Presumed to be awesome.

It's Fun Friday, the Music Edition! :)

:: (This one's for azewewish. *g*) George Michael has joined Twitter! @GeorgeMichael. I'm greatly amused. Y'all know this is gonna be good times!

:: Speaking of George Michael, next week he's releasing a single, a cover of "True Faith," with the proceeds to benefit Comic Relief. OMGYAY!!! New George Michael on my iPod sooooon!!!!!!!! *bounces*

:: And speaking of my favorite musicians doing awesome things for awesome causes, Adam's dropping a remix of Aftermath next week to benefit The Trevor Project. Aftermath is the PERFECT song for this and I can't wait to hear this new dance remix. And, bonus! He'll be performing on American Idol next Thursday!!! He's doing an acoustic version of Aftermath (which made me cry pretty much every time I heard it on tour). Adam on my TV again!!!!!! *bounces more*

:: [GLEE SONG SPOILERS!!! Scroll on by if you don't want to know.] Darren Criss, Chris Colfer, and the Warblers are singing Neon Trees' "Animal" in next week's Glee episode and I pretty much LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!! I love Chris singing in his lower register and he and Darren sound fabulous together and there's growliness and the arrangement is awesome and yeah, just so much love! I think I've replayed this about a 20 times since it came out this morning. That trend is probably going to continue.

:: And Darren is doing a show in L.A. later this month!!!! I am so ridiculously excited about this! And I'm a little amused that fandom doesn't seem to have clued in on this performance, so maybe we'll have a low-key crowd. *hopes*

:: Also, Darren and Charlene Kaye are totes my musical OTP. I love them so, so much! ( Dress and Tie Music Video Adorableness!!! )

:: Ok, I have no idea where this came from or who these dudes are. This just appeared on my Tumblr dash this morning, but, holy wow, y'all have to hear this! I was going to say that it's perhaps the best cover of "Smooth Criminal" that I've ever heard, but it's more than that. This is like sex. ( Really hot, angry sex...with cellos! )

:: Also, Adele. Still haven't taken "21" off of repeat. So. Damn. Good. I'm so bummed that there isn't a show on her tour anywhere near me though. *sadface*

So, now it's your turn! Tell me all about YOUR musical happy place! What are you listening to? What shows are you looking forward to? What's happening with your favorite musicians? I wanna know!!!!!! :D

So, yeah, the week has been fairly craptastic. And now it seems as if I managed to catch the latest round of crud, so I'm feeling all sniffly and feverish. But, regardless, I'm determined to be in a better mood, dammit! So, this is me, doing my best to sparkle harder. *g*

Of course, that means a Happy List! \o/

- I've got some truly fabulous, sparkly, purple nail polish on today and just looking at it makes me happier. *stares at sparkly nails*

- My client this morning was so happy and grateful for the work I did on his case. It's pretty freakin' awesome when the work you do really does make a difference in people's lives! Plus he and his partner were simply adorable and I just wanted to keep them in my pocket! ♥

- Apparently Chad Ochocinco will be competing on Dancing with the Stars this season! This just cracks my shit up! *laughs and laughs* Also, Chad is no Jason Taylor. I'm just sayin'.

- In a glee-inducing confluence of fannish obsessions: Adam Lambert is in Australia this week and scheduled to perform at Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras sometime today (tomorrow? -- not sure exactly). And, word on the street is that George Michael will also be there and that the two will meet!!!!!! Eeeee!!! This makes my little fannish heart go all pitter-patter! There had better be pictures of this awesomeness!

- AND!!! And this is the sparkliest of all! Adam's bonus track, "Voodoo," which is available on the international release of For Your Entertainment, hit the web last night and it's FABULOUS!!! Check it out:



Oh, man, I cannot wait to hear that live! (Also, if anyone hasn't found a download link and you want it, hit me up with your email and I'll send it to you.)

ETA: ( Voodoo lyrics )

- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, idiosyncratic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope the year ahead brings lots of happiness your way, baby! *mwah*

- My clients are idiots. This is reconfirmed on an almost daily basis. Most of them deserve exactly what they get. A few of them are despicable in every way and I wouldn't let them near anyone I held dear. But some of them? Some of them really break my heart. I know. I'm a sap.

- The All-Star Game yesterday was a great one. Excellent pitching. Some fabulous defensive plays. Really fun to watch. But I'd sort of like to see the National League win, you know, like once every decade or so! *shakes head*

- After the late finish of the All-Star game last night, I stayed up even later watching George Michael: A Different Story. I had to watch it on my laptop because I'm an idiot and didn't realize I was buying a Region 2 DVD. But even on my tiny laptop screen it was awesome and made me love George even more!!! *draws sparkly hearts*

- I get editorzon later today!!! *bounces* I'm so excited! And tomorrow we're catching a midnight showing of The Dark Knight!!!! *bounces more*

- I really want to watch "Generation Kill." I also want to be able to keep up with "Brotherhood" next season. I think this means I need to get both HBO and Showtime. Soon. Like this afternoon.

- There's lots of baseball lined up this weekend. On Friday night I'm taking the familia out to the game -- my mom, my brother, my SIL, Rianna and Rhyan. Rhyan will be taking in her first baseball game at 4 months!!! And Rianna is very excited both that she gets to wear her new game shirt and that there will be fireworks after game. I'm just hoping the Diamondbacks can remember that they did have an offensive game once upon a time. On Saturday technosage and I will be taking in the second game of the Dbacks/Dodgers series. There will be Bob Melvin bobble heads involved! *glee*

- Next week is Comic Con!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really didn't think that the L.A. show was going to be able to surpass the experience of Sunday night. I was wrong.

First, we inadvertently ended up with seats that turned out even better than our great 11th row seats in Phoenix! The stage was set up differently at the Forum, with a catwalk that extended out midway through the floor. Our seats were just off the end of the catwalk. George used the whole area, and spent quite a lot of time right on the end of the catwalk. In fact, he did all of "Roxanne" and "Kissing A Fool" from right there, just, OMG, so close! So, not only did we get him up close and personal, but we were also far enough back from the main part of the stage that we were able to fully enjoy the screen show, which, by the way, was incredible!

And then? OMG, and then!!! HE SANG "JESUS TO A CHILD"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, my heart. He dedicated it to Anselmo, of course. And, oh, gods, it was just so breathtakingly, heartbreakingly BEAUTIFUL hearing him sing it live.

Other than the addition of "Jesus to a Child" the set list was the same. It still rocked. Still made me laugh and cry and sing and dance and marvel at his voice and flail over his hotness and fall in love with his music over and over again and I loved every minute of it! If possible, the energy of the L.A. crowd was even more intense. Plus, yesterday was his 45th birthday, so there was this added celebratory layer to the feel of the crowd, with signs and balloons and several choruses of Happy Birthday. And when his band interrupted his second encore with a great jazzy version of Happy Birthday and Bo Derek appeared on stage to present him with a birthday cake, he got SO adorably flustered! So flustered that he forgot some of the words to "Freedom 90"!!! Not that most of the crowd noticed, since everyone was busy singing along at top volume!

And George seemed SO very happy! He was even MORE smiley and chatty than he was in Phoenix. So very chatty. And funny! He totally called out Dr. Phil, who was in the audience with his wife, for being the only miserable looking face in a sea of smiling people having a good time! It was hilarious! He suggested that Dr. Phil get some help for his pissy mood! *laughs*

And!!! Kenny was there! Looking so fucking HOT! Dear gods. He smiled at Brenda and I thought she was going to DIE! Seriously, those two men are very lucky to have one another because the two of them together? That's enough hotness to power L.A. Speaking of hotness in L.A., I must thank the gay men in this city who obviously love George as much as I do for providing us with so much beautiful eye candy! Damn. It was a feast for the eyes, let me tell you.

So, yes, again a DAMN GOOD TIME was had again with George Michael!!! If y'all want to read a review that's probably more coherent than my fangirlish flail, you can check this one out. And, really, if you have the chance to see George Michael on this tour, DO IT! It's an amazing show; he's an amazing performer; you will have a fabulous time! Brenda and I are still holding out hope that we'll win the lottery so that we can jet over to London for the two last shows. *g* What? It could happen. (Our chances might improve, however, if we actually bought a lottery ticket!)

ETA:: azewewish shares her fangirlish flail over last night's show here. And, I've got to add, that a big part of the magic of these two shows (because, truly, there was something magical about both of them) was sharing them with someone who totally got and shared my love for George Michael and his music and my sheer joy at getting the chance to see him live. Thank you, Brenda! I think you're amazing! *g*

Ok. So, yeah. George Michael. Where to start? I guess it started in 1987 with Faith. 1987 was a big year for me. For a lot of reasons and in a lot of ways, my world expanded that year. Part of that included discovering how much I really loved George Michael. And since then, his music has really been an important part of the soundtrack of my life, with releases of new material continuing to mark big shifts in my life, sometimes coincidentally and sometimes as a result of the music itself.

So, it's not hyperbole when I say that Sunday's show was truly a deeply moving, even a spiritual experience. First, we had the best seats! 11th row! It was awesome to ride the energy of an arena show and still be close enough for it to feel like a club show. I mean, we were close enough to see his wedding band and to see every dimpled smile! And, gods, did he smile. He looked so happy! And hot. I did mention that even after all these years he still looks DAMN HOT, right? *bites lip*

And he sounded FANTASTIC! God. His voice. I think it's even better, richer, more resonant, than it was 25 years ago. I could probably go on and on, waxing rhapsodic over every song from his opening with "Waiting (Reprise)" to his encore with "Freedom 90," but thankfully for all of us, azewewish wrote some of her thoughts on the show here, together with some great pictures and the full set list. So instead I'll just direct you there and say "yes, yes, YES!" to everything she says.

I laughed. I cried. I sang. I danced. I screamed. By the end, I was literally vibrating from the energy and the emotion. I actually had to take time to ground and center before I could walk out of there.

I can't even express how AMAZING this show was. Just. WOW. So much wow, in fact, that (after a much needed stop at The Waffle House -- part of that grounding that really needed to happen) Brenda and I came home and immediately bought tickets to tomorrow night's show in L.A. *bounces* George!!!!!!! Again!!!

Oh, one more thing, because I'm pretty sure that we're all, y'know practicing the same religion, so to speak, when it comes to SMOKIN' HOT MEN, here's a picture of the insanely hot cop outfit that George donned for "Outside." ( *bites lip* )

Damn. Just DAMN. I am pretty sure that Brenda and I literally SQUEALED and jumped up and down like crazy women when he came on stage in this get up. *fans self*

*wipes brow* Five hours of dusting, scrubbing, and mopping and I've finally whipped this place into shape. Now that my house is sparkly clean, I can relax a bit before I have to pick up azewewish from the airport.

And then tomorrow? Tomorrow we get GEORGE MICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 *bounces* I am so ridiculously excited about this!

But even before George (we're TOTALLY on a first name basis *g*) we've got tons o' fun to pack in to the next 24 hours. So, a little R&R before the good times get rollin' is a good thing.

Hope y'all are enjoying your weekend, even if you don't have George. *sad for you*

The Deities of Music have smiled upon me! Twice!!!

VIP passes to see Nine Inch Nails at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NIN in New Orleans!!!!!!!! VIP passes for the entire weekend!!!!!! New Orleans during Halloween!!!!!!!! With azewewish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And more bounty from the Music Gods: tickets to see George Michael next month from the 11th row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *flails wildly*