In wristband heaven

Dressed half with work clothes and my pyjama bottoms I hear the bell ring at 8.15.
A-ha! I think. Could it be?
I rush to the intercom and with a hoarse-sleepy voice I say "Who is it?"
"Hi Marietta, it's Rachel and Pete, personally delivering your tickets and passes!"
Ok, that was during my dream. The real answer was
"Postman. You have a Special Delivery"
I open the door and sign with trembling hands. I look at the "from" label, sorry lable ;), and there it was in blue: Eeel Pie!

I take the jiffy envelope to the light before opening it and I see a very long thin thing inside.
????
I open it and I couldn't understand what I was looking at. A gold plastic strip, with holes in it and Hyde Park Calling printed alongside. What is it, God? Have they sent me the wrong thing? I didn't want a suitcase tag, I wanted two tickets with two big fat stickers saying "Guest" like my friend Haribomort had. And it's one. Only one. What am I going to tell my friend? He was so excited... There is no note, nothing, I am so ashamed to bug Rachel again. HEEEEELP!

But, the more I looked at it the more I started to understand. Hang on a minute. This splits. This is two in one. And then I remembered in Leeds people wearing in their hands something similar. And those were the people that went backst... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!
YES! Now I knew...
It took me a while, but it finally dawned on me. These are special wristbands (for special people) that work as passes....................................................!
My God, SHE'S DONE IT!
My sweet Rachel, this wonderful creature sent from Heaven, the most generous lady on earth, has sent me the best gift ever!!!!
I started dancing in the middle of the room, laughing at my naivity and ignorance. And happy, so so happy!

A lot of you understand how much this means to me. It's beyond the beyond!
I immediately sent a comment to Rachel to thank her and sent a text message to my friend that everything is all right, the dream is just beginning...
I had to get ready for work. I couldn't stop smiling. I hopped on the train and looked outside the window, while listening to Rachel's songs. I was in wristband heaven.

Best fucking summer of my life!

Aaah! La musica!!!

Today I had an epiphany.
I listened to our fellow blogger Gary's song Bermondsey. Not for the first time though.
The first time it was through my laptops little speakers. I liked it very much, I think Gary has a big musical talent.
Today though, after the Attic show and the Who live show, when I always connect my laptop to my 5.1 surround system, I received an email from Claire Eliza to join her group's The Marquee MySpace page. The kids are more than alright!
So, after surfing here and there in MySpace, I clicked on Gary's page.

An amazing music came through my speakers. Loud, clear, terrific! I dropped everything I was doing ( putting the pizza in the oven if you must know) and listened to the song again and again.
It is amazing and has a very beautiful melody.
If you haven't listened yet go now!

So, I decided to create my own IAC station, for fun, but also, to be able to send the link to family and friends to listen to great music. Of course, I have included our favourites, Rachel, Mikey, Casbah Club, Foy Vance, Gary of course, and little by little I will add more worthy artists.
It is called - what else? Panacea Radio.
Click on the image below to go and listen now!

How do you follow perfection?

I WILL KEEP THIS POST UP, AS LONG AS I FEEL NEEDED, AS A SUPPORT TO THE ONE AND ONLY PETE TOWNSHEND.
I HOPE HE FINDS IT AND READS IT, TO CHEER HIM UP.

PETE, THIS IS ONE OF THE MANY POSITIVE WRITINGS ABOUT YOU.

W E L O V E Y O U !

12o photos can be seen here!

Leeds, 17th of June, 2006

The time is 15:45 and I enter the gates of my University. My body is filled with goose bumps. The first reason was because I was back at Leeds Uni after 13 years. I graduated in 93 and have never come back.

The second reason...you all know now.
My boys were there.
After meeting and greeting with lots of Bloggers and Shouters, I queued up to watch the unveiling of the blue plaque. The heat was sweltering, my mouth was dry and people were coming out of the Refectory, announcing that the ceremony would start soon. At 4:00, the programme said, at 4:30 someone said, then at 5:00.

A little after 5:30 a lot of commotion:
Cameramen getting ready (in front of me, blocking my view!), photographers (ditto) lots of other people and then finally........

MY BOYS!

Roger looking more handsome than EVER and Pete looking smashing, smiling, relaxed.
The people went bananas. So did I...A few welcoming speeches and then the two Men of Honour unveiled the blue plaque. The flashing cameras and the applause were falling like thunder. I managed to get a little footage on my camera, but everybody was blocking me so it is very little.
But I was very happy and honoured to be there.

After chit-chatting with Tony, aka Haribomort, the winner of Rachel's competition for Leeds, I strolled down the road to the Fenton pub, where I met fellow blogger Adam and his lovely wife Gaynor. They are such fantastic people! Lots of other Who fans were there. We drank, laughed and talked about The Who. The excitement was building up.....

THE CONCERT!

The time was 7 o'clock. Adam, Gaynor and I decided to return to the University and go to the Refectory for the gig.
When we arrived the queue was going around the building and then for about four thousand miles or so... "Splendid" I thought. I won't be able to see anything.

Little by little we moved forward. Finally, we turned the corner and we reached the door. I stepped into the Refectory and for my delight, I saw only a small gathering of people in front of the stage. Everybody else was at the bar!!!!
I went closer and I squeezed at the side of the second row. In front of me: two very tall guys. I tapped on one's shoulder and said Hi! He said Hi too. I said I can't see. He said I'll lean over. I said You'll hurt your back. He laughed and did...NOTHING. My mood was ruined.

At 8:30-ish the lights went down and the people went berserk. I could see the tops of Pete and Roger, little bit of Zak, very little of Simon and a lot of Pino (actually the whole Pino)
I can't watch the show like that, I thought, so I took out my camera and re-tapped the guy's shoulder. I showed him my camera. He tried to signal that he will take pictures, but I signaled back "Oh, no you won't" and gestured I wanted to get to the front. The guy behind me showed me a little space just on my right and front. I moved forward.
Before I knew it, another guy stepped back and WHAM! I WAS AT THE VERY FRONT!

I just couldn't believe it... Never before in my life, I have been front row in a Who concert.
I started jumping while snapping pictures, singing, sweatting, screaming.

The boys were unbelieveable!

Setlist:

Who Are You
Can't Explain
The Seeker
Substitute
Wire & Glass
Sound Around
Pick Up The Peace
Endless Wire
We've Got A Hit
They Made My Dreams Come True
Mirror Door
Baba O'Reilly
Relay
Behind Blue Eyes
Let's See Action
Naked Eye
Cry If You Want
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
See Me
Listening To You

Encores:

Eminence Front
Won't Get Fooled Again

They had such energy, I couldn't stop screaming. The people around me were going mad too.
I looooooved the new material. It sounded amazing live and I can't wait to buy the new CD!
Baba O'Riley was great. Cry If You Want, The Seeker, Naked Eye and Relay were fantastic surprises.
When they did the Tommy segment I was gone completely. Sparks was electrifying.
By Listening To You, I thought that I reached God! I was out of my body, out of this world, out of it completely.

Then Won't Get Fooled Again for the absolute climax.
And then it ended.
And we wanted more.
I wanted more.

But it ended.

So, how do you follow perfection?

We'll all find out on the 2nd of July...

LONG LIVE ROCK!!!!!

HERE WE GO!

That's where I'll be tomorrow baby, and I don't care about anything. Click on the title to see..

Next blog will be on Sunday. FULL REPORT!!!!

If I'm still alive.

LOL

What else?

I was robbed off my mobile phone today.
I was on the train, going to work and while I was texting a friend, a hand grabbed my phone. I turned around and I saw 4-5 teenagers running off the train. I went to the door and screamed at them, but the doors closed and the train took off. The kids were laughing at me and they run away. I went back to my seat with tears in my eyes.
Thankfully, a few passengers recognised their emblem on their blazers and knew the name of the school. A very helpful fellow passenger called the police and I reported the robbery and then we called the school and I gave them my details.
Then I went to the Transport Police at Victoria and gave a statement. Hopefully I will hear something soon. I also called my mobile provider so they can block the phone. Maybe those kids would phone China or Ghana, more possibly.

I am devastated. I had all my contacts in my phone's memory. I will never retrieve some of them...
I have to wait for a replacement phone now ... Stupid kids, I hope they get punished.

First my computer crashing, now this. What else is there going to happen to me? I am scared.

Brand new start

I lost all my data today.
Everything.
My music, my iTunes downloads, my photos, my, my, my.

All due to a defective portable hard drive which I purchased only 20 days ago.


Someone has suggested to write a weeping, yet quite assertive email to iTunes, to recover my purchased downloads. I will first of all take my pitiful hd back to Dixons and ask them to find me a solution. Or else.
And if nothing happens with them, then I will write to iTunes.

To tell you the truth, I don't really care.
I spent the day today restoring my computer. All over again, I have a new empty hard disk (not the portable one, the C:/ drive). I have succesfully installed most of my software.
I am actually very happy to see my computer as snappy as it was when I bought it four years ago. I click on something and it actually works. I got rid of all the crappy sub-folders and extensions and plug-ins that clattered my C drive.

I am ready for In The Attic tomorrow! (That was my major concern).
Everything works fine (fingers crossed). The only problem is that I finish work at 6.15 tomorrow, so I'll miss the beginning.

I might see you all at the chatroom, when I get home.

I ♥ technology... when it works.

Can you feel the force?

It's happening!
It's very near!
We get news every day!
Exciting news!

MY BOYS ARE GETTING READY!!!!

photo taken from Pete Townshend's website

Tracie (Rachel's PA) after the confusion with Spain and several emails has confirmed that she is sending me tickets for Hyde Park Calling. I am so happy about it! I wish and hope I can attend another UK show, but with my work commitments it looks really pale. I am dying to go to the Leeds University gig, since I studied there and it will also be a revival of Live At Leeds. But, again, it's very VERY difficult...

I am taking a very good friend of mine to the Hyde Park concert with me, someone who loves The Who as much as I do (if possible) and who has influenced me a lot about their music.
I owe him a lot and this is the least I could do!

Rumour (very distant and very vague) has it that The Who are playing MSG at Thanksgiving weekend. If that is the case I will do my best to go to USA for 10 days for that show and probably the LA show. I will do my debt, I mean my best, lol.
That means I will finally meet a lot of you. Fingers crossed I'll make it!

The joy that my boys bring me is something I cannot put into words. I listen to The Who every single day, every morning on my way to work, every time I go back home. They make me feel so happy, their music fills me with ecstatic feelings, I fly!
And when I see them live is like I own the world, I don't care about anything else.

I owe Pete, Roger, Keith and John the way I look at life.