"It's going to be a long night in New York City......."

Went to see John Mayer in the round at the end of February for his "Battle Studies" tour.  First time I'd been to a concert in a 360 degree arena since Santana live at the Budokan in '03 or '02.  Didn't have the best seats but not bad.    I had invited my old friend Mary whom I went to high school with back in Japan.  I hadn't seen her since winter break in 2005.  It was good to see her again.  We nearly went to see Jack Johnson live in Tokyo for his "In Between Dreams" tour but she couldn't go at the last minute.  Nevertheless great performance, lots of catching up, wow it has been a long time!  I managed to snap some pictures with a little point and shoot:

The band had this four-sided mesh screen which was dropped down over the stage that had a projection of Mayer's "Who Says" music video which was very cool.  Pretty deep song too.

Here's a wider angle shot to give a better idea of the projection.

In the round.....

From left to right: Pino Paladino (bass), Steve Jordan (drums), John Mayer (lead guitar), David Ryan Harris (rhythm guitar).  The large vertical dark band right of center of the image is a column that supports the mesh screen.   

The encore performance, John was wailing on the blues and playing his strat on the floor Jimi Hendrix style!

As close as the camera would zoom.  


Madison Square Garden is an awesome venue.  Seating all around and concession stands all around the corridor behind the seats.  If you buy a beer on tap, they give it to you in a plastic mug that has a cylindrical space in the handle for a pretzel stick which you get with the beer!  


I wish John would have more concerts in NYC and perhaps at smaller venues to really get that rockin' atmosphere.  Later we met up briefly with another friend that I went to high school with: Yuri.  I think if I'm not missing anyone, I've run into 6 ASIJ alums in the geographic area.  It's nice to see old friends again.  

blinking caret

Will soon post recent photos and text of John Mayer, Swarthmore with Mary (microwaved blondies yum!), Skydiving, Blackberry repair 101, the new dent in my car and other stuff.  Been very busy/lazy lately.  My commute to Manhattan is stressful and downright dangerous not to mention expensive.  Work is meh, and I've been spending a lot of time micro napping.  I fell asleep last Thursday while stuffing envelope and dreamed I was still there stuffing envelopes.  My coworker tells me I was just sitting there with one hand on an envelope and the other on the stuff that was going to be inserted into the envelope.  Recipe for disaster.

Losing power and running water for a little over a week didn't help and discovering that you can't party/drink till the sun comes up in the Village (like we used to do in Tokyo) is kinda sad. So much for the city the never sleeps, liars!  But hey I met up with Mike and Brian and Katie in Brooklyn, shit has it really been 5 years?

Grad App. Results:

UCSB-No (phone rejection.....where have I heard that before? GREs not good enough and that I should take them yet again and re-apply for next year.)
UCLA-Nadda. (So much for getting my copy of "Guns, Germs and Steel" signed by Jared Diamond.)
UHM:-Mahalo but no dice.

Awaiting: UC Merced (guessing zip.)

Safety: San Jose State (i just don't know anymore.)

What to do after finishing the internship at AGS?  My boss thinks I should take a stab at being a foreign correspondent.  Journalism?  Photo journalism?  Huh?

Aerial photography and remote sensing companies still not hiring but impressed with my CV and will hold on to it for a set period of time.

Flight School in AZ or CA 90 days from 80hrs and Private certificate all the way to Airline Transport Pilot?  (need $40k and change, and then what? Fly regionals after dead-heading for less than $20k a year? (It's better than zero-k.)

I think it's safe to say now that even 10 months after graduating and only being able to get an unpaid internship  that I have to try something else.  It's hard not to be a pessimist now. I'm ready for the red pill!