Weekly Wilson

Emerald Bay, Mazatlan, Mexico. January 10, 2012.

We’ve been here since January 7th, after a 12-hour flight that saw us turning in at 7:30 p.m.

Not doing much, other than reading Stephen King’s new book (and wondering if he ever read mine that dealt with time travel, “Out of Time.”)

I’ve taken a few pictures of the grounds. There are many more to come. It’s chilly, by my standards, but not THAT chilly when it’s only 45 degrees in Chicago.

Hope all is well at home.

Flamingoes and a black swan @ Emerald Bay.

Here’s a link to the finale of the “Coldplay” set during the September 23 IHeartRadio show in Las Vegas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJKL3ilk810

Las Vegas, Nevada, September 23, 2011 “IHeartRadio” hit the MGM Grand tonight, bringing some of the hottest live acts currently touring together in an eclectic 2-day extravaganza billed as “the biggest live concert festival in radio history” in the September 18, 2011 Las Vegas Magazine & Show-Biz Weekly article entitled “Titans of the Airwaves” by Josh Bell. As Bell phrased it, “Clear Channel is pulling out all the stops to promote its new IHeartRadio service.”

First up singing to the audience of 12,000 were the Black Eyed Peas with Will.i.am and Fergie. Noting that they first formed in 1995, were signed in 1997 and put out their first record in 1998 the energetic group said it used to perform for $20 a gig. “Now we get paid a whole lot more zeros than that. We’ve had a great career…We’ll never stop making music,” said Will.i.am. The group invited the audience to join in signing along to the theme from “Dirty Dancing” and it was the most successful sing-along request of a 3-hour concert. Biggest impressions of the group: Fergie’s shorts were cut so high and short that she might as well have worn a thong and there was a lot of energetic jumping up and down.

That level of energy made it difficult for Kelly Clarkson to compete on an equal footing. The former “American Idol” winner and singer-songwriter sang many of her hits like “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Walk Away” but her request for an audience participation moment resulted largely in a crowd that didn’t know the words, and she finally relented and announced, “We’re not doing any more sad ballads to bring you down.” Clarkson looked slimmer than in some previous performances and sported a flattering hairstyle.

Every so often, for no more than a total of 5 minutes, it seemed, Ryan Seacrest would put in an announcing appearance, although others, such as Joe Jonas and a local DJ (Elvis Duran) carried most of the MC-ing heavy water. Another change in the night’s programming saw John Mayer drop out due to illness.

After Clarkson’s stint, Bruno Mars, who played Little Elvis in “Honeymoon in Vegas” in 1992 when he was 7 performed, and it was as though he was channeling the high-pompadoured singers of yesteryear like Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Jackie Wilson. Mars’ big hit “Just the Way You Are” was well-received, but it was astonishing how retro his look was: dark suit, white shirt, thin black tie and a pompadour that made JFK Jr’s hairdo look flat. Mars performed a bit of fancy footwork and seemed to give off a vibe that he thought he was very cool, indeed. The middle-aged lady in front of me in the nose-bleed section began waving her cell phone and pumping her arm in the air; I wanted to tell her to cool her jets. We were a long way from catching young Bruno’s eye.  A song dedicated to Amy Winehouse (“I miss you. I love you.”) Seemed like blatant capitalizing on the recent death of the British songbird.

The next performer out of the box began by telling the crowd, “I think the IHeartRadio show is the most eclectic I’ve ever been in.” The introduction for Carrie Underwood, American Idol’s darling, was given by Joe Jonas, and Carrie was one of the strongest performers of the night. She danced around the stage, looked lovely, belted out her ballads, and all I could think of was how far she had come since the cow-milking segment featured on her early “American Idol” appearance. She is a polished performer now, much slimmer, and genuinely beautiful. It was now nearly 9:30 p.m. and the show had begun 2 hours earlier.

At this point, amongst the never-still throngs who were in constant motion, a stranger climbed over me and, as he passed in haste, something wet spilled on my leg. I could only hope it was beer. An announcement was made that Justin Timberlake plans to host something billed as an Old School Jam on October 1^st. It will feature Earth, Wind & Fire, Charlie Wilson and Vanilla Ice. All I could think of was that I had been under the impression, apparently mistaken, that Robert Van Winkle, 44, had melted years ago, and, having just seen Earth, Wind & Fire at Northerly Isle Pavilion (also known as Charter One Pavilion) in Chicago this summer, the band was now featuring the children of the original performers, after nearly as many years as a performing group (i.e.. 42). However, early word regarding Timberlake’s attempts to cross over to action hero in his newest sci-fi film makes his return to the music world timely.

Next up was 52-year-old Perry Farrell, generally regarded as one of the godfathers of alternative rock. The Farewell Tour that Farrell organized for his band “Jane’s Addiction” in 1991 became Lollapalooza, now a 2-day destination tour centered in Grant Park in Chicago. Tonight, Farrell announced that his performance represented “the rock and roll version of IHeartRadio.” With Dave Navarro on guitar, the set was excruciatingly loud and employed a Persian/Arabic-themed stage backdrop with much use of confetti canons. When Farrell talks to address the crowd, he sounds like a cartoon character with his high-pitched voice. It is now 10 minutes of 10 p.m.

At this point, saving the day and the concert, Coldplay emerges, singing “Rule the World.” Chris Martin actually lay down onstage at the end of the song and asked, “Is there anybody out there?” He also told a story that went Snippet of Chris Martin of “ColdPlay.” (See longer video clip on Facebook at my Profile.)like this: “We played down the street in a little club at 3 in the morning when we were starting out, just this band from Britain, and there were just 2 ladies in the place and one of them was deaf, and even she walked out. We said that one day we’d come back and play the MGM Grand.  I hope you’re having a great time.  And that’s all I have to say.  Don’t lose all your money.” And then, almost as an after-thought, before throwing himself into energetic flailing about that seemed almost childlike in its random-ness, Martin added, “The back is the best place to see our band.” If you gave yourself over to the pulsing, exuberant experience, Coldplay was a fantastic way to go out. They exited to huge applause. Only problem was, Alicia Keys had to follow Coldplay.

Much like Kelly Clarkson, doomed to come on after the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys performed admirably (and overly loudly, much like Perry Farrell), with a backdrop of white doves flying across the projection screen behind her piano. She often stood center stage, solo, to sing songs while attired in a sparkly top like every other female performer. (Sparkles are in this season). It was now 10:30 p.m. and Alicia announced her intention to play a new song, “A Place of My Own” on the Yamaha piano, saying, “It’s an incredible night, I have to say.”

Announcements were made that Lady Gaga would perform with the just-turned-60 Sting on Saturday night, along with Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Rascal Flatts, Nicki Minaj, Sublime with Rome, Usher, Kenny Chesney and Jay-Z. The ticket price in the nosebleed section I was in was listed as $165, but there were 9 empty seats in my row (Section C 209) and they were going for 2 to 3 times that on StubHub. Some of the seats down front were priced in the thousands online.

Coldplay and Carrie Underwood made my seat worth what I paid for it, but when the witching hour of 11:00 p.m. came and went, with only the possible appearance of Jay-Z (he was a late addition and may never have appeared, I was happy to bolt, waiting for what seemed like hours in the taxi line outside the MGM Grand.) Stay tuned for tomorrow night’s big show, which drew fans from both coasts and  all areas in between. Big draws tomorrow are Lady Gaga appearing with Sting and Steven Tyler.

I signed myself up for a class at the “Tribune” building on Facebook. The class began at 9:00 A.M. , so I rode the bus to the 400 block of North Michigan Avenue and entered the impressive-looking old stone building.

The building has inscriptions on the walls that reflect the laws as they pertain to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.   I was met at the door by a young girl who directed me to go “down the hallway and turn left and you’ll see a Welcome sign.” Unfortunately, she failed to mention the room number and that I had to take an elevator to the basement, as well. Therefore, I found myself standing in front of a nice sign on an easel with absolutely no idea of where to go next.

At that point a very nice gentleman in a suit and tie took it upon himself to attempt to guide me to the correct room, which had never been mentioned in any literature. We went back to the lobby, but the welcome girl was gone. We asked at the desk and that yielded little, so he took me to the 7th floor (wrong) and, again, back to the lobby. There, we learned that I would have to take the elevator to the basement, which had never been mentioned in any directions. (My guide suggested I write this down on the “appraisal” form following the class.)

The class went about as I had anticipated and we were released to “the real world”  about noon. I knew  the statue of Marilyn Monroe was right next door, so I took the pictures you see below of the Marilyn statue that is all the rage in Chicago this summer season (replacing the giant eyeball that held that distinction last year.)

After enjoying the Marilyn phenomenon—complete with tourists lined up to pose under the giant statue—I caught a bus to travel the rest of the way down the Miracle Mile to the 900 block (or so) where Water Tower Place is located. I had thought I might be able to walk it (from the 400 block) but thought better of it now that I had paraphernalia from my morning class.  As I got off the bus, I began walking in the wrong direction, as it turned out. Nothing looked familiar and I was standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change when I noticed there was a policeman next to me, so I asked him, “How much farther is Water Tower Place? He laughed and said, “It’s 2 blocks back THAT way.” I turned around and began walking towards my destination, but, as I neared the Hancock Building, I heard the unmistakable sounds of “live” music being played in the courtyard outside the Cheesecake Factory and decided this would make a far better lunch venue than the interior of Water Tower Place.

My waiter, Peter Weaver, was very nice and obligingly posed with the 3D glasses I had found in my coat pocket while walking to the venue. They were left over from a Peter Gabriel concert (in 3D) that was shown at the Icon Theater on Roosevelt at 7:30 p.m. the previous evening. I only know one Peter Gabriel song (“In Your Eyes” from the movie “Say Anything”) but I always liked that one song, so I went. There were many unusual effects for the audience, as during a song called “Red Rain” when the rain appeared to be coming down on the audience and the idea of Peter holding a small mirror and reflecting back the lights on the audience via this hand mirror, which was weird. There was a full orchestra backing his vocals, called the New Blood orchestra, with a very young director named Ben Foster and arrangements for orchestra by John Metcalfe, who came out only to direct Gabriel’s big hit, “In Your Eyes,” which he sang as an encore. (“In your eyes, the light, the heat. …I reach out from the inside…”) Who can forget the iconic scene with John Cusack holding the huge boom box on his shoulder and playing that song for Ione Skye?

I ordered the half sandwich and soup, with salad ($10.95). To be honest. the soup wasn’t that great, but everything else was fine and my waiter was wonderful. I have film of the group playing, but it says it is too large to upload to this site, so you’ll have to imagine them singing various Motown songs, like “My Girl” and “Stand By Me.”

Following my lunch, when I spilled an entire glass of water over the table (not on myself, however, fortunately),the music stopped and I paid my bill and proceeded to Water Tower Place with the sole goal of going to Sephora and maybe to the Coach store. Here you see me with the two girls who work at Orogold, the make-up store just before you enter Sephora on the 5th floor of Water Tower Place. Mor Bare and Nina Angel. Nina is the blonde;  I didn’t believe her that that was her real name, but it is. They were excellent saleswomen and sold me a bionic mask that is going to turn me back into a teenager with use just once a month. Both are from Israel and very pretty.

Unfortunately, the budget of a retired English teacher did not allow me to purchase as many products as I probably need (and want), but I did secure the most important ingredients to lovelier me…or so say Mor and Nina. I asked Nina if I could use her name in my next book. She agreed.

I told the girls, as I left, that I still had to make the obligatory stop at Sephora, as I needed some other things, besides the gooey warm stuff that would save my skin.

Therefore, I walked the 20 feet or so to the entrance of the Sephora store, where I entered saying, “BOIING. I need BOIING.”(Boing, for the uninitiated, is an under-eye concealer that my daughter turned me on to.) My clerk at the Sephora store turned out to be the store manager, Domingo Gonzalez, who has worked for Sephora for 6 years. He helped me find a brush and some night eye cream to replace my empty container and posed, obligingly, with my 3D glasses and the orange I had taken from the “Tribune.”

Now, it was time to travel down the escalator and find the Coach store, where I would buy a new fall purse. This would set me back a fair amount, if you know anything about Coach products! ($228, before tax, …and tax in Chicago is 10% or something outrageous..highest in the country.) Mor and Nina, if you’re reading this, now you know why I had to pass on certain cosmetic items that I’m positive would have helped me immensely. I needed a new purse, so what’s a girl to do?

I checked out all the Coach items and settled on the one that was the last of its kind in the store, and…said clerk Erin Watt…was the one most of the girls in the store have purchased because it has some gold in the “C” logo. [And it's big. I mean really big!]

Here are the two girls who helped me at Coach, Erin Watt and Kelly Rady (Kelly is the blonde)

My last stop was within Macy’s, where I bought a pair of earrings on sale for $9 ($10 with tax) and met Katai Fenesk and Daniel Marban. (I had Katie? Katai? write her name down for me, and I confess I cannot tell whether it is Katie or Katai, but both were very nice and they told me the store had recently been remodeled (hence the pictures of the store’s interior). Since it is the old Marshall FIelds, that might not set well with some folks, but the only complaint I have is that the escalator was not working…but at least it was the “down” escalator. (From which I took one of these photos.)

Somehow, I convinced Katie (Katai? Katwi? Katui?) that a photo of the two of them in men’s watches would be so much more interesting if they used the props (i.e. the 3D glasses and the orange.) Surprisingly. they didn’t need much convincing. They seemed to get into the spirit of “a day in Chicago” and here they are with the aforementioned glasses and orange. I apologize to KatieKatai/Katwi/Katui but I can’t tell what comes after “t” and at this point. weren’t we all bored anyway?

I’ve been putting captions under all these photos and under this one it said, “Macy’s employees go for World Orange Eating record, but the captions are not appearing. (Go figure).

Here are some shots of the interior of Macy’s. featuring their new remodeling and their broken escalator (which I am standing on to take this photo).

And, last. and certainly least, since it is blurry, is a picture of the interior of the bus (#146) I rode back to Roosevelt Road. One girl had very red hair that was clown-like in its color and consistency. Two others were reading books. One was reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

The red you see is not a hat, but the actual hair color, layered atop a brunette shade. Very…unusual.

I returned from my adventures at 4:30 and, in preparation for tonight’s Republican debate from Simi Valley, I took a nap. After that, I watched the debate and twittered during it and wrote a piece that you should all go read on Associated Content, which actually pays me for my contributions, unlike THIS blog, which is mine and makes not one farthing.

Tomorrow, back to the IA/IL Quad Cities. I hope you have enjoyed ” a random day in Chicago.”

Checker Limo in Chicago.

An uncle and nephew duo driving a Checker cab limo (25 feet, 8 doors) from California to New York visited me in Chicago, where I turned over the “keys to the condo” to the pair, so that they could enjoy Chicago Saturday, Sunday, Monday, leaving on Tuesday for Kalamazoo, Michigan, where the yellow vehicles used to be made.

George, 62, said that this particular car had been built in something like 1959 and that the vehicles were used as cabs in Alaska, where he first saw them. He was smitten with the idea of purchasing one and finally found one at an old car dealer’s in California, where the duo flew to retrieve the massive automobile and begin making a cross-country trek. I think I got into the act, somehow, because I had made the “Ghostly Tales of Route 66″ trip along Route 66.

Patrick, me, and a Checker Limo.

At any rate, it was great fun meeting and greeting George and Patrick and their huge and hard-to-park car. It wasn’t too difficult figuring out where to put George and Patrick, but the car was an entirely different matter!

The Kalamazoo, Michigan paper did a story on the pair, since the cars used to be built there. I called the Chicago “Tribune” but they were underwhelmed with the story and photo op. Not me, though. I haven’t had this much excitement since I did the Oscar Mayer WeinerMobile story!

Two nice new friends who, I hope, had a great time in the Windy City.

Checker Limo Makes Cross-Country Trip

A close girlfriend, just returned from a 3 month visit to France, explained how her basic sense of honesty caused her to declare that she did, in fact, have a “food item” in her luggage at customs in Minneapolis. The food item in question was a sealed can of pate someone had given her as a parting gift.

She was ushered into a large room with various peoples who also had “food items” and got to watch surly customs agents launching various fruits and vegetables at bins along the wall for hours. Add to that the delights of experiencing a drug-sniffing dog! After the first “food room,” there was (apparently) a second food room and, well, the connecting flight didn’t allow for hours spent watching surly customs inspectors launch miscellaneous fruits at garbage bins.

When it finally came time for her to “declare” the precise food item she had, the customs agent just grunted and passed her on through…too late to make a connecting flight to Des Moines, I think.

Reminds me of the time we were asked, when re-entering the country from Cancun, if we had had any contact with “livestock” and I truthfully piped up, “What about the spider monkeys that climbed all over us at Coba?”  Despite my husband’s best attempts to muzzle me, much merriment ensued. These are the sorts of adventures I relate in “Laughing through Life” because, really, you have to laugh or else you’d cry.

On May 21 at the Union Club, the Chicago branch of  the Illinois Women’s Press Association awarded its Silver Feather awards for writing excellence to several of Connie’s projects, including both of her most recent books, It Came from the ’70s: From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now and Hellfire & Damnation.  Both books have already scored (first-ever) E-Lit awards for their Kindle versions ($8.50 and $2.99, respectively, on Amazon and Barnes & Noble). Hellfire & Damnation, which is organized around Dante’s Inferno and its 9 Circles of Hell, also placed 7th (of 46 nominees) on the Preliminary Stoker Ballot. (Stephen King placed 10th on that ballot) from the HWA (Horror Writers’ Association. A sneak preview of one of the stories from the sequel to follow went up (for 99 cents) as a Kindle short story (6,500 words) on May 17th, entitled “The Bureau.”

A third book Ghostly Tales of Route 66 in Kindle format also was named a Gold Medal winner in the E-Lit awards in the travel category earlier this year. ($9.50 on Amazon and Barnes & Noble). It has only recently been made available in other than print format, although the Kindle format contains several new stories never before published, but has no pictures as the print versions do.

Other categories awarded Silver Feather awards for excellence in writing by the IWPA were:

     Photo on the Web for “The Tall Ships in Chicago at Navy Pier” on www.WeeklyWilson website.

     Writing for the Web:  “Obama in Iowa for Health Care Initiatie:  Tea Partiers Rally Outside Iowa City Fieldhouse.”

     Writing for the Web, Column or Commentary:  “Opinion:  Phil Hare Is Better Choice than Bobby Schilling in Illinois’ 17th District Race,” Yahoo! News.

     Videos for the Website, Special Interest Site:  Hellfire & Damnation, Quad Cities’ Learning, dba Quad City Press

     Writing for the Web, Feature Article:  “What Did General Stanley McChrystal Really Say in the ‘Rolling Stone’ Article that Got Him Fired?”, Yahoo Contributor Network

     Website Development, Special Interest Sites:  www.ConnieCWilson.com, Quad Cities’ Learning, Inc.

     Blogs, Webcontent, Special Interest Sites, “Weekly Wilson:  Chicago Film Festival:  Encounters of the Famous Kind,” WeeklyWilson website.

          Connie signed copies of her newest book, It Came from the ’70s: From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now at the BEA (Book Expo America) on Wednesday, May 25 from 2 to 3 p.m. and she will be selling and signing copies of all of her books at Printers’ Row on Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

   If you miss her there, try the RME (River Music Experience) on July 30th in Davenport, Iowa, during the Bix Road Race weekend which coincides with the RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa) race finale. She will also be heading out for appearances at an assortment of Family Video stores with the movie book and delivering a lecture at the Moline Club in the near future. (Stay tuned for further developments.)

I’ve just returned from nearly a week in New York City where I attended the Book Exposition that is the largest in the world and signed copies of “It Came from the ’70s: From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now” from 2 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25th at the HWA (Horror Writers’ Association) table.

The same day as the signing, I attended the Adult breakfast where Mindy Kahl MC-ed and Diane Keaton was the Celebrity author. The author of “Middlesex” and Charlaine Harris, who created Sookie Stackhouse (of the “True Love” television series) also spoke.

New York Times Best-Selling Author Jonathan Maberry signed before me at the HWA booth, and there was much to admire and browse. No plays this year, but I also attended BlogWorld and a Book Bloggers’ Conference at which Otis from Goodreads was present. A workshop on “Monetizing Your Blog” will help me be a better presented on June 25th during “Blogging for Bucks” at the Midwest Writers’ Center conference.  No wild parties or late nights, but many early mornings and presentations during my week in the Big Apple.

On the way out, I sat next to the parents of a Chicago Sun Times reporter being honored with the Pulitzer Prize for his article on Chicago’s “59 Hours of Violence.” How cool is that? On the way back, I sat next to the new anchorwoman in Sioux City, Iowa and a woman who takes formal portraits of Arabian horses.

Pool at Royal Sands.

Cancun, Mexico, April 11, 2011, Royal Sands Resort – As we continue our vacation (for about the 18^th year or so, the pool once again beckoned.

The pictures tell the story. Today was the (complimentary) taco party, and those in our party of 12 are making their plans; Xelha for the big girls on Tuesday; massage for 3 of us on Wednesday; golf for the men on Thursday; breakfast with Richard (who sold us our time shares) on Friday.

The pictures below tell the story.

Emmie & Stacey.

Craig in pool.

Ava Wilson, age 2 years, 3 months, April 11, 2011.

Fun times in the sun in Cancun for Olivia and Ava.

Stacey loses it with the XelHa Monster.

Emmie & Stacey pose with some poor schmuck in a really hot suit.