Wow, I can’t believe that it’s been almost two weeks since the last post. And to be honest, “Update: We’re Alive” wasn’t really much of a post. The last REAL post was all the way back on July 9th, nearly a month ago. Now, according to Statcounter, there are still a few of you out there (God bless ya) returning to our site looking for updates. So, in the form of a list, here you are:
1. Work. Lately, I have been working quite steadily. Recently, I have worked for another episode of SpikeTV’s “Game Head,” CourtTV’s “Murder by the Numbers,” HBO’s “Costas Now,” Apple’s release of the iPhone for Apple (see photo), a documentary about the Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 from filmmaker Judith Helfand, and coverage of Lollapalooza for VH1. A few of these shoots had me traveling to places such as Pontiac and Springfield, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
No photos from the HBO shoot, but I must mention that Bob Costas is one upstanding individual. The first day of our shoot was at the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium while the Brewers played the San Francisco Giants. HBO was hoping to get an interview by Costas with Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig while Barry Bonds played in the background. Unfortunately, Bonds wasn’t in the lineup that day, but we still did the interview for about two innings. Most of the day, we just hung out in the box, watched the game, and ate from the complimentary dessert cart. The next day we did a sit-down interview with Costas and Selig at Selig’s offices in downtown Milwaukee. At the end of the shoot, Costas came over to me and personally thanked me, which I took as very classy.
Above, is a photo of the State Capital Building in Springfield, Illinois, taken during the shoot for CourtTV. While I have seen other capital buildings, this was by far the most impressive one that I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, these photos don’t do real justice to how massive and spectacular this structure is in person. Though I was a mere fifty yards from Abraham Lincoln’s house, I didn’t have time check it out. Though Springfield claims a population of over 100,000, it feels like a small town compared to Chicago.
Here’s a photo from the VH1 shoot at Lollapalooza, an interview with Iggy Pop backstage.
Here I am posing with Regina Spektor after her interview with VH1. Regina just might be one of the nicest musicians that I’ve ever met.
Other artists we interviewed include Perry Farrell, Ben Harper, M.I.A., Amy Winehouse, Pete Yorn, Silverchair, Questlove (The Roots), Interpol, Kings of Leon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Paolo Nutini, and Lupe Fiasco. Other notable figures that we didn’t interview but were right next to during the weekend were Eddie Vedder, TV on the Radio, Jeff Tweedy, and, um, Ashlee Simpson.
For most of Lollapalooza, we were stationed on a platform that overlooked the AT&T stage, which was located on the south side of Grant Park. So even when we were working, we got to see quite a few acts in between interviews. I also caught a few acts after the shoot’s wrap. Some of the artists I saw (on and off the clock) were Blonde Redhead, Satellite Party (Perry Farrell’s new band, which threw about 4 or 5 Jane’s Addiction tunes in their playlist), LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk, Tokyo Police Club, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Hold Steady, Spoon, Lupe Fiasco, Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket, Polyphonic Spree (at the Hard Rock Cafe after party), and Pearl Jam.
We ended earlier than expected on Sunday night, so I asked Apryl if she would like to come downtown to check out the headlining Pearl Jam, which she did. Hearing tunes like “Alive,” “Even Flow,” “Rearviewmirror,” “State of Love and Trust,” “Better Man,” and “Daughter” certainly brought back memories of being back in high school. When I was in high school I was in a band that played only classic rock, except for The Black Crowes and Pearl Jam’s “Alive”.
2. More Music. Other than Lollapalooza, I’ve taken in two other music festivals: Pitchfork and the Wicker Park Music Festival. Pitchfork of course did a nice job of recapping their weekend-long festival. If you click on the hyperlink from the last sentence you will be directed to a review of Saturday’s events. And if you look at the top image on the page, you will see on the left Apryl sitting on her blue poncho knitting a blanket. Here’s my own photo of said activity:
Some strikes against the festival this year were the closure of the Blue Line for the weekend due to construction of “slow zones” (not Pitchfork’s fault), sketchy sound at times, and a poorly laid out smaller stage that was overcrowded and impossible to see unless you were directly in front of the stage (which meant getting really nothing out of Dan Deacon and Girl Talk’s sets). Highlights were walking into the park as Voxtrot were playing “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives,” the William Parker Quartet, Of Montreal being Of Montreal, Stephen Malkmus performing the Silver Jews number “Blue Arrangements,” and the entire Junior Boys’ amazing set.
While Apryl was sick (which she caught from me and is finally starting to recover from), I went to the first night of the Wicker Park Festival. Here are some photos of those I checked out:
Centro-Matic
Benevento Russo Duo
Man Man
Prefuse 73
And then we also caught The Decemberists’ free show at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park with the Grant Park Orchestra.
Actually, Apryl was able to see the entire show, while I had to work and was only able to catch the last three songs of the regular set. During the encore I was able to make my way through the crowd and find Apryl, and together we enjoyed the group’s staple closer, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song”.
Here’s a real flattering photo of me waiting on the train after The Decemberists show. It should be noted that I had worked a full day outside prior to the show and then ran, walked, and ran what seemed a thousand blocks (I had run out of money on my CTA card) to get to Millennium Park to see what I did of The Decemberists.
3. Pizza. Of course, I have eaten more and more pizza. Let’s see, Lucky Vito’s, Stefano’s, Plazzio’s, John’s Pizzeria, and Homemade Pizza. Stefano’s stuffed pizza tasted very similar to our favorite Giordano’s, but because it’s not that close to us, we’ll stick with the Giordano’s near us in Logan Square. I was surprised to find that Lucky Vito’s (more known for thin crust) has a pretty good stuffed as well:
4. Sox (or lack of Sox). I have been too busy to watch many Sox games, which I’m sure makes Apryl really sad. In fact, I think the last game I watched in its entirety was this one:
This one was the second of a double header on July 24, which we came back to win after being down 7 runs to 1 at one point.
Since my last Sox post, we traded both Tadahito Iguchi and Rob Mackowiak. Of the two, I’m going to miss the Gooch the most. Iguchi is now playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and doing quite well. He had his first homer for the Phils against the Cubs in Chicago. I wonder if Philly fans yell out “Gooch” every time he comes up to bat like they did at U.S. Cellular?
So, I summed up the past month as Work, Music, Pizza, and Sox. There is probably more to add, but I have been writing this post way too long (on a day off, I might add). So I better sign off. Expect an upcoming post about Apryl’s and my one year anniversary (in six days!) at the Itasca State Park in Minnesota. The significance? Lake Itasca is the where the Mississipppi River begins its long journey down south.
P.S. If you are one of our friends in Memphis, I urge you go see Daniel Johnston being backed up by Harlan T. Bobo and the Chimps this Thursday at the HiTone. We caught Daniel Johnston a few months ago up here, and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever attended. I can’t even imagine the potential greatness that Thursday night could be…