This week's Early Warnings in the Chicago Reader alerted me to more Spring/Summer Chicago festivals. First up is the Do-Division Festival May 31st-June 1st, featuring Lucero, Ted Leo and Frightened Rabbit; June 28th and 29th is the Belmont Arts & Music Festival featuring Cursive, Maritime and American Music Club. This one will be the first one to skip as I will have The Boy that week. Finally, there's this year's Wicker Park Fest with Isis, Red Sparowes and Film School. This one makes me very happy, though it is the week after the Pitchfork Music Festival.
Speaking of Pitchfork, they've revealed the rest of their lineup and with Sebadoh added as the 3rd band on the Friday, it looks like I'll be getting a 3 day pass after all.
Somewhere in the midst of all this rock n' roll I'll be scheduling a return trip to Las Vegas. Whew.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Plenty of rest for the wicked
After a late night catching a highly energetic set by Foals at Subterranean and an even later Friday night playing in River Grove (note to self: some folks of Polish descent do not take kindly to being made fun of), I was all too relieved to have nothing to do today but laundry, sleep, and talk to my wife. Wow. My wife. I guess I'm still getting used to that.
K. got into town a few days ago and we were able to meet for dinner last night at Earwax Cafe before heading over to see Foals. Though I am far from vegetarian, nothing beats Earwax's sloppy seitan. Ran into some old friends after K. took off who were stoked to hear the big news and was introduced to some of Foals' road crew by my (soon-to-be former?) drummer.
While at the show last night, I caught a flyer for next weekend's two shows featuring The Paul Green School Of Rock Music tribute to Classic Metal. The Boy and I are so there.
Ugh. Bed time.
K. got into town a few days ago and we were able to meet for dinner last night at Earwax Cafe before heading over to see Foals. Though I am far from vegetarian, nothing beats Earwax's sloppy seitan. Ran into some old friends after K. took off who were stoked to hear the big news and was introduced to some of Foals' road crew by my (soon-to-be former?) drummer.
While at the show last night, I caught a flyer for next weekend's two shows featuring The Paul Green School Of Rock Music tribute to Classic Metal. The Boy and I are so there.
Ugh. Bed time.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Grrr...
Woke up this morning with all the typical flu symptoms: stuffy head, aching all over, basically feeling hungover without drinking. Calling in to work might have been ok if I hadn't already taken Monday and Tuesday off to be in Vegas. Earlier tonight I walked downstairs to head to therapy, only to find "the boot" on my car. Months ago I would've no doubt blew a gasket over this, and looking online to verify the timeline of these tickets reminded me that I have come a long way in regards to my emotional reactions. Tomorrow, Precision has graciously agreed to take me to one of the payment centers and hopefully my car will not be towed on top of this in my absence.
Precision-related, the decision has been made to let our drummer go. He's just not dependable enough and while drummers do have a tendency to be rather flaky, he managed to take flaky up a notch. We have a show Friday night in River Grove which will most likely be his last, hoping to have a replacement set in time for our May 23rd show at the Beat Kitchen.
Ugh...I need to sleep.
Precision-related, the decision has been made to let our drummer go. He's just not dependable enough and while drummers do have a tendency to be rather flaky, he managed to take flaky up a notch. We have a show Friday night in River Grove which will most likely be his last, hoping to have a replacement set in time for our May 23rd show at the Beat Kitchen.
Ugh...I need to sleep.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
4/21/2008
On April 21st, 2008 at 12:30pm Pacific Time, I married the woman of my dreams in a brief but beautiful ceremony. From the moment we stepped out of the chapel as husband and wife through the stroke of midnight later that evening/morning, every step we took together was more amazing and more romantic than the last. Dinner that night at Il Fornaio was simply stunning and the walks along The Strip felt exhilarating to say the least. Nauseous yet? Tough shit.
Some of you are no doubt wondering just how impulsively I/we acted on the decision to get married; the fact is, we planned to go through with it a few weeks back, realizing that after all this time apart, the fact that we came back together and never fell out of love (if anything, the love this time around is even more intense) was all we needed to make it official. My wife was with me at the lowest point of my life (the death of my father) and weathered the grief, the anger and frustration the best that she could. When we split in 2005, we always said if this was meant to be then we'd find our way back together. She never left my heart or my thoughts, try as hard as I did to move on without her.
We've talked about what this marriage will have to endure-namely, the distance for the next several months as she finishes up school out in Las Vegas and continues to save up for the move back home. She knows how important my role in The Boy's life is and understands that we may not actually move in together until Spring/Summer 2009 to give father and son a full year of living together. The two of them do get along rather famously and though it's been some time since either myself or The Boy have spent time with her daughter (The Bean), we've had some great moments together; I do not see that changing once we are reintroduced.
Little by little we are announcing the marriage to friends and family. I spoke to my mom earlier tonight and though she found the logic behind this all unconventional, she did let me know that both her and my stepfather think the world of Vegas and The Bean (they always have) and gave the marriage their blessing (not that it really mattered, mind you, but it certainly didn't hurt).
Countdown to our reunion: just under 4 weeks.
Some of you are no doubt wondering just how impulsively I/we acted on the decision to get married; the fact is, we planned to go through with it a few weeks back, realizing that after all this time apart, the fact that we came back together and never fell out of love (if anything, the love this time around is even more intense) was all we needed to make it official. My wife was with me at the lowest point of my life (the death of my father) and weathered the grief, the anger and frustration the best that she could. When we split in 2005, we always said if this was meant to be then we'd find our way back together. She never left my heart or my thoughts, try as hard as I did to move on without her.
We've talked about what this marriage will have to endure-namely, the distance for the next several months as she finishes up school out in Las Vegas and continues to save up for the move back home. She knows how important my role in The Boy's life is and understands that we may not actually move in together until Spring/Summer 2009 to give father and son a full year of living together. The two of them do get along rather famously and though it's been some time since either myself or The Boy have spent time with her daughter (The Bean), we've had some great moments together; I do not see that changing once we are reintroduced.
Little by little we are announcing the marriage to friends and family. I spoke to my mom earlier tonight and though she found the logic behind this all unconventional, she did let me know that both her and my stepfather think the world of Vegas and The Bean (they always have) and gave the marriage their blessing (not that it really mattered, mind you, but it certainly didn't hurt).
Countdown to our reunion: just under 4 weeks.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Best. Day. Ever.
I married my soulmate yesterday, April 21st, 2008. Euphoric doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I'll write more when I can find the words.
Holy shit.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Semi-coherent
The Boy is with me this weekend, complete with crabbiness and allergies. He's grounded from the Xbox due to a shitty 3rd quarter report card.
Currently picking out music for my trip to Las Vegas:
Radiohead-In Rainbows
The Field-From Here We Go Sublime
Pete Yorn-Nightcrawler
Superdrag-Last Call For Vitriol
The Damnwells-Air Stereo
Ryan Adams-Heartbreaker
Jimmy Eat World-Chase This Light
Autechre-Quaristice
Squarepusher-Hello Everything
Four Tet-Rounds
Animal Collective-Strawberry Jam
Earth is playing The Note on 4/25. ZTS is playing some Polish bar in the 'burbs. Dammit.
Dear Pitchfork Music Festival: Please add your third band for Friday so I can make my mind whether it's worth getting the 3-day pass or just sticking with the 2-day. As it is, I'm not terribly stoked on catching Public Enemy and I saw Mission Of Burma play a good chunk of Vs. during their last Chicago show at the Double Door. I see the overhyped yawnfest that is Spoon got added on to Sunday's bill along with Les Savy Meh(Fav). Spoon headlining over Spiritualized and Dinosaur Jr.?! My god, people are stupid. Here are the bands playing said festival that I am over the top for:
Saturday, July 19:
Animal Collective
!!!
Atlas Sound
Sunday, July 20:
Dinosaur Jr.
Spiritualized
Boris
Fuck Buttons
The new M83, Saturdays=Youth is a full blown John Hughes movie condensed into roughly 45 minutes. It's incredible.
Currently picking out music for my trip to Las Vegas:
Radiohead-In Rainbows
The Field-From Here We Go Sublime
Pete Yorn-Nightcrawler
Superdrag-Last Call For Vitriol
The Damnwells-Air Stereo
Ryan Adams-Heartbreaker
Jimmy Eat World-Chase This Light
Autechre-Quaristice
Squarepusher-Hello Everything
Four Tet-Rounds
Animal Collective-Strawberry Jam
Earth is playing The Note on 4/25. ZTS is playing some Polish bar in the 'burbs. Dammit.
Dear Pitchfork Music Festival: Please add your third band for Friday so I can make my mind whether it's worth getting the 3-day pass or just sticking with the 2-day. As it is, I'm not terribly stoked on catching Public Enemy and I saw Mission Of Burma play a good chunk of Vs. during their last Chicago show at the Double Door. I see the overhyped yawnfest that is Spoon got added on to Sunday's bill along with Les Savy Meh(Fav). Spoon headlining over Spiritualized and Dinosaur Jr.?! My god, people are stupid. Here are the bands playing said festival that I am over the top for:
Saturday, July 19:
Animal Collective
!!!
Atlas Sound
Sunday, July 20:
Dinosaur Jr.
Spiritualized
Boris
Fuck Buttons
The new M83, Saturdays=Youth is a full blown John Hughes movie condensed into roughly 45 minutes. It's incredible.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Shaving face(book)
Not the most difficult decision of my adult life, I deleted my Facebook account just a bit ago. No real reason to have it-I'd rather keep my social networking sites to one, thank you. I have more than enough present distractions that keep me from reading and writing, so one less diversion can only be for the better.
Gearing up for my Las Vegas trip in a week. Vegas herself booked us reservations at Il Fornaio in New York-New York for next Monday night, after which we plan on seeing some...er, adult shows-namely, Bite. We've been talking about potential visits back and forth over the next few months, most of which are certainly in the realm of possibility (her trip home in May, my planned trip in July, and hers back here late August/September). I'm just glad we're done holding back-the past two months or so have been absolutely amazing and have only reaffirmed our connection.
Heading out now for a special home version of The Boy's parent/student conferences. Let's home The Ex keeps her negativity to a minimum.
Gearing up for my Las Vegas trip in a week. Vegas herself booked us reservations at Il Fornaio in New York-New York for next Monday night, after which we plan on seeing some...er, adult shows-namely, Bite. We've been talking about potential visits back and forth over the next few months, most of which are certainly in the realm of possibility (her trip home in May, my planned trip in July, and hers back here late August/September). I'm just glad we're done holding back-the past two months or so have been absolutely amazing and have only reaffirmed our connection.
Heading out now for a special home version of The Boy's parent/student conferences. Let's home The Ex keeps her negativity to a minimum.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Lollapalooza 2008 (edited with the worthwhile lineup)
Great fucking Scott, will you look at that lineup:
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Nine Inch Nails
Wilco
The Raconteurs
Love and Rockets
Gnarls Barkley
Bloc Party
Broken Social Scene
Flogging Molly
The National
Explosions in the Sky
Brand New
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Girl Talk
Battles
The Gutter Twins
Yeasayer
Witchcraft
Grizzly Bear
MGMT
The Weakerthans
Black Lips
Foals
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Nine Inch Nails
Wilco
The Raconteurs
Love and Rockets
Gnarls Barkley
Bloc Party
Broken Social Scene
Flogging Molly
The National
Explosions in the Sky
Brand New
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Girl Talk
Battles
The Gutter Twins
Yeasayer
Witchcraft
Grizzly Bear
MGMT
The Weakerthans
Black Lips
Foals
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