Coming back to life

I'm still alive. Really. I know I haven't posted for two months. I was in "keep my head down and maybe I won't lose it" mode. Things have been a bit insane and until the personal earthquakes finally stopped I just focused on making it through each day.

Here's a nice summary list of the major events since July, in rough chronological order, handily organized by month.

July
*My cousin gives birth to a baby boy! Welcome to the family! My grandmother can now stop putting pressure on me about having her great-grandbabies before she dies (for some reason she was fixated on me being the one to have the babies). So thank you to my cousin. :)
*I take a long weekend and drive up to Boston, MA for a friend's wedding reception (YAY for LHK and WK!!) and to visit a good friend from grad school. Flickr pictures of the reception and my friend's garden (BF is an amazing gardener!).
*I move mid-month.
One week after moving the following events occurred:
*Visitors! My good friends LC and SB!
*Ozomatli concert! (the reason for my visitors)
*A leak appears in the ceiling in my bedroom closet, forcing me to take all the clothes I had recently unpacked and put away back out of the closet again.

August
*The leak in my closet ceiling is due to a leak in upstairs bathroom tub faucet. During repairs, the leak spreads to middle of my bedroom and rains all over the clothes I had removed from the closet to protect them. Dammit.
*Bike tires meet trolley rails. Ouch!
*Mid-month my mother arrives for a visit! YAY!!!
*One day prior to my mother's arrival, my landlord has a disagreement with the gas company and they turn off the gas service to the property. The gas powers the heat, hot water, and my stove. So now I can't shower or cook. Fortunately it's August so I don't have to worry about the heat just yet.
*My landlord replaces the gas hot water heater and my gas stove with electric appliances (note the furnace is NOT replaced at this time). I spend FIVE DAYS while they do this without hot water or the ability to cook anything. My mother suffers with me. Great visit, no?
*My mother fortunately is able to extend her visit by a few days so we can enjoy each others company once we've showered. :) She helps me finish unpacking and settling into my new apartment.
*My sister comes for a visit to attend the Nine Inch Nails concert with me!! w00t!! A truly incredible concert. We had a wonderful time hanging out together the rest of the weekend too.
*In the midst of all of this, things continue to change and move forward into an uncertain (yet encouraging) future at work. My new library school intern also started work the second week of August and I spend much of the first part of the month training her. Fortunately she's a quick study.

September
*Work is crazy. The students return and the semester begins. Additional organizational changes at work are announced.
*Mid-month I take a few days vacation that don't involve a pet emergency/drama, apartment drama, or some other drama. I enjoyed several days with no internet spending time with a really good friend just hanging out and relaxing. It was wonderful. Then I returned home and opened my email. Yikes.
*Upon returning from my [far too brief] vacation I adopted a cat to bring my total of four-legged furry children to two. Yes, a cat named Capri (pics on Flickr). And she and the dog get along just fine, thankyouverymuch.

October
*Work continues to be insanely busy.
*The month starts off badly with me getting sick with a fever for two days after getting soaked by rain.
*One of my best friends from college gets married in Louisville, KY. YAY for EH and KD!! Congrats!! KD, you are a very lucky woman as EH is an awesome guy. I'm so glad I was able to attend and had a blast at the wedding (photos I took at the event are posted here on Flickr).
*It gets cold. Since my landlords have not replaced my furnace or gotten the gas turned back on, the temperature in my apartment drops to 62 degrees, sometimes dipping a bit below that during the night. I start sleeping in my long underwear (normally reserved for camping) and wool socks.
*I get sick. Again. With the cold from hell that lays me up for nearly a week when my asthma kicks in and breathing becomes work. For several days after I start recovering I continue to sound like a husky lounge singer.
*The Phillies win the World Series! The city erupts in chaotic celebrations. Mayor Nutter reminds everyone: "You can be joyous. You cannot be a jackass." Fabulous!
*A new leak appears in the ceiling of my bedroom...this time in the middle of the room. I have to move the dog bed so plaster doesn't fall on her head.
*At the end of October I still don't have heat. After 3 workmen give estimates about what it would cost to convert to electric heat, my landlord decides to make a deal with the gas company to turn the gas back on so they can fire up the furnace. Mind you, access to the furnace for the building is through MY apartment...so each new workman means another person in my space.

November
*On Monday, Nov. 3rd, after 3 more days, a visit from the gas company to replace a meter (also in my apartment) and turn the gas back on, and visits from THREE different handymen, the furnace is finally turned back on and my apartment has heat! Just in time for a warm spell...oh well.
*The handymen on Monday kill two birds with one stone with their visit and fix the leak at the same time they get the furnace fired up! Efficiency is a beautiful thing.
*History is made and we elect Barak Obama as our next president. I am ecstatic!!

And I think that brings us to the present.

OZOMATLI!!

Ozomatli came through Philly last night. This time as part of a tour called Summer Haze with two other bands: Slightly Stoopid and G Love & Special Sauce. The show was outside at the Festival Pier down on Penn's Landing. [note: parking fees down there are a racket!!] My friend AH (who I introduced to Ozo at the show in April) and her husband DS joined me. While waiting in line to be let into the venue, I was treated to the sounds of the band warming up. I got to hear "City of Angels" twice, once at a distance and once right in front of the stage!

As always, Ozo ROCKED it. Seriously, OMG and WOW! My post-show Ozo-high is still going strong (aided by my iPod and some serious at-work chair dancing, of course). They had the full band there this time, all nine current members (Jabu was absent at the April show). They all are just so much fun to watch. AH commented about how they smile the entire time they are on stage and it's obvious that they are having so much fun up there. And the coordinated playing and dancing done by the band members is always impressive (how do Raul and Wil-Dog do that??). They only had use of about half the stage as the instruments for the other two bands were set up behind them. Unfortunately this meant that some band members were less visible than normal (Jiro, Mario, and Justin when he was on percussion). But this did not stop Ozomatli from making use of every inch of stage they had available to them. At one point Raul left the stage and leaped over security and the barrier to jam in the middle of the crowd!

The set itself was quite short, at just under an hour of Ozo time. So not enough. They could play for 4 hours and it wouldn't be enough. I couldn't get a copy of the set list this time (bummer!) because of the barrier in front of the stage and security between the barrier and the stage. That and the crew started breaking down the Ozo set as soon as they left the stage for the traditional "party in the crowd" to prepare for the next band so by the time Ozo was done with the end of show jam in the crowd the set was already half gone.

They mainly played songs off of the latest album Don't Mess with the Dragon, but none of the ballads, only the faster paced higher-energy songs. They did play "After Party," which I do believe is my favorite song on the new album, and "Can't Stop," which is AH's favorite, so we were both very happy. Ozo did play some of their older stuff, including "Saturday Night" (always a favorite). In the middle of "Cumbia de los muertos" they played a medley of random non-Ozo '80s and '90s rock songs. And of course they ended the show with "Como Ves" before picking up their instruments and heading into the crowd. Justin played an incredible drum solo at the very very end that garnered quite the response from the surrounding crowd.

The crowd was a bit disappointing. It felt kind of like a big frat party and there didn't appear to be very many Ozo fans in the audience. And most people weren't even dancing! What's up with that?? There's something wrong with those people, I swear. Ozomatli is probably one of the most "danceable" bands out there!!

Various band members jammed with Slightly Stoopid at the end of their set, which followed Ozomatli. First Raul joined them on stage for a hard-core rock song. I've never seen him play like that! For the last song in Slightly Stoopid's set, they were joined by Shef, Asdru, Uli and Justin. Last up for the evening was G Love & Special Sauce (a local Philly funk band).

My favorite things during the evening include the girl that had never seen Ozo before and is now, in the words of AH's friend, their slave. She was beyond excited and thought the traditional end of show drumming circle/snake through the crowd was the best thing ever. And during the post-show "party in the crowd" I saw Shef grab some guys blunt while walking through the crowd and was alternating smoking and playing his trombone before passing the blunt off to someone else. Classic. The man is crazy, but we love him anyway.

Quite possibly the most disturbing part of the evening was sitting around between bands and having it proved once again that AH and I have the librarians' curse of "information here" tattooed on our foreheads. We kept getting asked for directions. Sigh.

Photos of various concerts are here on Flickr.

Oh, and we went for dinner afterwards at Standard Tap. Yes, dinner at 10:30pm at night. This is not unusual in other parts of the world, I promise. I had the absolutely delicious "Standard Burger." It was perfectly cooked, and includes lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, a grilled onion slice, and cheese. So very very good. And it arrived with excellent fries, liberally sprinkled with salt AND pepper. AH had the soft-shell crab sandwich, and given the amount of finger licking that occurred I'm certain she really enjoyed it! DS had the yummy squid, which is fried in a batter that also includes the "standard" salt AND pepper. We topped it off with nice cold beers. I'll be going back there, guaranteed.

Incredible music and dancing to one of my favorite bands followed by good food...what an excellent evening! Too bad I had to work the next day. My alarm went off painfully early this morning. God willing Ozomatli's next show in Philly will NOT be on a weeknight.

OZOMATLI!!!

Last night was the Ozomatli concert at World Cafe Live here in Philly.* Wow. I mean, really, WOW. My legs hurt from all the dancing. And let's just say that my bike ride into work today was not the most pleasant. But I have the Ozo buzz going on, and like usual, it should last a few days. Woot!

Ozomatli is this wonderful fusion of Latin, hip hop, funk, punk, Middle Eastern sound and other random world music. It's beautiful. And very dance-able. You can't help but have a lot of fun. And the band is always high energy. You can tell they're really enjoying themselves up there. I brought a new Ozo fan to the show, AH, and she commented on how the entire band was smiling the entire show. It's obvious they're having a good time, which means the audience has a good time. She was particularly impressed with the coordinated dancing done by the band...both halves of the stage jumping and dancing in sync, often while playing instruments. Um, wow. Not an easy thing to do, but I've seen it happen every show.

The other truly beautiful thing about Ozo is the diversity of the audience they attract. Their music is such an eclectic blend of styles that they attract and eclectic blend of people. Looking around from my spot in the front and slightly to the right of center, I saw a wide range of ages (including set of parents that brought their son), races, backgrounds, styles, and dancing abilities. A true cross-section of society, much like the band themselves (a very diverse group of guys).

Ozo has a new album out, Don't Mess with the Dragon, and most of the set was from it. They even started with one of the songs off it: "City of Angels." They came on stage and set the show to be their typical high energy let's all have a good time and dance the night away right from the first drumbeat. WOW, they so rock.

[How many times can I say wow in one post? Let's find out, shall we??]

Mid-set they did a weird little mix of songs from the '80s like Blondie's "The Tide is High" and a few others that were like a trippy little journey down memory lane. And of course the audience sang along. What's freaky is that we all knew the words.

What's equally as freaky is that I still remember how to do the electric slide. The little trip down memory lane was just to prime the crowd. For "After Party," Ozo challenged the audience to dance the electric slide for the entire song. And, 'cause Philly rocks, we did it. "After Party" is one of my favorite songs off the new album. You just can't go wrong with a song about coming together and enjoying yourselves. It's a bit more mellow than most of their stuff, but with the same let's-all-have-a-good-time-vibe and rockin' beat that makes Ozo so much fun. Again, WOW. I love this song and it's even better live. [But then, isn't everything better live with Ozo??]

"Magnolia Soul" and "Violeta" are two of their social justice focused songs on the new album. For those of you that don't know, Ozomatli is from Los Angeles, and they have a serious social justice aspect to what they do and their music. These news ones are absolutely incredible songs. "Magnolia Soul" is a funk-inspired song that highlights the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the resilience of New Orleans in the aftermath. The ballad of "Violeta" echoes the tragedy of life lost in war, on both sides, making it an incredibly moving song. "Violeta" was one of the few ballads they played during the set. So much of Ozo's repertoire is high energy, that when they do have a ballad it's particularly noticeable. In this case, it is also particularly moving. They also played "Temperatura," which address immigration. Again, attacking political issues via an inspired and upbeat tune with some serious rabble-rousing lyrics.

The mixed some of their classics (or even vintage) tunes in with the songs from the new album. True old school songs like "Eva" and "Misma Cancion" were interspersed between new stuff. They played two of my all time favorites: "Believe" and "Ya Viene el Sol," which aren't really old school but definitely classic Ozo. And as always with these songs, WOW.

At the end of every show, the whole band grabs various percussion instruments and horns and heads off the stage into the crowd for a jam session. No joke. EVERY SHOW. Often, this is where it ends, because there's no place else to go. This time, however, it only started as a circle in the middle of the dance floor. Wil-dog (bass player extraordinare...can you salsa dance, jump and strum all at the same time without missing a beat or a chord? Yeah, I didn't think so) led the band in a line snaking its way through the crowd and out into the lobby where they took up residence on the steps and jammed for a bit more.

Once they were finally done (exhausted, maybe?), they all stuck around to chat with the audience and sign whatever people gave them. Really, WOW. They even included a tear out sheet in the booklet for Don't Mess with the Dragon that promised they'd all sign it if you brought it to a show. So I did. And I got it signed by everyone (except Asdru, vocals/trumpet, who disappeared). Along with the set-list I managed to snag off the stage at the end of the show. Go me!

So life is good. I may be tired and sore, but, damn, what a party! My Ozo buzz is still going strong (fueled a bit by my iPod), but, seriously, WOW. What more is there to say besides THANK YOU to Ozomatli for a bloody awesome and absolutely rockin' and intensely high energy show!??!!

*Note: pictures will be posted over on my Flickr account later tonight, so go check them out! Be warned, the on stage shots of the guys were taken with my camera phone (flash photography prohibited by the venue), so the quality isn't excellent, but hell, they're pics of the band!

Ask and ye shall receive...

My friend L has left Philly and returned home (this is sad, but we're surviving...for now. I'll go for a visit soon). Over the weekend, we were discussing how it was great that Brave Combo had been here (see post) and that now Ozomatli needed to come do a show so that all would be right with my world.

Well, ask and ye shall receive!

OZOMATLI IS COMING TO PHILLY!!!

They're playing at the World Cafe Live Downstairs venue on Tuesday, April 24th. I will be there. Front and center, dancing my little heart out.

I'm so beyond excited I can hardly sit still.