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Post by martindn on Aug 22, 2015 12:00:27 GMT
Yes, if that's the nearest Hayley has ever performed to you guys, you have my sympathy. My nearest two Hayley concerts were both about 16 miles away, or 20 minutes, Beaumanor Hall and Kilworth House. And I failed to meet Hayley after both of those,
Even my furthest Hayley concert, which I think was Cork was only an hour's flight away. That is if you discount the time I flew home from Sydney to go to Hayley's concert in Lincoln Castle.
Martin D
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Post by Libby on Aug 23, 2015 2:50:24 GMT
Yes, if that's the nearest Hayley has ever performed to you guys, you have my sympathy. My nearest two Hayley concerts were both about 16 miles away, or 20 minutes, Beaumanor Hall and Kilworth House. And I failed to meet Hayley after both of those, Even my furthest Hayley concert, which I think was Cork was only an hour's flight away. That is if you discount the time I flew home from Sydney to go to Hayley's concert in Lincoln Castle. Martin D If you mean, performed in her own concert, then yes, that's true. But Hayley has performed in Seattle twice. |
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Post by cloudbusting.heights on Aug 23, 2015 3:34:04 GMT
Yes, if that's the nearest Hayley has ever performed to you guys, you have my sympathy. My nearest two Hayley concerts were both about 16 miles away, or 20 minutes, Beaumanor Hall and Kilworth House. And I failed to meet Hayley after both of those, . Even my furthest Hayley concert, which I think was Cork was only an hour's flight away. That is if you discount the time I flew home from Sydney to go to Hayley's concert in Lincoln Castle. Martin D If you mean, performed in her own concert, then yes, that's true. But Hayley has performed in Seattle twice. Well, the nearest Hayley has ever performed to me, and the only time she performed in Pennsylvania that I'm aware, was in Easton (where Joe saw her). And that's almost 2 hours from me. That's approximately 106.9 miles. The sad thing is this concert was shortly before I even discovered her. I don't understand what you folks in England are talking about. EDIT: I apologize if I sound antagonistic but I have been rather annoyed over time with some of the "complaining" by certain folks in England about the lack of Hayley concerts there. When she does perform there it's practically next door compared to the US. |
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Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
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Post by Joe on Aug 23, 2015 5:51:19 GMT
If you mean, performed in her own concert, then yes, that's true. But Hayley has performed in Seattle twice. Well, the nearest Hayley has ever performed to me, and the only time she performed in Pennsylvania that I'm aware, was in Easton (where Joe saw her). And that's almost 2 hours from me. That's approximately 106.9 miles. The sad thing is this concert was shortly before I even discovered her. And it will be ten years in November since the Easton performance. BTW Paige, congratulations on your 500 posts; each of which I am truly grateful!  |
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Post by cloudbusting.heights on Aug 23, 2015 13:57:55 GMT
Well, the nearest Hayley has ever performed to me, and the only time she performed in Pennsylvania that I'm aware, was in Easton (where Joe saw her). And that's almost 2 hours from me. That's approximately 106.9 miles. The sad thing is this concert was shortly before I even discovered her. And it will be ten years in November since the Easton performance. BTW Paige, congratulations on your 500 posts; each of which I am truly grateful! Thanks, Joe!! |
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Post by Libby on Aug 24, 2015 3:59:34 GMT
If you mean, performed in her own concert, then yes, that's true. But Hayley has performed in Seattle twice. Well, the nearest Hayley has ever performed to me, and the only time she performed in Pennsylvania that I'm aware, was in Easton (where Joe saw her). And that's almost 2 hours from me. That's approximately 106.9 miles. The sad thing is this concert was shortly before I even discovered her. I don't understand what you folks in England are talking about. EDIT: I apologize if I sound antagonistic but I have been rather annoyed over time with some of the "complaining" by certain folks in England about the lack of Hayley concerts there. When she does perform there it's practically next door compared to the US. LOL I totally understand your sentiment, Paige. However, I will say that after having been to just one concert so far, I do understand the desire to see more concerts! I felt that way right after the concert and for days, even weeks, after. Now that it's been 8 months...  ... since the concert, I still really want to see her again, but I've kind of relaxed about it. Given the fact that previously I'd gone 9 years of being a big fan of hers and never seeing her in concert, now that I have seen her, I feel satisfied for now. Although, I won't be completely satisfied till she's able to tour the US a bit, and perhaps, perform in Seattle. When Hayley tweeted about the Carnegie Hall concert a few years ago, I asked her if she would ever come to the west coast, and she said, "Working on it, I promise!" So, because of that statement, and because of what she told fans in Madison about possibly doing more concerts here after her album comes out, I still live in hope that she will come here. Not trying to brag, either, but I have a feeling that she would especially like to try to come to Seattle, knowing that one of her biggest and most supportive US fans lives there... Not only am I a moderator on her official forum, but I'm on every forum or website relating to Hayley. I'm the more active mod. on the forum, and I run the forum twitter page. Many times when you come to this forum, I'm the last one to have replied to every recent thread, so if she ever visits either of the forums (and it sounds like she and even Tim do on occasion), she would likely see my name all over it. She knew who I was when I introduced myself to her, exclaiming "You're Libby?". She also knew I'd travelled a long way to see her. Tim even knew who I was, and joked that I'm "famous"! It was kind of nerve-racking to be the center of attention at that moment, but it was also exciting and flattering that they seemed happy to see me, when they're the ones everyone came to see in concert! And now they know how crazy I can be in person!  I think she probably found my age to be a puzzle too, since I look like a teenager, and was being weird and dramatic, but then at the end, I thanked her in a much more calm, mature manner, and that's when she looked at me and made me wonder what she was thinking about me. If she thought I was crazy, wondering how old I was, or because of the fact that she'd sent me a DM on twitter, and was wondering if I'd seen it... or something! I'll probably never know.... unless I ask her the next time I see her, because I definitely plan on seeing her again, somewhere, somehow! |
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Post by comet on Oct 23, 2015 10:51:37 GMT
After the photo, Hayley thanked us for our support and told us how much it meant to her. She also talked about her new album and that she was really excited to give us some new music. It was really nice to meet some fellow US members of the HWI forum. Even though we are quite varied in age, background, and interests, we are bound together by our common admiration and respect for Hayley. BillR The full post is on Page 23 in this thread. It would appear that at that time at the Madison concert Hayley believed the album would be out soon ? |
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Post by frenchie on Oct 23, 2015 11:03:40 GMT
Comet, The way Hayley talked it was still a work in process, but it was definitely under way. I do remember she was hoping and striving to have it out by the end of the year (2015). But yes, she also sounded excited to give us new music, which leads to touring and promo.....she really sounded happy and proud of whatever new music is has been working on. Maybe a release date is in the works after Christmas?
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Post by Libby on Oct 25, 2015 5:08:56 GMT
Comet, The way Hayley talked it was still a work in process, but it was definitely under way. I do remember she was hoping and striving to have it out by the end of the year (2015). But yes, she also sounded excited to give us new music, which leads to touring and promo.....she really sounded happy and proud of whatever new music is has been working on. Maybe a release date is in the works after Christmas? I think she said she was hoping for late next year, if everything worked out that way. Something like that. It left us with the thought that we could hope for an album this year, but that it also might not be till later than that. That so far appears to be the case, but it would be nice to at least know. But you never know; Mario's Christmas album is released on Friday, and I only just saw the announcement maybe a week or so ago? Of course a Christmas album is probably easier to release quickly than a "regular" album. Though the first instagram I saw mentioning a Christmas album was in the works was back in February. |
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Post by amptique on Dec 17, 2015 3:13:52 GMT
I wish we were heading back to Madison for another Hayley concert. That's what we were doing this time last year.
BillR
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Post by Libby on Dec 17, 2015 6:08:25 GMT
I wish we were heading back to Madison for another Hayley concert. That's what we were doing this time last year. BillR Yes, Bill, me, too! Ever since the winter weather (at least around here) and the holiday season started, I keep getting images of flying on planes, airports, and hotels... theaters! And, of course, the recent Taipai concert had me thinking about it even more. Getting to the same time of year as the concert was makes it feel like I could easily be back there again! It really does seem like it got to 1 year later extremely fast! It was such a huge, momentous thing in my life that for a while, everything after that was so normal and mundane (well, maybe somethings weren't so normal, but they were certainly mundane), that I guess it all just zipped by! Not that there weren't any other fun things to do since then, but nothing anywhere near like my Madison trip. |
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Post by Libby on Dec 20, 2015 6:30:41 GMT
Martin, and everyone else who told me so previously, you are so right. Whatever problems, small or otherwise, had during travelling, are worth the effort to see Hayley. I mean, unless something really horrible happens, but most likely it won't. I just had a few minor awkward, unpleasant moments (mostly in Chicago, LOL). I never really experienced jetlag, per se. But I've come to the conclusion that half the cause of jetlag is just the flying itself, not necessarily just the time change, unless it's a really drastic time change, like Hayley probably is/has been experiencing. My experience in the Chicago airport of walking and dying of heat (dressed for cold weather, of course), and then the long flight from there to Seattle, almost never seeing any land below, and just the weighted down, dragging feeling as if the plane is hardly even moving at all, and sitting there barely moving for hours on end, is very tiring. When I got back I felt very drained and worn down. But let's get back to the beginning and the Hayley experiences. Please excuse any run-ons or extra long sentences. LOL When I was about to land in Madison, looking down at the lit up city, the realization hit home to me that Hayley was down there somewhere! It was an astounding thought, because I've never been in the same place as Hayley before... Well, actually, technically, we've been in the same state twice before. She came to Seattle with Il Divo and then CW, and of course I was in WA both times, but not in Seattle. Also, I suppose the knowledge that I would soon actually SEE Hayley there made the thought even more exciting. And then later being in the hotel knowing that she was also probably in another hotel somewhere not far away!  I loved meeting Alicia, Nhat, and Ann and Mara, as well as the others mentioned from the night before. I had no idea who Ann and Mara were, and I wasn't sure if they were on the forum or not, perhaps under different names. But it turns out Mara just reads the forum often enough that she knew who Libby was! LOL I guess everybody did! Pete and I sat at a table at the very front, with a great view of Hayley's spot on the stage. Larry was at a table next to/behind us. He came up to me at the table and chatted a bit. He's a very nice gentleman.  He told me still doesn't like the new forum format, though. Poor Larry. One of the CW fans who said he was going to the concert, was at our table with a friend of his. It turns out they were from Green Bay, WI. At one point, the CW forum member asked, "Are you Libby?" His friend described him as being the biggest CW fan you could ever meet, or something like that. I never got their names, but it was nice to talk to them, too. As other fans have said before, it's very nice to be able to talk to other Hayley fans about how wonderful Hayley is, because we all understand each other! When we first walked into the theatre, it was just mind-blowing to be in front of a theatre with Hayley's name displayed on the lit up sign, a poster on the window, then receiving a program with her picture and name on the front. Then hearing the orchestra warming up... for none other than Hayley! It was just an exciting, unbelievable thought. I still just couldn't believe it. I don't think I really started fully believing it until maybe 10 min. into the concert. LOL I enjoyed the first piece by the orchestra. Maestro Andrew Sewell, as Hayley kept calling him, was actually quite entertaining to watch while he conducted. His conducting could almost be described as quirky dancing. LOL Later on in the show, I especially enjoyed the Little Bolero Boy. It was a mash-up of the song Bolero and Little Drummer Boy. I thought it was great, very effective arrangement. It made Bolero less monotonous, and LDB less solemn-sounding and slightly more exciting. I've gotten so I don't enjoy hearing those boy choirs singing it anymore. It's either Josh, Hayley, or Bolero Boy for me, I think. LOL Tim Evans had already arrived on stage before the conductor came out, and we watched him carefully pouring bottled water into Hayley's glass sitting on a stool. At first the stool looked like it was going to be wobbly, but nothing disastrous ever happened with it, luckily. LOL Now, for the big moment, when Hayley was introduced and walked on. When she emerged from the stage curtain and walked on stage, I can't even think of a word to describe how I felt. All I know is it had a strong effect on me. My heart did a strange squeeze and all the numbness of before, of hardly believing I was really going to see her, all shattered to pieces around me. The excitement and amazement I should have been feeling all along, that I would almost not allow myself to feel from all the distractions, all burst to the surface at once. She was right there, a real person, walking out onto the stage. Her dress was sparkly dark blue and dazzling under the stage lights, her hair was styled gorgeously, her smile was sweet and beautiful, with that beautiful light of hers sparkling from her eyes. This might sound odd, but even her skin looked perfect and pure. I'm so used to seeing her pictures or videos through a computer or TV screen, the fan photos with only the camera's take on how the lighting makes her appear (she looked tan in John's photos from Ireland, but she is not in person, which I can personally attest to! LOL), or on album photos, etc. Seeing her in the "flesh" is a different thing entirely. Then, with all that emotion bursting inside me, of course she had to sing a song like Amalia Por Amor, to deepen the emotion. Not complaining, to say the least, but I don't like to cry in public. LOL I didn't, but during the song, I did tremble a bit. I was nervous about how she would start out in the song, from hearing fan videos of her first concert songs. She's often a little weak and wavery in the beginning notes. But not here. The only thing I'd say, when she started with the 3 Amalia's, her voice just sounded a tiny bit scratchy (not catching a cold I hope!) But then after that, her voice was at LEAST as perfect and amazing as on the album, probably more, and you could hear the emotion pouring out of her and you could see it on her face. Seeing the emotions on her face that close and in person, made you feel like you were being brought into the emotional experience she herself was feeling (does that make any sense?). I felt like I was starting to make the same expressions as her, I was feeling the emotional connection so much. That probably sounds ridiculous, but it's what it felt like. I am sooo glad I chose to sit at the table. I told Pete that I was glad he chose that particular table. It wasn't dead center, but just off to the left from the center of the stage. I think that was better, because you weren't looking straight up at her, but looking at her from just a slight angle, was the perfect angle, I think. And of course, when she walked to the stool and piano to sip her water (which she did after every single song), you could see her even closer! I enjoyed every second of the concert. I loved every song she sang. I never once felt disappointed that she didn't sing a certain song, even though there are other songs I would love to hear her sing, none of that even occurred to me during the concert. I just was happy to hear her sing what she did, because it was all positively superb. I even enjoyed Chestnuts! LOL And that's one I say nobody can make me like, not even Hayley. Well, I still can't say I like that song for itself, but I did like hearing Hayley sing it. All of the songs were highlights for me, because the whole concert was the highlight of my life. LOL But my absolute favorites were Amalia, BOTW, IDAD, Amazing Grace, Over the Rainbow, and the last 2 Christmas songs, HYAMLC and White Christmas. I never thought I'd say that about Over the Rainbow or HYAMLC, but ever since she started singing those in recent years, she's made me love them, because she manages to blow you away with the way she sings them. Near the end of OTR, when she was really sounding incredible.. the really climactic part where she says "... far behind ME!!!.... SOMEWHERE Over the Rainbow!!!...etc., I saw the friend of the CW fan at our table do a rapid shake of his head as if he was really, especially being blown away at that moment. I could totally relate, because I felt the same way. Throughout the entire show, Hayley gave me those strange chills I get during really amazingly beautiful music/singing, or beautiful choreography to music, where I feel cold, but then a rush of warmth runs through me at the same time. So when I saw him shake his head, the chills became even stronger. The CW fan himself kept "whooping" after literally every song, and sometimes Hayley smiled bigger and looked out towards the sound. I think that's all for now. I'll have to share my experience of meeting Hayley next time. I might not have time again till Monday night, since I work till 7pm tomorrow evening, and have to get up early the next morning.  Re-reading my review tonight, the anniversary of the day I departed Madison for home. |
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Post by Libby on Jan 5, 2016 5:12:34 GMT
I made the mistake of deleting my Madison album in Photobucket in attempt to avoid being forced to add more storage. Well, it didn't help, and then I realized I'd just broken all the images I'd posted here. So, I re-uploaded them, and I'll use these quotes of my original posts to re-insert them. It's confusing when some places you upload it through your computer, and other times you have to use a photo site.  Now, on to the meet & greet with Hayley: After the show had finished, not without a few encores (Amazing Grace, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and White Christmas), Hayley announced "I'll be saying Hi" in the lobby. I was so relieved when she said that, because I had been a little bit worried about whether or not we could meet her, and if so, where and when. I was concerned that after all the trouble I went to, I would still not get to meet her, even though the concert was fabulous. Not to worry, though! I waited nervously in line, and I have no idea how long it was, because it didn't really seem that long. However, by the time Hayley had gone through the entire line and left the lobby, it was 10 min. to 11pm; and the concert had started at 7:30! I could hardly believe it was that late! But the wait in line seemed fairly short to me. I was nervous because I wasn't quite sure what to say to Hayley, and I was unsure of how I was going to get a picture with her, since I had so many things in my hands, and wasn't sure who would be willing to do it for me. Luckily, the guy who I had seen standing off-stage behind the curtain was there with her, and was taking pictures for people! So, I was able to give my camera to him, stuff my water bottle in my coat pocket, in hopes it wouldn't fall out, and put my program and Oydssey CD jacket on the table in front of Hayley. I said, "Hi, I'm Libby." And Hayley exclaimed, "You're Libby!? It's so nice to finally meet you!" or something like that. It made me feel very special to hear her say that. I found out later that Grant had informed Hayley in Ireland that I would be attending her Madison concert, and was hoping to meet her. So, it turns out, Hayley had actually been expecting to see me! I'm very grateful to you, Grant, for being so thoughtful! Oh, and I eventually guessed that it was you, so it's not Bill's fault. So, on to the signing session. She remembered my real name was Kimberly, too (from the Christmas cards, I'm sure), or wait, maybe she did ask me to be sure, but it's all a bit of a blur now. LOL Anyway, when I presented her my 2 items, she asked which one I preferred. A bit of slyness came over me and I said, "Well, Kimberly's my name". I suggested (and had already thought this out) that she sign one to Libby, and one to Kimberly. The security guys hanging around must have wondered what on earth was going on, what all this alter-ego stuff was about.  She's so eager to please, that she had to know exactly which one should say Libby, and which should say Kimberly. I just said either one, because it really didn't make much difference to me. Here is the result:  After this, the photo-taker unfortunately had us pose in front of the restroom sign (too bad I didn't know that ahead of time! Hmm ). I had had my camera turned on to begin with, as one of the staff had warned us forebodingly to have our cameras/phones ready when we got to the table. As if I was born yesterday. LOL Jk. So, I had it turned on, but of course as soon as the man got hold of it, it had already shut off, as it always does automatically after a certain length of time. Then for some reason he found my camera a bit challenging, and he thought it was because the flash was turned off. I had turned it off because HWI fans had said that if Hayley does allow photography at her concerts, she doesn't want flash. Also, originally, the theatre staff had said photography was okay as long as no flash was used. I turned the flash back on for him. So, anyway, the first tries weren't very good, except the first one that I posted (below), though I still expressed doubts (I generally hate photos of myself, so I'm a very harsh critic of them). Then Hayley volunteered to take a "selfie", as you can see from my photos below. But again, the first one was disastrous, because my eyes were half-closed, and I looked ridiculous. I was so humiliated by it that I said "Oh, no-no-no" and bent and covered my face. Everyone seemed vastly amused by this and laughed. It made me feel a little better, but still a bit embarrassed. LOL Being the center of attention is very stressful for me. But then she tried again, and I looked mildly better, but as you can see, it's a bit blurry. I love Hayley's expression there, though, and I've come to terms with my own appearance there as well. LOL But because it was blurry, the man tried it one more time, and that's the 3rd photo. After that, I thanked Hayley. When I did, I thought she was looking at me a bit strangely, so I thought she must have thought I was crazy, or something, and then I felt funny. But I think I've found out why she was looking at me, but I'll get to that shortly. Next, she suggested that I have a photo with her musical director and pianist, Tim Evans, as well, and that he knew who I was, too, apparently! He said to me "You're famous". I told him I recognized him, as well, of course. We had our photo taken together, as you can see, then we chatted quite a bit. I asked him how he knows who I am, and he said he reads this forum occasionally. I joked, "Oh no, I'd better watch what I say!" but he said, no, you're all lovely. I stood with him, and then eventually the rest of the HWI group joined us, until the line dwindled. Then, per Hayley's suggestion, all the HWI members got a group photo with her! I have not seen the result yet, however. It was taken using Bill's camera. After Hayley had left and we were waiting for Bill to drive up, the staff commented on what a different concert experience this was for the Orpheum theatre (the WCO normally does not play there), and they even commented on what a wonderful singer Hayley is! These were the guys that had walked out with Hayley, and one of which had stood below the stage for part of the concert. And had witnessed the crazy scene I made with Hayley. LOL Okay, now, for something interesting. I've told you how Grant had told Hayley I was coming to her concert. I logged into my twitter account 2 days ago, and saw that I had a Direct Message. Guess who it was from!!!!!!!! Yes, it was from Hayley!! It was dated the 18th, the day of the concert! Here's what she said: *faints* Although I used the computer room at the hotel that day, I only logged on as @hayleysforum, because there were photos from Ireland to post/re-tweet. I think it was just as well, though, because I think it would've made me more anxious during the show, wondering how to get to the stage door. I still got to meet her, and I think that was good enough at the time. Anyway, I think that might've been why I thought Hayley looked at me funny, because she was wondering if I'd seen her message, and maybe was waiting for me to say something about it. Or wondering if she should mention it, as well. Or maybe she did think I was crazy, who knows? Or maybe she was trying to figure out how old I was, because I look like a teenager. But after I'd recovered my composure and was thanking her, she might've wondered if I was more mature than she'd originally thought. LOL I just don't know. But anyway, despite some of my awkwardness, overall it was an amazing experience. I can't wait till the next US concert, because I'm totally there! |
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Post by Libby on Jan 5, 2016 5:17:11 GMT
Now, for my photos. First, some Madison pics: My view from the hotel window:   The Madison Capitol building:  Hayley's name lit up for all to see:  And... here we are:   Hayley's wearing some heels, otherwise she might not be towering over me so much. I'm just under 5'. And here's my photo with Tim Evans (I just cropped it to remove the girl in black next to the water bottles, why won't it translate here? Argh!):  |
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Post by jimg on Jan 5, 2016 15:23:12 GMT
I made the mistake of deleting my Madison album in Photobucket in attempt to avoid being forced to add more storage. Well, it didn't help, and then I realized I'd just broken all the images I'd posted here. So, I re-uploaded them, and I'll use these quotes of my original posts to re-insert them. It's confusing when some places you upload it through your computer, and other times you have to use a photo site. I am so sorry for you having to re-upload your photos but I am delighted because this and your post from the 24th Dec last meant I have reread one of the most moving Hayley concert reports. |
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... since the concert, I still really want to see her again, but I've kind of relaxed about it. Given the fact that previously I'd gone 9 years of being a big fan of hers and never seeing her in concert, now that I have seen her, I feel satisfied for now. Although, I won't be completely satisfied till she's able to tour the US a bit, and perhaps, perform in Seattle. When Hayley tweeted about the Carnegie Hall concert a few years ago, I asked her if she would ever come to the west coast, and she said, "Working on it, I promise!" So, because of that statement, and because of what she told fans in Madison about possibly doing more concerts here after her album comes out, I still live in hope that she will come here. Not trying to brag, either, but I have a feeling that she would especially like to try to come to Seattle, knowing that one of her biggest and most supportive US fans lives there... 
He told me still doesn't like the new forum format, though. Poor Larry. 
