday, I went to see Coldplay for the first time in concert. My son Danny has been a fan for a while, and we surprised him by purchasing tickets for the show earlier this year and not telling him until a few weeks ago. Since his brother Robbie is away at camp this week, it was a great opportunity for a little outing with just Carrie, Danny and me.

Since we never know how traffic is going to be heading into the Silicon Valley, we left a little early and planned to grab some dinner on the way to Shoreline Amphitheater. We looked for a little place to stop close by, and when the mexican joint Carrie found on her iPhone wasn't deemed "worthy" I headed us over the La Costena, my all-time favorite burrito joint. We introduced Danny to this hole-in-the-wall treasure and headed over to the parking lot with our food/treasure in tow. The night was made already as I enjoyed my pollo borracho burrito in the car before heading into the show!

After getting through the security at the gate, Danny picked out a Coldplay t-shirt and poster to commemorate the day. While walking to our seats, we found the Sony PS3 booth with a SingStar competition. Danny waited his turn and eventually worked his way through a song - think it was Fix You, but I'm not sure. Fun to watch, even though he didn't take home a prize.

Even with the karaoke sidebar, we got to our seats before the designated 7 pm start time so we had time to kill. And when the time did arrive, we ended up wading through 2 warm-up acts before Coldplay hit the stage at 9 pm. The acts were good, but not Danny's cup-of-tea, so he had a difficult time wading through them both before the big boys hit the stage.

Coldplay started at nearly 9 sharp, and they put on a great show. For nearly two-hours we all stood, cheered and had a rowdy time with a packed house singing along to every song. The stage production was fantastic, with the now-requisite big screens, laser show, creative props, and downright stellar musical execution.

The band worked it's way through most of Viva la Vida, and a number of other older pieces that mixed in well. Twice during the show the band worked it's way to makeshift mini-stages amongst the fans. The first was stage-left in the reserved section (I think it was 201) and the second was stage right up on the lawn. It really brought the crowd into the show, and provided me with different vantage points for my videos. During their mini-set on the lawn, the did a fun rendition of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean that was very well received.

For two hours we rocked on with the band and we were rewarded, along with everone else in attendance, with free copies of the concert CD Left Right Left Right Left. Danny's comment on the way out (and in the car, and at home afterwards...) summed up the night pretty well - "that was the best concert EVER!" And while it wasn't the best concert I've ever seen, it certainly ranks right up there.

Video: I took along my little FLIP MinoHD to see how well it would do at capturing concert footage. The results are actually pretty good. Two of the best are included below and the rest are available on our YouTube site. Enjoy.

Cheers! - Jason

From Coldplay Puppets on tour

Playing Tourist in the SF/Bay Area

My brother and his family are in town so yesterday we got the whole gang together to play tourist in our own backyard. It was a good chance to do the things we never get to because we live here.

We started by walking the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful day on the bay, sunny, warm, with the typically gusty winds that we've come to love. The trek took the 10 of us about an hour and a half, much of it dodging other pedestrians and the whizzing bikes and Cushman carts. I've included a few photos here, but you can see more on the MMOB Shutterfly site.

After the walk, we dropped in on the Dixie Cafe for a great lunch. Mom and Dad treated us all to lunch and it was a good one. If you want a good sized meal at a reasonable price in Mill Valley, check this place out!

The last stop on our excursion was the newly upgraded Marine Mammal Center at the headlands. It's a great new facility but it's the marine life that will steal your heart! I think we spent over an hour watching the young sea lions, harbor seals and elephant seals as the played, brayed and slept in there pens. It was fascinating watching all the volunteers corral the various pups of all sizes to they could be hustled off, weighed, checked and moved around. Live watching an ant hill or bee hive at work. You can see a little more from our visit on the MMOB Shutterfly site as well.

Harbor seal yearlings recuperating at the Marine Mammal Center

It was great to get the kids together with their cousins for a great outing. And while it was fun to get out, it's amazing how exhausted you can get just hanging locally.

Cheers! - Jason

The elephant seal statue at the Marine Mammal Center

Pixar Animation Studios Tour

On Tuesday, my sons and I had the unique opportunity to tour the Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. Here's a great big MMOB CHEERS! to Shauna for getting us the tickets.

We spent about an hour and half with our tour guide checking out all the Pixar movie related statues, creations and art of all forms in their one-of-a-kind offices and getting the scoop on the stories behind the scenes. Let's just say my son Danny was bouncing off the walls because of the chance to see all the stuff and display his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Pixar.

I was able to take photos around the building and captured a lot of the art on display on the first floor. You can check it all out on my new Minding My Own Beeswax photo site on Shutterfly. Unfortunately, I was allowed to take shots of the unique art on the second floor, which consisted of concept drawings, maquettes, wall paintings, signage, storyboards, you name it...

Here's a couple of fun shots to whet your appetite!

A couple of cars from Cars

The real Mr. Incredible with his namesake

The Pixar cafeteria - I could eat there every day!

Arts & Crafts style for the mailroom. Nice touch!

The boys playing pool under an Up wall painting.

Cheers! - Jason

Doing Stuff - Day at the Rosicrucian Museum

Thursday, I had the chance to finally visit the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium in San Jose, California. Since I never made the time to go there when Carrie and I lived in Santa Clara or San Jose, I was thrilled when I learned that my boys would be taking a field trip to visit the venue along with The Tech Museum of Innovation. Since I covered The Tech in an earlier posting on Leonardo da Vinci I thought that I would post my pictures from the Egyptian Museum. I would have taken more, including some of the unique recreation of a burial chamber, but my iPhone ran out of power part way through the tour.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the shots included here.

A cat mummy!

These next three are from a recreation of the Rosetta stone

These last two are from the Mesopotamian section

Cheers! - Jason