Simply the BEST!

What can you say about Tina Turner that hasn't been said before? Well, this is what I can say: I WENT TO SEE HER IN CONCERT LAST NIGHT!!!!!

(*significant* happy dance pause here)

Here's the thing about Tina: she gives a kick-ass show. She lights up the stage all by herself. Granted, she isn't quite as frenzied a dancer as her four "flowers" (her term, not mine, sorry) are, although their moves are strictly Tina's dance moves.

Yes, they did the rapid-butt-shake; yes, they did the arms-extended-360-turns; yes, they did the dizzying-head-flip (yes, I was exhausted just watching them!), and more! Whenever Tina joined them in the more energetic dance moves, the crowd went crazy.

It was a love fest. We loved her. She loved us. We chair-danced within an ounce of our lives. We sang - the entire crowd at the United Center sang - WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? at the top of our lungs and Tina loved us for it! We sang our hearts out for BETTER BE GOOD TO ME, PRIVATE DANCER and SIMPLY THE BEST, too. It was wonderful.

Before the concert actually started, we heard this big "Eeeeee!!" coming from down on the main floor. Oprah had arrived, and was making her way to her seat. The ladies in front of us lent us their binoculars, with which I saw Steadman, a whole lot of hands holding camera phones, and the top of Oprah's head (I think).

During the intermission, we heard an even bigger "EEEEEE!!", from a bit closer to us. We hung over the railing to gawk at Tom Cruise on the level below us, signing autographs for those lucky schmucks who happened to have seats close to his private box. (These photos are proof that I was standing close enough to Tom Cruise to holler out his name with a bunch of other middle aged women, causing him to turn his head, look at us, and wave meaningfully at us... If you can't see him clearly, then buy me a better camera phone!!)

The sets were beyond cool. Her basic set had two storeys with staircases that people jumped on, flounced down, or draped themselves upon, depending on the song. At one point, this half steel cage thing came down, guys were acrobatically fighting in it, the screens were showing clips from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and Tina comes out in her alien queen looking costume to sing WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO, with some totally huge scupted practically naked man standing behind her just looking pretty, while pyrotechnic flares went off behind them. Yeah, that's showmanship!! :D

At the end, when she was singing NUTBUSH CITY, she had run over to the edge of the stage, where there was a kind of circular rail. Next thing we knew, a long section of the stage lifted up and became a huge arm that swept her out into the audience, and she kind of hung over that rail, communing with her fans and pointing her mic at them, encouraging them to join in the "Nutbush - Sing it Again" chant.

Okay. I've got to say something about sensuality here. It's no secret - Tina oozes sensuality, sexuality ("it's physical, merely logical"). Last night, watching her in her many spangly skimpy outfits, seeing video images of her costumes over the years, watching her and her women dance so provocatively, whether live or on video, listening to some of the lyrics, I had the feeling that this was a celebration of the total woman, in all her glory. Woman are sexual creatures, women have beautiful bodies, and the celebration going on last night - while sexual - was not untoward or vulgar by any stretch of the imagination. It was provocative; it was empowering; it was playful; it was fabulous. And I feel better for having experienced it.

It should come as no surprise that the best moment of the night was PROUD MARY. That was her final song, except that she came back and sang two encores. Wow. Even though it was originally CCR's song, you can't think of it without thinking of Tina Turner. And, yes, she did it nice... and rough!! It seemed like they made it last 10 minutes long. The crowd went crazy when she did a long dance to it with her four dancers. We sang for her, we cheered for her, and we hollered long enough when she left the stage for her to come back and sing a little bit more.

Unquestionably, PROUD MARY was the highlight of the night. Here's a clip of her performing it at the 2008 Grammys with Beyonce. I dare you to watch without singing or dancing along!


Yeah, girl, you should be proud! Tina, I love you! Thank you for my Quality Friday!

Maybe you can go home again

When the Town & Country Commission decided to hold their fall meeting this year in Sugar Grove, PA, just 15 minutes from my hometown of Warren, I jumped at the chance to tag along. I get back home so infrequently anymore, and a free trip there was too good to pass up.

The anticipation was building as we drove down from the airport - it's been a year since I was last in Warren. I was going to stay at my sister's house, and it would be nice to see her, but because the meetings would be held in Sugar Grove, I'd also be able to see several cousins there who still live on the land they grew up on.

I had forgotten about the fall colors, and wouldn't have dreamed what strong feelings they would evoke in me. Reflecting on it, I realized it's probably been almost 30 years since I was last in Warren at the height of the autumn brilliance. Turn after turn of the road revealed heartbreakingly beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, greens and browns of deciduous splendor.
I was desperate to stop and capture it on film, but we needed to keep moving, to get to our destination, and I didn't want to scare the passengers in my car with my drive-and-click method of photography (which yields admittedly questionable results). :)

The next unexpected joy was waiting for me at the church. The pastor, Brian, had told me that my carpenter-contractor cousin Bob was working on a construction project in back of the church. This church I have always thought of as a sleepy country church is almost doubling the size of their building! We arrived in time for me to talk with him for a while and catch up a bit, then we were off to his big brother's buffalo farm.

I'd been there last year at the reunion - I knew the buffalo would be cool. But when my cousin John started telling us all about the animals, from breeding to feeding to disease prevention to behavior patterns, and more, I was tremendously impressed with how knowledgeable he is. Things like this: they buy bugs, actually import specialized insects that prey on the kind of flies that plague the buffalo, and can cause eye disease. And how buffalo are so intelligent, that, unlike cattle, they don't hurt themselves by overeating.

I was glad that we'd arrived just in time for me to see cousin Barb and cousin-in-law Sherry, as well!

The whole weekend, although a bit crazy busy, was wonderful! We were able to tour two other local businesses, including a lumber mill (with the biggest, scariest saw I ever wish to see!), and a diesel engine plant where they make two products - a big engine and a bigger engine! (Now who would have thought assembly line work could be so fascinating!??).

Best of all, of course, was the people. Our commission invited four area pastors and their spouses out to a nice dinner on Friday, and all four pastors are friends of mine. It was very special to spend a bit of quality time with them, and hear how their ministries are going.

The reason the commission holds one meeting a year at a town & country church is two-fold: to learn about the individual churches, and to encourage the pastors and congregations. We always pick locations where there will be a cluster of several T&C churches. And while I think we did encourage the pastors by our interest in them and our visit, there's no question in my mind that I was on the receiving end of some big time encouragement by being there.

All of my trip photos are here (as well as explanations as to what they are), but below are several of my favorites from the weekend. Enjoy!