THE LAST FIVE ...

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Monday, Feb. 3, 2003 - 3:27 p.m.

The happier moments of the weekend

On the lighter side of the weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed the David Gray show at Madison Square Garden. The lighting was impressive, with the exception of the occassional blinding by the spotlights behind the band. Seriously, it was like during every other song's chorus that the lights would shine straight up, then slowly turn down until they pointed straight out to the audience.

When the house lights went down and a bass-intensive beat came up, the anticipation rose until the speakers suddenly went silent, then the lights came on to reveal a cranberry curtain pulled across the stage and a single piano about one-third of the way across the stage from the left. A spotlight shone on a solitary pianist, his right hand resting on his right leg, his left hand straight out in the air saluting the crowd. Ladies and gentlemen, David Gray.

After David worked through a verse and a chorus of "The Other Side" solo, the curtain was pulled back to reveal the band � with the drummer off to the right, facing the middle of the stage, giving everyone a different view of the guy who's usually centered at the back. The guy might have been on crack, too, what with the way he was bouncing around and yelling and carrying on. Entertaining.

Upon the completion of each song, David thanked the crowd and laughed as if to say, "You're really all here to see me??" He then introduced just about every song he played, as if we might not know them. There were two I wouldn't have recognized: "Late Night Radio" and one other I can't remember right now. When he went into "Babylon" to close the first set, he simply said, "I think you might know this one."

It didn't disappoint, what with the stage lights changing from green to red, then red to green, then red to blue in sync with the lyrics. For the bulk of the show after about the fourth or fifth song, the curtain behind the band opened to reveal a large screen on which random colorful images accompanied the music. The eight-song encore featured a return to the solo piano in front of the closed curtain, then a duet with the drummer singing backup on "And It Stoned Me," and finally the entire troupe out there again for the final few. It ended with David taking a seat at the larger grand piano on risers at the back of the stage for "Please Forgive Me," the song that established him as a hit in America after "Babylon" got him known.

After the show, Casey, Kerry and I ducked into an Irish tavern across the street from Kerry's Upper East Side apartment where the Harp � at $3.50 a pint � tasted as good as it ever has. Hanging on the walls among the various patches from police and fire companies around the country and other signs of Irish pride was a photo of a football player at Notre Dame (likely Chris Zorich, based on the No. 50 and style of uniform) tapping the "Play Like A Champion Today" sign at the bottom of the stairs leading from the locker room to the field.

We went to bed around 2 a.m. and I woke up at 9 the next morning, then turned on the TV an hour later. For lunch, Kerry and I went to Ship of Fools to watch the Notre Dame-Georgetown game with Mia while Casey joined us after her haircut. If you take out the part where the Hoyas erased ND's 15-point, second-half lead, the double-overtime, 93-92 Irish win was quite a game. I mean, it was regardless, but you know.

The events of Friday and Saturday tiring us out significantly, Casey and I returned to New Jersey in the early evening Saturday and spent a lazy night on the couch.

Sunday was similar yet different, but all in a good way. Heather came over from New York to see the place and the neighborhood and we spent the afternoon eating pizza, watching nothing in particular and testing out Simpsons Uno and Cranium Hoopla. (It's like Cranium, only you basically play together. Out of the three of us, one would give the clues � either drawing, charading, etc. � and the others would guess. The object is to get through the eight-card pile, plus the four-card hand of each player, in less than 15 minutes. We did it rather easily, then varied it by shortening the time and adding more cards.) The highlight might have been Heather's drawing for a "Where" clue (or was it a "what"?). Once I got the barn, she tried to focus on the person sitting at the potter's wheel, but that didn't get the message across. So she drew a pot, then pointed from pot to barn, pot to barn as I said, "Pot ... barn ... pot ... barn ... pot ... barn ..." Heather began laughing until it finally dawned on me: "POTTERY BARN!!!!!" and the three of us laughed for three minutes.

It might have been funnier if you were there. Where the hell were you anyway??

* * * * *

I can't let this go: I was Googled for "Mario Lopez gay" and "nude Mario Lopez." I wonder if they were related.

But the interesting one was he (or she?) who came looking for "Heather sex image" and no doubt left disappointed.

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