On my way to bowling.

I have worked a lot of hours the last two days at the 9-to-5 at a rather hectic pace. There's a lot going on! So I happily head to the bowling media playoffs tonight. For a guy who basically didn't participate in bowling all that much over the last few years, I've really taken to it. I guess I finally found a team sport I feel O.K. participating in? And for me it's not whether I'm bad or good at it—I average 130 so I'd say i'm not embarrassing but not good—it's really about hanging out and having fun.

And tonight's the last game of the season. Then the media league turns to softball. Maybe in a couple years I'll like that too?

Big event!

We picked up my ring this weekend! Then had a Saturday Funday where we managed to not lose it at all! Well done, eh?

Going to see one of my current favorite live bands tonight!

I am very excited!

Creepy awesome Charli XCX!

I am really excited to see Charli XCX on the Lolla line-up—though also terrified she'll be relegated to Perry's stage—and this video is a good reason to explain why I like her so much. The fact she'd allow a collaborator to get this weird with a video tells me she should be around for quite a while.

Lollapalooza 2015 ... initial thoughts.

Mich and I last year—star crossed Lolla lovers.

The Lollapalooza line-up was announced this morning and you can get my 30,000 foot initial take on Chicagoist. The headliners are mostly uninspiring but the rest of the bill is filled with unfamiliar names which means I'm either a) going to stumble across a bunch of great new bands or b) record companies have infiltrated the booking ranks and stocked the fest with crap.

So back to the headliners. More specifically one of the headliners. Metallica. And this isn't an indictment of Metallica, and I actually think it's genius to place them opposite Sam Smith, but the personal irony here is that Metallica was the headliner back when I decided to stop going to the original Lollapalooza since the bill under them marked the fest's complete departure from it's "alternative" roots into the lunkheaded mainstream of the time. Which isn't to say I didn't like Metallica; it was the bill as a whole that I found lacking back then. So there's a personal rib tickle going on here, not that I've entertained any notion that Lolla was going to ever go back to "edgy" territory.

So back to that undercard. I am hopeful that the listed bands will reveal hidden gems. Though I can understand if this viewpoint isn't perhaps shared by the general public. In fact I think this tweet makes an excellent point, probably not immediately evident to folks like me that are always in search of new discoveries and don't have to pay exorbitant ticket prices to do so.

@tankboy no, it's lolla not pitchfork. For those prices they should bring it. Single day ticket for me it is.
— Victoria (@torihatesyou) March 25, 2015

What do you think?

Is it really only Tuesday?

I've been concentrating on getting more sleep at night. Historically I've never needed much, but my schedule was getting so ridiculous—a quick nap from 8-10, and then up again until 2 or 3 a.m. reading or watching movies—I needed to do something to force myself into a more regular schedule. So far it's working.

 You know what's not working?

THIS WEATHER. But sorry, I sound like a broken record.

 And yes I know we Chicagoans put up with this crap because summers here are glorious but you know what? The last few haven't been. And winter keeps chipping away at the warner months. And by this point I really am feeling a sense of desperation. It's a combination of "will this end?" and "amI just a fucking idiot for not having moved years ago?"

 I don't know.

 You know what I do know? Team Chicagoist bowls tonight! We won all three of our games last week as a three piece (meaning we alternated the four bowling position) which meant by the end all three of us were exhausted, but Benjy, Mich and I were all buoyed by our wins! Let's see if we can repeat that feat tonight.

 At least it'll take our collective mind off the weather.

Happy national puppy day!

While I certainly miss my number one pup Betty the Beagle, today has given me a big ol' smile since my feeds are filled with pictures of my friends' adorable pooches. And this couldn't come at a better time since Chicago woke up to A WHOLE BUNCH OF SNOW ON THE GROUND.

This winter. Seriously. Just stop it.

You know what I'm doing tonight? Nothing.

I actually hurried home from work to get home and make some food and melt into the couch with Mich because we have both earned this weekend.

Do your running shoes have burned out soles?

If my brain was something with legs right now the calves would be on fire and the shoes would be melting in my wake.

Proof I can seperate the personal from the editorial.

I not only approved and ran this story, I actually encouraged its development!

Excellent work by Casey.

Whirlwind week(s).

Looking back at recent entries and noticing how many are a few lines long which, no biggie, better to stay limber than calcify. A little exercise is better than no exercise. All those maxims (though not a single reference to Maxim, O.K.?).

Achy breaky bod.

Learned that the physical therapy has definitely been making no progress so I definitely need to see my specialist again about possibly something more aggressive in nature treatment-wise and I am DEFINITELY not happy about that.

Take it easy, man.

Action packed weekend up ahead means I should probably chill out tonight, eh? Let's see. It's probably best to lay low since it IS Friday the 13th, RIGHT?

One Bowie, one minute, one take, total genius.

Time for a Bowie history lesson at record speed!

Physical therapy.

A month into physical therapy and the pain along the right side of my body hasn't improved a whit, which is frustrating since I was really hoping it was something that would be easily solved with the right exercises and such. I have one more session but my therapist warned me last week that he was pretty sure I was going to need to go back the neck and nerve and spine and all of that doctor for a follow up and exploration into other options to treat my pain.

Boo. Getting older means your body gets older and even though I look good for my age and things are running relatively well under the hood this is still an all too uncomfortable reminder that sometimes the organic machinery breaks down and it takes more than a tune up to set it right again.

Speakeasiness.

Had a team party here for the 9-to-5 this evening and I can endorse it if you are looking for secret hiding spots in which to imbibe yummy drinks and good times with friends. Good luck finding it, though I'll give you a hint and clue you in to that it's downstairs and behind a bookshelf...

One of my favorite Metro shows EVER.

I had no idea this existed on film. This was the 1995 Mike Watt Metro show where the Foo Fighters opened (their first Chicago show ever!) along with Eddie Vedder's side project with his then wife, Hovercraft. And then members of both bands backed Watt. It was incredible.


[via COS]

Go away wolfman!

I'm getting sheared tomorrow. I actually really dig my hair's current length and willful disdain for anything too closely approaching order, but there is an important life event approaching and one must make the initial trial run at looking respectable now so when the actual time is upon my I just need a slight trim and am not risking decades of unfortunate photographic proof of a haircut not properly planned for.

Slightly off.

I've felt a little, well, off, this week. I'm fully present but I always feel a slight step ahead or behind what's actually happening around me. It's weird.

Old man sleeping habits.

Photo by chorus

Lately I have been zonked out on the couch by 9 or 9:30. But then I am up again at midnight or thereabouts! End then watch too much TV instead of getting more sleep. It's not because of insomnia or anything; it's more driven by feeling you can just suck in great quantities of the stuff while the world contracts, darkens and slumbers all around you. You feel like your in a cave, a hermit at the top of the mountain. Mainlining Netflix and OnDemand and Amazon Prime and occasionally wondering what ever happened to awesomely bad late night programming on the actual TV—long dead outside a brief flash here or there—and then realizing you need to be up and mobile in three hours, then two hours, then an hour and you pull the plug and force yourself to sleep.

Let's go explode with The Speed Babes.

Gonna keep this one short and mysterious since I'm going to write about the band on Chicagoist later this week, but if you'd like an aural primer to set you up for y prose attack then you can get your fill below!

Solid weekend.

So much done! Fun times with coworkers! Wedding band shopping! The first ManDate of 2015!

This is what all weekends should be.