Blackberry Loves U2... and so do the Tangs

U2 North America Tour, Chicago IL -- Opening Night!!

I missed the Atlanta show of U2's Vertigo tour a few years back by a hair, much to my (and Andy Ewing's) chagrin -- that's a whole other story on it's own, actually, so I won't get into details here...

Anyhow, to make up for it, Annie and I made the trek from Ann Arbor to Chicago for a night out (without the kids, even!) at U2's 360 Tour, which kicked off in Chicago last night (the North American leg of it, anyways). Here's our photojournal of the evening:

We parked in a nearby downtown lot, grabbed a bite to eat at the first restaurant we came across (a yummy and affordable Japanese restaurant, as luck would have it) and walked over to the stadium -- in good company, as you can tell!

I can't really do it justice, but this panoramic hopefully gives you a sense of the stadium and just how gi-normous U2's 360 set was -- this huge 4-legged tarantula-spaceship thingy arching over a good half of the field. Biggest set for a rock show I've ever seen.

Check out where the cameramen get to sit -- 12 of them (3 on each arm) were hoisted up snugly against the legs of the spaceship before the show got started, and there they stayed throughout the whole gig.

Annie and I waiting fo the show to start. (Don't ask about the scar on left brow, that is, again, a story for another day...)

The grand entrance -- the band kicked off things with "Breathe" from their new album.

The set is billed as a 360 stage, and it really is a good design, but there's definitely still a front and back to the performance -- we were sitting in back, which sometimes kinda sucked, but on the other hand, we 20% of the audience who were behind the stage felt really special when anyone from the band came around back to play -- just for us. Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums were even set up on this rotating lazy-susan-type thingy that every once in a while would spin around so he could face us for a song!

Bono loves us!

The video monitors on the set were honeycombed together -- during the concert they started up high, then expanded until they seemed nearly to touch the stage itself, and then collapsed back together again down low before lifting back into their starting position. This configuration is during their rendition of The Unforgettable Fire.

And, if I remember correctly, this is during Where the Streets Have No Name.

Nearing the end, Annie offered to take a shot of me with Bono singing on the monitors in the background, but I botched it and blinked when the red-eye reduction flashed me!

Alas, all good things come to an end... what a fun night though! Definitely worth the trip -- looking forward to next time!

"Have You Found China Yet?"

So, looking at this picture, you may wonder why we've accumulated such a extensive pile of dirt at the side of the house over the past two months (and this is only a small portion of it). The simple answer, as I explained to Lilly when she asked me that exact question, is, "Mom told me to."

Here's the hole all that dirt came out of -- dug by hand, shovelful by laborious shovelful, 99% by yours truly (Isaac contributed maybe 2/3% and Ethan maybe another 1/3%). My neighbor, Dave, who has watched me with amusement as I've labored over the weeks, keeps asking me if I've found China yet. Hardy har har.

And the reason why the big hole? I'm finishing the basement, and to make it a bona fide living space, one has to install an egress window. Annie figured, as long as you're going to dig a window well for that egress window, why don't we make a really big window well that'll let in lots of light? And, while you're at it, if you're going to install one egress window, why not two? (More on that in a second.) The red lines below outline the approximate size of the enlarged window (4x4 ft.):

To meet the requirements of an egress window, it has to be a certain size. We picked 4x4 horizontal sliding windows. To install a 4 ft window, one has to dig a hole that's at least a foot deeper for drainage and whatnot, so the hole is 5 ft deep. Because of there'll eventually be two windows installed more or less side by side, I ended up digging one long trench for both of them - 20 ft long. Building codes dictate that the finished window well be at least 3 ft wide at its base, with a ladder or terraced steps built in for easy escape. Annie wants terraces, which I'll get to after the windows are installed. As it is, the walls slope upwards and outwards from 3 ft at the bottom to 6 feet on top, so, an average of 4.5 ft wide. So that makes it a 4.5 x 20 x 5 ft hole, or 450 cubic feet (16 2/3 cubic yards) of packed clay -- of roughly 250 wheelbarrows full of clay. Ouch.

Here are the boys standing in the hole for reference:

The boys wanted pictures of themselves sitting on the edge of the hole -- what fine-looking children! (Isaac was bitten by some kind of insect two days before this photo -- hence the swollen right eyelid.)

Here they are again!

I'll get more photos up when the windows are being installed!

In Which James Tries His Hand at Poohsticks

I was off work most of today, so we took the kids canoeing this afternoon. Fun times, us and our little crew. Ethan tried his hand at paddling, as did Isaac and Lilly. We brought some treats and stopped at a convenient spot for a little picnic and some fun in the water. Took some photos...

Annie soaking up the sun

James

Lilly

Huck Finn... oh wait, I mean, Isaac

If Isaac's Huck Finn, I guess Ethan's Tom Sawyer.

While they all played, I picked a shady spot on the shore and took some iconic photos (if I do say so myself :)

Then, as I was taking a series of stills each about 2 seconds apart...

Needless to say, I dashed in and saved James's life (thank you thank you) -- now I know why Annie suggested I change into a swimsuit instead of the jeans I was wearing. Poor James! Here's a final shot (zoomed in) of him floating like poor Eeyore in Ernest Shepard's illustrations (slightly blurry because I think that's when I realized who that floating speck in the middle of the viewfinder was!).

Huck Finn decided to swim home beside the canoe (j/k -- but he did want to get out in the deeper water for a while -- so did Tom, but I didn't get a photo of him, unfortunately).

And here we are, safe and sound back on shore, all hands accounted for!

What is that Heavenly Sound?

Merry Christmas! (oh, wait, is it March already?)

Christmas has come and gone (whoa, can't believe I'm talking about Christmas way into March here!) But yes, Christmas, and along with all the good food, yummy candy, travel (to Niagara Falls), and guests (Auntie Nancy, whoo!), we of course got a fair number of presents. Here's my favorite present -- from mama and yeye to Isaac and I.



But the presents haven't stopped flowing yet -- anyone recognize these?



Soon after Christmas, dad found a set of these Encyclopedia Britannica for kids in pristine condition online -- the exact same set that mama got for dad (and his siblings) many years ago. They're long since out of print and now a bit hard to come by, so Dad was pretty excited when he found these! Dad has many fond memories of hours spent sitting in front of the bookshelf jumping from article to article in these books, and I look forward to doing the same. So cool, eh?

Last but not least, we started piano lessons last month. Mr. Weston, my teacher, comes over to my place every Tuesday after school and puts me through my paces. I already knew him before, as he sometimes substitute teaches at Wines Elementary, so that was helpful. I love taking lessons from him! So far, I've learned the treble and bass clefs, how to read C and G above middle C, and F below middle C. I'm just starting on half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes. Practicing every day gets to be a bit of a chore, but so far it's been very rewarding!