Three Wonderful Nights

Part Uno

I still cannot believe how blessed I am.
I must have been a saint in my previous life (but I fear for my next one - uh oh!!!).

I had the incredible fortune to meet the lovely singer Rachel Fuller (who got me into this blogging thing in the first place), her sidekick/In the Attic co-host, Mikey Cuthbert and her partner, Pete Townshend. I met them not once, but twice!

The first night was at the Barnes & Noble in LA at The Grove. Rachel Fuller was there making an in-store appearance. I took my daughter, Anjoli. It took about 4 hours to reach the Grove due to traffic and my inherent knack for getting lost in L.A.
Thanks to the one and only MS. WONDERFUL herself, Molly/Ballerinagurl who advised me AGAINST the directions I had Googled,and then later GUIDED me via cell phone north instead of south...I made it there in time - ah pretty early actually!

I was to meet Blue/Tomoko - a fellow "Rachel blogger" who flew in from Japan to see Rachel and the Who!! Wow - talk about loyalty!! I was late meeting her (of course). But we bumped into eachother at the cafe...
When we first arrived, I went straight up to the area where Rachel was to perform...and who did I see but Mikey from Rachel's webcast show In the Attic.
I was SO psyched to see him - so was Anjoli! We've never missed a show (it was a lifesaver to us while we were living in Taipei last year).
He was SUCH a doll. He gave me a big hug and a copy of his new ep, Invisible (which can be purchased HERE!!) and he signed it for me. He also signed a little postcard for Anjoli. She was really happy with that - it's up on her bedroom door now.
I also met Justin Kreutzmann which was nice...then I bumped into Gary, his lovely dad, his wife Steph (who I can't thank enough...you will see why), Mark T and his wife Jill and of course, Blue. We all got some snacks and headed out to the terrace...we had about an hour and a half until Rachel was to perform.
Soon Mikey joined us which was really cool! He is a trip and a half. I told him he was even sweeter in person.

Here we are! (THANK YOU #1 to Steph!)





It was so nice to hang with other Rachel and Pete bloggers! They're such good peeps. Kindred spirits!

At some point things went a bit south for me though...I lost my freaking glasses! Oh man what a spaz. I was just a bit too excited I think!! So I dragged Anjoli all around the store and the mall to look for them. After giving up, Anju and I headed back to the terrace, and me, in a tizzy and semi- frantic (I can't drive without them) just kind of burst onto the terrace and made a beeline for the table where everone was sitting. I was looking under the table, and noticed that everyone had this weird look on their faces. Then a beautiful woman turned around and looked at me (like I was a loony which I am ha ha ha) and it was RACHEL herself! Ack!!
So I got all excited and gave her a hug! I am sad because I missed chatting at the table with her - she left a few minutes after I came back. Aw...
She is incredibly beautiful - I have never seen eyes that color blue before.
Just stunning. She was really really cool!
I could go on and on about the craziness...Blue had saved a seat for me (I was STILL on the hunt for my specs). I came back to the seating area just before Rachel was to go on...Anju and I went to sit down next to Blue, but a man said,
"ah no that's my wife's seat." Blue insisted it was mine...then I realized it was Eric McCormack (Will from Will and Grace). I told him she saved it for ME!! Then Gary pointed to 2 seats in the second row which MOLLY had saved via a phone call in September to the events coordinator ( I didn't think I was going to get them...but I DID!). The coordinator wasn't going to give it them to me,she said they were saved for Ballerinagurl, but then I did an arabesque for her and she said "ok I see you really ARE a ballerina!" Hee hee. Not really. Anyway WE SAT down...finally, and got psyched for Rachel!
I ended up sitting next to Johanna from Vista - she is the coolest! We are very much alike! It was weird because we ended up hanging out w/Molly in LA a few nights later! Synchronicity...

Rachel performed beautifully...I should have taken notes, but I am pretty sure she sang: Cigarettes and Housework, I Can Fly (which she noted was inspired by Pete Townshend's The Boy Who Heard Music), Shine and, accompanied by Pete himself - Just Breathe. Rachel was encouraging us to buy her cds in sets of six, which, she joked, would make a lovely set of coasters!




THE MAN Waiting in the Wings









After the performance both Rachel and Pete signed autographs and posed for pictures. I waited until most of the line died down. I chatted with Mikey again for awhile - I could talk for hours to him! When we reached Rachel's keyboard, I asked if it would be ok for Anjoli to play it. He said "sure! go ahead." So she played "Ode to (sues's) Joy!" I was THRILLED to learn that Gary's wife Steph actually took a picture of her playing. So AGAIN - THANK YOU (#2) STEPH!!




I had a really nice little chat with Rachel...I guess I can reveal that I am trying very hard to bring her and a few other artists (including Martha Wainwright) to Taiwan. I KNOW that the Taiwanese would adore Rachel. They enjoy classical music and would appreciate how she mixes classical and pop. The female singers in Taiwan are very graceful and have sweet, lovely, gentle voices. I am sure she could get airplay on the radio there. My other reason for getting Rachel and friends to Taiwan is because they are in DIRE need of decent acts! Last year Englebert Humperdink and Paul Anka were the major artists to perform in Taipei.
(No offense but...hmm). So my motives are a bit selfish as well.
Rachel is game to come so...we'll see! I will keep you all updated on my future plans to become a musical ambassador to Taiwan.
Rachel was so wonderful - she said to Anjoli "I've heard ALOT about you!" Anju is shy though... Rachel thought it was great that Anjoli loves to play the piano. She really does- I have to drag her away from it in the morning or else she'd be late for school.
Here is a pic of us with the lovely Rachel:



Don't ask me why Anjoli is posing like a rapper! She said she was cold!

After meeting Rachel, Tomoko and I waited to meet Pete. I was very excited of course! He was speaking to a gentleman for a LONG time, then he turned around and said, "oh- are you waiting for me?" Then he looked down and smiled at Anjoli and said hello to her. First I took a picture of Tomoko and Pete - she is SO adorable. She told Pete that her Blogger name is Blue and her camera is also blue! Pete joked to me, "the Japanese really DO love their cameras!" Yup.
Then it was OUR turn to take a picture - and Pete was SO kind he scooched down and said "Let's ALL get in the picture!" He made a funny face, then smiled pretty, as you can see!




I didn't even bring Endless Wire for Pete to sign! I thought it would be a little rude to do that since it was Rachel's performance. I did tell him how fantastic the new cd was though. He just smiled. I told him I'd see him tomorrow at the Hollywood Bowl and on Tuesday at the Attic Jam. YEAH!!

***SPECIAL THANKS TO BLUE/TOMOKO FOR TAKING AND SHARING HER PICS***