Reminiscing about the best birthday ever!

I haven't posted in a while and this one is kind of a cheat because it is actually a mass email that I sent out a little over a year ago. I thought some of you who I've just recently reconnected with through Facebook or Blogger might enjoy it. I promise to update with new info soon...I'm sure you're all dying in anticipation :)

Jon's melodica solo for "Say It Ain't So" at the Weezer Hootenanny
June 17, 2008

I heard on the radio that the station was giving out tickets to an exclusive Weezer show to the ninth caller. You couldn't buy tickets, it was a big promotional thing for just the radio station. They wanted fans to be able to play a musical instrument and bring it along to jam with the band- they called it a "hootenanny", and it just so happened that the show was on Jon's birthday. We've been fans of the band since high school and I thought it would be the perfect gift to give him.

So I found out about it on Friday and was calling in to the radio station almost every hour, anytime they played a Weezer song, for days trying to win a chance for Jon to go. I started to get a little crazy, calling frantically and always getting a busy signal. Finally on the fifth day which was also the day of the event and thus one of the last opportunities to win tickets, after about three busy signal calls I actually got a ring tone. I thought- " I'm probably caller number five or something"- then the DJ answered and said I was the lucky ninth caller! I couldn't believe it- I had never won anything like that before, and was sure I was just wasting my time, but I really wanted it for Jon. Then I found out that I would have two tickets so I could go with him! Jon brought his acoustic guitar and an instrument I had given him for Christmas called a melodica, which looks like a small keyboard with a mouthpiece you blow into and has an accordion sound. I brought a little percussion instrument that I never ended up using- I just had fun singing along. It was such a blast!

To get an idea of what the event was all about and what we got to do there I refer you to this article from an Arizona Republic journalist who interviewed Jon and me before and after the show (she tracked us down after the show mainly to ask what the instrument was called that Jon was playing). She got everything right, except for the part where she says that we won the tickets on Sunday morning, I had actually taken a break from listening on Sunday and we didn't win until the day of the show which was Tuesday.
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/2008/06/17/20080617weezershow0617.html

The audio and video from the show was recorded and here is the link to the radio station. If you click on the link that says "click here for the audio from the hootenanny" and then listen to the " Weezer and fans singing Say It Ain't So" you can hear Jon's big solo on the melodica- it's near the end of the song right before the last chorus.
http://www.theedge1039.com/content/weezer/index.php

That's me in the white shirt sitting on the floor at Jon's feet-
I was six month pregnant with Sophie :)

They made a big deal about us not taking any video or pictures so I totally resisted the impulse, even though I saw many others disregarding what we had been told. Now I wish I had used my camera. But, fortunately, Jon ended up being the local star second only to the band, so the radio station had some good photos posted of him. That's where these came from.