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I was way too wiped out to post last night, but Show is finally over:

Look at it all bein’ packed up. Well, at least the most grueling part of show is over… the behind the scenes work has been happening all day today. I’ll place my bet that we made over $200,000 during show this time… which is a major haul. It’ll be days before we have a final number, but I’ve seen some of the preliminaries and it looks swell. So, what kinds of things did we learn during show this time? Well, for one… I love models:

They just make show great! I also learned that you should never question anything. What do dancers have to do with a hair show? Couldn’t tell ya, but here they were:

They were a huge hit, but I still have no idea why they were there! I’ll tell ya, the show was completely packed this time, I know I haven’t been to many, but the last few paled in comparison. There were people everywhere, and I was told that most of the special shows ended up being standing room only towards the end. Some action (or inaction) shots:

Now that we have all that out of the way, I did wanna talk a bit about what I could only call “scams” but because of length those will probably be my next couple posts. In short, beware Ion Cleanse and LED Light Therepy, unless you like giving away money. If that is the case, I’ll take as much as you’d like to give!

Finally check out this neat place called St. Baldrick’s… from their site:

St. Baldrick’s is the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research. Thousands of volunteers shave their heads in solidarity of children with cancer, while requesting donations of support from friends and family.

At a St. Baldrick’s event, something amazing happens. People who normally shy away from the very thought of childhood cancer find themselves compelled to support this cause after looking into the face of these brave children who are smiling broadly as their friends and family members proudly display their newly shorn heads.

Volunteers and donors see it can be fun to support a serious cause. Young cancer patients and survivors see how many people care. And researchers see St. Baldrick’s funds helping to find cures!

How awesome is that? As a cancer survivor myself, I think this is truly a great program… so did Scott (on the right), as you can see below:

All in all, it was a great Show, but I don’t think I’ll be fully recovered until this weekend… it’s a rough job, but someone has to do it!

Can’t talk… show. Crowds!

Models!

Nudity (missed that pic, sorry fellas!)!

More tomorrow!

Last night Jess and I braved a horrible storm to go check out the World Famous Lipizzaner Horses down at the Qwest Center, and let me tell you… totally worth it.

For those of you who don’t know about the Lipizzaners, here is a quick history of their rescue (click the link for their full info):

World War II presented perhaps the greatest threat ever faced by the Lipizzan breed. The breeding stock was taken by the Nazis from Piber to a German-run stud farm at Hostau, in what today is the Czech Republic. Threatened by bombing raids, the stallions later evacuated Vienna for St. Martin’s, in upper Austria. Under the leadership of Alois Podhajsky, then the director of the Spanish Riding School, both the stallions and the equestrian traditions were preserved. However, there were still harsh challenges; while safe from aerial attacks, there was little food for human or animals, and starving refugees sometimes attempted to steal the horses, viewing them as a source of meat.

In 1945, the United States Army took control of St. Martins. General George S. Patton, of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Group, had been a fellow equestrian competitor with Podhajsky in the Olympic Games prior to the war. The two men renewed their acquaintance, and after an impressive performance by the remaining horses and riders of the school in front of Patton and Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson, the Americans agreed to place the stallions under the protection of the United States until they could safely be returned to the people of Austria after the war.

When Hostau fell behind Soviet lines, captured German officers, under interrogation by U.S. Army Captain Ferdinand Sperl, reported the Lipizzans’ location and asked the Americans to rescue the horses before they fell into Soviet hands, because it was feared they would be slaughtered for horsemeat. Patton issued orders, and on April 28, 1945, Colonel Charles H. Reed, Sperl’s superior officer, with members of Troops A, C and F of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, conducted a raid behind Soviet lines and accepted the surrender of the Germans at Hostau. Reed later said that the surrender was “more a fiesta than a military operation, as the German troops drew up an honor guard and saluted the American troops as they came in.” Although only 250 Lipizzans survived the war, the breed was saved.

Wow… they must be an awesome breed of horse, no? Well, I’ll tell you, watching them was incredible. I was originally not sure I’d like the show as it’s considered “horse ballet”, but it’s really much more. They pull off military maneuvers as well as tell the history of the breed and how they’re selected. Very interesting. The show itself was about 90 minutes (including the 15 min intermission) and featured about 8 different horses (all but 2 were Lipizzaners, the other 2 were Andalusian). Here are a few pics I took:

Not bad for my old camera! The seats we were in didn’t hurt, either. Jessica is completely enthralled with the horses now and odds are we’ll be going back the next time they’re in town… and I don’t think I’ll mind at all!

Last night we went to the Mid-America Center to see the Foo Fighters, Serj Tankian, and Against Me, and there is only one thing that can be said about this show:

This lineup will rock your face right off. Seriously. My face? Gone. Rocked off. I believe Dave Grohl collects them and stores them in their tour bus for use later (rumor has it that he grinds them up and snorts them before each show).

The seats we won kicked some major ass… we were right in the perfect spot between both stages and we weren’t trampled by the unwashed masses below (then again, we were soaked with beer and saturated with marijuana smoke, so I guess it’s a give and take). The show started right at 7:00 PM with Against Me taking the stage… they put on a great show and it lasted about 30 minutes. Check it:

Once they were all done, the lights came up and the stage was set for a Mr. Serj Tankian, who is doing some solo work (you may know him as the lead singer from a little band called System of a Down). I will tell you this, Serj puts on a great show (it lasted close to an hour)… absolutely brilliant. It was hard to get good shots because of how animated he is (note him trashing the drums in the last pic), but I got a little something for my effort (I need a new “non-professional” camera, it seems):

Finally it was time for the big act… those fighters of foo… the Foo Fighters! The first hour or so of their act was performed on the “main stage” with Dave Grohl showing everyone that he’s still as awesome as we remember. The played a great variety of their old and new stuff, tons of solos (including a drum solo and a triangle solo), and there was just nothing to complain about at all. Pure awesome… here’s a little taste:

At around the mid-way point of the show, the band moved to the smaller “Second” stage, and performed some great acoustic versions of their songs. It was harder to get a good shot while they were there because my camera seemed upset at the lighting, but I got some:

In the end they went back to the main stage to finish off the night, then left….. or did they? After about 5 minutes Dave appeared on the big screen and asked if we wanted an encore… One song? Nah. Two songs? Nah… how about three songs? Sounds great! The band came back out and partied with us for another 15 minutes… it was spectacular:

We ended up getting home after midnight, but it was totally worth it. I can’t wait for our next big concert… I hope to have a better cam by then!