Friday, September 30, 2005
I am going to be a guinea pig
Well, not quite, since I'm not really testing any medication or anything, but I am going to be doing some crazy research studies related to my Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. Have you ever noticed that I make a lot of posts on this thing kinda late? For as long as I can remember I have been on some crazy circadian rhythm where I am happiest going to bed around 4am and waking up around 12pm. I have been fortunate enough to work jobs that this is good for, but once when I had a normal like 8-4 job it nearly killed me. I hate hate hate mornings, probably because I just cannot get to sleep at a time that is conducive to being cheery and bright eyed in the morning. I don't really want to be cured either. Oh and to make it kinda weirder, it seems most of my relatives on my moms side are the same way! So come October 31st (yes, that's right, Hallow-freaking-ween) I will have some crazy tests done over the course of four days. woot. I hope they have wifi...
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Okay, all you fuckers are right.
Dammit, I resisted for sooo long. I hate hypey bands, and had a whatever attitude.
...Arcade Fire was one of the coolest shows I have seen in a very long time. I have been soo lucky to have a streak of amazing shows in the past couple weeks (Wilco, Beck, Sufjan, Farm Aid, Sloan, Fruit Bats), and while I thought the album was okay, just seeing them freaking out and beating the shit out of everything and the lights and lamps and the well chosen covers and the french horn in the balcony and the clothes....
IT RULED.
I think it's awesome that all the high school band geeks have an outlet and can become rock stars (Ala Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Sufjan & Illinoisemakers, Polyphonic Spree). I love a nice little club show as much as any indie rock snob, but I really dig big productions and costumes and stuff. I think I'm gonna get me a theremin!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
TV Party Tonite
I watched the Simpsons, Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle, X Files, Angel, 227 and Amen. That's right, I discovered some channel that was showing hours of back to back 227 and Amen, only to be interrupted with "It's Showtime at the Apollo". I miss decent shows, I absolutely loathe "reality tv".
It looks like the sleep study is going to be early November. I need to get over my fear of needles before then. I am so gonna die.
I have to choose betweeen Adam Fitz or Arcade Fire and Wolf...Eyes is it? there are so many fucking Wolf bands right now I cannot keep them straight. If only Adam had a wolf band opening for him...
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
And then today!
I bought a bunch of Old School Nintendo games at a yard sale a few weeks ago, since they were cool things like Tetris and uh, Castle Quest... Today at the Brown Elephant on Milwaukee I found the Nintendo for $5!! It's a little beat up, but it plays!! woooot!
Then Laura, Kristina and I went to Club Foot and enjoyed the stylings of DJ Tainted Love (aka my ex coworker Melissa) and ate cupcakes to celebrate John B's birthday. mmm, cupcakes.
okay recap
having to wake up at 6am Wednesday after Beck really wasn't working for me, so I decided to forgo sleep altogether. Sooz, Paul and I made our way to Midway where we ran into Gina, and as I ate the worse bagel EVER I see Devin Davis walk by. Weird! We fly to St Louis and pick up the Chrysler Town and Country we will get to know intimately and make our way to Columbia, a lovely MO town with some great record stores. The Wilco show was taking place outside the Blue Note, which sadly meant no delicious Fat Tire beer. BOOOOO. The show itself was awesome, but I was sleep deprived, dehydrated and altogether loopy, akin to being on some crazy drugs, but I was was not. We worried about the impending hurricane and made our way through the Ozarks, and barely found the Comfort Inn in Buffalo, MO. It was managed by Peggy Fear. Yes, that's right. After a peaceful nite's sleep we had 'breakfast' at Sonic (if a corndog, cheezey tots and Cherry Limeaid is breakfast...) and made our way to Oklahoma, USA. We did stop at OZARKVILLE gift shop (worth stoppin' for) and bought random gifts with people's names on them (Brianne, Gina and I lucked out and got bracelets with our names IN BEADS!) and watched the temperature slowly climb into triple fucking digits. We reached our destination and met up with the parched Heidi and Uyen. Cain's Ballroom was sooooo dang cool, the home of Bob Wills!!!!! Not to mention you can purchase Budweiser BY THE SIX PACK!! Another fantastic show from the Wilcos... I loved the new song "walken". OK was hot, Sooz and I did enjoy our deluxe accomodations though, and a trip to the western wear store the next day. Then, home. As much fun as I have on the road, when I get back, I always appreciate Chicago a little bit more.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Sunday, September 25, 2005
i was away
I really should update what happened in MO and OK. I will later.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
My blah blah Girl
Seeing Beck did nothing to help decipher the lyrics to that "girl" song, but the show was tons o' fun. All the hits, breakdancing, and the coolest percussion exhibition I have ever seen, I'm not joking!!
(Caution:Spoiler. Don't read if you are going to see Beck and you want to be surprised.)
So the members of the band all sit down at a dinner table. There are glasses of water and bowls of fruit and stuff. The nerdy guy brings them menus, and soon food, Like deep dish pizza or something. (we smelled food, and it smelled garlicy). So Beck does a couple accoustic songs, including Deborah which he says was influenced by R. Kelly, and talks about Trapped in the Closet...The he stars playing Golden Age, and the dudes at the table are totally playing percussion with the glasses of water, and bowls, and shakers that look like fruit. It was RAD. More radness followed with "Where It's At".
Tomorrow (well, later today) is like my 80th official Wilco/Tweedy show. Go me.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Farm Aid
Well, that was something! So much something I have to post about it days later. I had never been to the "Tweeter Center" and it was pretty overwhelming in and of itself, never mind it was full of farmers and Kenny Chesney fans. Oh, and DMB fans. Wilco was right in the middle of the day, so we sat thru such awesomeness as Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra and John Mayer with Buddy Guy. Holy crap, John Mayer must be a mutant from another planet, he's just weirdly proportioned. Anyhoot, there was some good stuff (Supersuckers, Emmylou Harris with Buddy Miller) and then freaking Barack Obama came out and introduced Wilco! I wish I had gotten the opportunity to tell him I wanted to marry him so I can be Mrs. Sam O'Rama-Obama, but I did not have the chance. Wilco were pretty damn eneregetic, and I feigned enthusiasm even during Kingpin. I don't think anyone around us had a damn clue who Wilco were. Kudos to Mr. Tweedy for being the only one ballsy to make any kind of political statement though. At least nobody around us was booing them. We high-tailed it out of our seats as soon as they were over, as Kenny Chesney was up next. I felt the girl in the homemade "Kenny Chesney's Hotter..." "When the lights go down" shirt needed as much room as she could get to do her boot scootin' boogie, or what have you. I went and visited friends on the lawn and ingested more beer and such. Dave Matthews was sans Band, and I didn't want to kill myself or anything. Man oh Man though, when John Mellencamp (Cougar?) came out though... party time! "Pink Houses" wooooo! It was lame but fun.
THEN OH MY FUCKING GODS NEIL YOUNG BLEW MY MIND. How old is that guy? How can he rock so amazingly with one guitar? How is he so cool? Why didn't he play the entire 12 hours (with Wilco relieving him on the bathroom breaks and Obama on percussion)? Dang me. Then Willie Nelson came out and mellowed the vibe out a bit, until he brought out all these brightly dressed possibly Native Americans to clap along on "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" and we were all just like "Huh?"
Right on. Beck tonite!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
I Could Tell You, But Telling Gets Old
Good grief, could today have been any more lovely than it was? I don't think so, despite sooz and I not finding the Love Boat between Central and Montrose. We did happen upon a "craft fair" in lovely Portage Park, which we strolled the length of perusing crafts. I really need to get to work on my plastic canvas projects. She dropped me off at the Hideout Block Party, where I ran into several lovely people that I was more than happy to hang
out with and drink beer (Ed, Lou, Jeremy, Rachel, Tiffany, Dan, Bryn, Heather C, et al...) IT just figures that the band I was there the whole time for was one I wasn't really into, and only got to catch 3 dB's songs, but they were excellent. I made my way over to Wrigleyville via the wonderful CTA and ran into my +1 for the evening on the corner of Clark and Addison. We tried going to Taco Bell but it was kinda full of crazy drunk baseball people, so we split, and got to Metro and the line to get in was ALREADY AROUND THE CORNER. Rather than wait and be annoyed, we got a pitcher of delicious PBR at the Gingerman, and when we came out Bryn was at the end of the line. I pushed us up a good 4 people back or so from the stage, and Jon got us more drinks, and Sufjan came out and all was well, except a few less songs were played (no John Wayne Gacy Jr, or MI songs and a different Seven Swans song (All the Trees), but it was still pretty magnificent. I bought the Illinoise vinyl and we got to "meet" Sufjan which I was pretty freaked out for, as evidenced by the pic. Um... so I got on the red line to go home, and these trixies gave me a can of budweiser! Trixies of Chicago, you are absolved from wrongdoing for one week, use it wisely. I guess I should rest for Farm Aid. WOW.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Sufjan nite 1
I wasn't really planning on going to see Sufjan both nites, but when someone calls you Wednesday and asks if you want to go Friday, you say yes, even though you are working that nite. I considered it a dress rehersal for tomorrow nite, when I plan on getting a better spot than on the side of the stage in front of the giant PA stack.
They played, and not quite in this order:
50 States
Tallest Man
Wasp
Gacy
Jacksonville
Decatur
Pulaski Day
Man of Metropolis
Prarie Fire
To Be Alone With You
(Something from Michigan...)
Chicago
(possibly another Seven Swans song...)
This was definitely one of the most interesting shows I have seen, and I have seen a lot of shows. I knew what to expect (sort of) from seeing Sufjan (and the Michigan Militia as they were called back then) at Schubas, and was a little skeptical if he could pull it off on the big stage at the Metro. He did, barely. Not to say it wasn't an amazing show... the sound was impecable, the crowd quiet, the piano grand, but he just seems so uncomfortable, in an utterly charming way. Before one of the cheers, he started giggling and said something to the effect of "Wow, this is just too weird," and one of the ladies in the band was like "well, it's your thing, you came up with it!" The pyramid was pulled off, sadly Sufjan was not a part of it, he merely held up the Illinois state seal. There were slightly uncomfortable silences while the band would switch instruments, not much banter. The music was gorgeous though, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and hoping for the "Come on, Feel the Illinois" song itself.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Things You Don't Know About Me Part whatever
I suffer from
delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. I myself did not know this until today... well, I didn't know it was a thing with a name. I thought I just went to bed late and woke up late. Huh. The fun will begin when I participate in a study. Gods, I hope they have WiFi.
anyhoot, OMGs, Sufjan for the next two nites! Then Farm Aid. Wilco, Willie, Neil, and uh, John Mayer. Then onto MORE shows.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Amazing Facts You May Not Know About Me pt 2
I am reasonably sure I am a super taster.
pt 3
I am so sick of all the people that lie to me etc that I am kind of tired of Chicago. Public transit keeps me here though. Looking into Lawrence, KS though. How big could it be?
anyhoot, Laura and I went to the Team Love fest or whatever Conor's label is at the Abbey and despite losing my +1 we had a lovely time (Laura was particulary into Neva Denova,and those Tilly and the Wall folk never disappoint, except that they didn't do a wacky cover, though Neva did a Frank Black cover, is that the vogue now, to gloss over pixies and go right into Frank Black/Breeders terratory? weaksauce.) and what a fashion parade that was! Shared munchkins at the Addison Blue line stop and I managed to hop right on the North bus at Damen. Sometimes the transit gods smile upon me.
sooo much great new music out this week: Coco Rosie, Freakwater, Iron and Wine/Calexico, Stereolab, Wooden Wand, Devendra Banhart, Super Furry Animals and most importantly the Holy Mackeral...first time on CD? And I got that vinyl only Fruit Bats at their show.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
Amazing Facts You Might Not Know About Me
I have water on the knee.
otherwise, made it thru German Fest, saw the Fruit Bats and Rogue Wave tonite. Going into a couple weeks of intense concertdom. I am going to pass out and die now.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Happy Days was weird
It's this episode where Fonz feels he is losing his cool, and gets Ralph to write a letter to the tv show "You Wanted to See It" asking to see a guy jump 14 garbage cans on a motorcycle. But the really creepy thing is they keep making jokes about Ralph wanting to see a HUMAN SACRIFICE. WTF?! I think Ralph Malph had some serious psychological issues.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
It was my birthday
It was a good day. I still don't have the energy to relive the Sloan experience yet...maybe later.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
I usually notice all the little things...
Chris Murphy has blue eyes. Who knew?
Saturday, September 03, 2005
it's all weird
this is the only picture i took in new orleans when paul and i were there earlier this year. at first i was a bit wary of the city (but that's how i am with all cities at first... my first time in chicago i thought it was hell) but despite the caterpillar and the constant krystal burgers we had a really nice time. i hate that it's gone, and can't even imagaine what it is like for sandi. i can't imagine not having a place to go home to. well, i sorta can, but even at it's worst for me, there was always a box of something stashed somewhere. gah.
anyhoot, martyrs tonite, what an awful crowd they get there. Palliard was good, probably not on top of their game due to the crowd... and then there was hummingbIIrd. and then there was not any polka, since we were too late to the polish bar. ah well. this is the start of a party weekend, and i do it in honor of a city that showed me it knew how to party.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Dang Hurricanes. They were tasty though.
I'm glad I got to New Orleans this year for the first time. And duh, but I hope everyone I know from there is okay.
