I Told You I'd Come Back, and Here I Am

It was my anniversary last week. We actually got married on the 29th, so we'll usually celebrate on either the 28th or the 1st; but we didn't really do anything this year. We did go out to eat at the Olive Garden this week, but we might have done that anyway. We got there close to closing, so they tried to rush us, but it was still good. We ended up having leftovers, too. Also last week, I saw a new doctor for the first time. I'm really not big on going to the doctor, because I feel like they lecture me, even if such isn't their intent. I'm diabetic, but most of what I eat isn't that great for blood sugar. Not only am I a picky eater, but I hate preparing things. I feel like my physical and mental well-being are at odds with each other.

Beth, her mom, and I went to see the Monkees twice this week. This tour was planned before Peter Tork died, but he was never going to be part of it, anyway. Our tickets to the one show was for last June, but Mike Nesmith had surgery then, so it was delayed for months. The first show we saw was in Atlantic City at a new casino, the Ocean Resort.

Since so many casinos have closed recently, I'm not sure why anyone would want to open another one. This replaced the Revel, which was only open for about a year or so, I think. The other one was at the Keswick in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

The Atlantic City one was much shorter, which Beth suspected was because they wanted people to gamble instead of watching a show. Makes sense, but that's not entirely fair, since it's not like casino shows cost less money. And some of us don't like to gamble anyway. The backing band included Mike's son Christian, Christian's wife Circe Link, and Micky Dolenz' sister Coco. Micky played guitar on a few songs, but usually either just sang or played some simple percussion like tambourine or maracas. There were also a few numbers where one of them would leave the stage, with just Micky for "Goin' Down" and just Mike for "Joanne," for instance. (Well, not JUST them, as the band was still present.) Micky mentioned that Peter introduced the banjo into the Monkees' music, and was one of the first to use the instrument in pop/rock music in general. They also mentioned that "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" was the first one all four of the Monkees performed in the studio together. When Mike said that Phil Spector was at the studio at the same time, a few people applauded, and Mike followed with, "You know he's in jail for murder, right?" The concert arrangement for "Auntie's Municipal Court" was interesting, and other songs in the longer set included "You Told Me," "You Just May Be the One," and "The Door Into Summer" in both sets; and "Good Clean Fun," "St. Matthew," "Circle Sky," and "Nine Times Blue" in the longer one. I wondered if Micky was going to play anything he wrote, but it seems the only one he ever does is "Randy Scouse Git."

This weekend is the Monster-Mania Convention, which means even more driving. Hopefully I won't have to do that for a while afterwards.