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Christian
English Major
Writer
Thinker of odd things

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Weird Al, and team connectedness [Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, 10:34 pm]

So yes, I did get to have my little night of fun this summer after all. Last night I went down to NH with a friend from school and his friends to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert. We were only 6 rows back on the left side - so yeah, DJ is pretty much my favorite friend right now for getting ahold of those tickets

It was a great concert overall. Definitely benefited from a lot more production than most of the concerts I've been to. Al's a funny guy, that's for sure. And he has a pretty much never-ending wardrobe. He had a different outfit for pretty much every song segment, but it was funny. And he rode on a segway for "White & Nerdy"! There was even a huge TV screen behind him that showed us random clips from Al TV and other things, in between songs.

I guess that was the only minor complaint I would have about the evening - he didn't really talk to the audience that much. I think it's important for performers to establish some kind of connection like that. Not that I didn't enjoy his hilarious interview clips, etc. between songs (much better quality than youtube)... I mean, the guy does need time to change his outfit with all that he had going on. It just almost seemed like a cop-out of sorts, albeit an entertaining one. Like, "Hey I'm not going to talk to you tonight, but go ahead and watch this pre-recorded comedy segment that I've made!" But on the other hand, it was pretty much a "best of Weird Al" collection shown over the course of the night, so I was fine with it.

Okay, so I'm being too picky. It was a great night... and even at 50-ish-years-old, that guy can still rock out. Kinda like a Rolling Stone... only not quite. So it was a great birthday present.

The only downside was that this was about 3 hours away from my house... and with the concert getting over around 10:30, and it taking a while to get out of there... I didn't get home until after 2 a.m. And then I had to work at 7. So I got around 3 1/2 hours of sleep. And after 6 hours of cashiering, I went to eat some lunch and then went to play in two more church softball games.

We're in the playoffs now, and after winning one and losing one (it's double elimination), we somehow managed to hang on to the third game and advance to the second (and last) weekend.
I remember in Little League I used to pitch...and while there were times when that went better than others, I noticed that we tended to play the best when things got tense... when it came right down to it, and we realized we had a fighting chance. And I also noticed that the times I felt the most connected to the team were when I was talking it up, cheering, and encouraging others.

I found that to be the case this afternoon as well... it wasn't until the end of the 3rd game when we had to come from behind that we really started cheering more, and being more verbally supportive of each other. It's amazing how much of a difference that seems to make... it can't be a coincidence that it seems we always play better when that's going on. For one thing, I think it unnerves the other team somewhat. I know I always feel unnerved when the other team makes a lot of noise in support of its players. It also makes us feel more connected... more like a supportive unit than just a bunch of people playing a game. That's just how I see it... I certainly like that feeling, when it does come around.

It's amazing how spirit, feeling, and thoughts can change circumstances if you let them. That doesn't mean "positive" thoughts always make things better... but changing how you react to circumstances, regardless of their nature, will eventually have an effect on how they affect you... if that makes sense, and if I used my "a/effects" correctly.

wander -- travel

Miss anything?

Vitality - Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009
Soulfest 2009 - Sunday, Aug. 02, 2009
Politics and Poverty - Friday, Jul. 24, 2009
Michael Jackson - Monday, Jun. 29, 2009
Elegy for Spotty - Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009