[Bloated Post] Who Doesn't Like a Balloon Drop?
I didn't want to do another weekend round-up type post, but, well - the weekend is over and I was able to get out and do a lot of stuff so, um... yeah... here's the round-up (with plenty o' photos to hold your interest I promise).
So, on Friday I left Carlsbad around 2pm and headed North to LA. The always hospitable garycotti invited me to hang out with him 'til it was time for beers with our fellow Mika concert-goers so I went to WeHo - land of the stop lights, juicy bar/bois/clothes, and gross yogurt. Was nice to catch up with Gary. I'm super excited for him and the new program he was accepted into. It's a huge opportunity - very cool. A nice bonus awaited me when I got there too. None other than djmrswhite was in-house for the gifting of sheets and bedding for Gary (birthday). We talked about anatomy, clean socks, and the movies that we are all supposed to have seen but have not.
So, from there we headed over to The Eagle (minus Dave) to meet up with fakeplasticbear and Hot Scott. We got there a little early and decided to check out "Sean's Burgers" - a new burger stand near the bar. I totally got caught peeping at kids at a daycare center (I'm sure they'd never believe my excuse - I just wanted to check out their indoor playground I swear!). The burgers were, um... well... they were filling. I think Sean could use a little more meat in the burger part though.
Ok, so back to the Eagle where I was happy to see/find out that rexsteed was goin' to the show too. We had a few beers while waiting for Hot Scott to show up. We also watched Jeopardy which was later replaced by bareback porn (no wheel of fortune - it's totally for pussies).
When Scott got there we piled into my car and headed on over to The Avalon. It was full on Wicked night (and by that I mean that Wicked was playing around the corner) so parking was a little bit of a hassle but we worked it out and got inside a good 15/20 before MIKA went on. Unexpected surprise #1 - Rotten Robbie was there with his niece (she's the one who took this photo of the bears at Coachella in '06) and it was good to see them both again. RR was on the look out for Perez Hilton and was wearing a rainbow "I <3 PH" shirt - hee hee. I don't think he found him though.
So, the show was a hell of a lot of fun. Pretty much what I expected really. Mika's vocals are excellent live (the boy can sing) and the LA crowd was ALL about him. Singing back lyrics, jumping up and down - tons of energy. He did two covers - Sweet Dreams and a Jackson 5 song - so that added to what would have been a short set had he only played the songs on the album. I found him to be energetic and pretty darn sincere. It was a little staged though and I think that had a lot to do with his "band in a can" back-up band. They didn't have much to add to the performance so he really shined on stage. Even when he was at the keyboard you could tell he wanted to get up and shake his booty. Highlights for me were Love Today, Billy Brown, Big Girls, and Lollipop. Surprisingly enough Grace Kelly didn't quite translate live as well as I had hoped. For Lollipop (the encore), the band and Mika came out in animal costumes and danced to "Teddybear's Picnic" before taking off their heads and being joined on stage but a bunch of dancers in various costumes for the last song. They had a balloon drop with some BIG balloons and it was a nice way to end the night. Stars Spotted: Adrian Brody was right behind me to my left and Norman Lear (yes, Norman Lear).
After the show we went back to the Eagle. It was bigmusclebears.com night and the kick-off for LA Pride so there were all kinds o' woofy doods there. I ran into soundbear69 which was a nice surprise. I hadn't seen him since he gave me and Mikey a tour of the Wicked set when it was in SD last year. Was great getting to get to know him a little better (handsome fucker that he is). Side Note - I went on BMB the other day and re-upped my donation to them and updated my profile (beardumb is gone on BMB and BC - replaced by StealinUrWoofz). I added a bunch of new photos and, in theory, my profile should get Certified since I ran into Andy and Bill at the bar too.
After the bar Scott and I went home and crashed. I had to wake up early the next mornin' to drive back to SD. Wish I could have stayed out longer. Was havin' a great time!
Got back to SD on Saturday in time for the employee meeting at PECs (bar I work at). Rob, one of the bartender's got this shot of me on the fly - I've totally been Dad Safari'd! Meeting went quickly and I was able to split and get some last minute stuff for funbearsd's going away party.
The party was a total blast. We sent Jeff out in style without a doubt. Pretty much the entire gang was there including Josh from SF who was in town to visit Bryson. Too many LJers to list in a post that's already annoyingly long. I had a lot of fun DJing off and on (thanks DJ Mike for letting me sit in!) and gettin' in the pool and hottub with the fellas. thikstache took a bunch of photos. Here's a few - click for the rest:
Sunday I ran some errands and got my hairs cut. Then I headed on over the The Hole to have some beers with the boys. Had an excellent time as usual. I think we're getting used to having rxdoc here in San Diego - SF, watch out... we might just nab him and not let him go home next time. Also got to meet two handsome fellas from PHX (and BearCiti) who were in town on their way North. Todd and Brent (and a happy birthday to Todd today). Woof and Woof. They joined us at Pizza "Explosion" and then we all went our separate ways and called it a night. Here are some shots of bearxxl and I (with rxdoc and bnsd70) modeling funbearsd's glasses:
So yeah, it was a great weekend - too short as always.
So enough about me - how was your weekend?
So, on Friday I left Carlsbad around 2pm and headed North to LA. The always hospitable garycotti invited me to hang out with him 'til it was time for beers with our fellow Mika concert-goers so I went to WeHo - land of the stop lights, juicy bar/bois/clothes, and gross yogurt. Was nice to catch up with Gary. I'm super excited for him and the new program he was accepted into. It's a huge opportunity - very cool. A nice bonus awaited me when I got there too. None other than djmrswhite was in-house for the gifting of sheets and bedding for Gary (birthday). We talked about anatomy, clean socks, and the movies that we are all supposed to have seen but have not.
So, from there we headed over to The Eagle (minus Dave) to meet up with fakeplasticbear and Hot Scott. We got there a little early and decided to check out "Sean's Burgers" - a new burger stand near the bar. I totally got caught peeping at kids at a daycare center (I'm sure they'd never believe my excuse - I just wanted to check out their indoor playground I swear!). The burgers were, um... well... they were filling. I think Sean could use a little more meat in the burger part though.
Ok, so back to the Eagle where I was happy to see/find out that rexsteed was goin' to the show too. We had a few beers while waiting for Hot Scott to show up. We also watched Jeopardy which was later replaced by bareback porn (no wheel of fortune - it's totally for pussies).
When Scott got there we piled into my car and headed on over to The Avalon. It was full on Wicked night (and by that I mean that Wicked was playing around the corner) so parking was a little bit of a hassle but we worked it out and got inside a good 15/20 before MIKA went on. Unexpected surprise #1 - Rotten Robbie was there with his niece (she's the one who took this photo of the bears at Coachella in '06) and it was good to see them both again. RR was on the look out for Perez Hilton and was wearing a rainbow "I <3 PH" shirt - hee hee. I don't think he found him though.
So, the show was a hell of a lot of fun. Pretty much what I expected really. Mika's vocals are excellent live (the boy can sing) and the LA crowd was ALL about him. Singing back lyrics, jumping up and down - tons of energy. He did two covers - Sweet Dreams and a Jackson 5 song - so that added to what would have been a short set had he only played the songs on the album. I found him to be energetic and pretty darn sincere. It was a little staged though and I think that had a lot to do with his "band in a can" back-up band. They didn't have much to add to the performance so he really shined on stage. Even when he was at the keyboard you could tell he wanted to get up and shake his booty. Highlights for me were Love Today, Billy Brown, Big Girls, and Lollipop. Surprisingly enough Grace Kelly didn't quite translate live as well as I had hoped. For Lollipop (the encore), the band and Mika came out in animal costumes and danced to "Teddybear's Picnic" before taking off their heads and being joined on stage but a bunch of dancers in various costumes for the last song. They had a balloon drop with some BIG balloons and it was a nice way to end the night. Stars Spotted: Adrian Brody was right behind me to my left and Norman Lear (yes, Norman Lear).
After the show we went back to the Eagle. It was bigmusclebears.com night and the kick-off for LA Pride so there were all kinds o' woofy doods there. I ran into soundbear69 which was a nice surprise. I hadn't seen him since he gave me and Mikey a tour of the Wicked set when it was in SD last year. Was great getting to get to know him a little better (handsome fucker that he is). Side Note - I went on BMB the other day and re-upped my donation to them and updated my profile (beardumb is gone on BMB and BC - replaced by StealinUrWoofz). I added a bunch of new photos and, in theory, my profile should get Certified since I ran into Andy and Bill at the bar too.
After the bar Scott and I went home and crashed. I had to wake up early the next mornin' to drive back to SD. Wish I could have stayed out longer. Was havin' a great time!
Got back to SD on Saturday in time for the employee meeting at PECs (bar I work at). Rob, one of the bartender's got this shot of me on the fly - I've totally been Dad Safari'd! Meeting went quickly and I was able to split and get some last minute stuff for funbearsd's going away party.
The party was a total blast. We sent Jeff out in style without a doubt. Pretty much the entire gang was there including Josh from SF who was in town to visit Bryson. Too many LJers to list in a post that's already annoyingly long. I had a lot of fun DJing off and on (thanks DJ Mike for letting me sit in!) and gettin' in the pool and hottub with the fellas. thikstache took a bunch of photos. Here's a few - click for the rest:
Sunday I ran some errands and got my hairs cut. Then I headed on over the The Hole to have some beers with the boys. Had an excellent time as usual. I think we're getting used to having rxdoc here in San Diego - SF, watch out... we might just nab him and not let him go home next time. Also got to meet two handsome fellas from PHX (and BearCiti) who were in town on their way North. Todd and Brent (and a happy birthday to Todd today). Woof and Woof. They joined us at Pizza "Explosion" and then we all went our separate ways and called it a night. Here are some shots of bearxxl and I (with rxdoc and bnsd70) modeling funbearsd's glasses:
So yeah, it was a great weekend - too short as always.
So enough about me - how was your weekend?