Jenelle.net Blog

My concert experiences have been a little excessive of late and the blogging of them has been virtually non-existent.

In a nutshell, I have been able to experience Brooks and Dunn, Jon Stevens and Ian Moss, The Black Crowes and the Foo Fighters. Coming up on the calendar is the James Reyne and Mark Seymour gig as well as seeing Diesel. I’ve left the best for last as it is going to be a while until I ever see any of them play again so I might as well enjoy it while I can!

I’ll start my ‘reviews’ with Brooks and Dunn at Rod Laver Arena.

Arriving at the car park and parking at the G was a different experience as the carpark resembled a ute muster. Walking through the crowd, the audience were what one would describe as hardcore country and a lot different to the mix that was at the Keith Urban show. There were many people who travelled hundreds of kilometres and it was easy to anticipate they would ensure they would make the most of every minute.

The setlist was something like this -

Little Miss Honkytonk
You can’t take the Honkytonk out of the girl
There ain’t nothin’ bout you
Mamma don’t get dressed up for nothin’
Neon Moon
Hillbilly Deluxe
Building Bridges
She likes to get out of town
Rock my world little country girl
Your gonna miss me when I’m gone
Lost and Found
Proud of the house we built
My Maria
Brand New Man
Husbands and Wives
Red Dirt Road
That’s what she gets for loving me
It’s getting better all the time
Believe
Play something Country
Boot Scootin’ Boogie

A good mix of old and new, ballads and country rock.

This concert really surprised me - they were so energetic and really put on a great show and I think they could understand the real appreciation of many of the people there who, I got the feeling, had waited a long time to see them live. It was one of the most active audiences I had experienced in sucn an impersonal place as Rod Laver Arena is. Couples were dancing in the upper walkways and groups of friends were just having an amazing time. All in all it was a very happy, very entertaining concert that was a pleasure to attend.

You can view the rest of my photos here.

Diamond Bike - OffCutts

I know I still have to do my Hawaii blogs but lets fast forward a little bit.

Tomorrow night I will be attending the Brooks and Dunn concert. While I am not a huge follower, any time someone country-ish actually flies all the way out here, it is a necessity to go and see them.

Late last year I got working on my concert lists. I will make this a page on the blog but thought I would share. While I don’t think this is every show I have seen, it is a good roll call. Were you at any of these shows?

6 February 1991 - Kylie - Rhythm of Love
1992 - Jimmy Barnes - Soul Deep
1994 - John Farnham
October 1995 - Hard Rock Cafe Opening - Diesel, The Badloves, Boz Scaggs
10 November 1995 - Bon Jovi w/ Jimmy Barnes
1996 - The Badloves w/ Leonardo’s Bride
9 February 1996 - Chris Isaak
1997 - Jimmy Barnes
1997 - Diesel special acoustic at the Hard Rock Cafe
September 1997 - Bush
11 October 1997 - Mark Seymour
31 October 1997 - Paul Hester and the Largest Living Things
11 January 1998 - Hoodoo Gurus w/ Died Pretty
22 March 1998 - Hunters and Collectors w/ The Fauves
28 March 1998 - Mark Seymour
5 July 1998 - Mark Seymour
12 July 1998 - Mark Seymour
19 July 1998 - Mark Seymour
26 July 1998 - Mark Seymour
10 August 1998 - Mark Seymour
23 August 1998 - Billy Miller
14 November 1998 - Mushroom 25
19 December 1998 - Mark Seymour
31 December 1999 - Welcome 2000
2000 - INXS with Jon Stevens
13 May 2000 - Dave Hole
1 July 2000 - Renee Geyer
26 August 2000 - Mark Seymour
24 April 2001 - Kylie on a night like this
4 May 2001 - Kylie on a night like this
20 May 2001 - Last Show at the Continental
24 June 2001 - Renee Geyer, Vika and Linda
15 August 2002 - Kylie - Fever
12 October 2002 - M-One
8 November 2002 - Midnight Oil w/ Diesel
28 January 2003 - Underworld
19 July 2003 - Birtles Shorrock Goble
29 September 2003 - The Dixie Chicks
1 November 2003 - Renee Geyer w/ Mia Dyson
23 February 2004 - Fleetwood Mac
24 February 2004 - Fleetwood Mac
27 May 2004 - Sarah McLachlan
8 October 2004 - Chris Isaak
2005 - Renee Geyer
21 March 2005 - Dave Matthews Band
29 May 2005 - Mark Seymour and James Reyne
3 November 2005 - Diesel
8 December 2005 - Mark Seymour
2006 - Diesel with Strings
18 February 2006 - Stevie Nicks
10 March 2006 - Gaither Homecoming
17 March 2006 - Dropkick Murphys
17 April 2006 - Wayne Newton
11 June 2006 - Split Enz
23 June 2006 - Diesel
29 June 2006 - Mark Seymour
8 September 2006 - Countdown Spectacular
19 September 2006 - INXS
17 October 2006 - Zep Boys w/ Orchestra Victoria
8 November 2006 - Chris Isaak
17 February 2007 - Grand Ole Opry (Brad Paisley)
22 March 2007 - Diesel
7 April 2007 - Red Hot Chili Peppers
8 April 2007 - Red Hot Chili Peppers
10 April 2007 - Red Hot Chili Peppers
14 April 2007 - Mondo Rock
18 May 2007 - Keith Urban
19 September 2007 - Silverchair/Powderfinger
27 September 2007 - Mark Seymour
1 November 2007 - Diesel
9 November 2007 - Crowded House
5 March 2008 - Brooks & Dunn
29 March 2008 - Black Crowes
5 April 2008 - Ian Moss/Jon Stevens
26 April 2008- Foo Fighters

Yes, it is Groundhog Day!

Even though I am nowhere near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania at the moment, today is a big deal!

If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, then winter will be here for another six weeks.

This morning - he saw his shadow! Six more weeks of cold! Yay!

This is what happened last year (an early Spring was predicted) - check out the crowds and media!

What is even crazier? Check out the logistical information if you want to actually go there to see this happen!

Previously, it was hard to EVER top the Old Navy ‘Stripes all round’ ad that, from the minute I first saw it back on the 2006 Holiday, it has stuck ever since. To see what I am talking about click here -

But it may have been topped. I think the first night I got to DC, I saw one of the Freecreditreport.com ads and I have been hooked ever since. So Freecreditreport.com takes out equal 1st with both of their ads!

Here is the restaurant ad -

And here is the one driving the car -

Coming in at 2nd is the one from IO Digital Cable which I reckon played every 10 minutes on TV while I was in New York and it works. I know that number by heart -

Worst ad ever has to be the one that has been showing here in Hawaii - seriously there is nothing more annoying - I CAN’T STAND IT!!!! “Run in the fields, I love girlfriends, I love boyfriends” What the? Pfft!

Click to see the ad for Jeans Warehouse here.

I decided to do a video blog for this post!

Enjoy - live from Hawaii!

Note: My luggage has finally arrived - weather in Hawaii has been a ‘blast of wintry chill’ according to the news, lots of wind and rain but there was a nice spot of time, where I was able to do some discovering!

I began typing this on the Amtrak from DC to New York. Last night our study tour ended with a party at a local bar, the Santa Fe. We all had a fantastic time and it was an ideal place to let our hair down before we all went our separate ways. The photos from the night are up on Flickr. On to New York!

The Union Station Amtrak experience was just.. ridiculous. Queues of people, no public address system giving useful and clear information, they keep everyone queued up into the main area so they block everywhere else. I had to load my 100 pounds of luggage up the high train steps and then onto the carriage as there was not one person around who could assist me. Then I had to somehow lift this up onto the luggage hold area as well. I am strong but you have to be kidding me. I am not sure what their reasoning is for just not having checked luggage but it was absolutely ridiculous. Not everyone is a business traveler with only a briefcase and complete opposes every other Amtrak experience I have had. It seems that the North East corridor on Amtrak is definitely not friendly to the actual traveler who has luggage!

Also the announcements are barely a whisper so it is impossible to understand what is going on. Silly Jenelle was half asleep and woke up to see ‘Penn Station’ out the window. MY STOP! I ran down the carriage and somehow, managed to get my big suitcase off the rack in one swoop and literally throw it off the train and onto the platform and then I grabbed my 2nd bag and hauled that straight out the door and jumped the 3 steps off. It was then that one of the attendants saw me - as I was looking around thinking “Wait - this doesn’t seem like Penn Station… it is too quiet”. The attendant then looked at me and said “Girl - what you doin’ gettin’ off the train at Newark?” Still waking up I replied - “New York Penn Station?” He then replied “Girl you gotta get back on that train - New York Penn Station is the next stop. So get this… Newark and New York (both sound the same over a muffled speaker) are next to each other and both call themselves Penn Station. Go figure! So again, I hauled my masses of luggage up those crummy train stairs and embarrassingly slid back into my chair.

Now for New York, I was all booked in for my usual resting place, the Big Apple Hostel. In that last week at Maryland I ended up checking out one of those last minute travel sites and up came the Pod Hotel with an average of $70 per night for my stay. I was looking at about $110 per night with a shared bathroom at the Big Apple! Whoa! So I booked it. And what a great decision as I think you could tell from my Flickr photos - the place is pretty spesh.

The only issue I had was with slamming doors - it got a bit frustrating as the walls are paper thin, one night the people in the next room would not shut up and the housekeeping crew (who were all wonderful and did an amazing job!) when they would be firing up the industrial vacuum and knocking on every door saying ‘Housekeeping’ from9am onwards. Especially on a weekend, I think that is harsh especially in a place that has no noise insulation at all. I ended up keeping my ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on at all times at least hoping that people may be a bit quiet if they know someone is in the room. But - my room, for one person, is absolutely perfect and the location. Also perfect. I would definitely return, but I’m not sure if I would pay the $160-ish or so that a room like that would normally go for.

Sunday in New York managed a very late sleep in and lots of laying in bed, eating fruit that I bought off 2nd Avenue and doing a bit of a (chilly) walk around midtown before catching up with some of the other RMIT students who had returned to New York. We planned to go out for dinner and meeting at the M&M’s store in Times Square while it was about -5000 degrees was fun! I suggested we check out ESPN Zone so we could catch the Giants Vs Packers game but - there was about 5 million other people that had the same idea. Guill suggested the Olive Garden - 45 minute wait. I then suggested Indian at my favourite little place - Bombay Masala on W 49th. Up those dodgy stairs and there were only a few tables taken! Yay! On past trips, I have done multiple visits to Bombay Masala and went Ev and I were staying at the Radio City Apartments we were there a little too often. One of the waiters ended up getting to know me on that trip and on our last night in New York when Ev and I decided to celebrate with… Bombay Masala… he jammed my takeout bag with lots of goodies and ice-cream.

Returning to the restaurant with ‘the crew’ I couldn’t believe it when we had that same waiter and he remembered me! Ha! We ordered a multitude of different dishes and have a good time catching up and debriefing the whole two weeks at Maryland. Silly me didn’t take any photos but it was lovely catching up without thinking of class the next day. The trek back to the hotel was frightfully cold - even on the subway that normally provides some decent warmth! But at the same time, New York at night is just beautiful and I didn’t mind feeling my snot basically freeze in my nose to see all those city lights!

Note: my bag still hasn’t showed up and the weather here in Waikiki is blustery, rainy but still warm! Now.. back to New York..

After the late Thursday night my eyes could barely open when it came to the alarm going off at 6.30am to head to Fox News. Yes, you guessed it - another taping. Ha! I was meeting Todd there at 7.30ish for the Mike and Juliet show - an hour morning show, shown every morning across the country. Again, it was a day of a really decent wintry blast and the best thing on these days is to simply stay in bed and watch re-runs of ‘The real housewives of Orange Country’ (My guilty pleasure show..).

We met up at the ‘Green Room’ for a sugar binge from Au Bon Pain courtesy of Mr R. Murdoch, in the corridors of Fox News HQ on Avenue of the Americas, while we waited to enter the studio. We were all walked into the studio where, you guessed it, we were sat right in the front row! This was beginning to worry me a little bit because if anyone in the USA happens to be a bit of a TV addict, the would see me from 9-10am on Friday morning and then 11am on Monday morning whilst on Martha. Eeek! Thank goodness I wore different outfits! Anyway again, there was a comedian to do the 10 minute warm-up which was a lot different to what I had experienced last year at the show where the warm up went for about 40 minutes! Anyway they had a dance competition - Todd got called up to represent the guys with two others and I got called up to represent the girls with two others. Sheesh! Anyway we all got t-shirts for our bum-wiggling expertise.

As Sinatra says, the best was yet to come! The guest today on the show - GERALDO RIVERA!

Geraldo let fly in a segment on Drew Peterson and got a huge reaction from the audience. Two other segments they had on the show was a mother who is jealous of her daughter and then a wife who is learning to cope with finances now that she is a stay at home mother. They then had John Schnieder on as a guest - he is a current cast member of Chicago and Nip-Tuck (Nadine!!) as a guest but because of time constraints (live television) he was on for basically a nanosecond!

BUT - you can see him and us (!) here!

Leaving the show we got to meet Mike and Juliet and when we were crossing 46th who was also crossing? GERALDO ! Again! Todd spotted him and I think I just… froze. Even without the cold weather it would’ve been the same reaction!

We ended up at the dodgiest Dunkin’ Donuts in Times Square just to beat the cold where we ate rubber eggs in bagels and then decided it was time for a trip to the Apple store. You know you have a way-cool-cab-driver when he can give you the ins and outs of the three Apple stores in Manhattan. Note to self: I must check out the Meatpacking store when I return next. Todd and I spent way too much time playing with the iPhone - I really like it but the typing feature worries me if I was using it every day like I am used to for SMS and email. What I do love about the iPhone is my syncing would be even better than it is now - as I am an iCal addict and live my life through my Apple address book the iPhone would just fit into this setup perfectly. I can’t see myself using the iPod feature of it though. If it had been in stock, Todd would have purchased the Macbook Air. But there are two more weeks to wait. Eeek. My concerns are the lack of a CD drive (have to buy it separately) and only one USB port. To me, it would be the perfect second computer - basically how I use my Macbook at the moment. All of the heavy duty stuff is done on the iMac with the Macbook being the convenient partner in crime. Later on, I did find out that Todd bought the Bose Quiet comfort headphones for the long trip - I should be getting kickbacks from Bose for the sales I have done for them!

One thing I desperately needed was a pedicure as my feet were starting to hurt and I didn’t want to be on the beach in Hawaii with not-glossy-toenails so I had a 2 hour experience at this little salon near the hotel that did end up overcharging me but I couldn’t be bothered arguing and ruining my state of podiatry blissfulness! They knew I wouldn’t be back again and did take advantage of my accent BUT it was still way cheaper and way better than any Melbourne Mani/Pedi I have had so really, deep down, no complaints!

Apologies that all these posts are a little out of order - but at the moment I have just made it to Hawali. I have been awake for 22.5 hours and am still going strong!! Yay!!

But, yes I survived LAX and am safely located on the beautiful island of Hawaii, although it hasn’t been without its dramas!

The minute I stepped onto the Hawaiian Airlines plane I was in island mode! The gorgeous Hawaiian music reminded me of playing on Aunty Shirl and Uncle Wal’s old stand up organ on the ’steel string guitar’ setting when I was a little girl and also of my ukulele that I had back then as well. (Mum - whatever happened to my little ukulele?) Aunty Shirl and Uncle Wal also had a hibiscus plant at the front of their house that I would pick the flowers off and I am excited that this week, I can get away with wearing flowers in my hair just like Nadine and I would do every night when we would pick our outfits for Heat!

The best part of the flight was the beverages - PINEAPPLE JUICE!!! Ohhhh I skulled two cans of it. *oops* It was the real thing, not from concentrate - just beautiful yum yum pineapple juice. I now feel half normal!

On both the flight from NY to LA and LA to Hawaii I was seated in the ‘middle three’ of a 2-3-2 plane layout but both times I was on the aisle with no-one in the middle. I never realised how wonderful plane travel could be without someone in the next seat - or without the seat in front being fully reclined. To me, the flying has been blissful with just that extra little bit of room. A big difference to the cattle-like feel of the Qantas flight to LA.

Landing at Honolulu was strange. The airport has the feel of the old Dental hospital in Melbourne. Very 70s feel to it. We walked. And walked. And walked some more to the baggage claim. One case arrived. The other hasn’t. The one that is missing is the one with my bathers, my summer gear, my Birkenstocks, my toiletries and my books. So I am stuck with two knee length LL Bean Coats, a polar fleece, all my thermals, boots and about four turtlenecks and three jumpers to enjoy Hawaii in. Hopefully it will turn up tomorrow, otherwise I am going to have to go and get some summery tops as it is 11pm and still warm… well warm compared to New York!

I haven’t even planned anything to do in Hawaii. Pearl Harbour definitely. A luau definitely. A day trip definitely. And lots of doing nothing. Definitely.

I actually can’t believe I am, in reality, on my way home. Sheesh - it feels like an eternity ago that I was in that classroom at Maryland on our first day.

Thursday morning I was up somewhat early to get ready to head down to Chelsea to see Martha Stewart. It isn’t as if I could show up in tracksuit pants to the taping. As the audience confirmation email states -

Women: Dress to impress. Dressy and fun— a chic dress, dressy jeans, or trendy and fashionable outfits are suggested. Bright colors photograph best.
Recommended: Dress shoes/heels.

Men: Dress to impress. Polo- type shirts or a button- up shirt are best, with or without a blazer or jacket- it’s your call.

DO NOT WEAR: T-shirts, large printed logos on shirts or pants, white shirts, or wild prints. No hats, sleeveless tops, gym sneakers.

The thing with these tv show tapings is the waiting. The waiting. And more waiting. I joined the queue of women (with three or four older men who had been obviously, dragged along) and again more standing in the cold. Unlike the Daily Show, Martha allows cameras into the studio so I was hoping to get some better pictures of the studio than what I got last time. After going through security and getting my ticket, there was more waiting. Though, Martha caters! We got evian water and these delightfully fresh huge sugar cookies! The waiting area has plenty of chairs and around the room are photos that Martha has taken herself - photos of winter at her property, autumn photos and lovely scenic shots. Everything is so professional - a great coat check facility is provided that is so well organised and her staff are in control the whole time.

Basically the show would run like this -

Segment 1 - Letters to Martha - the perfect boiled egg and removing cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls

Segment 2 & 3 - Bill Bradley - AWESOME! A former New Jersey Senator and Presidential Candidate, Rhodes Scholar and former player for the Knicks. He was fantastic!

Segment 3 & 4 - Chef Jonathan Waxman - my kind of chef! He and Martha are old pals and he was just great! His roast chicken, mashed potatoes and spinach were truly mouth watering.

Segment 5 - Hand puppets with the the most ADORABLE little girl ever.

Segement 6 - In Case of Emergency (ICE) on the your mobile phone.

It was time to enter the studio and I really did nearly faint when they put me in the FRONT ROW! I got a lot of ohhs and ahhs when they were asking everyone who was from where and I yelled out “Australia”! They had me speak into the microphone where got a lot of responses of “Ohhh we love your accent!” Accents are strange because obviously it isn’t an accent for me, but for some reason, on this trip, a lot of people have been asking about it. I think I simply sound like I sound. So it is strange when it comes back at you when you don’t even think about it.

There were also a huge group of ladies with big hair, wearing pink who I thought were from somewhere in Alabama, but ended up being from Beaumont, Texas. (Hey, close enough?!) And there was a lady who was so proud of the fact she was from Des Moines, Iowa she kept shouting it aloud! For the puppet making segment I was no more than two metres away from Martha herself! Whoa! The show ran really well and the only difference to when I went to the Martha show last time was that as this one was not live, Martha stopped and restarted her introductions a couple of times. When it was time to demonstrate the ICE on the phone, she started and said “No - I don’t like this phone - lets use an iPhone!” Go Martha!

We got freebies as well! Oh yay! I then had to bolt out of the cosy studios into the the brisk NY afternoon to race up 8th to get to the TKTS booth to see if I could grab some tickets to Avenue Q. As Todd from Melbourne was also in NY we decided to see that play. I was anticipating another long wait in a queue but there was no-one there. Got the tickets and was able to head back to the Pod to escape the chill and relax a little before showtime.

Avenue Q was fantastic - I think just because it is so different. I won’t rehash the storyline but you can read about it via Wikipedia. We didn’t have time to grab something to eat beforehand so there was some tummy rumbles happening but it was just a really good show. We headed into Junior’s for a bite after the show - Matzo Ball soup to warm up and for me Mac Cheese. Nothing better than eating bright orange pasta at after 11pm! Then you wouldn’t believe who also decided to head to Junior’s? That huge group of ladies from Beaumont, Texas! In the whole of New York, we’re all in the same place.

Heading back to the hotel I had some strern words with a group of what seemed like ex-Frat guys thinking they were all that and could speak to me whatever way they wanted to, and then cracked it majorly with a cab driver who thought I was some dumb tourist who he tried to get a bigger fare out of. Last time I checked 54th didn’t come before 51st! It was way after 1am-ish when I finally crashed and guess what? Yes.. I had to be up early on Friday - but for a good reason!