*sigh*

One week ago RIGHT NOW I was sloshing around through the mud at Rockweekend waiting for Chickenfoot to come on. Little did I know that in just a few short hours I would have been kissed by Chad Smith!

My head is nearly completely healed now. Tonight seems extremely anti-climactic compared to last Friday. I think it’s time to break out the Cabo Wabo tequila and make it a BIT more interesting.

*sigh*

I’m sure most all of you have heard SOMETHING about the fact that today is 40 years since the Apollo 11 mission took off. The mission that took us to the moon for the very first time. And if you’re as nutty about the skies as me then this sparks interest in you. Plenty of sites are doing something special for the event. If you are on twitter you can choose to follow someone like @reliveapollo11, which posts updates as if it were 40 years ago. Or you can really feel like you’re right in the control room by logging into the very cool site WeChooseTheMoon.org, where you can hear the conversations between Houston and Apollo 11 in “real time,” and follow the mission all the way until the landing on July 20th. Basically, you can party like it’s 1969.

I would have loved to have witness that. My dad used to talk about it. And when he did, he would talk about it with such feeling. His eyes would focus on something far in the distance and he would talk about how fantastic it was, and how amazing it was to watch. My high school English teacher (one of my favorite teachers) told me the story of how she was able to watch it. She was a teenager, and she had run away from home. On the night of the moon landing she was walking through a neighborhood of houses, and she saw a family watching it on their tv. So she stood outside and watched it through the window.

As far as I can remember, there hasn’t been anything big of this nature to happen in my lifetime. I wish there could be. I wish we could land on Mars. I want to witness that - some great accomplishment like that. Something that has the whole world glued to their TV in amazement and wonder watching as we take the next Giant Leap. I remember when I was little my dad used to tell me about the “great things” that I would “probably” see in my lifetime. Like people traveling to moon and living there. He believed even I would be able to travel to space as a tourist. Of course he used to talk about those things 20 years ago, when it was 20 years since the moon landing. Now it’s another 20 years, and things are moving quite slowly. I know that they are now talking about going back to the moon to build. But it seems like those “great things” are still so far off. But matter what, he knew it was just a matter of time before it definitely WOULD happen.

I know there are many people who don’t believe in the space program, and like to spout out about how the money should be used on Earth instead. But so many of the things we have to today that we take for granted come from the space programs. So many things that are a part of our daily lives. It’s part of who we are as humans - to explore and learn and discover. And what would we do without Hubble? Hubble - what I believe to be one of the most FANTASTIC things to come out of the space program. Hubble - our eye to the universe. Showing us wonders we could have never imagined on our own. Wonders that are there to be SEEN. Otherwise their beauty would be for nothing. I mean, how can images like thesee not blow your mind?

I guess I’m most sentimental about space and it’s exploration because of my dad. The way he used to talk about it always captivated me, and is most definitely why it’s always been one of my great interests. I want the stuff that he dreamed about to happen. I want it to happen for him. I want those dreams to come true for him. Even though he can’t witness it himself, I want to see it and say “you were right dad!”

And I believe it will happen. In my lifetime or not, it’ll happen. And he WILL be right.

Of all the concerts I’ve been to in my life, this one comes out at NUMBER ONE. The music was, of course, so FREKKIN’ awesome, but this one gets pushed to the top for “the incident” and what was to follow.

sidenote: Make sure to read Daniel’s post too! He talks more about the music and has all the pictures we took PLUS the vids!

Let me first say lay down a little background. I loved Chickenfoot before I even heard their music! I heard that Sammy Hagar had put together a new band and was going to release an album, which was enough to get me excited, but when I heard who his band members were, my excitement soared to new heights. Michael Anthony of Van Halen on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar and Chad Smith of RHCP on drums! I don’t think I’d been this excited about an album for a very long time. I got it a few weeks ago and have been listening to it non-stop. Sammy NEVER disappoints, and the band-member combination is AMAZING. (check out the first single, “Oh Yeah” if you haven’t heard it yet!)

Anyway, onto the good part…

Last night was the Chickenfoot concert in Kilafors, Sweden. It was actually a part of the 3-day long rock festival called Rockweekend. But we went up only for Chickenfoot. It was a muddy mess, but it worked out well. They had two stages and they alternated stages for each band. We figured out which stage Chickenfoot would play on, and we were able to secure spots FRONT and CENTER against the fence. I was so excited I could barely contain myself as we watched them set up the stage. And once they came on stage and started playing I knew already that this was going to top anything else I’d seen this year so far (7 concerts, I think).

Of course they were AMAZING. I knew they’d be good. I’ve seen Sammy before (Michael Anthony joined him on stage the time I saw him too), and it was by far one of the BEST shows I ever went to. I’ve seen RHCP live twice. Those were two INCREDIBLE shows. I never saw Joe Satriani before, but my GOD can that man play. And I saw him play close up too!

Anyway, about halfway through the show is where it gets GOOD. Chad is very generous with his drumsticks. He tosses them out to the crowd often, grabbing new ones to play all the time and then chuck them out at his leisure. Every time one came out into the crowd it became a frenzy to try to grab it. A few fell onto the ground in front of the fence where I stood, but when security guards would pick them up to hand them into the crowd, I never got a chance.

One of those that landed on the ground landed about 2 feet from me. I watched as the security guard picked it up to hand it to someone. I reached for it but he handed it off somewhere else. At that very moment something whacked me HARD in the head. It HURT! I thought it was a beer bottle (which wouldn’t make sense since they weren’t selling beer in glass bottles there). But I couldn’t see what it was that hit me. I could feel the welt immediately, and I asked Daniel if it was bleeding. It wasn’t. That’s when I looked up at the stage and looked at Chad Smith. He was pointing at me and then at his head and mouthed “Are You OK?” I smiled and nodded and then he mouthed “I’m so sorry!” and then gestured about how he just threw it and it hit me. That’s when I realized it was a drumstick that hit me! I was so thrilled that Chad Smith was actually speaking right to me that I forgot about the pain on my forehead and got right back into the show. Little did I know that it was about to get about a THOUSAND times COOLER!

Chad continued to toss a couple of sticks in my direction which never made it to me. At the end of the song he got up and walked to Sammy’s mic. He told the crowd that he had thrown a drumstick that hit me in the head. Then he asked me if I was OK. I nodded. He asked if I was bleeding. I shook my head. He asked if I had a bump, I nodded and said “a little!” And then he said “Do you want me to some down and kiss it?” And I said YES!

Of course, I did!!!

So he jumped down off stage (with help from security since it was about 6 feet high), walked over to me, handed me a drumstick, kissed my forehead and asked if I was OK. OF COURSE I was OK, Chad! You just kissed me! Then I asked him how his arm was (because Chickenfoot had been canceling a bunch of shows before this one due to an arm injury of his). He said it was fine and explained how he just threw that drumstick and saw it hit me. I can’t quite remember everything that was said. It’s a bit of a blur! I was flying at that moment, and he was holding onto me and grabbing my hand for the whole short convo. When he left to go back to the stage I could barely keep myself standing from the shock of it all. People around me were asking if he really did hit me and all I had to do to answer them was show them the welt on my head. After that many people expressed to me that they wished it was THEM who had been hit (all guys though, since I was the only girl is a sea of guys in the front. Somehow I don’t think the same thing would have happened for them LOL). For the rest of the show Chad would point at me and acknowledge me, which was very cool.

But wait! There’s more!

At the end, right before the encore song, they all came to the front of the stage to bow and wave to everyone. I was screaming and hopping up and down. Then Sammy pointed to me and made a gesture with his hands symbolizing bouncing boobs. HA! I got embarrassed and started laughing, but then he did “thumbs up” and a “naughty” sign. You can see it in this video here, if you scroll forward to 5:45 you’ll see Sammy do it, then point to me, bow, and to the “naughty” gesture! Hysterical!!! A shame you can’t see me though!

Acknowledged by two members of the band! And possible even three! I noticed Michael Anthony grinning at me a few times when I SCREAMED at the top of my lungs. And near the end he screamed back at me! Possible. I could have just been imagining that one. But the other two were for real! Made my day! My weekend… MY YEAR!

Besides all of that, the concert was just KICKASS. My 2nd fav concert of all time was when I saw Sammy and the Waboritas at the Irving Plaza in NYC 7 years ago. Sammy makes his shows into parties, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that him and the band interact SO MUCH with the crowd. They always tear down that wall between us and really pull you in as part of the show. That, if you ask me, is what really separates a good concert from a GREAT one. When you feel like they are there for the fans, because they appreciate you.

I’m not going to write anymore about the music because I’m going to leave that to Daniel. He’s posted all about it RIGHT HERE! He has the rock blog and he can really express the music better than I can. He also has the pictures. Oh! Except for these… There was a professional photographer there taking pictures for a local paper. She took the ones with Chad coming down to give me the drum stick and kiss me!

EDITED to add: I found a COOL video! At 2:50 in the following video the guy zooms into Chad where he is apologizing to me while still playing the drums. SO COOL! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtlTMyiRlfg

Chad climbing down to me (© Anna Alverhag)

Right before (or after) he kissed me. He’s holding my head LOL (© Anna Alverhag)

Afterwards! The welt on my forehead (left side of my head…right side in pic) somewhat visible (© Anna Alverhag)

Chad Smith’s Funk Blaster!

Jag vill att den här sidan dyker upp när folk söker på svenska. Då skriver jag den här delen på svenska, och ni får läsa resten av inlägget på engleska I fredags var jag på Rockweeeknd i Kilafors. Jag åkte ditt bara för att se Chickenfoot. Jag stod precis framför scenen, och under uppspelningen av “Give it Up” kastade Chad Smith en trumpinne som slog mig i huvudet! Efter låten hoppade han ner av scenen, gav mig en trumpinne och kysste mig på huvudet där trumpinnen slog mig. Det var SKITHÄFTIGT!

A little faerie happily drifting on the breeze…

First let’s take a few ice cubes…

Now let’s drop them in a few drinks and put them to the test!

Point proven…

Of all the money I spent while in the US, all the jeans, t-shirts, Victoria’s Secret underwear, accessories, DVDs, CDs, books, lattes etc… nothing, and I mean NOTHING, was as worthwhile as the ice cube trays! I can’t believe I went so many years without them! Proper ice cubes. FINALLY.

Wow. I totally did not expect that cupcake post to sit there for the eternity that it did, confusing and disappointing all who came here thinking it was a cupcake blog. For that, I apologize. Nope, not a cupcake blog. Just a blog of an illustrator who was momentarily obsessed with cupcakes. Actually, I still want to make them again, this time with PROPER ingredients, and hopefully some time over the summer.

But before I get into my legitimate explanation, I thought I’d chuck this illo in. I drew this last week for my boss. Then I drew it 1 meter high on a sheet, which her children later colored in and used at a Country/Western school dance. But I think the most fun was looking up fun country songs with my boss. Oh the COMEDY

So what could have possibly kept me away from here so long? Well I have LEGITIMATE reasons. Promise.

First off, my comic. Ya know, ‘Imy.’ It’s doing super well! Around the time I wrote that cupcake post, I was in the process of getting t-shirts printed up for selling on the site. From there things just got crazy! I got info about a convention (The Small Press Expo) that would take place at the end of April. I signed up for it and immediately started working on putting together merchandise, and planning out my table. This took nearly 2 months. it was a LOT of work, but I got it DONE! And it was a BLAST! You can read all about it, with lots of great pics, right here.

Right after that I went to the US to visit my mom for 3 weeks. It was an incredible eventful 3 weeks. Full of road trips, concerts, Starbucks, and a trip to the ER. But it was great, for the most part. I got to really indulge Jersey style. Walks on the boardwalk, pool and taking over jukeboxes at beach bars, gambling at AC (first time ever, won $30!), incredible Jersey pizza… *sigh*. These are the things that really make me miss it there.

But now I’m back in Sweden! I’ve been back a few weeks already. I’m still getting myself together. I’ve still been busy!

Last weekend I went to 3 (THREE!!!) Bruce Springsteen concerts! He’s HUGE here, and all 3 shows were sold out. I went to all 3 of them and even stood in line to get wristbands to get in the pit for all 3 as well. The last two nights I brought a “Jersey Girl” sign with me, hoping he’d play that song just for me, but he didn’t (he did choose my husband’s Jungleland sign though and played that!).

I never considered myself a Bruce fan before. But after seeing him in concert last year, and then 3 times last weekend, I’ve changed my mind. And I have a favorite Bruce song. I’ll link you to that one, and to my favorite live song!

Favorite Bruce Song -She’s the One (he didn’t play this at any of the 3 shows!)

Favorite Live Bruce song - American Land (he played this every night! It was so much fun to jump and dance to!)

My hubby has written reviews about all 3 shows over on his site, Rock Revival. You can also find the review for the Kings of Leon concert we hit while in Cleveland. AWESOME.

Anyway, now things are getting back to normal, for the most part. I opened up a store over at Imy. The books are going the fastest, which is VERY cool. I don’t have any other vacation plans except for a ton of concerts, which I’m sure to write about as I go along. Other than that I am just hoping for some good weather to come along. It was about 39F (4C) last week during one of the Springsteen shows. Even for here that’s weird for June! And I don’t like it!

So there we go. And now I’m off to bed, ’cause man do I need some sleep!

Anyone who comes by here new is going to think this is a site about baking and pastries. I swear it isn’t! It’s illustration! It just so happens that my posts have been about pastries lately. What can I say? They’re oh so good.

Anyway, like I mentioned in my post last week about the redesign, I’ve been slowly becoming more and more obsessed with cupcakes. I am not a baker, I’m not very good at it and I don’t really have the patience for it. But I needed to have cupcakes! I can only remember ever baking them with my mom one time to take them into school. I must have been around 8. Other than that I’ve never made them. And I’ve only eaten them on rare occasions. It’s safe to say that it’s probably been 10 years since I last had one. At least. I really think it’s closer to 15.

ANYWAY…

So today was “Cupcake Day.” And I finally made cupcakes. I decided to make vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. And here’s the photo journal…

Batter prepared and ready to go in to the oven!

Cupcake breech!! I’ve learned my first lesson already: double cup the cakes! But a quick taste test shows that they taste fine, despite their awkward proportions.

Frosted! Which didn’t go as planned. It came out too soft, and I couldn’t make it all pretty with one of those cake decorating things squeezy things (see how much of a baker I am NOT?!). The end result is a little messy looking.

A completed cupcake, in all its glory. Can you hear the angels singing?

But the real question is - how do they taste?

The answer - Eh…

Ok. I have a few theories on what went wrong. One, or all of them, can be true.

Theory 1: - I had to use eggless recipes because my husband is allergic. I can’t make a whole batch of cupcakes JUST for ME. So eggless it was. And eggless cakes often have a vinegar/baking soda combo in them to give them some air. Unfortunately, the cake was still quite delicate and sort of falling apart under the weight of the frosting. But actually, I don’t think this has anything to do with the flavor.

Theory 2 - I used an American recipe and only had Swedish ingredients. Meaning, I had to use a few substitutes. Actually, I only had to make one substitute, and that was using unsalted butter in the frosting instead of shortening. That may be why it went so soft… maybe… Geez, I don’t know.

Theory 3 - Oil. I messed up with the oil. And I knew I had, but I refused to be patient. I meant to look up what kind of oil I needed, and I forgot. Then I went to the store and totally didn’t even think about buying oil. So I was left with either using olive oil (which I know shouldn’t be used for baking) or waiting another day to make them. I went with the olive oil risk. And I can taste it in the cake. And I think it’s ruining the vanilla flavor the cake should have as well.

Theory 4 - I’ve been living in Sweden so long that I have become intolerant of the sweetness of American cakes. This one IS true. It’s something I’ve noticed when I’ve gone back to the US on my trips. It’s good healthwise, but bad for messing with my memories of things.

Anyway, this is not ending the cupcake adventure. I will try again! I will get the proper oil (what kind should I have anyway?), and I will look up a different frosting recipe that won’t send me into a sugar coma. oh yes, and I’ll remember to double (or even triple!) cup the cakes