111408-111708: minus the bear, lechon and longevity

john, jini, aram and i went to soma to see the minus the bear on friday. the band that played before them, the annuals, weren't too impressive. their sound was too eclectic and their songs weren't focused. minus the bear was AWEsome. their live sound is very close to the album, and it's a trip to watch dave knudson tap the cool riffs. i wore ear plugs until they played drilling, and then i took them off for that song and their encore set. i'm really glad john told me to get 'em. otherwise my ears would have been DONE.

it was a really good concert for me because of a bunch of reasons. 1. i did my homework, so i knew all the songs except for their new song and one of their old old songs. it makes a big difference if you go to a concert knowing the songs rather than not knowing. otherwise it wouldn't have been worth 18 bucks. 2. the song order was good. i told myself beforehand that i'd take out my ear plugs when they played drilling, and that was the last song of their set before their encore in which they played absinthe party and white mystery 3. they were just damn sexy.

the next day, john and i went to his parents' place in palmdale. it was his grandmother's 80th birthday as well as two of his brothers' birthdays. when he invited me a couple of weeks ago, he told me that the whole day would be nothing but eating the whole day. that was true. lechon was the highlight of the meals. basically we were at this retirement community where john's grandmother lived and all day, all we did was eat. the chafing dishes weren't too effective, so a lot of the food tasted salty (i think food tastes saltier when it's cold). still, it was a blast. the lechon was delicious.. especially the part i carved from the cheek. it was like.. the oyster from a chicken.. but from a pig. the skin was a bit harder than i had imagined, but i liked how it went from crispy to chewy as i ate it.

there was this old italian man there, he was 89, but he didn't seem older than late 60s. the whole time he was cracking jokes and telling all kinds of crazy stories about his past. i think having such a sense of humor can definitely prolong your life. oh, and i think he's drunk wine regularly almost his whole life. hmm. his wife made some bomb diggity pasta as well for the party.

i don't have much family, and going to john's home home where there were at least 20-25 people in his family was really eye-opening.

that's all i guess for now.