So, a half-hour trip down to Rancho Palos Verdes turned into an hour-and-a-half trip because the natives freaked out over the water falling from the sky. There was even a bolt of lightning here and there, and the people on the road were like horses -- I actually saw cars "flinch" right after it. So we just turned around and drove back up to my place to drop off my car, and I went to dinner with my friend & her brother. From there, we journeyed on to the Wiltern to see the Man.

When we got there, we were informed that Ticketmaster had mysteriously -- and without explanation -- cancelled our tickets and refunded the money to my friend's credit card. So we had to actually re-buy tickets, but the only ones we could get were for the upstairs loge section where there were seats (the downstairs was completely open, which is where people were dancing). We bought the tickets for the upstairs section and went up there, where we proceeded to make fun of all the poseurs on the dance floor -- and there were a lot, and there were even more people just standing around not dancing with a bewildered look on their faces. I postulated it was because they had come because they'd heard "Starry Eyed Surprise" on KIIS-FM and had thought, "Oooh, Paul Oakenfold, I'll go see him in concert" -- not realizing that Oakenfold is a world-famous DJ and his latest album is not what he's known for or what he does best, and that the evening would mostly be DJs spinning. My favorite target was the Aerobics Instructor, who was right up in front and was going absolutely crazy to the music. In my head, I could just hear him choreographing himself with aerobics moves: "O-kay, we're pogoing! We're pogoing! And left! And right! Now, we're climbing the ladder, put your hands up! And left! And right!"

Through the kindness of the woman at the ticket window, who took pity on us especially since she couldn't give us an explanation as to why Ticketmaster cancelled our tickets, we were able to get downstairs because she slipped us some tickets after we went down to ask again. So we got downstairs and started raving. The first DJ wasn't very good at all, but they kept him on for over an hour before Oakenfold took the turntables and rocked the Wiltern.

He was great during his DJ set. It's just that we were surrounded by people who didn't know rave etiquette. Even if you were coming only to hear "Starry Eyed Surprise," that's still no reason to try and ballroom-dance with your girlfriend during his spinning set. My left arm is black and blue because I was nailed so many times by the guy next to me who kept trying to twirl his girlfriend. Then there was another girl with long hair who kept swaying -- and throwing her hair right in my face and the faces of my friends. And, of course, they'd stop for a while, make out with their respective significant others, then go back to mauling us.

I was really unimpressed with Oakenfold's actual "performance." He brought a keyboard up on stage and a drummer and a guitarist. He played the keyboards and did the effects, though I thought it seemed painfully obvious that they were relying on a recording at a few times during the performance. One was when the drummer was blatantly off-beat, and the other was when they brought Shifty Shellshock out on stage to do the vocals for Oakenfold's two radio hits: "Ready, Steady, Go" and "Starry Eyed Surprise." Shifty was singing along to himself, and if he missed a word, the recording would come through, and we could still hear the vocals that had effects on them. I was really disappointed, and we left after 4 songs. Except for the fact that the crowd was giving him the best response they'd given him all night. Music for the masses, I guess.

After that, I returned home to the end of the holiday party my roommates were throwing. I was appropriately social and crashed just after 2:30 -- my eyes just couldn't stay open, though I was glad I had the opportunity to close up the night that way.

Overall, it was a good birthday, and I'm glad I was able to "celebrate" it given the many years when I haven't done much or I've had celebrations on other days simply because no one would be around on the actual day. Either way, I'm incredibly sore right now after crawling out of bed -- which gives me an excuse for not going to the gym today -- and I'm fully content to spend the day watching movies and football.