Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

For some reason when it comes to eating or not eating meat, a common perception is the decision has to be black or white. You either do or you don't, which has left a vast middle ground, of simply eating less meat, devoid of participation and conversation.

Two nights ago Jonathan Safran Foer, author of "Eating Animals" gave a book reading, moderated discussion and book signing at the Commonwealth Club in Palo Alto. He was discussing vegetarianism as "the only ethical realm we view as black or white." Truth? We don't say I can either be completely honest or lie 100% of the time. Eco-consciousnss? We don't say I'm either going to conserve energy or waste as much as I possibly can at all times. So why do we perceive eating or not eating meat as an all or nothing endeavor?

If you eat meat, this post isn't an attempt to convert you into becoming a full time vegetarian. This post is to support Jonathan's desire to encourage us to think and talk about what kind of meat are we eating? And why do we eat meat? Where did the meat on our plates come from? How was it raised? What was it fed? Is it healthy for us? Was it slaughtered humanely or inhumanely? If you want to know why I stopped eating meat or what it's like going out to eat, shopping or cooking as a vegetarian just ask me! For now, if you want to know what Jonathan thinks, I invite you to continue reading...

A non-judgemental conversation about eating meat.

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When I first heard about the book "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer I had never heard of him before. I hadn't read his other literary successes, "Everything is Illuminated" or "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." I didn't know how to compare him to other writers or what his credentials in writing were. After reading "Eating Animals" I do know that in this book, he outlines the research he undertook to study factory farming and his thoughts and feelings about why and with how much self awareness, empathy and hypocrisy do we eat animals. I found his reasoning sound, his points convincing and his point of view compelling because the book struck me as an informal fusion of common sense, investigative reporting and authenticity as many parts read as a memoir of his own experiences.

For years I had been what I call a part-time vegetarian which translates to I would eat fish or poultry for one meal every other day or so. I wanted to become vegetarian but for some inexplicable reason I kept toeing the line but wouldn't cross over it. One day I bought a copy and began reading "Eating Animals" because I had a couple hours to kill in SF. Life took over and it was a few months before I took it with me on a flight to finish reading. What I read resonated so deeply with my humanity that by the time the plane landed I was done eating meat.

Contrary to what many believe or have experienced, conversations about eating meat should not (in Jonathan's opinion) be divisive. He seeks to take discussions about eating animals, factory farming, food as culture, vegetarianism and animal cruelty and "move them in from the margins" to fill what he calls the "middle ground" between meat eaters and vegetarians.

Jonathan Safran Foer with moderator Raj Patel, Palo Alto, CA.

It was refreshing to hear someone (who is a vegetarian) recognize that some of the feelings and memories that encompass eating meat are so embedded in our psyches that to give up all meat would mean giving up things that are integral to our identities, the experiences of our cultures and our connections to our families. The ritual of a father and son cooking a Thanksgiving turkey together... His take? If you want to eat turkey on Thanksgiving because that's your tradition, then eat turkey. Just don't use eating turkey once a year on Thanksgiving as the reason you decide not to be vegetarian at other times. Because you eat some meat doesn't mean you can't eat less meat in general or go meatless one day a week or one meal a day. Don't dismiss the middle ground because of one holiday or one dish that is part of your family's history or culture. You can do both, eat meat dishes that have a sentimental value to you and give up some or all meat at other times.

Overcrowded chickens are often kept in darkness to force laying.

He also feels strongly that neither the factory farming industry, nor the USDA will willingly improve the current standards of animal welfare. And while he doesn't feel that the general public should have to assume the role of watchdog, thankfully, some of these issues can be resolved at the polls by voters. Californians passed Proposition 2 (aka the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act) in 2008 which will make it illegal (by 2015) for laying chickens to be kept in battery cages too small for them to stretch their wings, turn around, or all lie down at the same time without having to lie upon each other. It also means that veal calves and pregnant sows (pigs) will be able to stand, lie down, turn around and fully extend their limbs while confined instead of being held in chutes that are so narrow the animal can never turn or change positions its entire life until slaughter :( Voters passed this proposition by a generous margin of 63% of voters in favor of treating these animals more humanely even knowing it will mean higher costs at the check out stand.

Prices per pound.
3 lbs of lentils or 1 lb of beef are approximately the same price.

Jonathan pointed out that eating vegetarian has the added bonus of being more economical. I couldn't agree more. To me, the difference between ordering a vegetarian or meat meal in a restaurant is similar to the cost difference between ordering a soda instead of alcohol. When I go out in San Francisco I'm often stunned that I'm spending $1.00 for a club soda while friends are spending $15 for a martini. Because of this, I don't care to split checks equally because my dinner with a glass of water probably costs around $10-$15 while my dining companion's meals cost somewhere around $25 to $40. The same numbers hold true when it comes to grocery shopping. As Jonathan pointed out he can buy a bag of lentils the same size as himself for about $3. (LOL) OK, that's not true but you get the point. Buying (non-organiclly grown) beans, whole grains (like brown rice) and fresh and frozen vegetables are less expensive than purchasing meat.

And what about fast food? I've ordered vegetarian Big Macs with tomato slices instead of beef patties for years now. Burger King offers Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties and Mojo Burger offers three vegetarian options: Garden and Boca burgers and a fantastic black bean patty that isn't on the menu, you have to ask for it. At In-N-Out Burger I order a "Grilled Cheese" which is a cheeseburger without the meat. When I went to Canada a few years ago I had the best soy burger patty ever at Harvey's. Here in San Jose Armadillo Willy's offers veggie burgers and The Counter creates gourmet burgers with their in-house veggie patties. They're all great vegetarian burger options!

This is the presentation I saw Jonathan give! The recording quality is top notch so if you're curious about the book this is a great 65 minute synopsis.

Jonathan describes his encouragement of vegetarianism as "quiet in an incremental way." It isn't about labeling people as good or bad because they do or don't eat meat. It's about what he calls "a baseline of human decency" where we can collectively (whether we eat meat or not) recognize that certain things (like the sanctioned and unsanctioned animal cruelty that takes place in factory farming in particular) is "just wrong." And if people believe that farm animal welfare needs to be improved and cruelty can no longer be tolerated, are we willing to "hold onto our core beliefs even when it is inconvenient or awkward to do so?"

It wouldn't be a book signing without having my book signed :)

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If you enjoyed this post you'll probably enjoy these too:

• Julia Child, Veal Farms and The Food Revolution by John Robbins
• Super Simple DIY Vegetarian Tacos
• Creating the Perfect Vegetarian Baked Puttanesca

Meet Tami's no longer Anonymous Stem Cell Donor!

I'm sure you've all wondered at least once or twice: Who is my cousin Tami's anonymous stem cell donor?

This is Scott, the person who gave her a second chance, literally saving Tami's life, by donating his stem cells to her. Scott joined the marrow donor program registry in 1994 and was quite surprised when he was contacted in May of 2009 and told he was a potential match for a patient in need.

Statistics held true. It's said that most patients will find a match within their own ethnic group. Scott is part Japanese but also part Native Hawaiian and Chinese. And even though he is multi-ethnic, he was a perfect 10/10 match for Tami who is of Japanese descent.

Scott's story about how he became involved in the National Marrow Donor Program began years ago with a little girl, stricken with Leukemia, named Alana Dung. In his own words by email he said:

I can't help but think how crazy it is, that if I didn't see Alana Dung's donation poster at campus center at University of Hawaii at Manoa when I was 19 years old, I would have never gone up to the donation booth and registered. Fast forward now 15 years and it has made a difference. How incredible.

Adelia Dung hugs daughter Alana.
Photo by Alvin Chung from the Star-Bulletin

Little Alana Dung lived in Hawaii, had Leukemia and was 3 years old when she passed away after relapsing following a bone marrow transplant from an anonymous donor in Taiwan. Her family has since created the Alana Dung Foundation "To encourage research efforts by providing financial support to worthy research organizations and individuals throughout the world for clinical studies and research directed at improving the quality of life for sick children, improving treatment and preventing disease" as her legacy.

I actually heard about Alana when I was working on creating Tami's donor drive effort. When Alana's parents were told she would need a marrow transplant the state of Hawaii literally rose up to save her. Over 30,000 people joined the registry in 2 months time. That is a phenomenal number based on both the total quantity and speed the registrations were gathered in. Of the 30,788 people who joined the registry to try to help Alana, one (Scott) would go on to help Tami overcome Myelodysplasia by donating his stem cells to her 15 years later.

Mokumanamana and the "Tourist" Hawaiian Islands

Scott, a doctoral candidate in archaeology at the University of Hawaii, says the timing of the donation request posed a potential conflict. He was about to depart on a field work expedition to Mokumanamana (aka Necker) Island, (a very small, remote and inhospitable island) many miles from the Hawaiian tourist destinations most of us are familiar with.

After talking to trusted friends and family members Scott ultimately followed his desire to help others in need and decided he wanted to give the donation. But he was concerned about the timeline and wanted to give the donation as quickly as possible so he would have more recovery time before leaving on a 21 day "Survivor" like research marathon on Mokumanamana Island .

Doctor's had first considered a bone marrow donation rather than a stem cell donation for Tami but due to Scott's upcoming field work, and the possibility of lingering soreness at the donation site if he gave marrow, Tami's doctors decided to do an adult stem cell donation instead (aka PBSC or Peripheral Blood Stem Cell). This meant that Scott took a medicine called filgrastim for several days to stimulate the marrow production in his bones, causing stem cells to be released from his bone marrow into his bloodstream to be harvested.

Stem Cell Donation Day!

While the Be The Match website says:

PBSC donors can expect to experience a headache, or bone or muscle aches for several days before collection, a side effect of the filgrastim injections. These effects disappear shortly after collection. Most PBSC donors report that they feel completely recovered within 2 weeks of donation.

Scott said the only side effect he experienced was that he was tired the rest of the day and slept a bunch but felt almost normal by the next morning.

Scott's fiance was at his side the entire day. He said it was great to have her there because he was supposed to keep his arms outstretched and clench two tennis balls, one in each hand, to help his blood circulate. So when his nose and face itched, she scratched it for him.

From Hawaii to Seattle... Scott's Stem Cell Donation arrived at Fred Hutchinson for Tami's transplant. This is how the majority of transplants take place, with the donor and patient living in separate cities and even countries. The stem cells can be flown to the patient's location so even international donations are extremely common and now comprise at least 50% of the transplants that take place.

You may recall that Tami's Transplant Doctor said that she received a "very good dose of stem cells." When Tami told Scott this he laughed and said they kept him on the apheresis machine (a type of centrifuge that separates the stem cells from the rest of the blood) for 8-9 hours. I've read most people are on the machine for around 4 hours at a time and may be asked to donate over the course of 1-3 days. He said they kept looking at him and he was doing so well and felt so good that they kept him on apheresis for twice the normal amount of time. The machine works by removing blood from one arm, running it through the separating machine, storing the stem cells and returning the rest of the blood back into the donors other arm.

Post Donation with Nurse Betty at the outpatient clinic.

Says Scott:

Giving bone marrow/or stems cells is a really important thing to think about on so many levels. It's a part of your body, the very essense that creates blood and life in you. The donation process is also complicated by the fact that the recipient is anonymous. Very little information is given about the person to protect their privacy. It makes it very hard though to connect in a meaningful way to the person and struggle, and really assess what your true feelings are about the situation...

I think on a really basic level my first instinct is to help people, so I decided I had to try and do this before I left on my trip...

Scott and his family.

To finally have a face and a name and know that Scott is the person who saved Tami's life was quite overwhelming. I felt ecstatic and elated then broke into tears when I first saw him in a photo. It was like gaining a new family member but no one had a baby or got married. Such an unusual circumstance.

Our family can never thank Scott enough for his altruism and compassion. We would like to thank him for giving Tami back her health and her future. With the deepest gratitude I also want to say thank you for giving her back to her friends. She means so much to so many people, many of whom I've met in person, spoken to on the phone or have emailed with since her diagnosis. The way everyone has reached out to help her from her colleagues (past and present), neighbors, childhood friends and even people who don't know her but feel connected to her through her website and blog, has been overwhelming at times, in a great way. We realize and appreciate that it's because Tami is such an incredible person that so many people have made such incredible efforts to help her along this past year and a half.

Someday I'm certain I'll be creating a blog post with photos of Tami and Scott meeting in person for the first time. Until then, please continue to let others know about this blog and Tami's website. Please encourage them to consider joining the National Marrow Donor Program. Like Scott, they may one day be able to give someone the gift of life. How many of us are ever afforded such an opportunity? I joined the registry in 1995 and am still waiting for my phone to ring.

When I asked Tami if she wanted to include a personal message to Scott in this blog post she said absolutely. And here it is:

September 21, 2010

Dear Scott,

In February 2009, when I was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), I first asked what MDS is. I had never heard of the disease and we didn’t have a family history of the disease or leukemia. My doctors informed me that they’re not sure what causes the disease, but what they did know was the only way to cure the disease was to undergo a stem cell or bone marrow transplant. When I began to research the disease, I couldn’t believe it. I also couldn’t believe when the doctors said that I would need to find a donor and that the statistics for matching people of Asian descent was low. I thought how would I ever find anyone? I still to this day was amazed that three matches were found for me. I remember the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Hospital (SCCA) letting me know that two of the three people were contacted but the best match was the first, an Asian male in his 30’s in the US. When I received my transplant last June 2009, they told me that the stem cells had to be flown into Seattle so I knew the donor wasn’t from Seattle, which has a large Asian population. To this day, I thought it will be someone in California.

So, June 30, 2010, one year post-transplant, I requested the form to fill out to learn the identity of my donor. I still remember the paperwork that I was given at the SCCA warning me that I may not ever know the identity as some people don’t reveal who they are. They also warned me that the person may be so different from me and wouldn’t want to be contacted. The only thing I thought is that I’m filling out the form and taking the chance that I would get to meet the person someday that saved my life. All I ever wanted to do was to thank him for giving me another chance.

Well August 27th was an amazing day for me. I received the letter from the SCCA informing me my donor was you and that you were from Honolulu. I thought I can’t just call you out of the blue so I’ll email you first hoping you would respond. You did. I then called you that night and you were everything that I imagined the person could be all these months. I could tell you are an extraordinary, considerate, and thoughtful person with a heart of gold. These past days emailing back and forth have been amazing and all I can say is that I can’t wait to meet you, your fiancé, and family in person. My family and I are looking forward to spending time with you in Honolulu. I'm hoping that more people can read our story and will hopefully generate more donors like yourself. I still can't believe its been 15 years since you donated at Alana's drive.

Thank you so much for the gift of life and for becoming a special person in my life.


Tami

And a few more people who wanted to say thank you to Scott! They include some of Tami's incredibly supportive colleagues, friends of the family, and some of my friends here in California and nationwide. I'll be creating a "Thank You Scott" photo album so If you would like to send a thank you picture to add to it please make one and email it to photo@helpingtami.org

Some of Tami's colleagues who, no joke, may be some of the most, if not the most supportive colleagues ever! Not only did many join the registry on her behalf, they held fundraisers, brought food by the house and did all kinds of things that made things easier for her and her family during this very difficult time. And it wasn't just her local colleagues who pitched in. It was a huge amount of love and concern from employees nationwide who reached out and did all they could to support her.

More of Tami's Colleagues

Friends at Flextronics

Family friends who wanted to thank Scott personally...

And a friend who recently moved to the islands giving a classic Hawaiian greeting!

Click Image to Enlarge

Besides asking me how Tami was doing each week, many of the people in this photo joined the registry on Tami's behalf and many helped out (hands on) with the donor drive effort here in California. Beside me are my friends Jewel and Chuck Savadelis who shot the PSA video at the donor drive at the Tech Museum last year. Maureen in the front left volunteered at the same drive. George, to the right of Chuck actively supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Loretta (peeking out from the center of the back row), Keith (third from the right in the second row), and John (to the right of Keith) all helped to produce the What's up Wit' That episode about Bone Marrow Donation that won the Wave Award last year and aired nationally on Public Access TV. And Keith, Loretta and John all volunteered at the Tech Museum donor drive. You can see John holding a sign in the video and Loretta sitting at the swabbing table.

People who know me well know I have a bunch of dog loving friends who I met years ago on Dogster.com. They were really a pillar of support to me when Tami was first diagnosed and throughout the time since. Over the years they have become like family to me and they in turn took an interest in Tami's illness as if she were their family too. In tribute to Scott they made these pictures to thank him for donating his stem cells to Tami...

Ming and Dottie. Dottie's owner thought for sure the photo would be of Ming calmly posing with his sign on and Dottie reaching over and eating Ming's sign. LOL

Rosie says Thank You Scott!

Daisy's owner, Wendy, was the person who helped me to maintain this blog back when we were posting every day with updates about how Tami was feeling and doing. Wendy has been a longtime member of the National Marrow Donor Registry and has been contacted on several occasions as a potential donor. So far she has not had the opportunity to make a donation to a patient in need as better matches were located in two instances. Sadly, the one patient she was the best match for became too sick to receive a transplant.

And this is my pup Kitai who was very happy to pose for this picture.

So Thank You to Scott from all of us! The debt of gratitude is immense and can never be truly expressed. We look forward to one day thanking Scott in person for his selflessness and hope his story will inspire others who have been afraid to join the marrow registry to go ahead and sign up. Maybe they will also be able to save a life someday.

CLICK HERE to learn how you can join the marrow donor registry in person or using a mail in test kit!

Guest Speaker at BAPVA

Last night I was a guest speaker at the BAPVA (Bay Area Professional Videographer's Association) monthly meeting. As an affiliate member, I was invited to give a 45 minute presentation about blogging. I did my best to condense my 4 hour Beginning Bloggers' Seminar into the shorter time frame and managed to do it within 48 minutes. Whew!

You may have noticed that I labeled this post into my "Duh" category. Here's why. I custom tailored the presentation using screen shots from many of the member's blogs. One in particular, the Cinematt Blog by professional videographer Matthieu Meynier, displayed a great blog sidebar. It's clean and simple with all of the basic elements that I think every sidebar should have. Soooooo I included several screenshots showing the link back to his website, a photo of himself, inclusion of a short bio about his company, a categories directory and an easy RSS sign up option...

After the presentation Matthieu approached me with a funny little smile on his face and said he wasn't surprised that I liked his sidebar... Because I had designed it for him! LOL. Seriously. I had totally forgotten that I had designed it for him over a year ago when he was in the process of setting up his blog and needed some help figuring out how to use the "Page Elements" in Blogger so I logged into his account and did it for him. No wonder I liked it! I designed it. Ha ha ha ha... He had updated it himself as well adding the RSS subscription option and his Twitter feed among other things so he did deserve some of the credit. Duh. Right?

Where in the world have I been?

Well, I'm here but haven't been blogging. I'll be back, probably every single day, next week because I've got all kinds of posts waiting to leave my brain and trickle out via my keyboard. But, at the moment, I am reorganizing my life. More aptly put I am sorting through the collection of everything that was my bridal accessory business for the past 13 years and deciding what to keep and store, what to keep and repurpose, what to sell and what to donate.

Not an easy task when you love everything about what you used to do. Still, I have to draw the line and let things go. Of course once they're gone there is some relief and a sense of anticipation as to what comes next. I may be fooling myself but feel like I'm almost done. Or at least I think the end is in sight.

I have requests to fulfill for new Flirty Idea tutorials, some cool pictures to share, an update on my quest to go vegetarian and lots of other cool things to talk about. Sorry to be gone for so long! I had no idea that this project would become all consuming for so long.

I'm an Official Newspaper Columnist!

So, this has been in the works for far too long. Earlier this year Sally Howe, Editor and Owner of the Campbell Express, asked me if I would be interested in writing a column for her newspaper that could cover any topic or topics I wanted to write about. Over the years I've written and contributed to a few articles for her and several photos I've taken have run in her newspaper. I was interested, but was so busy at the time that I asked if she could wait until my schedule opened up at the end of the summer. And guess what? She said yes. Cool!

So what to write about. Hmmmmm. I decided I wanted to cover inspiring ideas so I needed a name that would work whether I was talking about weddings, technology, food, pets, or anything else that struck my fancy. "Try Something New" is what I came up. In each column I will introduce something that I hope will be new to the readers of The Campbell Express. It may be to go somewhere, as in the first issue explaining what brides and grooms can expect at a wedding fair (like the upcoming Bridal Faire at the Ainsley House in downtown Campbell on Sept. 26th), or it may be a project to try at home in the kitchen or something to build or learn about.

I'm very much looking forward to writing for the Campbell Express. In a way, it's like writing a blog post because I always treat my blog posts like news articles in not cutting corners on research to make certain what I'm writing is accurate.

There are three ways to read my column:

1. Subscribe for home delivery for $15 per year - CLICK HERE to subscribe.
2. Read each issue online - CLICK HERE to view the online archive
3. Pick up a copy at local downtown businesses like Orchard Valley Coffee

I will post an update here each time I have a column that runs. I think my next one will be about backyard chicken keeping. So if you're a city dweller and keeping chickens is something you've been curious about, stay tuned. Pok, pok.

INXS Concert at VMworld 2010

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO VIEW AN ENLARGEMENT

Yesterday I was just finishing up a really packed week of back to back meetings and seminars and was feeling pretty exhausted. I thought I was going home last night to relax and just chill out a bit when my hubby sent me an email asking if I wanted to go to San Francisco to see INXS in concert. Um.... Let's see, go sit at home watching tv with my dog or go hear great music and see rock stars up in San Francisco. LOL it wasn't a tough decision.

Talk about total dorks. We got to the Moscone Center and went to the wrong stage area, marveling how we were going to be in the front row. After a few minutes we realized we were at the wrong stage and rushed around the building to get to the correct location in the basement of the Moscone Center. And guess what? We were still in the front row! Sweet!

Some of you may remember from past posts that my hubby has been a devoted INXS fan, and friend of the band, for years. When we do get to see them in concert, and are in the first or second row, it's always fun when the band members recognizes us and gives us a wave and a smile. Last night not only did Kirk Pengilly give me a wave, he also gave me a wink (click on the image and you can really see he's winking), tossed me a guitar pick and...

Posed for this picture while he was performing giving me this very cheeky smile when he saw I was trying to take a picture of him. He totally cracked me up :D They are the first rock stars I've ever met and have set the bar really high for any future rock stars I may ever meet. They are so talented and equally nice.

First song of the night was Suicide Blonde.

Second song was "Disappear" one of my favorites! They played lots of my favs, New Sensation, Taste it, Afterglow, Mystify, Never Tear Us Apart, etc...

Guitarist Tim Farriss is one of the three Farriss brothers who originally started a band called "The Farriss Brothers" in Australia back in 1977. Shortly after they changed the name of the band to INXS.

Was very hard to get a good picture of Andrew Farriss all night because he was further away and often behind some equipment. That's him on the left with Kirk Pengilly and Tim Farriss. Even more difficult was to get a picture of drummer John Farriss off to the right in the shadows.

Garry Gary Beers and J.D. Fortune

Most people are aware that the band's lead singer for 2 decades was Michael Hutchence, who tragically died in 1997. I can still remember how shocked and sad I was when I heard it on the news.

In 2005, the band launched a nationwide search for their next lead singer on a reality tv show called "Rockstar INXS." Canadian singer J. D. Fortune won the competition, recorded "Switch" with the band and began touring with them shortly after.

Because so many people have already asked about J.D.'s current status with the band... Last year there was a considerable bump in the road when it was stated by J. D. in a tv interview that he had been fired by the band. Whatever the issues were, they have been resolved and I'm really happy that they have regrouped and are performing together once again. In 2010 INXS has performed at least 6 special events with J. D. as their lead singer. I did see a tv interview one day where Kirk Pengilly confirmed that J.D. was once again part of INXS so hopefully things will continue to work out and they will all have many future successes together.

Kirk Pengilly plays both the saxophone...

And the guitar.

So there I was, basically just rocking out, when I was handed one of John Farriss' drumsticks by a crew member. Whu???? Tony walked up to the stage, picked up the drumstick, looked at the crowd, looked at the band members, turned around and handed the drumstick to me. For real??? It felt surreal LOL. First a guitar pick from Kirk and now a drumstick from John? I've never had a real drumstick before. I was drumming on the dashboard, window, console and my hubby's arm on the way home until he told me to stop :D

J. D. Fortune perfoming at VMworld 2010

Kirk Pengilly, Tim Farriss and Garry Gary Beers

Being a rock star J.D. had on some pretty stylish, ripped in the crotch jeans. LOL

Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss and J. D. Fortune

A spontaneous moment when Kirk took the mic from J.D. to introduce J.D. to the crowd. Judging by the reactions of the band it was a bit of a prank.

I think it always makes a show more fun when the audience sees the band having a great time onstage.

J.D. Fortune performing "Don't Change"

Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly closing the show with "Don't Change."

Inxs Members: Kirk Pengilly, Andrew Farriss, J.D. Fortune, Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss and John Farriss.

If they are ever performing where you live and you've always loved or liked their music, GO SEE THEM! This was my eighth show and I've loved every show I've seen. It's an evening of hit after hit after hit and you can tell the guys really have fun performing. You can check out the official INXS website for tour information as it becomes available at www.INXS.com

And why was the band in town in the first place? They were there to perform at VMworld, a virtual conference for cloud computing. They describe the U.S. conference on their website this way:

We have developed outstanding Sessions and Labs program this year, with more than 170 unique Breakout Sessions and 30 Lab topics offered across four days. General Sessions will be on Tuesday and Thursday. Plus, VMworld offers additional learning opportunities, such as the new Knowledge Experts Program, numerous networking events, and the Solutions Exchange featuring more than 200 companies showcasing the latest virtualization and cloud computing products and services.

If that sounds intriguing to you be sure to bookmark their website www.VMworld.com so you can stay up to date on their next conference in 2011. If you live in Europe it's not too late to attend the conference in Copenhagen October 12-14, 2010. CLICK HERE for more details about the European VMworld conference.

And... Because everyone always asks, I took these photos with my Panasonic Lumix DMC LX3 point and shoot pocket camera :)