Ugh.
May 19, 2007
May 13, 2007
Sox vs. Royals – TV Game #9
It’s another victory for the South Siders! With last night’s victory, the Sox have won 6 out of their last 7 games. And while this still only puts them in third place of the AL Central Division, one must take in account that the Sox play in one of the toughest divisions where even a .545 percentage can put a team in the middle of the standings. Oh well, it was an exciting game against the Kansas City Royals (which granted, are the worst team in MLB right now). With two outs and down by one in the bottom of the ninth, Erstad hits a double to keep the Sox alive. Next batter Juan Uribe than knocks a ball a mere inches from being a homer, scoring Erstad to tie the game. In the 10th, Dye wins the game for the Good Guys. Apryl was even mildly into this one, rooting “if you believe clap your hands…”
May 11, 2007
Daniel Johnston plays Chicago!
Last night, Apryl and I caught a performance from the legendary “troubled artist” Daniel Johnston at the Lakeshore Theatre. The venue was small with an under 400-seat theater, which made it the perfect setting for an up close and personal show. Daniel came onto the stage alone with acoustic guitar in hand and immediately went into “Funeral Home”. After a short set of about 4 or 5 songs, Daniel put down his guitar and before walking off stage, told the audience not to go anywhere because he had a band.
Sharks and Seals, the band who opened up the show, came onto the stage soon followed by Daniel, who performed the rest of the evening without guitar. Not that there was any reason for Daniel to pluck on the strings since Shark and Seals is a six-member band complete with organ, cello, and violin. With the full band, Daniel’s songs really shined, each one revealing themselves to be pop classics on the same level as the songs of Brian Wilson or The Beatles. Some of the songs that I recall him playing with the full band include “Rock This Town,” “Life In Vain,” “Mountain Top,” “True Love Will Find You In the End,” “Fish,” “Love Not Dead,” and “Rock `N’ Roll”. As an encore, Daniel performed “Devil Town” a cappella with the faithful audience singing back up. Easily, the best and most memorable show that I’ve seen all year long. Heck, I would even say that it ranks as one of the all-time best shows I have ever experienced.
If you haven’t seen the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, I highly recommend you add it to your next Netflix list.
May 10, 2007
So… whatcha been up to?
Well, it’s been awhile since I last made a post, so here are a few things I’ve gotten myself into:
Here I am with probably the best crew I’ve worked with since being in Chicago. The shoot was for the DIY Network show Rock Solid. Not only was everyone great, but the shoot went an extra day which meant an extra day of money. However, the best part was making a nice contact with Jason, the only other local crew member on the team. Super cool guy. We shared a few beers after our last work day, and he has even hired me since for another shoot (more on that later in the post). The photo above shows the crew after a wrap-up meal at Giordano’s.
Below, a photo of me with the hosts Dean and Derek:
A few days before my birthday, I got a surprise package in the mail. It was my very own World of the Weird Monster Show shirt. The photo below doesn’t really show off the shirt too well, but I sure look creepy:
A couple weeks after the DIY shoot, Jason hired me to work on a shoot with him for Dean Guitars at a Megadeth/Black Sabbath (w/o Osbourne) show. Yes, you read me correctly! When I got to the venue, Jason and the rest of his crew were mapping out their plan of attack. They had an interview with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, but it was only for a short amount of time, and they needed to make sure they got him talking about using his Dean guitar before growing tired of the interview and kicking us out. Mustaine is notorious for having a bad temper and legendary bad-blood feuds with fellow musicians. When it was time for us to conduct our interview, we met him in his back stage dressing room, which wasn’t as extravagant as one would imagine for a rock and roll star. So we have the meet and greet, and the first thing Dave says to me is “Did you borrow your mom’s glasses?” Was this supposed to be an insult? If so, I found it to be hilarious as well as confusing. I started to smirk, and he uttered “I’m just kidding”. Yes, I have been insulted by the leader of Megadeth! The interview was short, but still it didn’t seem like Dave wanted to be there. We finished up as soon as possible and interviewed the rest of his band members on the tour bus (who were all very generous and kind). We then recorded the show but wrapped before the Sabbath.
The next show I attended was far more tame than the metal cries of Megadeth. Peter Bjorn and John (which makes me think of Peter, Paul, and Mary everytime I say the name) were playing two sold-out shows this week at the Empty Bottle as well as a free show at the Apple Store downtown on Michigan Avenue. Even though I’m a mere casual listener of PBJ, I do love free shows and thus made the train/bus trip down. Check out the line below:
The wait wasn’t long and even though I was near the back, I didn’t have a problem getting a wristband and making it into the show. The funniest part of the acoustic set was when Peter (or was it John) was killing time during a string change to point out the pigeons on the cover of their album Writer’s Block. He made it a game to see who could tell him how many pigeons there were on the cover. When John (or was it Peter) asked him what the person would win, P or J said “Umm, a free iPod.” The Apple Store did not honor this impromptu contest.
While it was a short concert, it was an enjoyable time. From what I recall, the trio played “Objects of My Affection,” “Amserdam,” “Let’s Call It Off,” “Paris 2004,” and, of couse, “Young Folks”.
As I was leaving the Apple Store, I walked right into the Expedia.com Dance Troupe. I heard someone (certainly an Expedia.com representative) around me say, “They’re going to be on Conan.”
After leaving downtown, I stopped over at Wicker Park to go to the bank. When I came out of the bank I noticed some folks flying a kite from the top of their apartment building. Who needs a park?
That night, I caught my first televised Sox game since April 27th. I will spare you my nine comments this time, but I will mention that last night’s win was a relief. After going on a losing streak as well as choking the night before in extra innings, it felt good to even be back at .500.
And to wrap things up here, we got a DVD copy of the World of the Weird Monster Show from Undead Johnny in the mail, the one with my birthday wishes! So to end the post, here is what completely befuddled and made my day two Fridays ago:
(Thanks Chad!)
May 4, 2007
Upcoming shows…
Sometimes too much of a good thing is well, too much. Too much money and too many choices. Here is a list of groups with upcoming Chicago dates that I wouldn’t mind seeing:
!!!, Album Leaf, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Architecture In Helsinki, Bjork, Built To Spill, Clientele, Elvis Costello, Decemberists, Dinosaur Jr, Electrelane, El-P, Jad Fair, Feist, Fields, Philip Glass, Great Lake Swimmers, Junior Boys, Loney Dear, Morrissey, Os Mutantes, Pipettes, Ponys, Sloan, Regina Spektor, Amon Tobin, Tortoise, Rufus Wainwright, Andre Williams, and, of course, Weird Al Yankovic.
April 29, 2007
Hayden’s Birthday Wishes Collage
Hayden’s 30th birthday was Saturday. Because we couldn’t go home and have a huge party with family and friends, I asked people to take photos of themselves wishing Hayden a happy birthday. I’m just now posting the collage online because I was having issues with some of the files. Rest assured though, I was able to show Hayden the collage on my computer Saturday afternoon. I’ll let him tell you what he thought.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this huge project! There are too many of you to name here, but you can find out who helped by looking at the collage. You can also click on an image in the collage to enlarge it and find out from whom it came.
– Apryl
UPDATE: I’ve added some more photos since I originally posted the collage. Somehow, I hadn’t gotten Brad and Robin’s email earlier, so I did a little rearranging and added their photo. I also added some extra photos that didn’t fit in the collage; see the link in the top right corner of the collage.
April 27, 2007
Sox vs. Angeles – TV Game #7
1. The Sox vs. Santana… Ervin Santana. This is the second pitcher with a last name of Santana (Johan Santana from the Twins was the first) that we’ve face this year.
2. Jim Thome returns from the DL only to have to walk off the field in pain after one swing at the bat. Looks like it’s back to the DL (disabled list).
3. The Sox get back to back homers in the 4th from Dye and Pierzynski.
4. There was so much smoke from the fireworks during the back to back home runs that the rest of the inning was played in a haze.
5. During the last couple games, Erstad has been getting out of his hitting slump. Tonight saw Erstad hit a double and get a RBI.
6. When Gooch hit for a triple in the 8th, he was hit on top of his batting helmet while slidding into third. Sometimes baseball can be a contact sport.
7. After watching all these games (and listening to non televised games on the radio), I’m really getting the itch to see a game in person.
8. In non Sox news, the Bulls win game 3 against the Miami Heat.
9. During most of the game, Apryl was on the computer working on my birthday present. She even moved her computer into the guest bedroom so that there wouldn’t be a chance I would see what she was doing. I have been told over and over not to be scared about the surprise. Let’s just say I’m very befuddled.
RIP Boris
Bobby “Boris” Pickett, the man who gave life to the Halloween favorite “Monster Mash,” died this week from complications from leukemia. Check out the official Monster Mash website.
Did you know that Leon Russell played piano on the original?
(Check out John Beifuss’ post about Pickett including an interview he conducted with the man in `98.)
April 26, 2007
The sisters’ visit.
Two weeks ago, Apryl’s sisters Lisa and Stephanie came for a visit. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and eating out!
Here are a few photos that were taken during their stay:
The sisters at the Lincoln Park Zoo…
…looking at da bears.
Me and the sisters are amazed with…
…the swimming hippo!
The Lincoln Park Conservatory.
The Chicago Pizza Oven and Grinder Co.
Home of the Chicago Pizza Pot Pie.
The gals enjoyed their pot pies, but what they really loved was the Mediterranean bread appetizer.
Lisa poses for a bus photo.
Margies Candies in Bucktown.
The Beatles once visited here.
Apryl’s student center at IIT.
Lake Michigan
The Apple Store on Michigan Ave.
Giordano’s on Rush St.
The World Famous Stuffed Pizza!
The sisters made good use of their CTA visitor’s passes.
Thanks for visiting Steph and Lisa!
April 25, 2007
The box score doesn’t lie.
The Sox sure are a scrappy bunch, complete with a “never say die” attitude. And I’m loving it! Tonight, we even got major hits from struggling Anderson and Erstad. And, after a rough seventh inning where we lost the lead, my boy Joe Crede hits a homer in the top of the 8th to tie the game. In the 9th, we score two more runs, which are enough to prevent us from going into extra innings. The best part is that with tonight’s victory, the Sox are tied with #1 in the AL Central!