To you and yours, Happy Fourth of July!

Fireworks lit up skies above midtown Omaha Friday night.
Photo by Chris Machian/MachianPhoto.com

The PR firm I work for has hosted this massive outdoor concert every Fourth of July weekend at Memorial Park. Last night’s show, which we guess attracted more than 50,000 people, featured Three Dog Night and the Doobie Brothers.

There were literally people everywhere. Walking posed a problem, as the massive waves of bodies didn’t move as fluidly as one would hope.

The weather was ideal for an outdoor musical experience. I’m told last year’s show was literally rained out.

I answered questions at the information tent and stuffed myself on a slice of cheese pizza, an ice cream sandwich and an ice cream cone, not to mention a huge glass of lemonade.

At the end of the evening, my only duty was to power up a massive generator for outdoor lighting. Two tries and I was successful.

Earlier in the day, I watched a parking lot to ensure only staff and volunteers parked their vehicles there. One gentleman, and his teenage son, tried to park in the lot. When I told him no, he replied:

“Why are you torturing us like this?”

So riddle me this: How can an annual outdoor concert that is absolutely free and open to the public be considered torture?

Thanks to circle7 for sharing this one.

Which Family Guy character are you?

I’ve been tagged by Shannon, my Bend friend, to list my current six favorite songs. I should explain that current, for me, can mean this week, this day or this hour. It changes constantly.

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

(1) “Let It Rain” — Tilly and the Wall, Wild Like Children

(2) “Fix You” — Coldplay, X&Y

(3) “So Weit Wie Noch Nie” — Jürgen Paape, DJ Kicks

(4) “Carry That Weight” — The Beatles, Abbey Road

(5) “Another Travelin’ Song” — Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

(6) “Streetlights” — Josh Rouse, Nashville

*In an effort to keep this going, I now call upon jpel, cindy0240, shawnwrites, mathkiss, marq_manner, ecotopian, thisvintagegirl and missbunnie to do the same.

This comes from my good friend, Tony Dreibus.

Newspapers and People

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country — if they could find the time — and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country — and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who’s running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.

10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country — or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.

11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12. None of these is read by the guy who is running the country into the ground.

Today, I imagine, will be an easy Friday at work. I have a few projects to work on, but nothing too challenging and nothing too pressing that can’t wait until Tuesday.

Hooray! I’m looking forward to having Monday off from work. Our festivities won’t get underway until the evening, so much of the day, I’m sure, we’ll be spent reading. Maybe a little shopping?

Tonight I have to work “Commercial Federal Celebrates America,” a huge outdoor concert at Memorial Park. Our PR firm handles production of the event. The Doobie Brothers and Three Dog Night are set to take the stage sometime after 7 tonight. I hope it doesn’t rain.

I just read that Apple introduced Pod-casting in iTunes 4.9. Apple also announced new iPods with 20 GB and 60 GB hard drives that also (gasp!) have color screens.

I’m drooling. Seriously drooling.

It may be time to upgrade!

This makes me wish I were still in college.

Well, that and the belief I’d have life figured out upon graduation.

Matthew and I are hoping to hit up the Wednesday night version of the farmers market tonight, assuming we don’t immediately evaporate from the heat the minute we walk outdoors. I’m hungry for some kettle corn.

“I wanna tell her that I love her a lot, but I got a got a belly full of wine.”

Summer is called to have “blistering heat” for a reason. Walking around outside yesterday — in 95 degree heat in my dress shoes sans socks — created these massive blisters on my heels. They hurt so bad that I’m unable to wear anything but sandals. I discovered this earlier this morning when I suited up to go to the Y. After putting on my socks and tennis shoes, I walked to grab my iPod when I felt sharp pains shooting from those blasted blisters. Ouch. Hopefully, my feet will be healed by tomorrow. I haven’t been running since Friday. It’s time!