The American Idol Concert in St. Louis

A couple of nights ago I went to the American Idol Tour in St. Louis. It wasn’t really a tour, it was a concert, but who cares, anyway, it was about 3 hours and there were ten people – the top ten American Idols. I had been really excited. Unfortunately, my Mom wasn’t with us, she was helping my Grandma move, but we didn’t just buy 4 tickets, we bought 6 tickets. First there was my brother and dad, then there was my cousin Curtis and then my second cousins Mary Jo and Madison.

We had good seats. We were looking right down at the side of the stage and there were also two big screens. And out of all the concerts we’ve been to, it was the loudest. I couldn’t see one person who didn’t like it. It was so loud we had to use earplugs, but the earplugs unfortunately didn’t work too much so it was still pretty loud. Then we gave up trying to block the noise and just listened.

The concert started with lots of commercials. First there was one trying to get you to buy a very weird new car – they tried to say all the American Idol people drive this car, you should drive it to. In the commercial there were weird combinations, for instance there might have been half of a wheel at the bottom, for the body Alison (who was one of the top 4) and the head of Adam who came in second and then a big pink hat – you’d never know it kept swapping. But whenever there was a part of Adam or Kris or Danny, everyone would be like “whoo” because they were the top three. Kris came in first (unfortunately, I was rooting for Adam), Adam came in second and Danny came in third.

The concert started with #10, Michael Sarver; I gave him an overall 3 on a scale of one to ten. I liked the background stage and the lights, but his singing wasn’t the best.

Then came #9, Meghan Joy who I rated an overall 6 then #8, Scott MacIntyre who I rated another overall 6 then #7, Lil Rounds – I decided to rate her an overall 6 and a half. The way I remember these ratings is that I told my Dad the ratings during the concert and he wrote down notes [ed. note – I wrote them in the dark, which was a little hard, but they’re reasonably decipherable – anything to support Simon’s blogging habit]. After Lil came #6, Anoop Desai – I gave him a seven and three quarters. I liked his last song the best, it’s kind of hard to describe, but all I can tell you is he was really, really good [ed. note, he really rocked on a version of Bobby Brown’s My Prerogative].

After Anoop came #5 Matt, who we like to call “Matt in the Hat.” I don’t really like the hat much, he looks all weird. His songs were good. So I decided to rate him a 7 and a half. And the way the singers got up on stage was because there was a little square in the stage that you stood on and then you could go down or up (you’d only go down if you’re on the stage, up if you’re below the stage). It was really cool to see Matt come up on it with a piano. [ed. note – Dad really liked his rendition of Georgia on My Mind]. After Matt, there were three songs, all combination songs – the first one was Megan and Lil, then a piano duel between Matt and Scott [Billy Joel’s Tell her About It] and then for the last one all six teamed up and did Beggin’ by the Four Seasons. Then it was time for a twenty minute intermission. During the intermission we got some water and had to rest our ears and stretch our legs.

After the intermission they did the top four. It went Alison, Danny, Adam Kris. I thought it should have gone Allison, Kris, Danny Adam. Unfortunately it didn’t go that way. Her songs were very good, I rated them a 10, a 9.5 and a 10 [So What by Pink; Cry Baby by Janis Joplin; Barracuda by Heart] Her last song was Barracuda which I know from Guitar Hero #3 – if it’s your first time playing, it’s one of the hardest songs, but after you’ve played Guitar Hero awhile it’s very easy.

After Alison came Danny Gokey. Danny was my second favorite on the TV show but unfortunately he came in third. I rated him a 9 and three quarters. [ed. note, he introduced his last number, Rascal Flatts’ My Wish by talking about his own personal loss just before the Idol competition and saying “Never be defined by a tragedy… don’t let bad things kill your dreams” – it was very moving. Here's a link to him performing it earlier on the tour...]

Then the lights were going off and on and for a second I thought the power was cut off and then Adam appeared. His first song was Led Zepplin’s Whole Lotta Love. I rated that song a 10. Then he did Starlight, by Muse which I also rated a 10. Then he did Mad World by Tears for Fears – it was my favorite song in the concert. [Here's a link to Adam doing it on the show ]I also saw him do it on the show, except on the show he was wearing all black robes and there was a lot of blue smoke. Then Adam and Alison did Slow Ride by Foghat, which I also remember from Guitar Hero as one of the first songs I did (although I started with The Story of My Life but I’ll get into that in another blog). [ed. note, Adam finished his set with my favorite number of the concert, a David Bowie medley of Life on Mars / Fame / Let’s Dance. There are rumors that Adam has been asked to be the new front man for Queen, and he certainly can pick up where Freddie Mercury left off]

Adam’s overall score I would say was a definite 10.

And then came Kris. I didn’t like Kris because he came in first and I wanted Adam to come in first. But unfortunately I can’t change what already happened. Kris’ final overall score was about an 8 and a half. Hey Jude was a really good song, I gave it a 10, but I wasn’t rating it just for Kris, because he was joined by the other idols.

Then all the idols came on stage and did Journey's Don’t stop Believing which I thought was the most appropriate song they did in all American Idol because it told all the idols even though Adam came in second it wasn’t the end of Adam, I’m guessing that he’s going to try out next year. And to all the people who want to get onto American Idol it’s saying that you can’t stop believing in yourself, you just can’t even if everyone is like “you can’t do it, you can’t do it” you just can’t say no.

For the last and final ending, I shall say 'bravo' and 'go on' to anyone who wants to join American Idol. I’m not stopping you, I’m encouraging you, Go On!

The National Baseball Hall of Fame

Yesterday morning I woke up in the RV next to Josh and I realized I was going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it was ok. First we watched a video and it showed a bit of Babe Ruth (aka George Herman) life. Like when he was playing baseball with his friends when he was l10 years old and they lost the ball.

I had a couple of questions, well really one question, before we got there. My question was: What team were the White Sox playing when they got in trouble because of the Black Sox Scandal?

In case you don’t know what that is, here, I will tell you: One year the White Sox were in the world series playing a different team. They lost but many people thought they had bet lots of money that they would lose. I don’t know why they would do that. Maybe because they thought it would be easy to make a lot of money if they would do that. I don’t know. I just don’t know. But then the White Sox players were found out and all the players were banned for life from ever playing baseball again in the Major and Minor Leagues. I found out what the answer was – they were playing the Reds. I don’t remember when it all happened, but it was a long time ago.

There were two very good baseball players, Babe Ruth and Roberto Walker Clemente – but his real name is Roberto Clemente Walker. Barely anyone knows that, but that is the truth.

We are also going to start a patch collection and sew them on to a hoodie. So yesterday I got another patch –so now I have three patches – all from baseball.

The end.

See you next time on my blog

P.S. Here is a picture of me and Babe Ruth.

I Will Blog About Nothing.

Here is a list about nothing I am going to write about...

I want to write about nothing because there is nothing to write about.

I am not going to write about the movie that I saw last night called Legally Blonde or the movie I saw the night before called G Force.

I certainly I am not going to write about the 334 pages I have read in my book Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix.

I will not even think about blogging about the hour and a half long bike ride I did yesterday with my Mom on Kendall Farm Road.

I am not going to write about my friend coming over to visit today or the Treasure Hunt we hope to go on.

I am not going to write about the new pair of socks I just got - they are white with pink polka dots. I wish I could return them. But I can't. My mom lost the receipt.

I am not going to write about the cross country skis that are in the house that I am staying in.

I am not going to write about making blueberry jam with my brother and Dad yesterday. And I definately will not blog about cleaning up the messy kitchen after we made the jam.

I am not going to write about the computer game I like to play called Dragonfable.

I am not going to write about another copmputer game I like called Poptropica.

I am going to write about nothing because I like nothing.

Hey, I just blogged about somthing! I just blogged a list about all the things I am not going to blog about.

The end.

Bromley Mountain

A couple of days ago I went to Bromley Mountain which is in Vermont. It is a giant amusement park with tons of fun stuff, but in the winter it’s a ski mountain. We went in the summer, which you probably know because it is the summer and I’m writing this in the summer, so it was still the amusement park.

My favorite thing is the alpine slide, it’s the most famous ride. You start by going up a half hour long chair lift ride. Then you get off the chair lift, get your sled and start sledding down the track. You’re in a little sled with a handle, the farther back you pull the handle, the slower you go. You’re on a track going down the mountain and there are lots of turns and some bumps along the way – it’s really fun, you wouldn’t believe how fun it is, it’s so fun.




My second favorite thing is the rock climbing. I only got into it this year and on my first try I got up face #2. I can’t wait to get up face #3 and #4. And face #4 has the funniest name ever, Mount Neverest (instead of Everest) and it looks really hard, but I want to try it after I do face #3 which has a really weird name – it’s called YK2.

There’s also something really scary that you have to be over 5’ tall to do – the space bikes. You’re strapped into these bicycles and the bicycles are attached to a big metal bar and when you pedal them they go around and around in a circle so that at some points you’re upside down. Below is a picture of our friends from London who came to visit us trying the space bikes. My friend Maddie loved them…

My friend upside down on the space bike!

This summer I’ve been to Bromley two times and we’re planning to go there a third time with two of my brother Josh’s best friends.

My third favorite thing is the water slide. Basically you’re in a little raft going down a slide. Parts of it are covered but not all. There are lots of turns and it’s impossible not to get wet because there’s a shower at the end. There's a little thing at the side of the last tunnel that comes out of the slide; it shoots water kind of like a shower only you can’t control the temperature and the shower is partly cold, partly warm, but you don’t really feel it because you’re going so fast. It’s nice to do the water slide on a nice hot day otherwise it’ll be very cold.

A Turkey On The Side of the Road

Last week I saw a turkey on the side of Winhall Hallow Road. I was in Vermont in the car when my mom saw it.

My Mom said, "Look there is a turkey."

I said, "Where?"

She said, "There."

I said, "Where?"

She said, "There, on the side of the road."

So I pushed myself up with my feet out of my seat and I saw the turkey bobbing its head up and down. Its head looked like a turkey head - it was brown and had feathers. He was about up to my knee. But we don't know if it was a he or a she.

My Mom said, "Hey, lets get a closer look."

When I opened up my door the turkey ran up through the bushes and it took off and flew. It flew like it never flew before. It flew up over the trees. It flew up over the houses. It flew up over the hills, over the clouds. It flew higher then a turkey ever flew before.

Where did it fly? We don't know.

But I hope that turkey will live a well and good life.

And I hope it won't get caught at Thanksgiving but if it does, I hope I will be the one who eats it. Although I doubt it will.

Le Mix

A pretty long while ago when we were driving from New York to Atlanta we stayed at a dumpy McDumpy hotel (ed. Note in southern Virginia). It was terrible, it looked terrible, it was terrible. The bed sheets felt rock hard, the bed felt rock hard. When the hot water was on full blast it felt like the cold water was on full blast. The colors were terrible it was like the mess if you got a bald eagle and smooshed it and squirted green goo on it.

But looking at the bright side, after that we went to our friends in Atlanta, the D’s [Ed. Note real names not used for reasons of Internet privacy / security] who have a boat on Lake Lanier. We got to ride on a tube towed behind a jet ski. At the start it was freakishly scary, I mean we were going about 28 miles per hour and it was really scary and our friend Mary D. was doing all sorts of things like pretending to do the “can can” and lying on her back without holding onto anything. Then I got the hang of it and started doing all of those things too, though my Mom was a scaredy cat. My friends, Nick, Matt and Zack like to do even more scary things – they like to put four people on it when it’s only supposed to hold three people and they flip it. The people closest to the handles will hold onto the handle and everyone will push forward and the whole tube will flip. My favorite move was the one where you crouch down and jumped and the one where you go backwards with no hands and let the waves take you by surprise.

The day before I went on the tube behind the D’s jet ski, I actually rode on a jet ski for the first time at some of my dad’s friends, the R’s. They also live on Lake Lanier but far away from the D’s. I liked riding in the front of the jet ski. There were two, a red one made for going fast and a yellow one made for bouncing. The yellow one was my favorite but the red one was also fun. I liked to see how fast we were going on the red jet ski which had a speedometer – the fasted I went was 51 miles per hour. I got to ride on the red one with Mr. R. and my mom and my dad, and then Mrs. R gave me a ride on the yellow one. We bounced a ton (boing, boing, boing) and then we sped up and jumped really high waves. Jet skiing is so fun, it’s even more fun than real skiing I have to admit. We were at the R’s on the third of July and after the jet skiing and dinner we got to watch the fireworks at night from a boat. The fireworks were really cool. One of them was a sideways smily face.

Me on the red Jet Ski with Dad

Me driving the yellow Jet Ski with Mrs. R.

For the last week, I’ve been going to a camp called Camp Kingfisher at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. My counselors were Scott and Lucy and we did all sorts of things – We went swimming every day and my favorite part of lunch was not the food but the “bug juice”. They always made some yummy juice cocktail that they called “bug juice”. And there were all sorts of different colors, orange, blue, yellow and pink. We went on hikes, we went to the aviaries, the “disco” center (ed. note, the Discovery Center), all sorts of fun things.

On Thursday I was on TV – Fox 5 news to be exact. They came to camp and were filming us doing all sorts of really fun things. I was filmed in the disco center and we looked at all sorts of things from nature and we were asked to pick out our favorite thing that we found and tell Fox 5 news what we thought it was. I chose a really cool shell that I said “it looks like a pen and the water is like ink – put the shell in the water and you can write.” I was also filmed getting my face painted.

[ed note, below are the two videos. Simon is wearing the orange shirt and appears near the end of each one]

First segment with Simon talking about shell (simon starts at 2:01)

Second segment with Simon getting face painted (Simon starts at 2:10)


Then on the last day of camp, which was today, something very bad happened. We were doing a mini competition and the first activity was tug of war and I was in the front. The rope was too short so we had to tie two pieces together. My counselor Scott was holding the rope together so it didn’t fall, but then it wasn’t the knot that broke, but I snapped a part of the rope and I got a bad rope burn and started bleeding on one finger. But I was a trooper and didn’t cry although I couldn’t join in for the rest of the activities. Today was popsicle day and everyone got a popsicle except if you picked up a piece of trash you got two, but I got three – I got a normal one and then my counselor Scott offered me a second one and then one of my friends in my group said “here take mine.”

Coming soon to Simon’s Blog – Apple pie across America.

Tune in very soon to watch. Here’s a picture of me with my first slice, at Greenwood’s in Roswell, Georgia.

Cracker Jack

Yesterday I had my very first Cracker Jack. For those of you who don't know what a Cracker Jack is, it is a special type of food that is carmel coated popcorn and every packet comes with a special surprise inside.

Cracker Jack is very yummy and they are like a supreme delicacy although the surprizes are not like plastic bunnies because they always are flat to fit into the box. For an example a pencil topper. A pencil topper goes on to your pencil and has a picture on it and when you twirl the pencil the picture will move.

My great Aunt Jean introduced me to them. She is 92, almost 93 and she lives in the Versailles - when I say the Versailles I don't mean the Versailles outside of Paris - I mean an apartment building in Philadelphia.

Now I have to go. Ta ta for now.