What are you thinking? Do you really know these people?

Went off to Los Angeles last Wednesday afternoon for the VH1 Rock Honors show. The concert was awesome, far beyond my expectations. I got to meet many of the people I've been talking to on-line, some for over a year. Disappointingly, some were either not able to be at the show or I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I hoped.

My daughter and I stayed with my sister. Thursday, Sam and I spent most of the day at Santa Monica exploring the Third Street Promenade, window shopping, checking out the pier, and then having dinner with a friend of mine who left Johnson & Johnson and is working at Lion's Gate. Had blisters on my feet after that day! I also lost my camera in one of the shops there, so no pictures.

Friday, we spent the day at a state park near Huntingdon Beach. Colleen arrived and she and I went to meet some of the thewho.com bloggers for dinner. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other over dinner. Rob Lee, the webmaster, joined us for a bit, squeezing in a visit with everything else that he had to do. Mike Robbins, who organized our summit meeting, filled us in on the last minute details that needed to be done. Ken and Sara filled us in on their meetings with Dave Grohl and others. Kubacheck was there all the way from the DC area. Steve and his wife, Jen, filled us in on the various festivals in the Chesapeake Bay area, like HarvestFest. Joanne, who had the joy of seeing The Who play in the UK when they were first starting out shared her stories of the Monteray Festival (sp?) and going to see our favorites in bars and clubs, most of us have only heard about, but never experienced. Horace, from the San Francisco Bay area, was a fantastic person who has done a lot for the charity fund that we put together. Anna and her family from Long Island were a loud, crazy bunch - a lot of fun. And Dan and Melissa from Oklahoma were also there.

Rob Lee had to leave our dinner to go to a meeting that had been arranged between a thewho.com board member who was a fan of Roger's. Suffering from MS and basically confined to a wheelchair, other members had arranged to get her a ticket and to get her to the event. Rob and two of the members arranged for her to spend about 30 minutes with Roger. From what I understand, Roger was very tender and the meeting was a dream come true for Alyce.

Saturday was brunch in Huntingdon Beach and then off to the Summit. This was a party that started off in the planning stages as a tail-gating party, then turned into a much more organized event with a room rental, catering and a bar. We said everyone would chip money in and if there was extra monies, we would donate it to the Who charities. We then changed our focus to be a fundraiser for Meg Fox's children. People started donating items to be sold to raise funds. Horace donated quite a bit. It was so much fun getting to know the other bloggers, some from Rachel's site, but most of them from thewho.com. Rob Lee said a few words and Mark Wilkerson presented a letter from Happy Jack. He was going to speak more about his book, a biography of Pete, when we had a surprise guest, Pete Townshend who arrived to say a few words to us and also to sign some of the items that had been donated. These items will be put out on eBay to raise funds for the trust fund. Pete spoke to us about Meg and also the joy of our get-together and our warmth for each other.

From the Summit, we went to the concert. Unbelievably the show was not sold out. Colleen and I moved up quite a bit and if we would have been more daring, we probably could have gotten stage-side. Others did and one or two even talked themselves backstage. Security was so-so. Some of the guards were very vigilent. Others, if you presented yourself as knowing what you were doing, let you go without question. UCLA students waiting outside were basically allowed in free to fill the seats. Some people I know were purposely moved down into better seats to fill the camera sights. Others, I know, were disappointed that people were let in free to have better seats then they had paid good money for, but no one was sorry they had traveled far and spent quite a bit to be there to see the show.

The crowd was on their feet dancing the entire night and all the bands (Incubus, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Tenacious D, Flaming Lips) gave their all to honor The Who. Adam Sandler was very funny in his tribute to the boys. The taped tributes from various musicians and other artists, plus interviews with The Who members, were very touching and heartfelt.

And then The Who came out. The sound system at the Pauley Pavilion is not designed for music shows, but the boys rocked the stadium. I've only seen them in their last tour so can't compare them to their earlier years, but I have never seen them perform before where they were all so energized and playing as a group. Pete and Zak had such a rapport and worked off each other's energy and spirit. Pino and Simon stepped forward from the shadows. Rabbit was there. Roger's voice was strong and Pete's guitar playing has never been so driven and passionate. I understand he ripped off a fingernail early in the show, but he never let it stop him. They were not going to let any younger band outshine them, not on their night!

After the show, we met up with ChrisCapp for some drinks and to get to know him. Another person, I've talked to only on-line. It was so nice to meet him finally. Chris, I hope to meet up with you again sometime.

Sunday, my daughter and I went to Long Beach for a champagne brunch with my sister and her two friends. Well, my daughter became our designated driver since she is underage, but we all had a good time. Then it was an afternoon by the pool and dinner then with Gary and Stephani. My daughter and sister can't believe that I was going to meet people for dinner that I've never met in person and only talked to on the 'net. "What are you thinking? Can you really say you know these people?" They come along for dinner to see just how crazy I am. But we had a great dinner. Stephani has such warm and caring eyes, full of laughter, and tolerance for the blogging world Gary and I sometimes live in. They are such a great couple. I really enjoyed meeting them and spending some time with them, even though I only had less than four hours of sleep and felt barely coherent. Guys, I will definitely give you a call when I am back in LA. Don't think I'll make it to the Nokia shows, but if you want to come to the Philadelphia shows, just let me know!

Monday, it was lunch at the Hotel Bel-Air with a friend. We were hoping to see some celebrities, but if they were there, we didn't recognize them. After lunch, it was off to CBS for the taping of "So You Think You Can Dance." Little bit of confusion with our tickets and for a few moments, I was thinking we would not make it into the studio. But we were finally seated and Sam really enjoyed the taping. Quite a different experience, but not too different from what I had expected.

Tuesday, back home. Totally uneventful flights so all in all, a great time!