Wild times!

It's Friday night. GalPal is already zonked, knocked out by a cold, and I'm being used as a giant cat pillow so I'm pinned to the couch forced to watch Tango & Cash because I can't reach the remote.

Yeah, I know, you're totally jealous of our party animal ways!

You don't have to actually party hard to embrace the ethos of Party Hard."

As I mentioned a few days ago, the last few weeks have been draining. I realized that was starting to take me to some pretty dark places and I've decided to reverse that trend and try and pull myself along a more positive and productive path. I want my life to have the positive energy of this song, so let's see what I can do!

Some days...

...you just want a do-over. Can I get one?

We survived last week. Barely.

And on Sunday we grilled. In March. In Chicago

Seriously, all we wanted to do last week was hang out and do nothing, but instead GalPal and I ended up running non-stop through the entire week. A confluence of great concerts, get-togethers with friends and a general restlessness brought on by the unseasonably warm weather in Chicago worked to keep us constantly occupied. So it's no wonder we ended up both sick on the couch by Sunday, our bodies under attack by the bug that's been biting everyone. Usually my system is hardy enough to fight this stuff off - I still don't think I've ever called in sick to my current job though there are probably times, like when I was burning up at 103 degrees Fahrenheit, that I should have - but after so much activity my system just couldn't take it. So I spent most of yesterday fighting off chills while feverishly (ha!) trying to chip away at a steadily growing mountain of work at the 9-to-5.

Today is much better. A hefty dose of TheraFlu helped me sleep through last night for and it's been less hectic in the office today. So I'm feeling much better. Of course it wasn't until this morning that I realized that while I had planned on seeing POND from Australia at Lincoln Hall tonight and then going home, the realization that YAWN and Oberhofer are also on the bill now means I'll be there for the whole show and thus be out later than expected. And that means I'm tempting this cold to worm its way back more deeply into my system. But I have decided to will it not to be so. Mind over matter. P.M.A.!

And, of course, if I start griping about being sick tomorrow now you can just tell me to quit my whining and that I brought it on myself.

Willam didn't need to be so hard on himself.

You see, there is no sailboat.



[via]

City in the clouds.

The weather in Chicago was pretty wild today. This was the sight out of my office window at one point. At various other times it was crystal clear or completely opaque or you could see the roiling fog surfing over Lake Michigan to the skyline. Pretty wild, huh?

Click the photo for a larger view!

Me today.

I have no idea what the source of this image but I want to know so we can have a chat.

Check these guys out.

They're totally bird watching.

Post vacation glow.

I got some color in my skin last week while I was in Cancún! And it wasn't bright red! I consider this a huge success.

An Apple a day...

...would be excellent. Fiona Apple put on a great show tonight. So much better than I expected, and I had high expectations!

So, um, yeah.

Vacation wrapping up, but I ain't complaining.

Life ... is not bad.

Really.

Yup.

Where are you?

I'm on a beach.

A super brief reflection on SXSW.

You know, you can hate on it all you want. It's basically spring break for adults and as an adult who could use a break I see nothing wrong with that. Last year I had the opportunity to go and skipped it because, well, it was just too flippin' big and I thought it would be a waste of time. Now I realize my error in thinking that way lay in the fact that, outside film, nothing gets accomplished at SXSW. And you shouldn't expect it to be. Times are different and a single yearly conference no longer really matters in the actual day to day functions of the music and tech biz. What it does do is give folks a chance to actually see each other in person and network and, yes, party their flippin' asses off. I used to think that was stupid, but it's only because I was stuck thinking of the festival as it functioned in the past, not as it does now.

That said, and this is despite this year's organizers being more than generous by giving me a nice shiny badge, I'm skipping SXSW. The truth is that the last few months have been insanely busy for me, and months ago I carved out this time for a vacation to head to Austin. Now that the time has arrived I realize that I actually need some time to myself where I don't party with no sleep for five days straight but instead veg out, unplug and do nothing for a couple days. So that's what I'm doing.

So, sadly, I'm missing the party down in Austin this year, but for the first time in over a decade it's not because I'm disillusioned by SXSW this year; I just need some actual rest!

But, man, I was really looking forward to some good brisket. Next year?

No filter on this photo. It simply is.

This is the view from my office window today.

It's just what I needed this morning. A quiet moment of unfiltered beauty to just focus on for a few seconds. Sometimes that's al I need to recharge my battery.

I've had a long up and down history with CYHSY but I think we can all agree that this is a fine song.

I went from hating the debut album from Clap Your hands Say Yeah that everyone else loved, to really liking their sophomore effort that everyone else hated and now it seems no one really cares one way or the other about the band's latest album for the most part, including me. I will say that the disc does include two tracks well worth your time. "Same Mistake" made it onto my list of favorite tunes from 2011, and it's the kind of tune I could listen to over and over and probably finish a 5K in under 20 minutes if I just kept it on repeat. The other track is "Hysterical," and the band just made a really cool little video for it that you can peep below.


If you listen to both tunes I think the thing you'll most notice is that neither really sounds all that much like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. And that both sound a LOT like something The Killers might have released in 2005. I'm just sayin', there's a strong aural resemblance going on there. No?

For some reason I find this photo really funny.

My idea was to have the two me's looking at each other like they hated the other's haircut but it just ended up with me simply looking doubly angry.

NEW FREE ENERGY! NEW FREE ENERGY!

Photo of Free Energy by Jim Kopeny

Of COURSE the second I definitely decide I'm not going to SXSW, Free Energy would announce a bunch of dates their playing during the festival. Dammit! There are pieces of good news to come from this development, though. One is that the band's released a new song for free, and you can snag it below. The other is that song is off their forthcoming Love Sign, and it is proof that the album is indeed coming soon!

Now, open your heart to the cowbell, your day's about to get a whole bunch better.

MP3: Free Energy "Electric Fever"

Taco Monday.

In our household today was the kind of day that necessitated moving Taco Tuesday up one full day and augmenting it with a bottle of wine and a bunch of time on the couch watching one of the remarkably enjoyable reality TV competitions of recent years.

Sometimes being a couch sloth is a-OK.

Eightiez jamz all night long.

I will be playing music released between 1980 and 1989.

It will be a blast.

Your attendance is requested.

What. A. Week.

I see a vacation in my future and i can't come quickly enough.And it's not gonna be SXSW. Sorry I'll be missing all my music biz homies that week but, man, I'd rather be pampered than harried at this point.

I must be getting old.

BusyBusyBusyBusy.

BusyBusyBusyBusy!

I am beyond slammed. How's your week going?