Big week: Big Show, big smiles, big food!

Last week was a busy one once again as our social calendar was bursting with great invitations from friends, old and new alike. On Monday the 7th we went to a Toots and the Maytals concert at the Paradise. The tickets were free courtesy of our friend Julie who was lucky caller #4 on WERS and won them. The concert was originally scheduled for Sunday, March 30th but it was cancelled at the last minute and re-scheduled for last week. In order to make up for lost time the band decided to have two shows on the same night and we got to go to the second show which began at 11pm! Needless to say, when the lead singer and main attraction of the band is in his late 60s to early 70s and presumably has been sick for a week, one cannot expect greatness on the second show of a double-header. Indeed, there was no greatness as we could barely even hear Toots although we were in the front row. In fact, the sound system was horrible and the whole concert sounded as if it was coming through on a home-made transistor radio!!! The only saving grace was that we had gotten the tickets for free, so we did the best to enjoy ourselves.

Tuesday the 8th was a very busy day; we had the home-opener of the Rex Sox at 2pm and then at 7pm were treated(by my brother Mariano and his new family, the Wights) to great tickets to a WWE(WWF) "Smackdown" event courtesy of "The Big Show" himself!! The Sox game was lots of fun, complete with an elaborate world-series ring ceremony and a cool fly-over by three F-16 jet fighter planes. Best of all, of course, is that the Red Sox won 5-0. So, after the game we headed to a local pizza joint to load up on carbs so we would be ready to scream our heads off at the wrestling match. We had four complimentary tickets and, believe it or not, were only able to find one friend willing to come with us to the event. (I believe this is because people up here in our social circle are a bit lame when it comes to trying new things). However, the guy who happily agreed to come with us, Mario, turned out to be a huge fan and connoisseur of wrestling who filled us in on all the ins-and-outs of the very entertaining sport. The event began at 7:30pm and there were quite a few bouts before our guy, Big Show, came out to fight "The Great Kali". It was a true meeting of the giants. However, Kali turned out to be no match for Big Show and the whole thing was over in less than one minute! (see video below) I was amazed at how heterogeneous the crowd was at the wrestling event, how many kids were there, and how much fun everyone seemed to have. Definitely a new experience for us that we quite enjoyed!




Friday night we went to Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square for the CD release party for "Jo Henley" the band in which our friend Tien Yi plays the drums. The sound was great as was the vibe and we were very proud of her and happy for her. On Saturday, Kevin went out around 10:30pm to meet up with two of his long-time greatest friends, Carla and Kari. They rendezvoused at Jillians and played pool and had beers and yucked it up until the wee hours of the morning.

On Sunday we had another social double-header: Late lunch at Dina and Peter's place and dinner with the Curleys and Skiadass at The No Name (this time I brought my camera!). Catching up with Dina and Peter was great and as always their cooking was delicious and their eclectic group of friends a great deal of fun. As content as my belly and I were after that gathering, I opted for the lobster again at the No Name 'cause I just can't seem to get enough of the delicious crustaceans. Hmm, with our bellies now really full and our spirits high from great conversation and friendship, Kevin and I headed home to retire for the night and be lulled to sleep by the sound of the Sox V. Yankees game playing on the stereo in the background.