Back to Brad

I've already told ya'll why I heart Brad Paisley. And I have already seen Brad in tour this year in Roanoke, which I also wrote about. So, you could naturally assume that I wouldn't have anything new to say after taking my mom to see Brad in Raleigh this past Saturday. But you would be wrong!

Mom's birthday present was a ticket to see Brad perform along with Jerrod Niemann and Blake Shelton. There was pouring rain all weekend, but we had an excellent, clear and cool summer night. Perfect concert weather.

Jerrod Niemann opened the show, as he did at Brad's Roanoke show. And yes, I love Jerrod and certainly never get tired of looking at or even listening to him, but he definitely did the exact same show I saw in Roanoke right down to a joke about his super hero pajamas. It was still great.

Brad Paisley has quite a reputation for playing pranks on tour and last night was no exception. Brad sent a very large man in very small clothes out covered in body paint to try to slow dance with Jerrod.

Next up was Blake Shelton. I've never really had a feeling for Blake one way or another, although I've figured he had to be pretty bad ass to be married to Miranda Lambert. Blake began the show by letting everyone know he'd been drinking since 12, which was sort of obvious. He still managed to put on a good show, which included a melody of Play that Funky Music White Boy, Angel is a Centerfold and Bobby Brown's My Prerogative. He also decided to sing us his oldest song from 2006, Austin. I had completely and totally forgotten that Blake sang that song and how much I love it!

Brad also managed to prank Blake by sending the same large man on stage in a honey bee costume to chase Blake during, what else, Honey Bee?

It was finally time for the main attraction! Brad came out to Mud on the Tires while standing out among the audience and the evening had truly begun! Brad's lyrics are incredibly clever (and mostly self-written) and his singing skills are superb, but where he really flourishes is when he is playing the guitar. I got to hear a few songs that Brad didn't play in Roanoke, including When I Get Where I'm Going, and Alabama. One of the highlights of the evening was Brad singing Don't Drink the Water, a new song with Blake. Blake returned to the stage wearing a long mullet wing and attempting to make out with Brad.

When Misty and I went to Roanoke, Brad came out into the cheap seats to sing and he did that again this time, except this time I was even closer, less than 20 feet away. He was pranked in return with his diving board being replaced with a toilet. Again, Brad thanked us for spending money on him, even in such tough economic times. He wanted everyone to get their money's worth. And we did.

It's Britney, bitch!

I have always had a love of Britney Spears. From the moment that Britney and Justin sang I'll Take You There, I've been rooting for my girl. Throughout the Jason Alexanders and the K-Feds, the head shaving, umbrella waving and the gum-snapping interview with Matt Lauer, Britney has been my girl. When she made her not so great comeback performance at the 2007 VMAs, I cringed like I knew her. Maybe it's because Britney and I are almost exactly the same age, or maybe it's because she has at times seemed so vulnerable, but I have always rooted for her.

I was very excited to find out Britney was coming to Charlotte. As a recently converted fan of The Jersey Shore, I was also excited (and confused) to find out that DJ Pauly D was opening for Brit. I went with one of my friends from work, Micah and her boyfriend Derek, who is a Britney SUPER FAN.

Pauly D. Sigh. I love Paul D. Yeah, buddy I do! And I do think he is a talented DJ. I just don't really get sitting in a huge arena and watching him DJ for about 45 minutes. Although, as Micah said, it was fun to have the experience of fist pumping with Pauly D! Pauly D's music choices were awesome and we had fun dancing and fist pumping, but it just felt like a giant club without really much to do.

Then it was Britney time! Britney came busting out to Hold it Against Me. Despite some oddly cruel reviews in The Charlotte Observer, Britney looked great. The show incorporated the Femme Fatale theme with a series of videos of Britney being a total badass. She had crazy costumes that included a gypsy costume and a skintight body suit.

In what I hope is not a shocking turn of events, Britney did a lot of lip-syncing. That's what I expected, but it was still a great show. I am so glad I got the opportunity to see her. I think my readers will be glad to know that I danced. I couldn't help it! That was some dance-worthy music. The best show of the night, however, came from another audience member. I had to record his magical dance moves to share here.

I saw God today

Updated with video!

So, when I originally started this blog, the goal was document all the live events of 2011. While I've been tempted to write about politics or other things that strike my fancy, I've tried to stick to that. I've had a couple of variances when I wrote blogs to remember my grandfather and grandmother, but other than that, it's been all live events all the time.

Today's blog is going to be a little different, because I did something so awesome and amazing yesterday, it must be documented.

I went sky diving yesterday. Yes, you read that correctly. The girl that is terrified of planes not only got in one, but willing accelerated to 114,000 feet and jumped out a freakin' plane.

How did this come to be? A friend of mine, Tim, from work jumps every weekend. He refers to it as stress relief and he absolutely loves it. For the last few weeks, he's been trying to talk me into doing it and I have flat out refused. I did, however, agree to go watch him jump yesterday and that's how this all began.

I watched him do a jump and was intrigued. It did take me an hour or two more of watching others and having him walk through every step for me to agree. I finally, in an uncharacteristic moment of impulse, agreed and handed over my credit card.

Because I didn't have a reservation, that lead to four hours of waiting for a plane which was definitely the most stressful part. I watched a training video which reminded me that I had signed a waiver. "Sky diving is a dangerous sport. It can kill or injure you. The waiver you just signed means that you or your family cannot sue in the event of death or injury, even if it's a result of our negligence." Awesome.

I met my instructor Andrew, and got geared up. I got to wear a medium sized suit, which was purple, so I knew it was meant to be! Tim made an arrangement to be on the plane with me, and I am glad because I am not sure I could do that without someone I know beside me.

Before I knew what I was doing, my plane had arrived and it was time to board. With his hand on my back, I boarded the plan with Andrew and Tim, along with about 10 other skydivers. This, to me, was the most stressful part as the plane kept getting higher and higher. I watched my indicator to see how high we were and really started to question my sanity. I hate heights. I hate planes. What am I doing?

At about 12,000 feet, Andrew strapped himself onto me and we got ready to go. In the video they shot, I look pretty calm. Everyone else on the plane was pretty quiet and calm and that helped me stay quiet and calm, although Tim did tell me later once we got on the plane he thought that would be the moment I backed out.

Before I knew it, people started jumping out of the plane. Then it was mine and Andrew's turn. I would like to say I prayed and made my peace with God, but honestly, I was just focused on what was happening next. And then like that, we were off!

I know it sounds incredibly corny and cliche, but I have never in my life felt so alive. Everything was so vivid and colorful. After about 10 seconds of holding my breath, I was breathing air so pure and refreshing, it was intoxicating. The sun was starting to set in Chester, South Carolina and it was beautiful. God was closer than He's ever been.

As we passed through the clouds, the ground started to come into focus. Once Andrew pulled our parachute, there was such peace. Everything was quiet. There wasn't a sound to be heard. And I was just flying.

Landing, to me, was the funnest part. Andrew asked me to pull up my legs and knees to bring us to the ground. It was amazingly gentle and fun. We just glided onto the ground. "So," Tim asked. "Do you want to do it again?"

The answer is yes.

Me, with Tim, who talked me into this craziness.

And finally: The video

An additional video taken from Tim's perspective. Watch as Mr. Crazy climbs onto the side of the plane! You can also see my awesome videographer Terry

How I keep winning Comedy Zone tickets

The last time I was at the Lake Norman Comedy Zone, I filled out a comment card, which apparently won me some free tickets to the Paul Hooper show.

I invited my friends Frank and Alisa, along with my friend Tammy, to enjoy the show. We enjoyed a great dinner downstairs at the Galway Hooker (mmmm: calamari!) and then headed upstairs to enjoy the show.

Alysia Wood was the opening act and she was hilarious. Sometimes, it was like she was in my head!

Paul Hooper, a Charlotte native, was the main act. He tells you from the very beginning that he is an angry little dude and he is-but it is hilarious. I think Alisa put it best when she said, “There were things that made you so uncomfortable, you felt like you shouldn’t laugh, but you did because it was hilarious.”

All in all, it was a great evening. And guess what? I found out yesterday that I won tickets AGAIN to the N.C. Music Factory Comedy Zone uptown, so I will be going with some friends to check out Tammy Piscatelli. Alisa won some tickets for Sept. 1, so I will be back that week and I am also going to see Flavor Flav on August 27, so I think the Comedy Zone is becoming my Cheers.

That moment when anything is possible

There is nothing that I love more than a night game at the Panthers stadium in uptown Charlotte. My friends Frank and Alisa treated me to the pre-season game this past Saturday against the NY Giants. We hopped the light rail to the Epicenter for dinner at Wild Wing Café and then headed to the stadium. Everything was going great until the sky opened up and it started to pour. We spent the first half of the game in the rain, but that didn’t matter to me.

I was so ready for football. Right before kickoff, I told my friends how much I love those last seconds before that first kickoff. In that second, anything is possible. The Panthers could have a winning season! We could win the NFC South! Or maybe even the NFC! Or go to the Super Bowl!

I always like to take a deep breath in that moment and think about the football season to come. This year, especially because of the lockout, any team could go all the way. The possibilities are endless.

Then the first kick was off and the reality of our new team, under a new coach, was born. There were a lot of things I saw that I liked and a lot of things that I did not like. Cam Newton is definitely a lot better under pressure than Clausen, but he has a lot of work to do when it comes to accuracy. Armanti Edwards certainly stepped up to the plate.

Finally, after the first half the rain stopped and the most beautiful sky and weather took over uptown Charlotte. The Panthers secured a victory and the possibilities for this team remain endless.

Alegria: A joyful experience

Alegria is the Spanish word for joy. A Cirque du Soleil show is always a joy.

This is my second Cirque du Soleil show. I thoroughly enjoyed their Totem show earlier this year in Concord. Alegria was at the Bobcats arena in uptown Charlotte last night. It was a great event, although I do think I prefer the Grand Chapiteau (Big tent) shows like Totem.

Cirque's website says there are eight key characteristics that make up who they are.

1. Imaginary worlds
2. Dance
3. Daring
4. Dexterity
5. Grace
6. Art forms from around the world
7. Acting
8. Acrobatic performance

What do you get when you combine these eight things? An awesome show! Alegria has been touring for 17 years and it is no surprise. The show was lead by a princess-like figure in a beautiful, sparkling dress who sang her heart out throughout the entire show. The show is all about power and how humans deal with and express power throughout history.

There was a lot of audience interaction throughout the show. Audience members were brought on stage to dance and one even used the flexible bars for a jump rope. The people sitting on the floor were not only brought out to dance, but were also covered in papier-mache. I wouldn't have minded the snow, but I would have minded the clowns making me dance with them, so I was glad to be a few rows up. I am not terrified of clowns, but I have seen It and I have no desire to slow dance with that!

Performers from all over the world performed a series of death-defying stunts with flaming knives, trapezes and trampolines. One set of contortionists did things that I did not think were humanly possible.

A Cirque production is so aesthetically beautiful, it's hard to take it all in sometimes. As I walked back outside and into a (still hot at 10 p.m.) uptown Charlotte, everything still felt sort of magical.

Mr. Shue, NKOTBSB, pelvic thrusts, puking and a close encounter with AJ McLean

As you may know, last night was one of my most highly-anticipated resolution events, the New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys (NKOTBSB).

Elizabeth and I dressed in our awesome outfits and headed to the Greensboro Coliseum. Little did we realize, we were not as committed to the NKOTBSB experience as others. Quite a few people dressed in head-to-toe 80s attire. One girl sewed her old NKOTB sleeping bag together to make a skirt.

The opening act was Midnight Red. Yeah, so let's move on to the second opening act! Matthew Morrison from Glee performed a few songs. He did a great job. Mr. Shue can dance! He did a performance of Kanye West's Gold Digger that brought down the house. He also did a dance montage to an original song, "Don't Stop Dancing" that incorporate dance moves from Gene Kelly, Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze. You can check that one out on YouTube if you're interested.

Before the main act, three stalls had to be shut down in the bathroom because of puking. I don't know if people were that drunk or just that excited! Either way, that's a definite party foul.

A random girl came over to tell Elizabeth and me that the Backstreet Boys always come in

to the audience into section 112 to sing and that we should be ready, as we were sitting in 112, for a special appearance.

Finally, it was time for NKOTBSB to take to the stage. After one of the longest introductory videos ever and some fireworks, both groups came out together to the melody from Cold Play's Viva la Vida. Together, both groups sang a compilation of a few of their songs.

Then it was time for New Kids on the Block! They sang some of their more recent songs, like Summertime. Then the Backstreet Boys returned to sing some of their newer stuff.

And then the boys from Boston were back! They started out with The Right Stuff, so we knew that it was finally time for our old school favorites!

Throughout the evening, the two bands swapped the stage to take turns singing their favorites. While all the guys (like all of us) are definitely looking older, some things never change. Donnie is still ripped and can rip off a wife-beater in about 2.5 seconds. Jordan still hits those high notes and Joey is still adorable.

All of the guys seemed to determined to grab their crotches or thrust their pelvises as much as possible in each song. At one point, Joey was basically pole dancing on the mike stand. Elizabeth said it got old, but I enjoyed every second of that!

The guys really played to the audience. The New Kids went out into the audience and sang "Please Don't Go Girl" to audience members that were a bit higher up. The Backstreet Boys pulled four girls on stage to serenade them individually. They all signed autographs throughout the show and threw their sweaty discarded clothes to the crowd.

At some point during all the excitement, another girl puked directly behind us. The effort to clean that up and block traffic coming through seemed like a covert military operation.

And then, the moment we had been prepared for arrived. About five feet from where we were sitting, AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys was escorted out and worked his way through the crowd to sing. I managed to get a couple of not-so-great videos. You can barely see him, but here they are. FYI: That is not us screaming. We're more NKOTB than BSB girls. This, of course, caused absolute mayhem and chaos. A little girl was even pushed, making (understandably) her mother ready to fight.

The boys returned to the stage and finished the show. It was great. Both bands did a great job. Some of the best numbers incorporated both groups. Their finale encore performance was Backstreet's Back and Hanging Tough. Elizabeth and I danced and danced and had a great time. This show was worth the wait!