Pleasant Surprise

I just finished my first book of the new school year, and it was a very pleasant surprise. Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin, is tough to categorize, but I totally loved it. I would say that it is a paranormal romance of sorts about how to appreciate th things you have in life, no matter which side of it you are on. If this is confusing, bear with me. The main character of the novel is a girl named Liz, who is recently deceased, don't worry, I am not spoiling anything. Anyways, she finds herself in a unique place called Elsewhere, which is where she will spend her afterlife. I know this sounds strange, but there is a lot more to it. Several of the students that I support had to read this book for Summer reading, so I read it in order to offer the best help. Boy am I glad that I decided to pick it up. I have read quite a bit over the last year, and I can honestly say this is the most refreshing book that I have read in a long time. It has a wonderful innocence that is irresistible. Keep in mind that it is aimed at young adults, so it may not be as deep as you want it to be, but it is definitely worth your time. Four Stars.

Olympic Update

After posting my thoughts on the Olympics, I came across this funny little column by sports journalist Rick Reilly. Enjoy.

Sports or Politics?

Like the rest of you, I have been thoroughly enjoying the Beijing Olympics. Watching Michael Phelps dominate the pool has been awesome. That 4 X 100 free relay was the most exhilarating finish I have seen since Gary Hall Jr. and Anthony Irvin tied for gold a in the 50 free in Athens. Anyways, even though I know the Games are a sporting event, this year in particular seems to be dripping in politics. Starting with the madness that was the torch relay to the supposed ages of several Chinese gymnasts, I cannot remember an Olympiad that has been so politically charged. I know that there were boycotts in 1980 and 1984, but I really was not paying attention to the politics of the world in those times.

So many different things appear to be in question:

• Fake fireworks at the opening ceremonies.
• Age of the gymnasts.
• The right for groups to protest in three designated areas. So far every request has been denied.
  
• Darfur supporter and Olympic Champion Joey Cheek having his passport denied. He was not allowed into the country.
• Sketchy scoring for the Chinese female gymnasts that gave them favorable scores on routines that looked less than stellar.
• Air quality.
• Chinese censorship.
  
• The insane picture that the Spanish basketball teams took in which they made their eyes appear slanted in an attempt to "honor" the host nation.

These are just a few examples that I could think of, even though there are undoubtedly more. Once again, I understand that politics been a part of the Olympics for a long time, most notedly in Munich in 1972 and Berlin in 1936, but none that I have personal memories of. I am dying to see how these Games will impact China in the coming years. The Chinese clearly want to prove to the world that they have arrived after years of isolation. However, I do not think that the Olympics have proven everything that they wanted them to.

A Sad Day For DMB Fans

This post is in memoriam of Leroi Moore, the departed saxophonist of the Dave Matthews Band who passed away today. He helped create some of the music that played in the background of many great memories for both me and Marilyn. We will both miss hearing his solos live in concert as he entertained thousands of cheering fans. Rest in peace Leroi.

What Would You Say

Now it is time for the second part of the Dave Matthews Band concert at Alpine Valley on Saturday, August 9. Simply put, the show was awesome. The best concert I have ever been to. Just kidding. Nothing will ever surpass Radiohead. Unless Radiohead decides to be the house band at our wedding. Speaking of wedding, I forgot to mention that the Radiohead concert was on Aug. 1, exactly one year before our wedding, so how could it have been bad. Did I mention that the Radiohaed concert was the best show I have ever been to? Well, in case I didn't, it was great. The show was in Grant Park during the first night of Lollapalooza and they played a sparkling two hour set. But alas, this story is about the Dave show.

A rather unfortunate incident happened to me during the first song, which I detailed in my previous post. The first song was a "Dancing Nancies", a personal favorite. The next song was "Seek Up", which I mostly missed as I was washing off my foot. Unlike previous shows in the last few years, the Band seemed to dig deep in their catalog and played old jam after old jam. This set included "Crush", "Halloween", "Ants Marching" and covers of Pink Floyd's "Money" and the Talking Heads "Burning Down the House." The personal highlight for me was "Spoon", a rare deep cut from Before These Crowded Streets. It really was a great show and here is a link to the set list if you are interested.

Why Dave Matthews Band Fans Might Be Worse Than Sox Fans

I will make no excuses for enjoying the music of the Dave Matthews Band, but I think I have had enough of their so-called fans. The seeds for this story were planted last year after we attended a Dave show at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. We hadn't seen them in a couple of years and were looking forward to seeing a band we both like after the dry spell. To put it simply, the show was a major disappointment. We heard couple of faves, but the set was primarily filled with their newer music, which neither of us particularly care for. On top of the set list, Dave fans have become more and more obnoxious as we have gotten older. It has apparently become a sport to get totally wasted and act like a fool at the shows, which is not my style when attending a concert. (Yes, I know some of you might bring up my personal debacle that was the Blink-182 concert that some of us went to. All I can say is that every dog has it's day, and that was mine.) Anyways, after the show was over we both agreed that the Toyota Park show was most likely our last Dave concert. We have both seen him numerous times and I personally would rather save the money, or go see a band that I have never seen before.

Fast forward to May of this year. Ben and Mindy were over for dinner and made the comment that they had four extra tickets for the two night stand at Alpine Valley this year. Marilyn said we would take them with no hesitation. Naturally, I was shocked, but apparently she had no recollection of our previous conversation. Her defense to taking the tickets was the fact that shows at Alpine were "the best." After three months of waiting, the concerts arrived and I admit I was excited.

Since we had lawn tickets, we had to find a suitable spot to watch the show. After finding such a spot, Mar headed to the bathroom (big shock). I was dutifully protecting our spot when an obviously wasted fellow walked by. It appeared that he was carrying beer in a sideways fashion and spilling it on the ground. My foot got splashed and and he continued to stumble up the hill. After he passed, I noticed that the beer was very warm and had a rather disgusting feeling in my stomach. I looked at the woman behind me and asked her,"Was that guy pissing?!" Unfortunately, her response was yes. This is the moment that my rage began.

Marilyn returned from her trip to the bathroom and I was totally irate. All she could do was stand there in shock as I tried to control my anger over having just been urinated on. If there was any type of consolation, I was happy that Mar was not there, otherwise she would have had her whole leg peed on. Second, I was glad that I was wearing my Crocs, which Marilyn hates, but they are resistant to odor, bacteria and liquid; unlike the sandals I was going to wear. At this point we headed to a bathroom so I could wash my foot, despite the fact that the show had already started. The next surprise was waiting for me in said bathroom.

After walking up to the lodge, I went to the men's room, which thankfully had an attendant. He was nice enough to grab me some disinfectant and I began to wash my foot. Since one foot was the sink and the other was on the ground, I was standing in an awkward positions. Well, this position was apparently inviting. As I washed my foot, another supposed fan decided that my butt looked good enough to pinch. Once again I was totally shocked. I immediately turned around and asked the kid what he thought he was doing. He responded by telling me that he thought I was someone else, but kept his hand on my butt. As I mentioned, I was only standing on one leg, so I couldn't really move, but I sure as hell could scream, so I kindly asked him to remove his hand and move along. I hate to beat a dead horse, but I was enraged that two people could be so drunk and out of hand that they decided to be totally ignorant. This is why I longer like attending Dave Matthews Band shows.

That's What She Said

This has to be the most inappropriate commercial I have ever seen. I admit, it caught my attention, but I don't think it was for the right reasons. Let me know what you think.



Ridiculous.

Radiohead Redux

I am figuring most of you did not read my some what lengthy post on Lollapalooza, so here is my second attempt. It was the best concert that I have ever been to. If you did read the post, you know that Radiohead is my all time favorite band, and really the only reason that I went to the show. I made the trip solo and, after a long, hot day, they came on at precisely eight o'clock ready to entertain the crowd of 75,000 that were anxiously awaiting their set. The set was awesome and the evening was gorgeous. They played all of In Rainbows and other gems from their catalog of classics. The personal highlight for me was "There, There" and the "Fake Plastic Trees", which was accompanied by fireworks. If you have any interest in more details, you can read my previous post that describes more of the show.

Name Game

As this quaint little blog is approaching it's one year anniversary, we are coming to a crossroads. One of the many things that I am nagged about is the name of our blog. Yes, I did say our blog because I always tell Marilyn that she can post an entry whenever her little heart desires. However, she has steadfastly refused due to the title of the blog. As most of us know, Marilyn has the unfortunate flaw of being a white sox fan. Due to this fact, she refuses to post on anything that has Cubs in it's title. She also objects to the Battlestar Galactica element in the title even though she watches the show.

In my defense, the title of this blog gets it inspiration from an episode of The Office. During the episode, Dwight Schrute mentions three of his favorite things in this order: Beets, Bears... Battlestar Galactica. It is quite a funny scene and I love all of those things except for beets. Well, I figured it would be a clever name for the blog, so I went with my own version, replacing beets with cats and Cubs.

So, for the sake of being fair, I will consider changing the name of the blog and you will help me decide if a new title is necessary. Here are the options:

A. Nothing, it will stay the same.

B. The Beet Remains the Same

C. The Ortiz Post Telegraph Intelligencer Gazette Monitor Times Sun Journal Daily Register Sentinel Constitution Press Banner Chronicle Advocate Courier Free Press Centinel Independent Standard Mercury Dispatch Union Banner Pantagraph Evening Advocate Herald Bulletin Whig County Crusader Ledger Enquirer Examiner Tribune (Just to be obnoxious)

D. Partly Cloudy (This is a nickname given to us by a friend at Chili's that claims Marilyn is a ray of sunshine while Christopher is a menacing storm)

E. Notes From the Blackboard (This is our nod to teaching)

If you do not like these options, we are open to suggestions. Results will be be shown in the coming weeks.

The Truth Behind the Dog Story

To borrow a line from on of my favorite BEASTIE BOYS songs, "It's time to set the record straight!" Apparently it has become fashionable to suggest that I enjoy electrocuting dogs, which is not true. Let me start from the beginning. Megan asked me to babysit young Caitlin, which I agreed. I was very excited to spend time with her while helping Meg out. After waking up late and busting my rear to get there, I arrived to pick her up at the Dwyer's house. Tim was there waiting for me and I apologized for being late. I asked him if there was anything important that I should know, and he said no as he left for work. I said hi to Caitlin and told her that we were going to head back to my place.

Before we left, I thought that I should take Shelby the dog out for a walk. Caitlin got the leash and I attached it to one of the two collars she was wearing. Now, I know that dogs do not usually wear two collars, but I figured the other one was a flea collar. Well, we head out to the driveway as I prepared to walk the dog. As I walked down the driveway Caitlin told me that I had to carry Shelby past the car to the sidewalk. At first I thought this was weird, but Shelby is her dog so I thought it would be okay. So I picked Shelby up and started walking towards he sidewalk. To my horror, as soon as I got past the car, Shelby started to get shocked. I instantly put her down and she ran back to the house. I cannot put into words how bad I felt. It was horrible. Since my cats are perfect and do not require shock collars, I had no idea what they looked like. I still feel guilty over the incident and hope that Shelby has forgiven me. As for the future, I will always be willing to babysit for any of you when you need it. Just make sure you walk your dogs and leave me explicit directions about how to handle them.

The Story So Far

Since I have been blogging, I have meant to tell this story but have not yet had the time to sit down and make a real effort of it. Considering the amount of grief that I got for having a particularly long post about my Radiohead concert experience and not yet telling this story, I figured it is about time. Well, it officially began in October of 2000. This was the fateful month that my Chili's career started. Hard to believe it was that long ago, but it was. Anyways, since I decided to hang up my barista apron and start making some real money as a server, I applied for a position at Chili's since it was on my way home for COD State. Needless to say, I got the job and started training within a week, and as luck would have it, Marilyn was one of my trainers. Now, at this point, I had no idea what the future held for me, and to quote Marilyn, "I did not think he was going to make it. Chris was too quiet, reserved and never smiled." This generally is a bad sign for a new server, but I guess I overcame the odds and here I am eight years later.

I eventually finished training, completing only four of five days since I was such a great learner. As I got to know my new co-workers, I started to let my guard down and get to know the great people that I was working with. One of these people was Marilyn. Not to long after starting the job, I was regularly hanging out with my co-workers and we all formed fairly tight bonds. After all these years, I still keep in contact with several of the people that I started with, even though most have moved on to bigger and better things.

The event that really kicked things off in my courting of Mar was a Cubs game. A perk of working at Chili's is the contests that they run. The prizes vary, but in the summer of 2001, the winning team of a margarita contest got to go to a Cubs game. The date was Tuesday, August 21, 2001 against the Milwaukee Brewers. We all caught the train together and upon arriving at Union Station, we saw several vendors selling fresh grown sunflowers. Marilyn made an off handed comment about how much she liked sunflowers, so I made sure to take note. After a great game, which featured the debut of Juan Cruz for thos who care, we made the long journey back to the Loop. While this shouldn't be a long journey, we were all listening to one of the people with us and he took us on a long walk that was headed in the wrong direction. Anyways, we finally made it back to the train station, where we once again saw the flower vendor. While Mar was in the washroom (shocking), I made my way over to the flower stand and bought her a sun flower. Even though this was before an official date, I think we both consider it to be the de facto beginning of our relationship.

Well, I had just moved in with one of my co-workers, Alyssa, for better of for worse, and we headed back to our place after the game. We all had a great time and rented a couple of movies. I really want to say we watched The People Under the Stairs but I am not certain. As I mentioned, we all enjoyed ourselves and Marilyn ended up being the final person to leave that night. Over the next few days, Mar came over almost every night to watch movies or just hang out as we leaned more about each other. We also took in our first concert together during these days. It was a Bare Naked Ladies show on August 24 at the World in Tinley Park. OUR friend Elisa had a crazy college roommate who won a limo and concert tickets, so Mar invited me along. The show was a lot of fun, and we both enjoyed each other's company. This all lead to the following Saturday at Bar Chicago.

Todd's brother Brad's girlfriend won a free party, so we headed down to the city to take advantage of the free drinks. As was my habit in those days, I had my fill, so my natural nervousness was gone. This lead to some mean carpet burning as I was pulling out all of my patented moves. Mar claims that I was not the dancing machine that I remember, but my moves were obviously impressing her. After the crazy night of partying, we went to a party at a co-workers where the flirting continued. At the end of the night Mar dropped me off and I stumbled upstairs to pass out. The next morning I was totally hung over and could barely work the double that I was scheduled. Mar bartended that night while I was in cocktail. I got my butt kicked the whole night while she watched a laughed. The laughing at my expense seems to have become a theme, but I have learned to deal with it.

Well, the two weeks of flirting culminated on September 4, with our first official date. I once again used my considerable skills and procured Sox tickets in order to impress the lady. This will probably shock most of you, considering the fact that I believe there is only one team in Chicago that is worth my money, but I was willing to turn a blind eye in the name of the game. We both enjoyed the game and went out for dinner that night. That night, we shared our first kiss and the rest has become bitter history. Of course I am joking. I know that this was a long story, but this is how it all began. Seven years later, we are still going strong and as happy as can be. Even though we are still serving ritas and fajitas at the Pepper, we both know that without that store, we would not have each other. Needless to say, this goes out to my little Marilyn. I love you and cannot wait to see you walking down the aisle towards the happiest American of Puerto Rican and Mexican decent in the world.



Coming Soon: Chapter Two- The Further Adventures of Two Crazy Cat People

Oh Summer, Where Have You Gone?

I cannot believe that I am writing this, but my summer break is almost over. Unfortunately, I am still on the hunt for a full time teaching gig, bu I am a firm believer that it will happen. For some reason, breaking into teaching has been much more difficult than either of us could have ever imagined, but at least Marilyn has landed a couple of interviews, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Anyways, as summer is coming to a close for us, I wanted to let everyone know what the highlights of my time off were. These will come in no particular order, with the exception of the first event.

• We got engaged! I know that this was technically in the spring, but it was sort of the unofficial kick off to our break since it came during the last weekend of last school year. Planning has not yet kicked into high gear, but now that we have settled on a site for the festivities, I'm sure things are going to come in a fast and furious manner.
• Picking the wedding site. I cannot wait for you guys to meet us up at Walter Payton's Roundhouse next August 1st. If you have the date free that is.
  
• Radiohead. It was unbelievable. I still cannot quite believe that it happened, but I will be forever thankful that I got a chance to experience the magic in person.
• The mid-season finale of Battlestar Glactica. Laugh all you want, but it was one of the best hours of television that I have ever seen. My jaw is still on the floor from the final scene. As a matter of fact, I still have it on my DVR and watched it yesterday.
  
• The Chicago Cubs. Please continue your prayer campaign, as things seem to be working out so far. They are having a great year and I thank my lucky stars every day that I have had the good fortune to see three games this year.
• Meeting Macy Marie Cappa. The miracle of child birth never ceases to amaze me. Anthony and Jillian did a great job with this one and I can only hope that her first words are Go Cubs!
• Attending the Milner baby shower. It was great fun watching three University of Illinois engineers attempt to put together a playpen as this lowly history teacher chimed in from the sidelines. Besides that, apparently I knew what a baby platypus is called. Who would have known? In all seriousness, I can't wait to meet little Miss Milner. Hopefully her first words will be Go Cubs! as well.
• Having lunch with Laura and getting to see her while she was pregnant. It was like old times having a meal with her, Mar, Meg and Brian C. I will get to meet young Cole with time, and I know that his first words will be Go Cubs.
• Going to two free Cubs games with Benjamin. They were both a great time, with the exception of Soriano breaking his had during the game against the Braves. We have not spent as much time with the Koechlings as in summers past, but we are also anxiously awaiting their little package. I'm sure Baby K will be a giant like his father and I can't wait to hear his first words: Go Cubs!
• Watching Anthony burp little Macy as Grandpa Cappa chimed in. I wish everyone could have heard Grandpa C tell me, "Well, he has giant hands. I'm not sure he knows that."
• Seeing John C. Reilly wear a Chewbaca mask in the move Step Brothers.
• Babysitting Caitlin for a day. I don't get to see her nearly as much as I would like, so that surprise opportunity was truly a treat for me. Even though she would not let me hug her and clung to Marilyn's side the whole time, it was a day well spent.
• Receiving Frank the Gnome as a gift. He now watches every game with me and proudly watches over the place from his perch on our media cabinet.
• Seeing my Aunt Miriam and Uncle Luis renew their vows after thirty years. We had a great time with family that I don't see nearly enough. I can only hope we make it that long.
• Meeting Jack White on the streets of Chicago.
• Becoming hopelessly addicted to sudoku. It beats watching more television.
• The Chili's softball tournament. This will have it's own post coming up soon.
• Seeing the pictures of Brian J's burnt hand. Thank you for the laughs.
  

Well, I think that sums up my favorite happenings of the summer so far. We are headed up to Wisconsin for a week for some rest and relaxation before we dive back into the school year. I will be back at HCHS and Marilyn has a couple of options, so we will see where she lands. I hope to post a couple more times before the summer is over with some long overdue stories.

Everything In It's Right Place

One of my dreams came true on Friday, August 1, 2008: I saw Radiohead in concert. Please do not laugh at this statement, but it really has been a dream of mine to see them in concert for several years now. For those that do not know, Radiohead is my absolute favorite band in the world, period. No band really comes close. I know that I was partial to Counting Crows and Pearl Jam in high school, but that all changed one fateful afternoon.

It was a Sunday in the winter of 1997 and I was with Megan and Laura. I doubt that either of them would remember this particular day because it was just another afternoon that we spent together at Fox Valley Mall after a trip to the Kitchen. Well, we happened to stop by Best Buy and I purchased OK Computer after reading the sparkling reviews that it received. I got home, spent an annoyingly long time taking the plastic off of the case, sat back and heard music that shook me to the core. Yes, I know this sounds dramatic, but is the truth. Every song on that album is a masterpiece and I have been an ardent fan ever since.

Well for some reason, whenever they come to Chicago, I miss them. This has been the case for the last ten years, and I was going to be damned if I missed them this time. So, on Friday, Marilyn dropped me off at the Naperville train station and I began my solo trip to fulfill one of my dreams by seeing Radiohead at Lollapalooza. All I had with me was a book, blanket, two bottles of water and a Ziploc bag of grapes.

After arriving at Union Station, I had to catch the Red Line to Wrigleyville to pick up my ticket. Yes, I was an idiot and did not expect the concert to sell out, so I had to pay a premium to purchase a ticket from a broker. To my defense, this is the first time that Lollapalooza has ever sold out. Well, as I was walking to the Red Line, I had a chance meeting with one Jack White. That's right, Jack White of the Raconteurs and the White Stripes. He was standing with a fellow Raconteur waiting to cross Jackson Street. This was quite a thrill for me as I am a huge fan of both bands. No one around us knew who he was, so I said hello and wished him luck with the Raconteurs set. He thanked me, told me he would play a great set and wished me a good day. It really was surreal.

I eventually made my way to Wrigleyville and stopped by the ticket broker, which was located inside Harry Caray's restaurant. As excited as I was to finally have my hands on my ticket, I really wished I could have have stopped and attended the game that was being played at the Shrine. However, a Cubs game and Radiohead in the same day might have been sensory overload, so it is probably better that I got back on the train and headed towards the Loop. Well, after arriving back in the downtown area, I started heading towards Grant Park, the site of the festival.

After reaching the gates, I looked around in awe as tens of thousands of people gathered for a day of great music. There were a total of eight stages set up throughout Grant Park, with the north and south ends housing two large stages that were set up primarily for the headlining bands. In addition to Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco and Kanye West were the major artists that performed this year. This was easily the largest music event I had ever been to and couldn't wait to see my first band, the Black Keys. I won't go into to much detail, but this band totally rocks. They are a simple duo, just a guitar and drums, that hail from Ohio. If you are into the bluesy sound of the White Stripes, you will dig this band. They were really good, and I was glad I had to opportunity to catch their set.

Next up was Cat Power, led by female songwriter Chan Marshall. They played their set on the stage right next to the Black Keys, which was very convenient. Once again, Cat Power played a good set and as soon as they finished, the Raconteurs started playing on the stage vacated by the Black Keys. Since I bumped into Jack White earlier that day, I was excited to see them. However, their set finished only forty-five minutes before Radiohead started, so I left about half way through their set so I would be able to secure a position for the main event. I would have loved to hear them play "Salute Your Solutions," but Radiohead was waiting.

After making my way across the park, I started a push to stand as close as possible to the stage. As I mentioned, I was by myself, so it was fairly easy to wriggle my way to a decent view. I have not mentioned it yet, but that day was hot as blazes, and everyone was baking under the sun. Thankfully, but the time the main event came to the stage, the sun was going down and the temperature was a little more tolerable. Well, it was now eight o'clock and the hour had arrived for Radiohead to take the stage.

I could barely contain my excitement as the elaborate lighting system illuminated (pictured above) the stage as the band began to play their first song of the night, "15 Step." As soon as they started to play the crowd went wild and with just cause. The start was awesome, but the best was yet to come. By this time, the sun was almost down, and the backdrop of the city was breathtaking. After "15 Step," they went on to "Airbag" which was a total surprise for me. This is the lead song on OK Computer, and is one of my favorite tunes on that album. The next song was the highlight of the show for me. Even though I don't think Hail to the Thief is their
strongest effort, it contains of of my favorite songs, which is "There, There." As soon as I saw guitarist Ed O'Brien roll out a separate drum kit, I knew "There, There" was coming, and boy was it fantastic. O'Brien played the hell out of the separated drum set and it was totally awesome.






As the show continued, I watched in awe as they played most of the cuts form In Rainbows with other classics sprinkled in between. Other highligts included "No Surprises", "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" and "The Bends." The next truly breathtaking moment came when the band started playing "Everything In It's Right Place." This is the opening tune on Kid A and is also featured in the movie Vanilla Sky. The song on it's own is awesome, but the thing that took it to another level was the fact that fireworks started playing during the middle of the song. As it so happens, the Chicago Bears scrimmaged that night at Soldier Field. Well, to help celebrate the event, they set off fireworks that happened to coincide with the Radiohead set. The fireworks were the perfect touch and proved that everything was indeed in it's right place. Following "Everything In It's Right Place," was "Fake Plastic Trees" from The Bends. This is a very mellow song and the fireworks accented it perfectly. As the song came to it's climax, the final barrage of fireworks let loose for a truly unforgettable scene.



The set continued with further gems, like "Paranoid Android" and "Optimistic" and the set closer "Idioteque." After the show was over, I was couldn't believe that I had the go good fortune to have attended that show. It was the single best concert I have ever been to, no questions asked. I understand that most people will roll their eyes when they hear me say that, but that is the truth. My passion for their music is unequaled and has more meaning to me than any other group out there. Being able to see it live has been the second biggest highlight of the year for me, with number one being our proposal. It was something that I will not soon forget and hope that everyone can have a similar experience at some point in their lives, whether it be from music, reading or otherwise. What a show.