Wrinkle No More

One of my favorite childhood writers died yesterday at the age of 88. Madeleine L'Engle was the author of the 1962 book, Wrinkle In Time, the book that introduced generations of children to science fiction and fantasy. I spent my grade school years reading about Meg Murray, Charles Wallace and Calvin through Wrinkle and its sequels Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Titling Planet. As I got older, however, my favorite series of hers was the Austin Family series. I was captivated by A Ring of Endless Light and subsequent novels in the series.

Much like JK Rowling who followed in her footsteps years later, L'Engle's books touched on sweeping adult themes such as the battle against evil, totalitarianism and the power of love. They were captivating books that transported readers to new worlds and made you understand this world better. Only the best writers can do this. And L'Engle was one of the best. While the planet may no longer tilt for her, her stories live on. And through them, so does she.

More INXS Photos

As promised, here are more photos from last weekend's concert. It's going to be slow trickle as I sort through the remaing ones. I took around 150 and a surprising number came out well. As usual click for the larger versions. Note, these are not size properly for RBL. You may want to resize before posting elsewhere.

Running of the Bulls INXS Style

The late afternoon sun beat down on us while we stood in line at the Maryland State Fair waiting for the gates to open for the INXS concert. With 45 minutes to go, about 150 people were in the line ahead of us and the line behind us was growing longer by the minute. Sweat trickled down my back as the minutes ticked by while we waited for an ever elusive breeze to wash over us.

A few minutes before 6 pm, they ushered us through the first set of gates after checking our tickets. Anticipation was beginning to rise in the crowd. Those that had been in the front of the line were forming a twitchy, impatient mob in front of a rolling chain link fence--the only barrier left between them and the football-field length hike down the center of race track to the stage. Like the horses from the races earlier in the afternoon, they were already jocking for position--pawing the ground, jostling each other; all wanting to be the first through the gate to get the perfect front row position.

As folks piled up behind the gate, I edged around to the side of the crowd to get in closer to the opening. I didn't care about being in the front row; I just wanted to be close enough to the stage for good pictures. With a creak, a fair worker began to roll the gate backwards. As soon as a gap opened wide enough for a body, the first one was through and the fair worker stumbled backwards with the gate as the crush surged through the narrow opening. Men and women of all ages took off at a breakneck speed down the field. Women kicked off flip-flops and high heels. It was the running of the bulls INXS style. And one of the funniest things I've seen in ages. I would have turned around to get film, but I feared being trampled in my amusement.

My companions, Ann and Jeff, weren't far behind me as we walked at a good clip down the field. Our failure to run as if our lives depended on it rewarded us with a fourth row spot just right of center stage with a clear field of vision. Good enough for my purposes. I had a good camera with a telephoto lens. I was reasonably certain that I could get good shots from there, so I was happy. Now, we just had to wait out the hour before the opening band hit the stage and another hour after that before INXS came on.

To pass the time, I chatted with a large group of friends in front of us who had make the mad dash. Bags of balloons were making the rounds and party hats were being passed out. JD Fortune, INXS's lead singer, had a birthday that day and the crowd was preparing to celebrate with him. Birthday wishes were squeakily sharpied onto the balloons in preparation to be tossed onto the stage. The excitement was palpable when the opening band, Duchess of York, a cover band from Richmond, VA, took the stage. While I failed to recognize the songs, I have to say they were great guitar players.

Finally, as the sun went down, the opening band cleared the stage and the hard- working INXS roadies started prepping the stage. Shortly after 8 pm the first notes of ACDC blasted out of the speakers, revving up an already excited crowed. Squeals pierced the semi-darkness of the stage, one-by-one the INXS members slipped on stage--Jon, Kirk, Andrew, Garry, Tim and finally JD. The stage lights blazed as the band launched into a raucous version of New Sensation. The entire band was in good spirits and the birthday boy glowed as he bounded across the stage. This was the best I'd heard them sound in a long time. Elegantly Wasted and The Loved One both stayed in the set for this leg--two of my favorites. Taste It and Kick appear to be gone for good and I don't miss either.

It was a great way to end the summer. Below are some pictures from the show. I love shooting rock concerts; I get to combine my favorite hobby photography with great music. Enjoy the first round of pictures. I'll have more up later in the week. Click on the pics for larger versions.

Zoom, Zoom!

Please pause for a moment of silence to honor the passing of my 1997 Ford Escort. After 103,000, I retired the Escort last night. In its place is a nice shiny new 2007 Honda Civic with Navigation system. It's zippy, quiet, and pretty. And with the Atomic Blue color, I finally have seen the last of either silver or gray cars (my previous two vehicles).

The road to my very first new car began two weeks ago when the check engine light came on the way home from work. It wasn't the first time it had happened while I'd owned the car; in some cases it meant a small problem, and others a big one. Considering I'd just done major work on the car in January, I had a feeling this wasn't a good sign. But, I was still hopeful that it could be fixed with minimal pain to my bank account.

I'd been looking at new cars for the last year, but I just wasn't ready to dive back into the land of debt, having only paid off the Escort 3 years prior. For kicks last Monday, I solicited some bids for a new Honda Civic and a Toyota Prius through Edmunds.com new car buying service. I wasn't really planning on buying just yet, but I thought maybe it was a good idea to start looking since my car was becoming increasing unreliable. I wanted to go the Internet route, because I wanted to be able to do my price research online and to avoid the high pressure sales tactics until I was actually ready to buy and walk into a dealership.

Buy the end of the day Monday, I had 7 bids which I could use to compare prices on the base model plus the options I was looking at. Much to my surprise when I got home I had 5 voice mails from dealers, despite requesting that I only be contacted by email. Apparently, I wasn't going to be allowed to escape their sales pitches after all. Since I really wasn't ready to buy, I just deleted their voice mails. This was a drill to be repeated several times over the next few of days. These folks just don't listen. When I say, "Don't call me; I'll call you," I mean, "don't call me" NOT "ignore my request and call me anyway."

I was waiting for my Friday appointment at the Ford dealership to figure out what was causing that pesky red light on my dashboard. Finally, at noon on Friday came word from the Ford service department that my Escort was on its last legs. They catalytic converter was dying a slow and painful death. While it wasn't immediately fatal, it could be soon. It was going to cost far more to fix the problem than the car was worth and I was suddenly tired of pouring money into an automotive bottomless pit.

After picking my car up at lunch, I set the wheels in motion to find financing. Capital One, with whom I have a credit card, has been pummeling me with offers to get me to finance a car through them for about 6 months. They promised great rates, no down payment and the ability to walk into any dealership and negotiate like you had cash. It all sounded a little too good to be true, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to apply and see what they offered me.

I applied for my loan online and within 10 minutes I had a call from CapitalOne Auto Finance to verify it was me actually me applying using a series of security questions. Ten minutes later I had an offer for a loan at a great rate, with more money pre-approved than I had any intention of spending, and a blank loan check on its way to me to be delivered the next morning. I couldn't believe how quick and easy it all was.

Now that the financing issue was settled, I started digging back through my email for the bids from the various car dealers. I tossed them all into a spreadsheet to see who had the best deal. I combine their information with the reports I had received from Edmunds True Market Value (TMV) Report.

The TMV report gives you two key pieces of information. The dealer invoice price and what others in your area are paying for the base model. These two pieces allow you to see how much a mark up the dealer has placed on the price they gave you and how good of a deal others in your area have been able to negotiate for their vehicles.

I went into my dealer negotiations knowing there were very few deals out there for Honda Civics--no special finance offers or cash back deals. They are popular cars and they pretty much sell themselves based on the quality of the vehicles and the good gas mileage. With my TMV pricing report, various bids and my pre-approved loan, I was finally ready to step into the dealer bear cage. I was ready go in for the test drive and to negotiate.

On Saturday morning, I picked one of the two dealers who had actually listened to my requests not to call me, located about 15 minutes from my house, Keenan Honda of Doylestown. Keenan wasn't the cheapest, but I knew that they guaranteed that they'd meet their competitor's prices, so I knew I had room to negotiate. I scheduled my test drive and was hooked on the Civic with Nav system in minutes. Being the techno geek that I am, I loved the all the Nav system features, voice activated response system and XM radio immediately. By the end of the test drive I was completely sold.

I followed Ron Davenport, Keenan's Internet Sales Consultant, into his office tucked away in the back of the dealership. Since he wasn't dependent on walk-ins, he had no need to see the walk-ins coming into show room floor. We sat down at his desk and began the negotiation process. He pulled out his 4-square sheet which all dealers use to negotiate the price you end up paying.

I'd read Edmund's undercover report about the car buying process and knew this was one of the key tools dealers use to attempt to jack up the price. In the upper right hand corner, they put the vehicle price, and in the other boxes, the trade-in value, payment amounts and down payment amounts. Usually they start out by asking what size monthly payments you want and how much you want to give them for a down payment. You tell them the amount you want and then they usually say "Up to ..." and let it hang in the area until the unsuspecting person tosses out their upper limit not knowing they've just committed to paying more $50-100 or more a month than they needed to. Same thing with the down payments.

I intended to escape all of those traps since I'd done my research ahead of time. As soon he asked if I'd gotten the vehicle price I sent him, I took control and pre-empted what I knew was coming. I told him that I'd gotten bids from 5 other dealers and that his wasn't the lowest. I let that sink in for a moment and then asked if he was willing to meet the lowest price I had from another dealer. Looking unhappy, he said that it was their policy to meet the competitions price. Visions of his commission must have been going up in smoke at that point. I pushed the email from the other dealer across the desk and he looked even unhappier. The competing quote I had was at dealer invoice, far less than the average going price in the area and nearly $2,000 less than his original offer. He picked it up and went off to talk to his manager.

He came back 10 minutes later, to find me looking relaxed and reading his newspaper as I waited. I think he was used to coming back to anxious and nervous customers. He told me his manager had signed off on the price and then we started to negotiate the options I wanted--moon roof, moon visor, fog lights, auto-dim mirror and iPod adapter. In the mean time he sent someone out to look at my trade-in.

Finally, the topic came around to the financing and payment issue. He reached for his 4-square and I stopped him once again. I broke the news to him that not only was I pre-approved, but I had gotten a really good finance deal. After telling me that Capitol One was slow to pay dealers, he asked if I would be interested in financing through Honda. I told him him I'd consider it just to make him feel better. I knew I wasn't going to get a better deal, but I figured there was no harm in letting him go through the motions he was supposed to go through. I had plenty of reading material in the mean time. Finally, 15 minutes later he came back admitting defeat. He couldn't top the deal I had gotten. So, we finished filling out the paperwork and I gave him my vehicle deposit. It would take about a week to find the color I wanted and get my extra equipment installed.

I could have gone to a dealer that had what I wanted in stock and probably driven it off the lot that Saturday, but most of them had already shown themselves to be pushy and aggressive and I just didn't want to deal with that. So, I waited the week to get what I wanted. I'm now the proud owner of a new 2007 Honda Civic with Nav system in Atomic Blue which I love and I got it with minimal haggling and pressure.

I learned that there are 4 keys to having a pleasant car buying experience:

1. Do your research. Use the Internet to look up the cars you are considering and the options you want. Find out how much the dealer invoice is and have a firm understanding of what others in your are paying for the same vehicle. This gives you negotiation wiggle room.
2. Get prices from more than one dealer. Take the time to shop around and make them compete for your business. This only strengths your negotiation position. My sales guy seemed shocked that I had gotten prices from more than one dealer.
3. Go in pre-approved for your loan if you intend to finance your vehicle. This allows you to negotiate from a position of power. If you don't like the deal you're offered, you can walk out of the dealership at any time. You don't have to play the "Up to ..." game. If you have access to the Internet, you can find a great deal. CapitalOne Auto Finance has great rates. You can also get competing offers through sites like LendingTree.com. Don't forget your bank. Most banks allow you to apply for a loan online in just minutes. It never hurts to allow the dealer to try to match or beat your offer. Occasionally, they do have special finance incentives. But, keep in mind, unless your credit is spotless and well above 720, you aren't going to qualify for their best rates.
4. Don't be afraid to walk out if you don't get a deal you don't like or aren't treated with respect. If you follow steps 1-3, you're in control, NOT the dealership. You aren't beholden to a dealer for financing or just because you happened to test drive the vehicle there. If you feel like you're being jerked around, you probably are. Unless you live in a tiny town with one dealership, others will be just as eager for your business. And if you do live in a tiny town, drive to a bigger one. There's a good deal just around the corner.

Shock Jock Crosses Line

Racism, sexism, basketball and free speech, all collided last week on radio shock jock’s Don Imus’ radio show which is simulcast on MSNBC and CBS’s radio network. Calling the Rutgers’ Women’s basketball team “nappy headed hos” following their loss in the NCAA Women’s National Championship, Imus set off a firestorm which reached it’s crescendo today when CBS fired him. It’s not the first time Imus had made racist or sexist remarks on his show. But, this time was different. He attacked members of a basketball team who are neither “nappy-headed” nor “hos”. These young women are role models. They are both intelligent and well-spoken (and they have good hair). Not one of them fits Imus’ slur.

In the age of the Internet and 24-hour media, Imus’ comment spread from coast to coast in a matter of minutes. A stunned Rutgers team spoke out against Imus. Advertisers began to pull their spots and women and black activists began to turn up the heat on Imus. MSNBC suspended Imus for a two-week period. Calls for his firing began to build. CBS finally capitulated today as the rumors of cancelled sponsorship started to climb into the 3-digit range.

But, did CBS do the right thing in firing Imus? Activists, advertisers and a portion of public opinion say “yes”. Free speech advocates say “no”. Those that favored Imus’ firing say that Imus’ hate speech has no business on the public air waves. Free speech advocates say that no matter how distasteful you may find Imus’ words, he has a right to say them. They believe that his firing is tantamount to corporate censorship. There are those among the media and the general public that argue that firing Imus will have a chilling effect on commentators, shock jocks and the press in general. Their argument is that if they have to be worried about being fired for what they say, it will result in self-censorship and a less independent media.

Others have lambasted CBS for firing Imus, saying that CBS only chose to do so for financial reasons once controversy-adverse sponsors began to pull their lucrative advertising dollars. After all they’ve left Imus on the air after other occasions he used slurs.

So, who is correct? Is a network, media company or even a Web site obligated to publish or broadcast speech that they find offensive under the rubric of freedom of speech? Unfortunately, the issue isn’t as clear cut as either side would have you believe.

Freedom of speech, expression, and the press are among the fundamental underpinnings of our society. These freedoms are among those that make us different from totalitarian societies such as Russia, Cuba, or China. First Amendment rights are sacred in this country.

But are these rights unlimited? The Supreme Court says no. You can’t yell “Fire” in a crowded theatre and so-called “fighting words” (certain utterances that are likely to provoke the average person to retaliation—Chaplinksky v. New Hampshire, 1942) are not constitutionally protected. Nor is slander. While freedom of the press is a holy grail in our society, even the press’ rights are limited. They cannot knowingly libel an individual or commercial entity. The bottom line is this--with all freedom comes responsibility.

Where the law and courts become murky is the area of hate speech. The Supreme Court has long protected speech that much of mainstream America finds offensive. In a 1989 case Johnson v. Texas the court ruled that the government can not forbid expression of an idea simply because it finds the idea offensive. While some utterances may cross the line from offensive to fighting words, the courts are very much in disagreement as to what actually constitutes fighting words. For example, calling an officer a “son of a bitch”, while offensive, does not constitute fighting words (Johnson v. Campbell, 9th Circuit, 2003). However, other lower courts have ruled that yelling racial slurs at someone (re John M., Arizona Court of Appeals, 2001) or repeatedly calling a woman at a nude beach a “whore”, among other things, (Wisconsin v. Ovadal, Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 2003) does rise to the level of fighting words.

In answer to those that say that the CBS and MSNBC were wrong to fire Imus on free speech grounds, I must respectively disagree. At least by lower court standards, Imus words rose to the standards of “fighting words”. Imus used his public bully pulpit to insult the Rutgers' women’s basketball team (none of whom he knew or with whom he’d had any personal interactions), calling them “nappy-headed hos”. While one could argue that calling someone “nappy-headed” is an offensive slur, I think it falls under the area of opinion and thus, is protected under our rules of free speech, no matter how distasteful it may be.

However, Imus’ use of the word, “ho” (slang for whore) could be ruled slanderous and not protected under the First Amendment right to free speech. All of the women on the Rutgers' basketball team denied being sexually promiscuous. Imus had no personal knowledge of their sexual habits. Should they be so inclined, they could reasonably sue Imus on the grounds of slander. It might be a tough case to prove in court because there is no legal standard for what defines promiscuity, but I think a good argument could be made that Imus attempted to ruin their reputations through his reckless on-air conduct. The Supreme Court has, in fact, differentiated between what is speech and what is conduct that can be regulated. Both CBS and MSNBC, I believe, also would be legally liable for broadcasting the slanderous content, had they not chosen to take action against Imus.

Second, in the age of easy access to Internet with its pod casts and online video-casting, one can make the argument that Imus has many forums to express his opinions, distasteful or not. No corporation should be forced to support speech that they find distasteful with their advertising dollars nor should any corporation be forced to condone conduct such as Imus’ that attempts to damage another’s reputation under the guise of free speech or freedom of the press. If Imus wants to continue to express opinions that much of mainstream America finds offensive, there is nothing stopping him from doing so on the Internet where he doesn’t have to worry about sponsors or network codes of conduct.

One can’t legislate decency, class or niceness. But, we, as a society, have an obligation to limit conduct that flies in the face of our societal norms and laws. We have an obligation to say what behavior is proper and what is not. Imus deserved to loose his job, not because he expressed an opinion that was offensive, but because his comment crossed the line from a mere offensive opinion to slanderous conduct. Imus has a right to free speech; he just doesn’t have the right to harm someone else in the process. Maybe the loss of his livelihood and reputation, even temporarily, will teach him a much needed lesson.

Selected Bibliography:
The First Amendment Center. “Personal and Public Expression in Speech—Fighting Words.” 2007. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/personal/topic.aspx?topic=fighting_words

Mason, Alpheus Thomas and Donald Grier Stephenson, Jr. American Constitutional Law: Introductory Essays and Selected Cases, 9th Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 1990.

What in the Hell Is Wrong With New Jersey?

Yes, a rather broad question for which the answer probably is "a lot". But, after a rather hellish morning commute due to only a couple inches of snow, I'm left with a burning question: Does the State of New Jersey own either a snow plow or salt truck? And if the answer is yes, do they ever use them? I knew after the forecast last night that it was supposed to snow lightly in the wee hours but we wouldn't get much. The main brunt of the snow would start just in time for the morning commute and end some time in the afternoon. Often when the weather is bad, I'll work from home. But we were only supposed to get a couple of inches in total. I figured the roads couldn't be that bad.

As usual, my subdivision was snow covered. But, it was only an inch or two and driving through it to the main roads wasn't a big deal. Once I hit the Pennsylvania turnpike, it was smooth sailing at a normal 65 mph. The PA Turnpike people are smart. Before it starts snowing, they hit the roads with a brine solution to help keep the roads clear once it snows to prevent it from sticking (at least my tolls go towards something useful). Route 1 was even in pretty good shape. I-95 in PA was backed up almost to the entrance ramp from Route 1. Although traffic was moving at a glacial speed, the roads were mainly in good shape.

It was only as I crossed the New Jersey state line after the Scutter Falls bridge that the first signs of trouble appeared. Within a mile, it became clear that nary a snow plow had skimmed the pavement, much less was a salt truck anywhere near and forget brine. I don't think brine is in NJDOT's lexicon. The major artery running running up and down the eastern seaboard was down to tire tracks between slush and snow covered pavement. Luckily, traffic was fairly light. New Jerseyites clearly get that their roads crews are non-existent and useless and wisely don't venture out unless it's absolutely necessary.

I had a couple of heart pounding moments as my car suddenly started fishtailing gently as I passed Exit number 4. Luckily my 4 years of driving experience in America's version of hell frozen over (aka Vermont) kicked in. I removed my foot from the accelerator, let gravity slow me down and stopped sliding. Then, less than a mile from my exit, I had to change lanes for my Route 1 exit. That was when the real fun started.

I held my breath as I plowed through the piled up slush and snow between the lanes to get into the line of backed up exit traffic. Suddenly the car in front of me also changed lanes and slammed on their breaks. This of course forced me to hit mine and suddenly I was sliding directly towards their rear end. Even though I had given them more distance than I normally would have, I was rapidly running out of pavement. I could feel my antilock breaks kicking in to no avail as I closed the distance between me and the car in front of me. I had no choice but to aim for the shoulder and hope to miss them.

My guardian angel was watching out for me. As I steered out of the slush and onto the fluffy shoulder snow, suddenly I had traction and cleared the idiot in front of me by a good three inches off to his right hand side. He had started moving again, completely oblivious to the fact that I had almost plowed into his back bumper due to his failure to signal and hit the breaks move. I was able to angle myself back into the exit lane with no harm done except an over abundance of adrenaline running through my system.

Cursing idiot drivers and NJDOT's lack of winter preparedness, I finally made it safely into the office. Luckily the roads were in better condition for the drive home.

More Pictures From New York City

Get Thee To A Supernova Concert

Ever have one of those days where every thing goes perfectly, like it's meant to be? I had one of those days on January 31st. I worked half a day before heading up to New York City for the Supernova concert. On a whim, I signed onto to Ticketmaster because I was curious to see what tickets were left and how close the concert was to a sell out. What to my wondering eyes should appear? A single front row pit ticket. I snapped it up and sold the 2nd row pit ticket I had previously bought on E-Bay to a height-challenged friend, stuck a few rows back who feared getting stuck behind an amazon. My piece of luck with the ticket set the tone for the day. I got the last covered space on top of the Hamilton train station and one subway train after another arrived moments after I stepped onto the platform. No matter how crowded the subway train, I always managed to get a seat. Little did I know where my good fortune would carry me later in the evening.

I checked into my hotel, freshened up and headed off to meet friends at my favorite Thai restaurant, Bangkok House. All three are huge Lukas Rossi fans and I had a good time listening to them squee over the singer while dining on Basil Chicken Noodle. While I've mostly enjoyed the new Supernova CD, I was really looking forward to seeing the openers: Magni and Dilana, Juke Kartel and the Panic Channel. I'd read mixed reviews of the Supernova concerts and had carefully been schooling myself to keep my expectations in check. However, my dinner companions enthusiasm was contagious.

After a 15 minute wait out in the freezing cold, the doors finally opened and we navigated the security juggernaut to get inside. We milled around Radio City for a bit and finally wandered into our seats. The concert kicked off shortly after 8 pm with Dilana, Magni and her guitarist Christian with an acoustic set.

Dilana

Magni

Juke Kartel's guitarist Dale Winter's joined the group for one last song, a cover of "She Talks To Angels". (I'll eventually have some video of this.")

Juke Kartel was next on the stage with songs from their new EP including "Save Me", "Throw It All Away", and "December".

Toby Rand

Tommy Kende and Todd Burman

Dale Winters

Eddie Murphy

Juke's drummer is only 20 years old and is destined to be one of the greats, I think--up there with Tommy Lee and Jon Farriss. Every once in a while, you go see a band and you realize that one of the band members is better than the band they're actually with. Don't get me wrong, Juke Kartel is a great band. But, Eddie is just amazing. Keep your eye on this one.

After a short intermission, Panic Channel came out. I'd been meaning to download their album before the concert so I would at least be somewhat familiar with their stuff, but it never quite happened. I'd say I liked about half of their stuff. Their lead singers banter was rather political which didn't bother me at all since I agreed with him. But, there was some grumbling from those that didn't. But, it was great to see Dave Navarro. He's a lot of fun to watch and is great about posing for the cameras. He jumped down off the stage towards the end of the set right in front of my friend Fransi who took my old 2nd row ticket and pretty much played directly too her for a few minutes.

Dave Navarro

Replacement bass player Siggy Sjursen is a cutie, but lead singer Steve Issacs is a little too emo for my tastes.

Siggy Sjursen and Steve Isaacs

Dilana came out to join the Panic Channel for their final song, a cover of "Highway to Hell".

After the final intermission, Supernova finally took the stage one by one.

Gilby Clark

Johnny Colt

Tommy Lee

Lukas for some reason has always reminded me of a wolf. Maybe it's the spike hair. I've had this mental image of him since he sang "Creep" on the show this summer and threw his head back for the high pitched money note, like he was howling at the moon. His fur-trimmed black leather jacket on Wednesday night did nothing to change the image in my head.

Lukas Rossi

It was a high energy show that included a string quartet for a cover of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and "Can't Bring Myself To Light This Fuse" (one of my favorite songs off the CD). Thankfully, the dancing girls and titty cams from Vegas were no where to be found.

Towards the end of the main set, Toby Rand from Juke Kartel came out to do a duet with Lukas for "This Is My Home".

Like most shows, the concert ended with an encore. Towards of the end of the encore, a beer bottle that Lukas had been using to spray the crowd with slipped out of his hand and skittered diagonally across the stage in front of my section of the front row, shattering. Thankfully, not a single one of us were hurt. The glass seemed to just miss us all some how, even though it was all over the floor around our feet. I gingerly moved a few pieces of glass out of my way with my foot and looked up to see Johnny Colt, the bass player staring at me with a really concerned look on his face. But, it was all good. Aside from few drops of beer, I had come through unscathed.

Right after the show ended, one of Lukas' bodyguards came out with backstage passes for those of us in the front row that had had a narrow miss with the flying glass. I snagged one for Fransi as well since I knew she was a big Lukas fan. We were herded off to the side of the theatre to wait in line where we were taken upstairs in groups. An interesting side note, while we were standing waiting in line, an usher asked the couple behind us, who they were there to see. They said Jason Newstead, the Supernova bass player who had been injured back in November, who Johnny Colt is filling in for. My ears perked up a little at that and I wondered if he was lurking back stage somewhere. If so it's a good sign that he's on the mend.

Eventually, we were taken upstairs to in groups of ten and then herded into an empty dressing room that was being used as a holding pen. Lukas' body guard came back in and said that the band was in a meeting and now they weren't sure if any of them would be able to meet us because they had some sort of appearance to make at 12:30 am. A few seemed disappointed and left. The rest of us chose to stay and wait. As we waited, we watched Magni and Dilana wander out of a dressing room. Then Toby and Tommy from Juke Kartel came out. Toby, ever the sweetie, came in to do a quick meet and greet. At about 12:15 am in came Lukas. Toby who was still chatting with us, drummed up a round of applause for Lukas, much to his embarrassment. It's nice to know that rock stars can still blush, even the newly minted ones.

Lukas was very apologetic for the bottle incident. He came across as very personable, accessible and charismatic. He worked his way around the room until he got to Fransi and I. Fransi, who has met him on several occasions was rewarded with a huge bear hug and a kiss. I introduced myself to him and Fransi piped in that I was a Moderator at Rockband.com. I told him my screen name and he got this big smile on his face and said something to the effect of "I know who you are." (I was too dazzled by the smile to remember his exact words.). We chatted for a couple of more minutes before he got called away for a picture. Before too long, he and his girlfriend had to scoot off to the appearance and we were all headed out the door into the night.

It really was the perfect ending a perfect day. Sometimes, things start with a single fortuitous event and they just happen they way they're meant to.