San Miguel de Allende!



Yeah, that view is from Photogal’s back porch. Pretty awesome, huh? Now I can understand why she wouldn’t mind buying some land here! Everything is pretty cheap too (I just bought a carton of smokes for under seventeen bucks) and the folks are friendly, even though though the information I was given was misleading in regards to the amount of English spoken. That’s cool though since it’ll give me a chance to dredge up some of that Spanish that’s been lurking in my subconscious. We’re now off to Instituto Allende, where Photogal is taking a jewelry class so hasta la vista!

In Mexico!

Yup, safe and sound but the Spanish keyboard in this Internet cafe is driving me nuts so I´ll keep this short until I get to Photogal´s apartment and can use her computer.

So that´s it! (I said I was keeping it short...)

Figures.

The Wicker Park street festival is ALWAYS lame. Always. Every year. Lame bands. Boring. No one shows up.

So doesn't it just figure that the one year I will be out of town for this event (this weekend) they finally dub the whole thing Wicker Park Summerfest and suddenly decide to make it cool? Some of the acts performing?

Saturday
The Posies
Wheat
The Sights
The Ms
Sybris
University

Sunday
The French Kicks
The Ponys
Bob Log III

Yaaaargh! Awesome booking by the organizers (definitely the coolest street festival line-up thus far this year) but bad timing by ye ol' Tankboy.

Okay, I'm upset, but not TOO upset since I'm sure I'll forget all about this whilst sunning myself in San Miguel de Allende.

Rudy rocked but I did not.

I definitely had an off night last night though I don't think anyone noticed. Actually everyone seemed to really enjoy what I played so maybe I’m being hyper-critical but I just wasn't feelin' it and I know I've spun better. Rudy, however, grabbed the bull by its horns and its balls and throttled the hell out of the rock and/or roll. Excellent song selections with excellent segues. I definitely dug his sets over mine.

Now it's off to change that frickin' tire with the steel showing though (I hope I make it! UPDATE: I made it) and get to work to finish up what I need to do before heading down to beautiful Mexico tomorrow. Every time I tell someone who's been where I'm going they get all jealous...so I would say that bodes well for my trip!

Slick Willy come back!

Did anyone else get all sentimental for happier times watching Bill Clinton talk at the convention last night? I tuned in near the end of the speech and thought he was well spoken.

Well, I thought it was the end of his speech.

I had actually turned on my local FOX affiliate and caught his speech from 9:50 until 10:00 when they panned to their color commentators who said, "Clinton is finishing up so why don't we end our coverage here." Well, I turned to ABC to hear just how Bill was going to sum everything up and was treated to about another 20 minutes of speech! I see FOX has extended its "Fair and Balanced" coverage beyond cable. I had suspected as much but last night was pretty ridiculous.

Blasted tires...

I went out to go to work yesterday and noticed something glinting off my front tire...and realized it was the metal underneath the rubber tread! I can’t believe I didn't suffer a blow-out but it sure explains why my car was driving so poorly on Saturday afternoon. I still need to get it fixed but since I don't know any tire shops near my new house I need to limp back to the tire shop I trust in the 'hood. For that reason I'm heading into work extra early today so I can get out earlier than usual and get all the errands done that I need to do this evening, thus leaving early morning tomorrow wide open for tire replacement. How exciting. Yeah, I know, it's boring. Think of what could have happened though, with my tire blowing out while I was speeding along at 7o M.P.H. and then smashing into the median and then flipping over into oncoming traffic and then going all explodey in a huge mass of flames!

That would have been an exciting post! Painful, but exciting.

Get your hands off of my bone, mother fu-



Lucy throws down some attitude and tackles a tasty treat that's half her size.

Bayern München Vs. Manchester United in Chicago, Illinois.

Yup, I went to the game with my brothers and spent most of the time reading the latest New Yorker. I was curious to see these two arch-rivals play – and my brothers are rabid fans of one or the other (middle-bro loves Germany, little-bro loves England) to the extent they go to bars in the middle of the night just to watch their team play live – but must admit to being disappointed that Manchester United saw fit to primarily use unknowns and second or third stingers. The game was a bit of a letdown and Bayern München won through penalty kicks (apparently the idea of a game ending in a 0-0 tie is more than can be stomached by an American audience) and I did get to see the infamous Roy Keane in action so that was kind of cool.

My weekend was rather long and uneventful really. Friday's DJ set was weird but well received...I just had a hard time getting into the groove of the room and the sound system really started to fuck up and kept shorting out near the end of the evening when Rudy and I usually blast out the most hits and get folks dancing. It's hard to build up momentum, though, when the songs keep cutting out for 30-60 seconds at a time. I'd consider giving the place another go since the owners said they're fixing the system this week but I was rather nonplussed about the evening. Luckily a bunch or our friends showed up and whooped it up anyway so there was definitely a party atmosphere to help Rudy and I get over the technical frustrations. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

Saturday kicked off with a party my brothers were throwing out in the suburbs that I unfortunately had to exit earlier than I would have liked in order to see Woolworthy at a street festival and then get home to the doggies. Next time I'm planning things out better so I can stick around the party since it sounds like a great time was had by all. Me? I ended up in bed early Saturday night acting the complete lame-o.

Sunday was the big ol' football match and I already rambled about that. I tied up the day visiting my dad in the hospital (he's been having fluid accumulating in him lungs so they're draining him and will then perform a procedure to seal the lining of his lung's wall to prevent any more fluid from getting in...although they don't know what's actually causing the fluid yet. This has all set back the beginning of the experimental protocol he was supposed to start last week so his frustration level is rising. I can totally understand since he keeps attacking each problem he encounters but seems to be making very little head-way overall.

And now we're on to the work week! It's a short one for me since I leave for Mexico at 6am Thursday morning to visit Photogal so I suppose I better get on into the office and crank out everything I need to get finished before I can vacation with a clear conscience!

A few more plusses to living in the house!

Before I forget I reckoned the following were deserving of a shout-out:

• There's a Dunkin' Donuts half a block away so it totally smells like donuts when I walk to my car in the morning.
• There's a washer and dryer in the basement so I can do laundry whenever I want.
• There's a mother-frickin' dishwasher in the kitchen. Other than the occasional pre-soak and stubborn scrtub, dishes will be a cinch from now on!

So I still hate how far I am from the 'hood – and the fact that it takes me anywhere from 30-90 minutes to get there by bus – but these little things are making up for it more and more...

TONIGHT
 
Okay all you folks
who never make it out on a school night
to catch our Tuesday rock and/or roll madness...

Hide the women and children because
Rudy
and
DJ Tankboy
are spinning the hits
to kick off the weekend
as they take over the genteel surroundings of
InnJoy
and turn it into a big-ass,
rock-n-sweaty-rollin'
all-night make-out dance session!

Old school rock and/or roll attitude

mixed with only the finest selectionsfrom yesterday, today and tomorrow. 

TONIGHT, Friday June 23, 2004
Stunning musical selections from 9pm until 2am

You ask, "Holy crap, who let these guys take over on a Friday?"

We don't know,
but you should find that cat and thank him profusely
once we're done with you.

Do not miss this. 

 

InnJoy
2051 W Division Street

Chicago, IL773.394.2066
 
__________________

...pssst...
...our friend Skid is playing
at Double Door at 9pm
so if you wanna go catch him
and then us
we're totally okay with that!

The Chicago RedEye says: "The teeny tables and scant booths don't leave a whole lot of room for sitting, but the crowd (hipsters from all over the city) is mainly music fans who are more comfortable on their feet anyway. Stop in on Tuesday nights, when the DJ plays the best retro-rock this side of Detroit Rock City...."

Too freaking cute!

Really, you have to click and see these to believe 'em. Thanks goes out to Ultra fer posting the address in the first place.

Another freaking possum!

Yup, we caught another one. Fuck calling me Tankboy...maybe you should call be John Boy and ask me how life is up on Walton Mountain.

No freaking time!

The nice thing about still semi-working for a bar in Wicker Park (by the way, that's Becky the Manager in the video) is that I always have somewhere to park my car and can leave it safely overnight whilst I go about and booze it up with the boys. The downside is getting up early the next day, catching the North Avenue bus and picking up my car on the way too work. For that reason I dedicate this truncated post to you, dear faithful reader. More dirt as time makes itself available to my fevered typing fingers.

Too busy to post!

...so I thought it might be time to perform a visual introduction of the doggie Photogal rescued from the streets and then adopted a few months ago.

Here's Lucy!



Ain't she a cutie?

We will return you to your usual attitude laden posts now that we've gotten this saccharine stuff out of our system...and we'll have more time.

No, I DON'T live in the country!
 
We caught another possum today. I think yesterday's catch was a teenager and this was the momma. I hope they get sent to the same place and hook back up!

No time to write today other than to ask, "Why God, why?"

Tankboy…public speaker extraordinaire?

So I have to get into work quickly today as we have another sales meeting tomorrow (we have two a year) and I need to make sure I’m prepared. Usually I have to speak at these things and present new products and let everyone know what’s on the horizon but this time around most of the stuff I’m working on isn’t really ready to be shown yet (obviously very cool stuff and very top secret!) so I, for the first time since I started working her, will attend the meeting as an observer only.

I have found out that a few of my co-workers are a little bummed I’m not speaking since I tend to be pretty relaxed and can’t help but throw in slightly sarcastic asides and occasional glimpses of wit. I have always been really nervous about getting up in front of crowds and usually freak out about it just before the fact. However once I’m up there, I tend to warm to and take control of the situation. From my earliest days of singing solos in grade school to singing paeans to sex and girls in my college band to singing Pixies or Neil Diamond covers at Live Band Karaoke I guess I’ve always been a natural on the stage.

Anyway, that kind of got off track, since I was basically throwing down a few words to explain why I couldn’t write a whole bunch before work today…and then I wrote a whole bunch.

Possum update!

He/she was caught in the cage this morning! He/she is much smaller than I thought (I had only seen its head before) and very cute. The animal control company we hired is coming out to pick the possum up and deliver it to some rural area where this guy lets them be deposited on his land.

Tonight!

You know the drill, me and Rudy spin all the fun stuff at Ten56…and this week we are joined by guest DJ (and Double Door production manager) DJ VNLO. VNLO is always fun to spin with since he’s got great taste and he always pushes me and Rudy to go even further out than we usually do in search of unlikely dance hits to attack the masses with.

Early warning!

Speaking of DJing, me and Rudy will be at InnJoy this Friday, July 23. A fancier sound system, more room for our rock and/or roll boys and girls to dance, yuppies to annoy/win over and tasty drinks are sure to make this night a smash!

Sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Last night contained none of the above. In fact I spent most of yesterday visiting with my family since my grandfather was in town. Also it had been a while since I checked in with my dad in person so it was good to see him too. He’s still got frickin' hair on his head which is unheard of for someone who's gone through as much radiation and chemotherapy as he has so I hope to God I've got his genes when it comes to how long the hair on my own head is going to stick around.

The evening itself was spent with the lovely ladies Betty, Lucy and Chloe (our two dogs and cat) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yup, that's right. While Photogal’s out of the country I’m really whoopin' it up! Yeehaw!

Saturday was actually a bit of a sex and booze-fest though since I got loaded at the Pontiac and swayed to the infectious Analog Saves The Planet. Whilst lead man Tyson is quite the stage presence, and no one can fault him for such right on covers as Avril Lavigne's "Sk8tr Boi," I'd have to say most eyes in the joint were glued to the comely go-go dancers accompanying the tunes. My little brother made it put after the show and we closed out the evening arguing over politics. It should be noted that my brother is one of the only people I will have an alcohol fueled political discussion with since I know neither of us is going to slug each other even though we stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Unfortunately our conversation sparked a number of other satellite discussions and when we left some of The Pontiac's staff we themselves engaged in some heated political debate. I sure hope no one got slugged.

And in a big ol' d'oh moment I realized Sunday afternoon that Woolworthy had played a street festival the previous day (Kee-rection...Woolworthy plays next Saturday so I didn't miss it!) and I had completely forgotten about it. I think that makes the only local Woolworthy show I’ve missed in years and years! Oh well, we head out to Ohio in three weeks so I have a feeling two days on the road will make up for one missed show on the Fun-O-Meter.

And now, to get you started off right, here's your Monday Morning Moment of Zen brought to you today by Betty the Beagle!

A whole month alone?! What to do?

Well, I dropped Photogal off at the airport about 5am this morning and bid her

adieu as she headed down to San Miguel, Mexico for the next month. Then
around noon I went and got pumped full of vaccinations since I'll be
visiting her in a couple of weeks. $288.00 later I'm pretty much immune
to everything including Hepatitis B (to which the doctor said, "Now you can have all the unprotected sex you want with seventy year-old mamacitas in San Miguel." Yeah, I
thought that was a weird thing to say too.) I worked out afterwards to pump the drugs through my system and while my shoulder is a tad sore I'm feeling pretty good.

Okay, I take that back. As I sit here typing my shoulder is beginning to suddenly ache more...perhaps it’s best that I don't think about it.

Okay, now to rest before going down to The Pontiac tonight to see a man, his guitar, his computer and his go-go dancers in the form of Analog Saves The Planet.

Afterwards I won't try to take the bus home this time...unless I'm out past 6am when it starts running again!

Wah wah...

Well, I was out too late last night because I learned the hard way that either the North Avenue bus does NOT run 24 hours or, if it does, it runs very rarely in the wee hours of the morning. On the bright side this meant I got a bit more exercise than usual walking down North Avenue between Damen and Grand before finally finding a cab. On the downside it's a fucking miracle I didn't get killed. Have you SEEN what’s out there on that stretch of road at that hour? NOT a particularly friendly group of folks.

Speaking of unfriendly, this turned up in today’s Chicago Tribune:

Justice could get swifter with a court at Wrigley

Published July 16, 2004

CHICAGO -- Responding to complaints about rowdiness during Cubs home games, Chicago police officials and Ald. Thomas Tunney (44th) are discussing the possibility of having a court outside Wrigley Field to deal with drunken and disorderly fans.

Talks exploring options for a court began two weeks ago and are at an early stage, said David Bayless, a Police Department spokesman. The options include having a bus stationed at the ballpark to serve as a makeshift courtroom or to transport arrested fans to the nearest police lockups and courts, he said.

"We're willing to look at it, but it's only an idea at this point," Bayless said.

"We are listening to many different ideas in our community, and certainly support the Chicago police," said Mike Lufrano, vice president for community affairs for the Cubs.

Me personally? I’m all for folks dressing up in costumes and getting all Grendel on the drunken fratboys stumbling out of Wrigley, but I’ll take a courtside (pun intended) if that’s the best the city will do.

And, to leave you all with some fun images to work over in that cute little brain of yours, here are two random images from last night. One is us speeding to The Cells show and the other is, in fact, The Cells, rocking out with their you-know-whats out. Whee!

Blurry and Parkspliced!

I loved London Booted so it's no surprise I'm very excited about Parkspliced...a reimagined, remixed and mashed-up version of Blur's Parklife.

Give to a charity and download while it's hot.

Probing the outer limits.

So I am adjusting to the new digs. After DJing Tuesday I took a cab home and the fare was under twenty bucks so that made me happy. According to the City of Chicago a cab fare from Wicker Park to my new place should be under ten bucks, but that doesn't account for stop-lights, swerving drunks and emergency maneuvers to avoid turning hookers into so much road paté. That’s right folks, in order to get from one place to the other you’ve gotta pass through some pretty ghetto areas! Considering I moved into my old place amidst shootings and gang-bangers and moved out just as H2s and BMW SUVs were starting to pepper the block one could say I feel right at home in the new place, surroundings-wise.

This isn't to say I'm really acclimated yet so I thought I'd break down my observations into a listing of the pros and cons I’ve noticed thus far.

PROS
• Big backyard for the doggies and they obviously love it.
• Lotsa space means lotsa places for all my stuff to go!
• Photogal is going to finish up the basement and let me have it all to myself so I can watch DVDs or crank music or practice my drums, or my guitar or break-dance nude whenever the spirit moves me.
• The commute is about the same but the drive is much prettier. Instead of staring at bumpers I get to stare at trees.
• There’s a drive-through Starbuck's on my way to work. Score!
• Having a garage means never having to circle the block twenty-three times waiting for a space within five blocks of your house to open up.
• A nearby movie theater offers first run films for five bucks before 6pm…AND has cheap-o snacks!

CONS
• I feel like I live two hundred miles from all the clubs and bars I frequent.
• While a cab fare home is pretty high it is impossible to actually find a cab out of my neighborhood...I haven't even tried calling one yet.
• The cool deli across the street isn't selling sandwiches, that's for sure...
• Packing all my crap up sucked, but unpacking it all really sucks.
• I can't see any skyscrapers from my yard anymore and that's a little weird for me. Okay, I can see the Sears Tower from the street but that doesn't count.
• It's more of a hassle to make it to the gym.
• I feel totally cut off from the rest of the world. Some people might like that but I find it a bit disconcerting.
• I'm homesick already.

Well, after looking at that more objectively I'd say the cons are probably outweighed by the pros. I can take the bus to and from Wicker Park, and I love public transportation, so at least that's something else that's nice.

In other news we have a possum in our garage! He/she just sits in a corner and bids me adieu when I leave in the morning and greets me when I return at night. We called an animal recovery service to pick him/her up yesterday and, wouldn't you know it, that's the day he/she decides to stay at someone else's house. Well, a trap was left for the possum, with some liver sausage as bait, and this morning I walked into the garage to discover...the possum was back in its old spot and had completely ignored the trap. I actually think if it weren't for the dogs we would probably just let the possum keep living there but we don’t want to take the risk of anyone getting bitten on the nose or anything like that. Now if we can just catch the wily little bugger and relocate him to some nice country manse...

Timing is everything.

I love my girlfriend, but sometimes she does make me accept responsibility and that can cut into my fun-time. For instance this week a bunch of my favorite local bands are playing on a number of nights and I can’t go see any of them because I have to unpack and spend time with Phototgal before she leaves for Mexico for a month. Hell, I just passed up two free tickets to see Madonna tonight due to my domestic duties!

(Yes, I like Madonna, fuck you.)

Okay, to be fair, she said I could’ve gone to Madonna if I gave up DJing last night but I knew I’d have more fun spinning my own tunes than listening to Madonna sing hers.

Anyway, naturally, when Photogal leaves town on Saturday, there is nothing of note going on after that in the foreseeable future. Figures.

Damn grown-up responsibilities!

¡Rock y roll y tiempo fantastico!

Sumthin’ like that. I got into work way early for some reason today so I didn’t get a chance to write anything before I left the house. Therefore, there will be no big fun using squiggly lines for communication today. Tonight, though, Rudy and I will be at Ten56 getting’ sweaty and spinning the latest and greatest from Interpol, The Killers, The Polyphonic Spree, Graham Coxon, The Prodigy and The Roots. If you’re really good I might even play that Scissor Sisters' cover of Take Me Out.

Memories...

So we made the move. I realized this was my first major move in about a decade so it got me all nostalgic for old times, so here are a few pictures from my past...



This is my favorite picture of me in high school. It kinda captures my attitude, well, perfectly. I think this is Senior year and we were on our way to The Art Institute. I remember corrupting this poor underclassman and sucking all the nitrus from cans of whipped cream at a Walgreen's during lunch that day.



This is The Gallery, a bar in Normal, Illinois I worked in for most of my time in between dropping out and then re-enlisting in college. This was the center of the freak universe once you turned 21 and weren't stuck going to parties. All the cool bands played here too. The dude walking was the manager Dan and the guy sitting is one of my old roomates.



...and here I am again, caught somewhere in my Mike patton/Stone Roses/Anthony Keidis phase. Hottness!



This was my first serious girlfriend after high school and she rocked my world. She was also an actress and after her I swore I would never date anyone associated with the theater again. I've kept my word.



This is another ex-roomate who is also one of my best friends. At the time this shot was taken we were both living with my then girlfriend Mindy, who was serious serious girlfriend number three while in Normal. There are no pictures of girlfriend number three, Claudia, but if you see a box of Radio-pens at a drugstore check-out, she's the girl in the stock photo used on the stand-alone displys.



This is Mindy, serious girlfriend number three. She was totally hot but, as I learned, this was her primary strength. A nice enough girl even though she was a little mixed up. I used to run into her occassionally once I moved to Chicago but now she's disappeared. I hope she's doing well.



This is Lurch, the first car I ever bought. I'd owned a car before then but this was the first I laid down cold hard cash for. I think it was $75 or so. The girl I bought it from is the same one who sold me my current car a year ago! The more things change the more they stay the same, eh?



A rare shot of me actually fronting a band. I think this was upstairs at The Gallery so it must've been 1993 or so. I was probably cussing out a girlfriend in the audience or howling like a dog or something.



And now, to tie all of these photos to something more recent (a bridge of sorts if you will,) Photogal had her birthday party a few years ago at The Rainbow Roller Rink (where, by the way, people take their roller skating very seriously) and she, along with my friend Alison and I, tried to recreate the cover to a Smashing Pumpkins single (1979 I think?) shot in the same place. We were/are dorks. okay, not total dorks since I am wearing a totally vintage Tones On Tail tour T-shirt. That's pretty cool, right?

NOTE: Does anyone out there that knows me have more photos from these "lost years" they wanna send me? Sometimes I need this sort of stuff to help me sift through the haze that my twenties were...

Tomorrow, more about the big move and thoughts about the new digs!

"Lego" of Spidey Doc Ock!

I'm sure you've seen this but if you haven't you must.

My favorite part is when Doc Ock is reading a book while whipping Spidey around and bashing him all over the el-train.

Holy crap, he got a charismatic running mate?! We'd better spook the folks with more of those "suspected" terrorists attacks!?



Yeesh!

Not much to report aside from the usual headaches associated with packing, re-directing phone numbers and utility bills and the impending nightmare of $20 cab rides back home at the end of an evening of DJing or rock and/or rolling in the old ‘hood. Yikes!

G-mail invite…again!

Another one popped up in my mailbox, so if you want it, let me know in the comments section. If I were the evil sort I could be making a fortune off these things, couldn’t I?

Things can only get better, right Howard Jones?

So last week my dad went in for a check-up and some scans to see how his cancer was doing. Our hope was that it was regressing or staying in check but our hopes were not to be met. The cancer being treated by the current chemo was in check, but other cancers had started sprouting up elsewhere. The doc told us we could either quit and try to make my dad comfortable in the roughly 4-6 months left or we could look into the idea of any available experimental treatments at the University of Chicago or we could just keep up with the current chemo and hope that it lengthened his life a bit more.

Well, obviously, we opted to look into O of C’s clinical trials and lo and behold they had one that fit his profile! The chances are still not great but at least I have hope that my dad will be around for a while longer…and there is always room for miracles, right?

All this has got me thinking about my dad and what kind of person he is. On one hand I’m not sure he’s always been a great husband since he’s human and we all act kinda dumb from time to time. What I do know is that he’s always been a great father. He’s always been there when I need him, he’s always done whatever it took to put food on the table (even if it meant going from being the Vice –President of a company to loading trucks on a dock just to pay the bills) and he’s always let me know that no matter how much I screw up he still loves me. Heck, he even dealt with seeing his son in an variety of dresses, make-up, masks, hair-colors, piercings, tattoos and all the other crazy stuff that goes with having a son as an artist/writer musician. Keep in mind he dealt with most of this in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s before every kid in every suburban high school was looking that way and I think you’ll begin to see what patient and understanding people both my parents are. I guess that’s why I get so angry and then sad and then angry and then sad about the prospect of him not being around to see my try to do the good job he did with my own kids (whenever that time comes.)

Anyway, I just wanted to give an update so those of you who read this and actually know my dad have some idea what’s going on now. Let’s just say I’m feeling a lot more optimistic than I was a week ago!

Moving moving moving.

Here's just one of the reasons I was not looking forward to moving:



That’s only a taste of all the books, CDs, trinkets, toys and other assorted crap that has to be moved from point A to point B this Saturday. The good news is that almost all of the packing is done – and was done by Monday – so I think this whole thing will go rather smoothly. I just hope my piano fits in the basement door at the house we’re moving into or there’s going to be quite the argument between Photogal and I over whether the thing goes upstairs (where I want it) or in the garbage (where she wants it.) I am really looking forward to setting my drum up in the basement and playing whenever I feel like it though…

Pow!



Getcher day started right, oi?

I had to spin solo last night since Rudy had a severe case of "I-drank-too-much-last-night" and whilst I missed his company it must be said that the evening ruled. I expected no crowd since the four-day weekend should have laid everyone way low but, much to my surprise, the place filled up quite nicely with cute boys and even cuter girls. I even pulled out some Loud Lucy as a shout out to the oldsters in the audience. Let me tell you, though, five hours is a loooong time to DJ all by your lonesome. If Photogal hadn't stayed home I could've pressed her into service...

Getcher groovy on.

Me. Rudy. Boss tuneage. Ten56.

Tonight.

It’s the little things.

- Lucy, the new dog, barks quite a bit. We have taken to squirting water out of a spray bottle at her when she gets particularly loud a la a bad cat. We tried the citronella collar but she just barks and barks and barks and barks until it’s drained.

- When I’m at a gas station and go in for sundries I always have to roll up my windows since bees and wasps enjoy the garbage cans and tend to wander into my vehicle. If I get stung I’m in big trouble.

- Whilst it is not safe to let half-naked women running in the rain actually get into your vehicle, there is nothing wrong with pulling over, standing next to and keeping watch over them and calling 911. What is wrong is the cops then asking you to stick around while they go to the potential perp’s apartment. What’s up with that?

- I’m gonna miss Photogal’s third-floor condo with the rooftop deck next July 4. I’m really gonna miss her crazy neighbors and the fireworks display that must’ve cost quite a few full paychecks.

- The guy who now books the club I used to book asked me (jokingly) if I wanted my old job back since it was proving to be a major pain in the ass. I (seriously) said no way in hell would I do that again. Booking clubs is occasionally fun and rewarding but mostly it’s a headache. I’ll stick with a few shows a month that I really enjoy, thank you very much.

- Multi-DVD sets tend to come loose while shipping and a disc or two always seems to get scratched up. This is the reason Photogal is celebrating. This is also the reason I wasn’t able to enjoy any episodes of Buffy The vampire Slayer Season Six!

- Don’t leave your Cisco Pike CD in Photogal’s car or you may never see it again. You will also then hear NOTHING BUT Cisco Pike when riding shotgun. This is not a bad thing.

- It is VERY TOUGH to go back into work after having five days off. Very tough.

A weekend update with Tankboy.

No I haven’t written. I’m on vacation damnit! However, a few bullet points to get everyone caught up with the exciting life that is mine.

- My birthday was tremendous. All the bands were awesome, I finally got Cisco pike’s demo so I can spin the hell out of it on Tuesdays, Rudy remembered to with me a happy birthday from the stager about twenty-three million times, Skid did a cover of “Boys Keep Swinging” for me since he knows I love Bowie, and I got fun gifts and was happy to see so many of my friends in one place!

- Spiderman 2 is better than the first one. May Sam Raimi never stop directing these films. Also, don’t let Joel Schumacher anywhere near this franchise!


- I saw the Suicide Girls Burlesque show last night and I have to give it a great big…eh. The girls were hot and the crowd was into it but it all got boring pretty quickly. Even when they sprayed chocolate and whipped cream all over each other. The girl with the hula hoop was awesome though!

- Things don’t look good for my dad but I do believe in miracles so we’ll see what happens. His hair is still in his head, which is unheard of for someone who’s gone through as much chemo as he has, so he’s definitely the fightin’ type! One could say I’m optimistic on this subject. Thanks to all that have sent me words of encouragement for him.

- I gave up a road trip with Woolworthy to stay in town and go out on a boat on Lake Michigan tonight to see the fireworks so it damn well better stop raining or there will be hell to pay!

Okay, back to packing up all my earthly belongings in preparation for the big move next Saturday…and just so you have something to look forward to, photos from the birthday show will be up in a few days…