A Late Adopter.

I think I am ahead of the curve on a lot of things (mostly thanks to the internets)- news, fashion, celebrity gossip, etc. In general, I think that is a fair statement compared to say, ummmmmm, my mom. OR WAIT. Your mom. I know there is a “mom” joke in there somewhere.

Anyway. Defying my SUPER TRENDSETTER TREND (god I wish there were a sarcasm font), are a few late adoptions. What I mean is, I knew about all of these things (that I am about to talk about) for a while but I was late in experiencing (or “adopting”) them…and I really think I was missing out all this time while I was just sitting around (probably just reading the internets).

1. BEST CEREAL EVER. My favorite cereal is either Special K (when fresh berries are available to add to my little bowl of heaven) or Crispix (when berries not available). A couple of months ago, though, I saw an ad for “Chocolaty Delight Special K.” In case you are wondering what that is, its Special K with pieces of chocolate in it! My first thought was “hmmmmm, sounds like an great idea. But, I don’t know if I want chocolate in my cereal.” (I never liked Coco Puffs or Cookie Crunch or Reese’s Puffs or any of that jazz.). A few months later, at the grocery store this weekend, I went to the cereal aisle to grab a box of my usual regular Special K (does anyone know why it’s called Special K?), and I saw that all Special K products were 2 for $5. So I decided to grab a box of the Chocolaty Delight too. I just had it for breakfast this morning. WOWZA. It’s good. Chocolate? GOOOOD. Special K? GOOOOD. Although I think it’s more of a nighttime cereal (cereal also happens to be my favorite snack), or even a DESSERT CEREAL. Either way. If you think Special K with Chocolate SOUNDS like a good idea, you will probably love it.

2. BEST BOND EVER. I love James Bond movies. One of my favorite memories involves me, my dad and my brother sitting in a hotel room in California after a long day of driving (from Vegas) and watching “For Your Eyes Only.” (That was in Roger Moore’s heyday). I won’t embarrass Evan with the full details of the story, but it’s thanks to some of his commentary on the movie, that that one has long been my favorite Bond movie from the franchise. I had been meaning to see Casino Royale last fall in theatres, but going with the theme of this blog post, obviously, I didn’t. I finally rented it this weekend and…ummm…DEFINITELY watched it twice in one day. I’ll admit, I was one of the Blond Bond skeptics, but Daniel Craig is the franchise’s best Bond to date. Seriously fantastic…and probably the most CUT Bond to date. I even liked the Bond girl a lot (Eva Green). And I am not a car wonk, but I know enough to know that the Aston Martin in that movie is SICK. I’m totally buying it (the movie. I can’t afford an Aston Martin and this juncture in my life. Nor can I drive stick). Probably the only thing I didn’t like about it was the theme song by Chris Cornell. But that’s mainly because I think he’s a douche in general. Soundgarden was cool. Audioslave kind of makes me want to stab myself in the ear.

3. BEST VENUE EVER. I came close to seeing Citizen Cope at Rams Head Live in Baltimore last year, but it was sold out when I got there (and I didn’t buy advanced tix). But I finally got around to seeing a show there over the weekend, thanks to my friend Tara. She works for Rams Head and got us in to the sold out show and even into the VIP section for Brand New. It has to be one of the best venues I’ve seen a show at. I didn’t partake of the open bar, so my judgment of the facility is not clouded by alcohol or anything. Really great sound, cool layout, multiple levels for viewing, and flat panel LCD TV monitors all over the place so you can see the act even if you’re a midget. I was even a late adopter to the show in general. Rachel had been talking about wanting to go for months and I was just kind of “eeeeeeehhhh, maybe.” Until it sold out and it was too late. Luckily I still have some connections and asked Tara just last week if she could hook it. And man was it worth it- the opening band had dueling drummers for almost the entire set. Until the end, when FIVE drummers came out. I was so impressed that I told Rachel “Any band from here on out that doesn’t have at least 5 drummers is going to be a let down.” Even after Brand New’s main set I said, “Well, it was good, but it was no 5 drummers.” Apparently, I spoke too soon because during the encore, Brand New brought out 14 drummers. FOURTEEN. They started out slow- with 5 drummers-enough to get me jazzed. Then more just kept coming out from the woodworks (i.e.-backstage) with their own drums…or some just opted to steal a drum off the kit and play in mid air. It was basically pandemonium. And when they were done, the stage was just a massive pile of instruments (mostly drums).

Ahhhhhh sweet cacophony.