Last night, I dragged James to the Kelly Clarkson concert in San Jose. We had seats that basically gave us a side view of the stage. There weren’t many people in our section, so we moved up a few rows to get a better view of Kelly.
I’ve uploaded a short video that gives an idea of where we were sitting. Check it out below:
I went to a Kelly Clarkson concert a couple of years ago for the My December tour, and it was more of a low-key event than this one. This time, she had a bigger band, more lights, etc. She still dressed casually though, and she talked in between many songs (which I really enjoy). Her voice was beautiful, as usual.
Here’s what I remember of the setlist (covers are italicized):
All I Ever Wanted
Great opening song, seeing as how this is the All I Ever Wanted tour. Plus, it’s upbeat.
Miss Independent
I Do Not Hook Up
That I Would Be Good/Use Somebody
She did a mash-up of these songs by Alanis Morissette and Kings of Leon.
Breakaway
If I Can’t Have You
Never Again
Lies
A blues-y song by The Black Keys.
Walkin’ After Midnight
Slow country song by Patsy Cline.
Behind These Hazel Eyes
I Want You
A few months ago, this was my fave song on the All I Ever Wanted album.
Because Of You
It was cute how she said she wrote this when she was 16 and didn’t dream it would be on an album or that she’d get to sing it with Reba McIntyre.
Rock With You w/ Eric Hutchinson
Eric Hutchinson was one of the opening acts. They sang this MJ song together. Pretty cool!
Walk Away
Since U Been Gone
Sober
I was surprised she sang this, but she said fans wanted more songs from the My December album, so she chose her fave.
Already Gone
Seven Nation Army
The White Stripes song. I thought this was a weird choice, but interesting.
My Life Would Suck Without You
I was kinda disappointed that she didn’t sing “Cry”, my fave song on the All I Ever Wanted album. It’s such a good song! I don’t remember her singing covers in the My December concert. Ok, Wikipedia says that concert had 1 cover. This concert had 5!
Kelly’s voice is always awesome though, no matter what she sings… but I’d love to hear her sing “Cry” live! Based on Wikipedia, she did sing “Cry” during the All I Ever Wanted tour, but stopped a month ago.
I went to Fan Expo 2009 in Toronto two months ago, since I happened to be in town. The last time I went was in 2005, so it was exciting to go back again.
This convention marked my first time cosplaying! I didn’t make my costume, though; it was bought. I wore the Uhura red dress from the new Star Trek movie. People asked to take a photo of me a few times, so that was interesting.
I went with James and Jasmine. We totally went hardcore this year, attending tons of Q&A sessions.
Day 1
Our first Q&A session was for James Kyson Lee. Lee gave us some info about the new season of Heroes. I also learned that he didn’t speak Japanese before doing the show.
Walter Koenig‘s Q&A was really fun! He told some great stories involving his awesome impressions of Takei and Shatner.
We attended a “special presentation” of Disney’s Tron: Legacy. Unfortunately, we didn’t really see much that was new. They showed the teaser trailer that’s been online for a while, a few concept images, and a short real world scene.
Day 2
We got up early to line up for Leonard Nimoy‘s Q&A session. We saw Henry and got in line with him. Henry and his friend taught us how to play the Guillotine card game, which we played until they let us into the conference room. We were super excited when we got 6th row seats! Nimoy’s session was pretty good, but unfortunately not much was said about Star Trek, and nothing at all about his Trek co-stars. (I love hearing the anecdotal behind-the-scenes stuff, like in Koenig’s session.)
Linda Hamilton was so sweet and funny in her Q&A. She was just really cute and genuine.
Avery Brooks‘ Q&A was rather… strange. He kept saying vague statements that never really answered people’s questions. (Definitely no anecdotal stuff here!) Also, the guy who asked the first question was ridiculous. His question was insanely long and no one could hear it (except maybe Brooks and the people in the rows in front of him). The session ended with Brooks singing a spiritual song.
Bruce Campbell‘s Q&A was a riot to watch. He totally is that funny, cocky character he always plays. He had by far the hugest crowd and the best Q&A (imho!).
I also got Robert Duncan McNeill‘s autograph and a picture taken with him. We spoke to him briefly, and he was really nice. I told him that I love Chuck (which he executive produces), and I hope it stays on the air.
Robert Duncan McNeill and me
Day 3
Robert Duncan McNeill‘s Q&A session was great. He talked a bit about Voyager and Chuck. It was nice to hear that he and the other Voyager guys are still good friends. He also noticed a couple dressed up as Chuck and Sarah standing at the back of the room, which was cool since I’ve never seen anyone dressed up as them. (However, I did see a guy dressed up as a Buy More Nerd Herd guy on Day 1.)
Billy Dee Williams was interesting. He had some interesting comments about Return of the Jedi (I will never think of the Sarlacc pit in the same way again), and he managed to scare the pants off the entire audience.
We had a somewhat disheartening experience getting Leonard Nimoy‘s autograph. His autograph cost about 2-3 times more than the autographs of other celebrities, and he just signed without asking who to make it out to. I suppose that’s to be expected since he’s such a huge star and doesn’t have time. After getting Nimoy’s autograph, I asked him if I could have a picture taken with him, but he completely ignored me and moved on to the next person in line. It was a gamble, since I knew that there was a specific “photo op” session where you had to pay to get a photo taken with him, but the photo op was at the same time as Robert Duncan McNeill’s Q&A, so we couldn’t go. Either way, he could have said something instead of ignoring me! Maybe I should stick with the lesser-known stars, since they’re more friendly (and affordable)!
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All in all, it was a great weekend. Not much sleep, not much food… but SO MUCH fun!! :)
This summer, I made a couple of trips back to Toronto to attend some weddings. Congratulations to Mark and Maria, Agata and Mark, and Marg and Koichi!!
At Marg and Koichi’s wedding ceremony, I was asked to do a reading in Japanese. I took Japanese 101 many years ago, but I can’t understand or speak Japanese anymore, so that was an interesting experience! I’m so happy and honoured to have been a part of their beautiful wedding.
Marg and Koichi had their wedding party do the Jai Ho dance (from Slumdog Millionaire) at the reception, and I got to join in. It was really fun! See below for the video of our dance.
Toronto’s Fan Expo 2009 took place during one of those trips, so I managed to attend this year. I should have another post about Fan Expo soon…
My hair has pretty much always been long, but lately it was getting TOO long, even for me. After contemplating about donating my hair for a while, I finally decided to cut it now that the weather is nice. (Sorry to rub it in, Canadian friends, but the weather here in Cali has been awesome lately!)
Locks of Love requires at least 10in of hair, and I was thinking I’d cut about 10-12in. My hairstylist didn’t really know what she was doing when she measured it, though. I measured my cut hair when I got home, and it was about 15in!
Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a “before” picture! The most recent photo I have that shows my hair length is from over a month ago, and it’s from when I curled my hair, so it looks even shorter than it’s supposed to be. Here it is, along with my new hair cut.
My haircut, before and after
It literally feels like a weight has been lifted, lol. I still prefer long hair (though not quite as long as I had it before the cut), but this is a nice change.
