Two more Gmail invites!

Google must love me or something. Here's the deal. If you want one leave a comment below. If you know me it's all yours. If you don't know me it's all yours in exchange for a mix CD. Deal?

...and, just in case you forgot the line-up or something...

TONIGHT
at
DOUBLE DOOR
The Tankboy Birthday Spectacular

with

The Bomb
Cisco Pike
Woolworthy
The Ladies & Gentlemen
DJ Photogal Vs. DJ Tankboy

Doors and DJs at 8pm
Bands at 9pm
$7 cover/$5 with discount coupon linked below

Clicky here fer discount ticket!

NOW it's yer berfday!

I have lots of news, stories, gossip and grousing but you'll just have to wait until either a) tonight at the show or b) tomorrow after I wake up and drag poor Photogal to see Spiderman 2 with me!

Speaking of Photogal, she did a little mini-DJ set last night that she and Rudy planned ahead of time to get her in on both nights of the birthday celebrations. Yippee!

And now for your disturbing image of the day.



I love Psychic TV and hope they play Chicago but even I've gotta say this is probably the weirdest thing Genesis has done. Oh well, it seems to be in the spirit of true love and romance so I can't say anyhting negative about it.

Not to Photogal: Whilst I am an old softy and true romantic, I am not getting breast implants to match yours, don't worry.

It’s (almost) yer berfday!

Yes boys and girls, at midnight tonight I mark another year passed on my biological calendar. Well, legally. I was actually born a little after 7pm on June 30, and if you really want to be persnickety cell masses that eventually turned into me started forming about nine months or so before that, but as far as the Man is concerned my birthday starts at midnight.

I always try to make sure I and my friends have as much fun as possible on my birthday so this year I've split it into two parts! Part one occurs tonight while Rudy and I man the decks at Ten56 and play music to make the little girls and boys cry their eyes out and wiggle their booties to. We'll also be giving out discount passes (and maybe a freebie or two) to Part Two of the birthday festivities.

What’s part two?

Well it's the Tankboy Birthday Show at Double Door featuring some of my favorite Chicago bands! The evening will open with DJ Photogal spinning some tunes with yours truly popping a few in as well. Then the glam-poppers The Ladies and Gentlemen, lead by good buddy Skid Marks, will take the stage. After them is the inimitable Woolworthy whom I’m lucky to count as close friends of mine and all around terrific guys. Watch out ladies! Then Cisco Pike follows; a supergroup of sorts featuring Pat McIntyre and Randy Payne, Scott Lucas of Local H and Tom Szidon. These guys write killer songs that sort of tip-toe in shoegazer territory but are firmly rooted in really melodic rock and/or roll. Closing out the evening will be The Bomb, led by one of my top local heroes Jeff Pezatti the ex-singer for punk legends Naked Raygun. If there’s still time and/or people left standing, Photogal and I will probably spin for a bit after the show as well.

I love my friends and I love being able to throw a big ol' party for everybody on my birthday. So pack yer bags, hop a flight, catch a cab and get yer ass to the rilly big shew!

Sunnier days are here again.

The wake and funeral were very nice, I ended up being a pallbearer and the whole affair afforded a wonderful sense of closure.

Now I'm swamped by work and preperations for my brithday celebrations tomorrow and Wednesday night so let me shove my nose back against the grindstone so I don't leave anything unfinished before taking a few days off

Bummer.

Photogal's grandmother passed away today so no extensive post, okay? I think I have to be a pallbearer on Monday to so probably no posting for the next few days.

People can't seem to understand why I'm broken up over my girlfriend's granmother passing away, but I honestly spent more time with her in the past ten years than I spent with my own grandmother in the last twenty. Weirdly enough nobody (work, family, beagle) seems to get why this is a depressing turn of events for me. I really though Grandma Rudy (that was her nickname) would outlive us all! And now she's gone.

I'm bummed.

Spiderman, how could you?

In honor of the new Sam Raimi flick opening next Wednesday I feel it is my divine duty to present a sampling of the re-worded Sidey comix found here.

Click on each pic to expand for easier reading!







Bwa-ha-hahahahahaaa! Funny.

(Thanks to Warren Ellis for cluing me in. First time I've ever been to his site and this is what I come across.)

Rar, rar, woof!





No time to really write anything today, but since I've been so dog-happy over the past few days I figured this pictorial documentation of the city of Vancouver's attempt at human/canine communication would be amusing.

I may make fun of Canadians, but at least they're trying to break down those pesky verbal barriers between man and beast!

I moved!

I moved desks at work. I now have a window seat! I never thought I would find such a thing exciting but as I become more and more acclimated to the nine-to-five thing I’m beginning to realize that sometimes it's the tiniest of things that really have an effect on your "work experience." I guess on the hierarchy of the "office environs" a window seat is one step below having an actual office with a door that closes.

It's kinda cool since I feel like I have my own little world to myself now that I’m not in the flight path of everybody who needs to get from one point to another in the office. I actually held off claiming this spot out of respect to the woman that used to sit here since she was laid off a few weeks ago and I just couldn't really wrap my head around the desk not being hers anymore. Well, when someone junior to me snagged the other window desk in the area I decided the time for reverence was over and the time to start sucking down some sunshine was nigh!

Mmmm! We're making s'mores at work right now and I just had a tasty treat delivered to my desk. Yum!

Anyway I've moved desks and life is peachy. Speaking of moving, I would like to reiterate that when I move out of my apartment next month I AM NOT MOVING TO THE SUBURBS. I am moving to the West Si-yee-de. It is still in Chicago. Apparently when I posted about the move early some folks grew confused and the concerned for my mental well-being. They said, "Tankboy is the LAST guy to EVER move to the suburbs! How can this be?"

Well, it don’t be, so stop worrying. I AM moving out of the 'hood I've lived in for almost the past ten years so I FEEL like I'm moving to an alien land, but that's it.

Man, that was one tasty s'more. Just the way to top off my lunch, but now lunch time is over and I’ve got to get back to work. Toodles

Betty the Beagle loves YOU!



Now, doesn't that make your day better?

Is this the face of a man who would ever try to get his wife to go into sex clubs for public jiggy-ness with him?



It sure is!

The Strokes ain’t got nuthin’ on me!

Laaaast night. Last night. Whoa. Last night.

Mondo beyondo fun. Maybe too much fun. I was wise and skipped the Evil E, though I hope Rudy’s still breathing today.

Buried at work, but to take the sting off the brevity of the post I do still have two Gmail invites left. The little buggers keep popping up. I got a groovy mix CD from a guy girl (sorry about that unisex name screwing me up!) I gave an invite to last week, however I don’t demand anything in return for these things. Snag ‘em now.

Things to do in Chicago when Tankboy’s too busy to write something thoughtful and/or witty.

- Go see Rachael Yamagata at Schuba’s tonight. The early show is sol out so scramble for tickets to the late show while you can! While you’re there ask her why I’m not in the liner notes but all kindsa sleazy executive suit-types are. Oh waitaminute…I answered my own question didn’t I? In that case, just go see her and marvel that a major label actually signed someone with talent for once!

- Also, go see me, Rudy and our special guest DJ VNLO (a.k.a. Marty ther Production Manager at Double Door) throw down mad beats at Ten56. Okay, maybe not mad beats…more like fat chords? VNLO does bring out our more adventurous side by forcing us to follow up Justin Timberlake and The Rapture (usually with something Hedwig inspired or some fat dirty electro) so it should be a good night. maybe i'll just quash him with a one-two-three Killers/Lanegan/Whigs punch...

Also, a note to self...

When trying to divine information to use to quash nasty rumors before they catch hold and blaze through a scene, Tankboy should really learn how to employ some small amount of tact so that what he believes to be a public service in the best interest of all parties involved doesn’t come out sounding more like a suspicious or intrusive attack.

Also Tankboy should avoid referring to himself in the third person.
Also, not that I could’ve attended, why did no one tell me of the secret Ted Leo show at The Hideout Saturday night?!

The price I pay.

When one has a weekend as uniformly fabulous as I did one must know that the Monday morning return to the “real” world of the nine-to-five will be more jarring than usual. Today is no exception.

My MOBfest shocase was a slam-dunk of a blast – look for a full write-up over at DoneWaiting.com in the next day or two – and Photogal and I managed to have a pretty pleasant weekend when I wasn’t busy rocking out.

But, today is Monday and I do have a huge amount of work to do so be good and play nice, okay kiddies?

Because this is gonna rock yer socks off!

Tankboy and MOBfest present:

Saturday June 19
at
The Note

Rockit Girl
American Cosmonaut
Textbook
King Radio
Plane
Doors 8pm
Show 9pm
$8 cover / Free with MOBfest badge

Seriously, this should be loads of fun, each band is really at the top of their game and a seriously fun evening of rock and/or roll should ensue.

Tonight my friend Dave’s new band The Drama is playing at SubT and the always excellent Assassins are playing at Double Door. I will be at both shows.

This weekend’s rock is just the tonic I need. Work and home have been stressful what with lots of additional responsibilities, two dogs, a girlfriend with lots of free time on her hands to get mad at me about various things and the oh-so depressing news that both the Tribune Company and The Sun-Times have been overstating their circulation of various properties. Wait, that last bit doesn’t really affect me does it? Actually it makes me giggle a bit since The Sun-Times is more than due to eat a healthy helping of crow. The third-grade reading level sensationalist rag has pissed me off for years and it warms my cockles to see that its readership is actually far lower than it has been claiming. And now its advertisers are suing due to being overcharged.

Bwa ha hahahahahahaaaa!

Well, that's not surprising.



You're an Etch-a-Sketch!! You're the creative,
artsy type who doesn't need to actually utilize
a single muscle group in order to have fun.
Doesn't matter though, you're still cool.

What childhood toy from the 80s are you?

(Props to Emma for the link.)

Routine.

Photogal is back.
Work is busy.
Life is back to normal.
Eurotrip was actually a little funny.

I have a MOBfest showcase Saturday that everyone should attend, even though MOBfest never prints my name in their literature or gives me credit even though I’ve been doing shows for them since almost the beginning. However they are more than happy to take credit for stuff they had nothing to do with. I guess their spokesman was on the radio talking about how MOBfest led to record deals for both Kill Hannah and Rachael Yamagata. I know for a fact that both bands got their deals through connections, showcases on both coasts and good old fashioned hard work. But hey, that’s the music biz, eh?

Whatever. Whatever is also and Oasis singel, never on an album, that is quite excellent. I was thinking about b-sides from that particular band and remembered the b-side collection The Masterplan they released in the U.S.A. a few years ago. I thought it was funny that Acquiesce was listed as “the lead-off single from the Oasis b-sides collection.” So it’s a b-side that’s been transformed into an a-side by virtue of crossing the Atlantic? No matter, it’s still a great song, it’s just the marketing that seemed a little wonky at the time. But that’s the music biz, eh?

Joe lies when he cries.

Last night’s Prom was a blast. I heard the story, from one of Rudy’s exes, about the girl who went stag to her own Prom. Josiah wore a tux and his wife looked smashing. There was lots of dancing. There were hot lesbians making out with each other and trying to lure pretty girls their way. The bar was packed and there were smiles all around. Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday night!

In other news, Photogal gets in today so my insomnia should go away. I didn’t mention that? I get paranoid when I'm home alone late at night and the way I battle that is lotsa reading, DVDs and not very much sleep. Yeah, I’m a weirdo.

Speaking of weird, I’m noticing more and more of my friends keeping up with the blog. How do I know that? It’s odd to have continuing conversations on subjects you haven’t discussed in person. Rather, the other party has read something on this site and comments it. While this is cool I’m beginning to feel that I’m running the danger of repeating myself without meaning to! If someone reads a story or thought here and then I bring it up later in actual conversation, without realizing the second party has already run across my thoughts on that particular subject, then I can unintentionally come across as a broken record. It’s a bit of a Moebius strip really...

Okay, too much thinking makes my head hurt this morning, so lets all relax with this fun personality quiz based on one of my favorite cartoon characters.

So, really, which Tankgirl character are you?

(Props to Laura for the link to this fun!)

A quandary.

So Photogal is enjoying Mexico. She is enjoying it so much she has decided that she’s going to rent an apartment down there for one month beginning mid-July and take some intensive Spanish classes at the local university. Wow, that is so cool. I wish I had three months off and could just move to Mexico for a while on a whim! She has worked incredibly hard over the last few years, though, so I think this whole experience is quite deserved.

I do have a problem though. It’s entirely understandable I will get a little lonely and miss my girlfriend while she’s away for a month but I think the opportunity is so great I wouldn’t dream of denying this trip to her. However, we are moving to her house two days before she goes down to Mexico for a month. That means I’m going to spend a month in a house on the outskirts of Chicago, far removed from my friends, while taking care of two dogs, entirely alone.

That kind of sucks.

The whole reason I agreed to this move was because I understand that Photogal would like to get me a little further from the ‘hood and a little more firmly ensconced in a more “mature” lifestyle. Fair enough, I can buy that. I am actually looking forward to seeing how I adapt to the new circumstances and what sort of new developments arise. However I was looking forward to moving down that path with someone at my side, I didn’t expect to get dumped in a foreign environment and then immediately abandoned for a month! I mean, I’m a grown-up (relatively) and I’ll deal but it certainly doesn’t make a transition that was already a challenge to begin with and less difficult.

Oh well, I’ll just get really used to the company of my two dogs, I suppose, and look forward to visiting Photogal down in Mexico sometime in July or August. Maybe I can arrange a tour to hop along with at some point in there too...that would keep me occupied! I could tie little bandanas on Betty the beagle and Lucy and employ them as miniature roadies!

Maybe not.

Lest I forget...

...tonight is the 2nd Annual Sweet Alice prom at Ten56 hosted by Rudy and yours truly. It should be fun so repress those high school nightmares and carve out a happy and stress-free memory of Prom for yourself.

A miniature Houdini!

So last Saturday as I returned home from a night of rock and/or roll with Marah (I passed on Juliana, sorry Ms. Hatfield) and a brief stop at Liar’s Club I decided to let the doggies out in the back yard so they could, um, relieve themselves. I went back inside to, um, imitate their actions utilizing indoor plumbing and then went back out to see where the doggies were at.

Betty was grazing on some grass since her stomach’s been upset the last few days but Lucy was nowhere to be found. All the gates were up and closed so I climbed to the third floor porch to get a better vantage point.

No Lucy. She had vanished.

What followed were a flurry of phone calls to a vacationing Photogal, 911 in case a local officer came across a little black dog, and blocks and blocks of walking with betty whistling and calling out ,”Lucy! Luuuuucy!” After about two hours, as the sun came up I collapsed on the couch dejected, depressed and with Photogal mad as hell at me. I couldn’t blame her. Both of us usually let the dogs out, do other things and just keep checking up on them but Lucy had escaped under my watch so I was fully to blame. The only annoying side note is that Photogal wants to blame me coming home drunk at 3am when, in fact, alcohol had nothing to do with Lucy’s escape. I just had to pee and didn’t know she had discovered an exit route.

I was jolted awake at 9am and checked my voice mail since I saw I had a message. Lucy was found! Someone called the number of her tags and she had traveled a great distance away from our pad…a whole half a block! How I missed her as I combed the neighborhood is beyond me but I was the happiest boy in the Ukie Village that morning as Betty the Beagle and I trotted off to usher Lucy back home. She spent the entire day yesterday snoozing on my chest as I rested my frazzled nerves with a good old fashioned DVD marathon with such lofty selections as:

Lost In Translation

Housesitter

X2

28 Days Later

Coupling

…and another that I can’t remember for the life of me…

I knew I had a doctor’s appointment this morning so I turned in early amidst the comfort of two snuggling puppies. Awwwwww.

As expected the party animal decided to hibernate.

Yup, I was all set to go out and tear up the town last night, in honor of Photogal not being around to give me disapproving looks when I stumble in at three in the A.M., but instead ended up falling asleep on the couch watching Coupling. Whoa excitement.

I did finally drag my carcass off to bed only to be woken up at four in the A.M. by a flying bundle of fur sailing and snapping over my chest. Apparently Lucy, the new dog, decided to get a little feisty and took a run at Betty the Beagle while she was sleeping. Betty won and I congratulated both on a job well done since that's what you’re supposed to do.

I guess they're actually playing for the most part with an undercurrent meant to test each other's dominance so we've kind of taken to viewing Betty as the "top dog" and Lucy as the "subordinate." I suspect Betty was being naughty the first few days by bullying Lucy but the two seemed to have settled into each other and now play regularly. What makes this particularly noteworthy is the fact the before Lucy Betty did not play with other dogs at all. She much preferred humans. So I'll take this as a good sign.

This weekend should be fun and I hope not to make an ass of myself drooling over Juliana Hatfield at Double Door tomorrow.

Also remember, as a Public Service, I still have a few Gmail invites to give away so let me know if you're intereste