Most Haunted

There is a series on the Travel Channel that I like to watch sometimes (as long as I'm not alone or trying to go to sleep). It's called Most Haunted. The premise is that they have a team of people, made up of parapsychologists, mediums, historians, etc. go into a place reported as haunted. Usually the kinds of places they visit are ones that are still open to guests and visitors--like inns, restaurants, museums, and historic homes. The team aims to confirm what workers and/or guests claim to see or feel.

This Friday, June 1st, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, the Most Haunted team will be broadcasting live for 7 hours from the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.

A few years back some friends and I went to the ESP for their Terror Behind the Walls Halloween tour (remember, Michelle??). It's definitely a creepy place. At one point, the tour led us up to a second level cellblock where there was a row of dark cells. The catwalk along the row was only but 2-3 feet wide. There was a guide standing at the start of the row to send a few people down the catwalk at a time. My friend Lauren and I stepped up to begin our walk arm-in-arm. But the guide, noting our fright, made us separate and walk down the row by ourselves. I remember being terrified because the cells were these dark, steel-doored holes in the wall. Some of the cells no longer had the doors on, so they just looked so dark and scary that I was certain that someone or something would jump out at me. I covered my eyes for most it because I really didn't want to look inside the cells. Here's a screen capture to show what I'm talking about, taken from the ESP's online tour:

Cellblock 12

You can see a 360° view of the cellblocks and other areas of the Penitentiary here.

I hope to catch as much of the Most Haunted Live special as I can, depending on what I'm doing Friday night. If not, I'll have to fire up the old VCR.

Philly Rock Radio Gets A New Contender

I still miss the days of WDRE (103.9). That's when I had to tape my favorite songs from the radio onto cassettes....I had various mix tapes in my collection. Here's a little tidbit for you too...Pearl Jam's "Alive" was the first (and last) song played on WDRE. You can hear the dramatic sign-off from "Bitterfest" here.

Thank God for WMMR (93.3) and WXPN (88.5) -- which features "Y-Rock" for fans of the former Y100 (still bitter about that one). Now, there's a new radio station for the Philadelphia-area listeners. It's at 104.5 on the frequency and professes to be entirely listener-controlled. So far, I like what I hear, with regards to the music. I don't know about the creativity though...It's actually called "Radio 104.5." I've been listening to it off and on while driving my car this week. I heard Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" on it, so that's a plus. Just before the change-over, it was a Spanish station. However, I remember while I was growing up it was a pop/soft-rock station....wasn't it Sunny 104.5? Anyone?

Anyway, this new listener-driven 104.5 is yet another Clear Channel creation (surprise, surprise). I wonder how long it will take for them to jerk this one away or change it to a more pop-friendly theme.

In any event, I hope this one stays awhile. You can also listen online, so check it out, and tell me what you think!

Coldplay in Philly

Last night was a great night!...yep, I saw Coldplay! It started out as a Christmas present for my sister, Kelli. She absolutely loves them, so I surprised her with a ticket for Christmas. Believe it or not, at the time, she didn't even know they were coming to Philly in April! I guess I'll be her favorite sister until she gets mad at me again for something...

Anyway, since I had bought four tickets, of course I wanted to go too....and Kelli brought a friend, and then our Dad also went. He originally wasn't going to be able to go, but was able to switch around his work schedule at the last minute. Our seats were pretty good...nosebleeds--yes, but we were overlooking the stage from the right side. So, we really did have a great view. The best part of the whole thing though was seeing how excited Kelli was to be there. At 17, she hasn't really been to a true rock concert before...so, the fact that it was Coldplay made it even better. It had me thinking back to my first Pearl Jam concert in 1998; I wonder if I was like Kelli too. The great thing about Pearl Jam though is that no matter how many times I see them, the excitement never fades for me, and that's how I imagine it will always be for Kelli with Coldplay.

I had to laugh though because Kelli and her friend, Hannah, kept holding up their cell phones during certain songs...when I asked them what they were doing, they said they were calling each other and leaving the songs on the voicemail. How come I had never thought of that before?

The band sounded great and even sang "Ring of Fire," dedicated to Johnny Cash. A bonus for me was their intro and outtro music...both were Beatles songs. They walked on the stage to "Tomorrow Never Knows" from the album Revolver. They exited to "Good Night" from The White Album. All in all...it was very fun! I was glad to be there with my sis, a concert newbie. Now, I just need to get her to a Pearl Jam concert! Last night's setlist:

1. Square One
2. Politik
3. Yellow
4. Speed of Sound
5. What If
6. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
7. Don't Panic
8. White Shadows
9. The Scientist
10. 'Til Kingdom Come
11. Ring of Fire
12. Trouble
13. Clocks
14. Talk
15. Swallowed in the Sea
16. In My Place
17. Fix You

Here are some things I found online from the concert last night:

Video of "In My Place" ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpstHf0lSUA

Video of band's final bow and Chris Martin disrobing ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFImLaev23g

A fan's pictures ~ http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/jbarry5503/Coldplay%20Philly/