Chicago: A Pleasant Place to Witness Events that are More Friendly in Nature

I like it.

More friendly than German AIDS ads.

Fortunately, a huge stack of boxes came between my screen and the meeting behind me.

2.5 hours

prolly about 5 hours. :(

Do you get overtime?

Hi folks. I'm back. No hard feelings?

Wow this is a lovely T-storm!!

I am quite fond of the German AIDS ad, as it is rather twisted, but in this mixed-message way that's also rather hot. It's like an anti-heroin ad that features heroin chic.

Three or four hours

My day started at 6:45 and god knows when it'll be over. Meeting in Kenosha starting at 6 tonight, scheduled until at least 10. DO NOT WANT.

T-storm? The sun is shining over here.

K-TOWN IN THE HOUSE

I drove through Ktown (on the westsiiiiiiiide of Chi) the other night. I saw a big fight in the street around Cicero and Jackson and, a little farther north, what looked like an evangelical revival gathering in a parking lot that was covered in a lot of broken glass.

My dad just invited me to this thing on Thursday at Millennium Park. Anyone else want to go?

Remembering Fela: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, with special guest DJ Rich Medina (Music Without Borders)
Date: 6/28/2007
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Park location: Jay Pritzker Pavilion

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nigeria’s Seun Kuti is a great exponent of Afro Beat, the explosive political music invented by his father, Fela Kuti, in the 1970s. Seun plays with Egypt 80, his father’s original band. The 22-piece band boasts punching brass and rocking bass sections with a big band jazz/Afro funk sound complimented by a pulsating rhythm and incisive political messages.

A little over 4 hours for me. I should really stay later, but I'm meeting my mom for dinner in Lincoln Square.

It's over now, but for about 10 minutes we had a blasting downpour with thunder and brimstone.

xpost I mean 3 hours.

That sounds cool. I wonder how many of Fela's kids have afrobeat bands.

I know, when my dad first mentioned it, I assumed he was talking about Femi.

Hey, John, you might run into Nick in Lincoln Square. He's going to his first guitar class tonight.

WOW! IT's crazy out the wazooo outside!

It's dark.

WHOA! Now it's crazy out the wazoo here! Street lights are on, power is failing.

jeezy creezy. This is some muhfuggin RAIN.

would someone care to sing at a wedding for me on saturday? or perhaps play the piano? or maybe you just want to come to work for me.....

Allah, why are you punishing Chicago?

outhouses are SO sexy! The stink is like S&M and stuff.

-- Sarah MClusky (coco), Tuesday, July 15, 2003 3:26 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

So proud of myself, you guys.

HAHAHA

That's way better than you posting about your nipples.

I love thunderstorms.

I'm near Belmont & Sheffield and Belmont's pretty flooded.

Ok, this is not as bad as I had feared.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/31534

Still, it's a pretty steep phone plan.

Here's the damage: $60 a month for 450 minutes. $80 for 900 minutes. $100 for 1350 minutes. If you need even more minutes, plans continue to climb up to $220 a month for a whopping 6000 minutes. The good news: All plans include unlimited email and web, rollover minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile, and 200 text messages a month. All except the cheapest plan include unlimited nights and weekends minutes; the cheapest plan includes a mere 5000 of those. Contrary to earlier rumors there is no voice-only option for the iPhone: Remember you need data service to do all the cool email/web/mapping business that makes iPhone an iPhone, otherwise you've pretty much got a pretty brick in your pocket that can play Avril Lavigne tunes.

It comes pre-loaded with Avril Lavigne?

haha not really.

Hall and Oates.

Well at least they're not posers.

Does anyone happen to know if the Congress Plaza strike is still ongoing?

Still on strike.

What has it been, like 3 years?

More like 4, I think?

Check that, 4 years.

yes.

OMG can I gush about a record? Sometimes I feel like I just come here to gush about records.

anyway: Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators - Keep Reachin' Up

It's out of time and place. It's from Finland, but not Finnish by any stretch. It's a mix of 70's soul and funk and 60's girl groups... sometimes in the same track, but the album covers a whole lot of ground from song to song, and it's all KILLER (and I guess it goes without saying, no filler). I'm having a hard time thinking of someone who WOULDN'T like this record. Certainly all you guys would dig it.

Jordan why are you asking about the Congress strike?

The strategy now is to shut that fucker down since there is clearly no hope for a contract and maybe once it's out of the absentee owners' hands it can be returned to some semblance of its former self. At the commemoration of year 3 they held a "funeral" for the hotel, carrying a coffin around the block while making a racket and playing drum and trumpet then having a "burial" with a really rousing sermon.

http://www.congresshotelstrike.info/

The stories on that website about its having turned into a shithole seem true enough considering what you can see from street level: the lounge area is still in shambles, with half torn up carpet and floring, and yellow caution ribbon blocking parts of the room.

I walked into the office today at work and there was a huge Pakistani flag propped up in the corner. Turns out the F0re|gn M|n|st3r of P@k|st@n and a prince from some former Soviet state plus a bunch of other VIPs came into my work on Friday while I was away! It was a big fucking cluster fuck and the management fucked it up but good, with the help of the officials representing the dignitaries.

The representative called a couple of weeks ago and I answered the phone and when I transferred him to the manager I said, "May I tell her who's calling?" and he got in a big fucking huff, asking why I was asking so many questions (I only asked one).

Anyway. They had US Secrt Svc guys all over the place, and they refused to fax us a guest list until 2 hours before the event was to start. Then 1 hour before they sent an ammended one in tiny, tiny script and they were supposed to correctly transcribe these for name plates.

The management fucked up by having 2 very different plans, and then attempting to squeeze in a few early reservations into the section where this party was to sit. That did not work out well at all.

The SS guys were apparently super jaw-droppingly hot and most of them were very aggressively hitting on the women--all except one guy who came back in today with his mother. My gay co-worker who waited on them and who has been celibate for 18 months was uncharacteristically smitten (to the point of saying repeatedly, "I'm honestly in love with him at first sight") was joking around saying that he was going to wait at the host stand outside the bathroom and make his move. Well, turns out he didn't have to because the SS guy made his move first. He stopped and very clearly hit on this waiter, saying that he really couldn't wait to come back and he would be back frequently and when did he (the waiter) work next, etc.

Ha ha!! The waiter just called me asking me to go out with him (to the fucking Granvil Anvil!) b/c something snapped in and he needs to fuck someone immediately (not me).

If you respond, be careful to not make this Googlable since I might get in trouble for talking about this.

7|-|@7'5 @ |0|\|6, \/\/3||2|) 570|2Y

Granvil Anvil?

Mornin' Chicago.

Mornin'.

Dear coworker: Please do not comment on my wet hair (too late). You are the only other person here this early. Surely, you can stomach it.

Dear Chicago property developers,
Please stop building "luxury" condos now. There are still a few of us left that aren't pulling down six figures salaries and we'd like a decent place to live too.

kthxbye,
me

Ha ha ha. I'm a Chicago property developer. Ok, not really - but I admin for them. But at least we only build/renovate downtown mostly, right? My company isn't in the Uke or WP bustin' it up.

Now THOSE guys are the real jerks.

It's not really just the Ukie/WP area, just frustrating in general trying to find a new place. We'd really love to buy something and start investing instead of throwing our money on rent, but its doubtful that we're going to find anything we can afford without moving to the suburbs.

On a more humorous note, we were reading about a "beautiful 2 bedroom condo in West Bucktown overlooking the park". Turns out that was Humboldt Park. I mean, come on, can we stretch these borders a little further?

Have you looked in Logan Square at all?

This condo is pretty:
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/rfs/359144105.html

I want it. :-(

Actually, what I really, really want is a cozy crafts style home with a small, but cute yard, perfect for hydrangea bushes and a small garden.

Ooh Ooh Ooh! Like this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Summer_2006_0882.jpg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Summer_2006_0882.jpg

Let's try that a third time.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ee/Summer_2006_0882.jpg/800px-Summer_2006_0882.jpg

I've had a few friends buy homes a little like those in Cicero and Berwyn.

I don't believe I've been to either. Have you found anything to recommend? Good used book stores or record stores or anything like that? Or are they both kind of generic box store cities?

They're just very residential old-school mid-century-America towns, but both are near the blue and orange lines. FitzGeralds, in Berwyn, is a pretty neat club that looks like Schubas but is a little larger. And I'm guessing there are other decent bars and hideaways in there, not sure about any signs of Bohemia, though.

That Tight Phantomz show on Saturday night ended up being in a house at 39th & Hoyne, in a neighborhood near Bridgeport that I had never seen before, but it felt pretty much like Rogers Park in an OK way. I played (unamplified) sitting in an armchair in a room with about 50 folks, and then the rock band played in the basement.

BUT if you're in Berwyn/Cicero you're not far from Oak Park, which has great used bookstores and a first-run movie theater and plenty of charm. I love that town.

OMG ok so I subscribe to the podcast of Sound Opinions now, and I know jaymc listens to it sometimes, so maybe I'm just asking him: Do you ever want to punch Jim DeRogatis in the teeth? What a pompous, clueless blowhard. Listening to him going off on how BAD the new Kelly Clarkson album is (here's a hint: it's pretty darn good) because it's just more OMG MANUFACTURED POP PRODUCT... ok, I guess this isn't news. But GOD! To actually be confronted with that whiny voice, like Ira Glass with a thick head cold, actually saying these things that are so stupid you can't believe they are coming out of ANYONE who calls himself a critic. GAH! My office mates have better taste.

Deep breath. Time for some coffee.

I think DeRo usually has pretty decent taste for a mainstream music critic, my main problem with him is his writing, which is really weak. But I think we've had extended DeRo/Kott debates before.

Sometimes he's ok, you know, but when he becomes the teeth-gnashing torchbearer for rockism, you know, when he gets into his Lester Bangs delusion, it's just absurd. And he does it all the time.

I need to download some podcasts to listen to while driving this weekend.

THIS IS POP PRODUCT, IT'S WORSE THAN SATAN, IT'S A LOT LIKE JAMES TAYLOR. Here. Check out the new Polyphonic Spree.

xpost Yeah, check out Sound Opinions,All Songs Considered, Fresh Air, Wait Wait, and TAL. That'll hold ya.

I need to download some podcasts to listen to while driving this weekend.

http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/ls

There's a podcast that Jody W. likes from Massachusetts where a guy talks about soccer and his mom calls in from time to time.

thanks brahs, those look good

I'm worried I'm going to gradually start using the word 'brahs' non-ironically.

Futures in Biotech!

So our summer intern got canned this morning, didn't even make it a month. Can't say I'm surprised, I am shocked to believe this kid actually got into grad school. I think the falling asleep at his desk six times so far this week finally sealed his doom.

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting

xp - sounds like he's clubbing.

Ooh... Judd Apatow!

Oh, Elvis Mitchellpaws.

Actually, that looks great, thanks, Eric.

I think the falling asleep at his desk six times so far this week finally sealed his doom.

Maybe he's working nights as a stripper, trying to pay his sick mother's medical bills. YOU DON'T KNOW.

That may be possible, but dude ain't gonna make much that way either.

Manitoba This Week

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/F/Chris%20Farley/Chippendale%20skit.JPG

The archives of both The Treatement and Bookworm are pretty great. They seem to get a lot of reclusive writers/directors/actors who don't give many interviews.

Bookworm makes my eyes glaze over. Maybe I'll get over that one day.

The motherlode for Nick and Sarah:
http://wfmu.org/podcast

WOAH!!! I'm pumped for podcasts!

Ok that is awesome.

Disappointing: findadeath.com did not post pictures of Kurt Cobain's destroyed corpse. Just a foot, as seen through a window. Come on, guys. Why do you think people go to your site?

I have listened to Scharpling's Best Show on WFMU before but I'm not sure I liked it.

I wish I had had those podcast links before driving 36 hours last weekend!

The house in that photo Sarah posted looks almost exactly like my aunt's house in Elmwood Park (and before her, my grandma's house, so I know it well).

It's bunglaowtastic!

I believe the correct contraction is "bungalicious."

Then it sounds like you're talking about something else.

Cowabungalow!

And of course, Kenan, I agree with you about DeRo. He's sometimes OK when he's talking about stuff that's in his wheelhouse, but when it comes to pop music, he can only evaluate it from an idelogical standpoint, which often comes down to whether it's good for his daughter or whether it's "pandering" (one of his favorite words).

I don't read the Sun-Times regularly, so I can't really comment on his writing, but based strictly on Sound Opinions (which I listen to every week), Kot strikes me as a far more sensible critic.

He filters pop music according to whether it's appropriate for his own young children? Man, he is so cool.

One of my coworkers was telling us about Action Park (presumably the source of the name of the first Shellac album) the other day, and he just sent us the wikipedia link. RECOMMENDED READING.

Tank Ride: This was one of the most popular rides at Motoworld (it featured prominently in the television ads). It was more dangerous for employees than patrons.[12]

In a chainlink fence-enclosed area, small tanks could be driven around for a fee for five minutes at a time, with tennis ball cannons that enabled riders to shoot at a sensor prominently mounted on each tank. If hit, the tank stopped operating for 15 seconds, while other tankers often took advantage of the delay to pepper the stricken vehicle with more fire.

Visitors on the outside could also join in the fun through less costly cannons mounted on the inside of the fence. When workers had to enter the cage to attend to a stuck or crashed tank, which usually happened several times a day, they were often pelted with tennis balls from every direction despite prohibitions against such behavior that could result in expulsion from the park. It is not known if this resulted in any serious injuries, but it made the tank ride the least popular place to work in the park.

In the mid-1980s GAR built an enclosed water slide, not unusual for that time, and indeed the park already had several. But for this one they decided to build, at the end, a complete vertical loop of the kind more commonly associated with roller coasters.[15] Employees have reported they were offered hundred-dollar bills to test it. "It didn't buy enough booze to drown out the memory", said Fergus.[11]

It was opened for one month in summer 1985 before it was closed at the order of the state's Advisory Board on Carnival Amusement Ride Safety, a highly unusual move at the time.[13] One worker told a local newspaper that "there were too many bloody noses and back injuries" from riders, and it was widely rumored that some of the test dummies sent down before it was opened had been dismembered.[13] A rider also reportedly got stuck at the top of the loop due to insufficient water pressure, and a hatch had to be built there to allow for future extrications.[13]

Oh man, they had that exact same tank thing at the Minnesota State Fair once. I rode the shit out of it.

(I was like... 9, I'm guessing)

My best friend growing up moved to NJ -- I visited him a few times when I was 12 or so and we went to amusement parks. I'm glad we went to Great America, because I think I would've dug the loup-de-loup waterslide.

Okay, if I have not been there, I've been somewhere with the exact same tank setup (but where????!).

just wanted to chime in about wfmu podcasts, I'm a fan of their 7 Second Delay comedy talk show. one of the dudes on it is the creator of the TV show Monk, and the other one is the wfmu manager, I think. I especially liked the episode where they went back and forth playing 5 second snippets from their ipods and asked the callers to decide which person had the better songs.

jebus what a day

I'm listening to that Sound Op1n1ons podcast right now, DeRo is being a even bigger dipshit than usual. I actually really like the Kelly Clarkson clips they played!

Yeah, same here! Those are both quite good songs, I'm loving the new wave vibe. The new Tegan and Sara sounds like that, too. The 80's are back, and they're really pissed off at some guy!

Until the chorus, "Never Again" totally sounds like a Sleater-Kinney song. (And I thought that long before Perpetua said something similar on Fluxblog today.)

I had no intentions of checking out this album beyond the singles I'll hear on the radio, but now I'm really intrigued.

is this the record that mike watt worked on with kelly?

ostensibly

the cubs have hit two home runs since i've been watching

does anyone else think the commercials for the transformers movie are kinda frightening?

I still want to see it. I realize it's Michael Bay and it's going to suck, but goddamn it, I had a lot of those stupid toys and I want to see what they've turned them into!

(heh)

yeah at first when I saw Michael Bay, I was thinking that was the Miami Vice guy, but then I realize that's Michael Mann. I need to see the original Transformers movie again, it's been a while. Oh, and did you notice the kid in the commercial is wearing a Strokes shirt? So hip.

yeah, 2001 was a good year. :)

how much do they charge for movies here, 10 bucks?

thereabouts. Nine, nine-fiddy?

I did hear there was a dollar theater or something like that. forget where though.

Logan Theater has second-run movies for I think $3.

that must be it. anyone ever hit that up?

I am more pumped about Live Free or Die Hard, personally. It looks great!

We have been to the Logan Theater, it's fun. I mean, it's tiny and run-down but everything is cheap. If you've ever been to the Davis Theater in Lincoln Square, it's similar to that but it shows second-run movies and is cheaper.

:)

Bruce Willis was funny on the Daily Show last night.

I haven't gone to any movies or shows yet, sadly. Except for seeing Fred Anderson at the MCA last week, which was pretty cool.

The Granville Anvil is A-OK. It's a dive for sure, but in a good way.

My co-worker D. was WASTED when I showed up and some guy tried to hit on him and he told the guy that D. and I were in a LTR of 7 years then he started hugging me and shit. Then he left and I chatted up a guy who was the only one I thought was cute and not conceited, but of course he was straight but likes to hang out at gay bars.

It is SO. FUCKING. HOT. I hatehatehate summertime. I have to go to the bank and run some errands, but it's SO. FUCKING. HOT.

I saw 2 young guys walk by the window at my work today. One was wearing only old boxer shorts and no shoes, his friend was dressed normally.

Jesse: it's 86 degrees with 63% humidity. Some people live on the beach so they can have weather like this all the time.

Anyway, the high tomorrow is 72, so you'll not suffer much longer.

The Davis actually shows first-run, too. Right now they have Ocean's 13, Knocked Up, Pirates 3, and Waitress. But yeah, similar to the Logan or to the Village North in the sense that it's cheaper than most theaters and kind of run-down.

Yeah I saw Hot Fuzz up there I think.

Jesse: it's 86 degrees with 63% humidity. Some people live on the beach so they can have weather like this all the time.

I don't know what your point is. And my weather display says 90. Bring back April, May, September, and October. hell, bring back December, January, and February!!!!!

I miss 10 degrees, snow, and wind and I'm not exaggerating at all. When the weather was like that I thought, "This is the shit!"

they're showing knocked up at logan. you guys saw that right, was it good?

Yeah, check that shit out. Go to Whirlaway lounge down the boulevard for beers afterwards.

I know Davis is first-run. I meant that the Logan is similar to the Davis, except that it is second run. Sorry for confusing phrasing.

Knocked Up = good. Definitely worth $3.

sweet, thanks for the tips. i still need to hang out with you guys at some point. my girlfriend is on call again saturday night, so i'll be flying solo and looking for something to do.

ok wow, Jesse's right. It's hot out there. And sticky.

Still... tomorrow is going to be great.

I saw Lucky You at the Logan a few nights ago. Pretty good movie, as long as you want something that's more about poker and compulsive men instead of a love story, which was how it was marketed. Curtis Hanson (Wonder Boys, 8 Mile, L.A. Confidential) co-wrote and directed, and Eric Roth (Munich, The Insider) co-wrote. Drew Barrymore is terrible, and I usually don't mind her and liked Fever Pitch. Rest of the cast, especially Duvall, is good.

Only other movie I've seen at the Logan was Black Hawk Down, and there were kids running up and down the aisles.

Based on the other night, though, Logan is better than the Davis at lining up the projector with the screen so that 15% of the film isn't missing the screen on either side. Can't stand the Davis.

Is anyone going to Taste? I have never been.

Work is going to be :( :( :( this weekend!

Yeah, we haven't really hung out much in the last few weeks because a) Nick and Sarah were gone for a little while on their honeymoon, b) Kevin, who was often the one to initiate Thirsty Thursdays, doesn't post anymore, and c) Jenny has secluded herself to study for the bar. But I'm game for getting together soon.

OH NOES, Eric! I LOVE the DAvIS!!! I love the hometowny feel of it, the neighborhood, the popcorn, and the general lack of ... people.

We will be at that wedding this weekend. Thursday a week though is our South Union show.

You aren't allowed to drink there, are you? (SUA?)

oh I'll go to that! what neighborhood is that?

p.s. george thorogood just sang take me out to the ball game at the cubs

They sell little cups of wine and cans of beer at SUA, but you can't bring in anything.

Last movie I saw at the Davis was Oceans 12. The opening credits use the exteme margins and read like D PITT, GEORGE CL, HEADLE, BERNI, etc.

Then again, same thing happened with Smokin' Aces at the Brew 'n' View.

b) Kevin, who was often the one to initiate Thirsty Thursdays, doesn't post anymore,

hey, what a coincidence. yes, i was in a self-imposed posting exile until i found gainful employment but no luck so far. anyway, my point for breaking said exile, i'm going to be at mac's for beverages in about 90 minutes. if anyone cares to join me it's a short walk from the division blue line station. it's the corner of division and wood, across the street from phyllis', 1801 division i think.

anyway, i have to run some errands, see you when i see you!

dang that's right around the corner from my place!

THEN COME ON OVER.

I think we're going to the South Union Arts show.

(stingy: It's in the UIC/Pilsen area.)

Hey Kevin, glad you stopped by.

kevin, if you are still reading this, how will I identify you?

Sorry Kevin, we're having practice and doing a bunch of shit to finish getting ready for our road trip, won't be able to make it out.

There are pics of Kevin on the current What Do You Look Like thread. He's easily identifiable.

kevin, if you are still reading this, how will I identify you?

Tall skinny guy, glasses, probably drinking High Life.

Big hair sometimes.

http://www.musicobsession.com/Pictures/e/u/eurythmics3594.jpg

The sky is purple.

http://radar.cbslocal.com/wbbm/ADI_CBS_Rad_large.jpg

So is the radar -- that's crazy rain.

Goodbye blue sky
Goodbye

eric -- I don't think it'll be as bad as yesterday, but we'll see. I think the front is moving at a pretty good clip.

Hope it doesn't rain here, I'm going to my first 'concert on the square' in my 8 years in Madison.

Midway Airport Light Thunderstorms and Rain 88°
O'Hare Airport Heavy Thunderstorms and Rain 73°

Okay, classical music, I'll give you a shot:

Mozart Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on “Greensleeves”
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1, 1st mvt
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastorale,’ 1st mvt

Greensleeves was always one of my favorites in HS band. When I played tuba I remember I actually had a really cool part.

I love the 6th, probably my favorite of his.

I have a soft spot for Greensleeves dating back to the title screen of King's Quest I.

hahahahahahahaha oh man

Such a great and insane game, e.g. trying madly to think of a command that the idiot text parser will understand while simultaneously running a way from some fucking vulture that will pick you up and kill you.

I think I only played it a handful of times, we didn't have a PC. But I totally remember that title screen.

Hey Midwesterners, I need to plan a trip from Iowa City into Chicago, and out again to California, all in the space of a day. First, is this trip possible or fool's errand? Second, what should I take? Amtrak or something? Or a plane?

PICK UP FEATHER. NO, THE FEATHER. YOU FUCKING BOX I SAID FEA--fine, LOOK AT GROUND. Uh, LOOK AT FLOOR. Hey. HEY. No, srsly, I taste terrible, you don't want to do tha-ARRGH FUCK!!

You don't have a snowball's chance in hell if you don't fly.

xp: Waht?

OIC SRY

TAKE PLANE
There is no "plane"
TAKE AIRPLANE
I do not understand "take"
FLY AIRPLANE
You do not know how to fly the airplane.
BOARD AIRPLANE
You do not have a ticket for the airplane.
FUCK YOU
I do not understand "fuck you"

I played a lot of Zork and the Hitch-Hiker's Guide text-based games. I always remember typing "fuck you" and the H-HG game would say "come now, this is a family game!" or something similar.

I waited over and hour at State and Madison for either a 146 or 145 bus. Twenty-seven buses came before the 28th was a 145. At least 7 151's came during that time.

"You can't do that -- at least not now!"

Tall skinny guy, glasses, probably drinking High Life.

i think this is exactly how he found me.

Hi! This is a way out-of-date comment and will be of very little interest to anyone but me, but I was just directed to the Reader's "Nest Issue" from April, and in a bit of freakiness, two of the eight people featured were (a) my old boss, and (b) this guy where I once went to a party at an old, huge, weird place of his and played his home-made theremin and then my hands hurt for like a week.

There is no point to this story other than that it was REALLY WEIRD. (It's not like my social circles are particularly wide.)

tonight's guest of note:

Shorter guy in his 40s wearing a suit, sort of petulent, swilling martinis alone at the piano bar. He gets loaded and hits on the cocktailer who tells him that she has a boyfriend. He responds, "I could be your boyfriend. I'm a multi-millionare, but I guess you'd rather be with whoever that guy is. I have houses all over the country."

At some point 2 women in their 40s sat next to him and ordered drinks, and the very first thing he did was stand say, "Hi ladies, I have a LOT of money." One woman responded, "Who cares?"

I inadvertently ended up at a bar with karaoke tonight and sang "Careless Whisper".

Wait, that's not even true. I sang "Father Figure".

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1038/635213504_f8a0f70143.jpg?v=0

Courtney, Melissa, and Helen, wasted, sitting on a sill on Sunday.

I do not approve of that.

I bought a cinnamon crunch "bagel" from Starbucks this morning, but I don't know why they call it a bagel. It's not the consistency of a bagel, but most importantly, IT DOESN'T HAVE A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE!?!?!? I'm not sure why they couldn't just call it a cinnamon roll.

I'm so embarassed ... it DOES have a hole, it was just filled up with cinnamon crunchy goodness, so I didn't know it was there until I ate a whole bite of what is basically brown sugar. I will still maintain that it is not a bagel though.

Those are freakin' tasty, I love them. But I try to avoid Starbucks at all costs, so I haven't had one in forever.

I have been going to the 'bucks all week because:
1) we are out of coffee at home
2) we got a Starbucks gift card as one of our wedding presents from Sarah's coworkers
3) it is one of the only places open at 5:45 a.m. when I'm driving to work

My work's carryout place has a "french toast bagel" and I hear it's actually a bagel but it's the best bagel ever made. I am curious to try it.

That open relationships thread is interesting in theory, and I wish it could solve some problems. I am really, really envious of the people who are in open relationships, not because I want to be in one for the extra play--not at all that--but because the guys (and girl) I've known who are in them seem to live pretty much without jealousy. They get a really good deal--a marriage or long-term relationship or whatever, a chance to scratch the 7-year itch, plus best of all an apparent security that comes from knowing that that person loves you and you love them and not even fucking someone else can touch it.

In my relationships we were never allowed to step out, but we did have 3ways on occasion, and I honestly don't think that contributed to the deterioration of the relationship, and there was never ever jealousy from them.

The point is that I have problems with jealousy. If I lost track of my boyfriend for too long I would start obssessing and if he went out to a bar without me I would wonder if he was picking up someone else. I hate it and would gladly trade my jealousy in a mostly-monagamous relationship for lack of jealousy in an open one.

( ))====><====(( )

Does not work.

Can you draw one with 3 or four dingalings?

"3 or four"

Jesse Style Guide: Use numerals for numbers 3 and lower, spell out numbers four and higher.

Jesse, you should post that on the other thread, because I pretty much completely agree with you, that it's about limiting jealousy and the negative side of possessiveness (i.e., fear/obsession when the other person isn't around) as much as it's about getting frisky elsewhere.

applause four Jeff's ascii

I posted it over there. The reason I'd rather discuss it here is bc I care about your opinions more than a bunch of strangers, and it's less hectic here.

Anyway, the thing is that I know I am going to be tempted (by the fruit of another) and it's not like I'm powerless, but taking the mystery and taboo out of these temptations--but only with the eliminiation of jealousy--would seem like something that would strengthen a relationship.

What does fucking another person have to do with your love and committment to your beloved? How many times has "cheating" broken up a relationship? A lot. I always think, man if the cheated-upon could just get over 1 fuck-up it would make so much sense. You're going to throw away something wonderful--a connection and committment to another person--over 1 incident of getting and giving physical pleasure to another person? That seems so fucked up.

Not to make it sound like I'm advocating a free-for-all, it's just that it seems like monogamy is the fucking holy grail for most people without anyone's ever considering to stop and ask WHY.

That said, if my significant something-or-other slept with someone else, I would be in a bad, bad way. And I would like to change that!

I hope to be in a relationship someday and I expect I'll be in therapy again sometime (a maybe lead to b) and this is something that will be a topic of discussion.

My boiled-down point from above: Why is marriage "forever and only"? I understand forever--that's the really beautiful part of it. But "only"? Why? Who says one person is enough for every person?

It's all a patriarchal, capitalist agenda to maintain the status quo, I say.

NOTE::: I am not dissing anyone's monogomous relationships! I'm only bucking something that I don't necessarily think is for me, and that I feel has been imposed upon me and that I have internalized.

JESUS CHRIST, JESSE, STFU!

You just need to find some hotties that agree with you.

But also, you have to be especially careful in an open relationship of STD's/ getting sick in general. Also, it seems like you'd need to set up a bunch of rules. Surely, at some point these other relationships could cross the line into an unwanted emotional territory. Otherwise, you're polyamourous, amirite?

I want to answer you, Jesse, but I'm having trouble because I feel like you're asking a bunch of different questions. Some of your points are personal, some of them are general.

Why is marriage "forever and only"?

Because that's what the definition of marriage is? The union of one person to another? I think it's possible for some people to have happy polyamorous or open relationships, but they can't be marriages.

yeh Nick, sorry about the cluster-post.

I was just in the shower thinking about rules and STDs and emtional attachments.

IIRC, I knew one couple whose rule was that you only sleep with the person one time, and no dating. Always playing safe would go without saying.

Nick I was just saying, that the "only" part bears examination.

How about this. Let's say you hook up with another guy only once, but during that one hookup, you really make a connection and you decide you want to be friends with him. Now what? Do the rules no longer apply when he becomes a friend? When does it become dating?

Well good luck with overturning thousands of years of marital convention for your personal convenience.

Sorry, that was overly snarky.

"saying,"

In my hypothetical open relationship this would not be OK. You/I got your/my nut, now move on.

Because that's what the definition of marriage is? The union of one person to another? I think it's possible for some people to have happy polyamorous or open relationships, but they can't be marriages.

Technically, the definition of marriage is the union of a man and a woman, so are gay marriages not really marriages, either?

xxpost It really was. Conventions are not overturned for individual convenience, but I think Jesse is getting at a bigger emotional point.

Our friend KJ was in this band:

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre900/e916/e91649zh2ls.jpg

It's not for my convenience!

This is something that we took on in a religious studies class, and part of what is informing my opnions--the idea that marriage--and monogamy--is a capitalist institution.

Again, I honestly respect others' marriages and relationships, really, really I do. My point is more about not taking swallowing definitions of what makes a marriage or relationship without some consideration.

I think serial monogamy is less cultural than it is an genetic related adaptation for human beings based on our ever evolving ecological niche. For whatever reason, over time it became better for us to stay with one mate. Of course this could change, it will just take time.

It's not just about me, is what I'm saying. I'm trying to help ALL OF YOU FREE YOURSELVES FROM THE SHACKLES OF WHITE CORPORATE MALE OPPRESSION!!

:)

better is not a good word to use there, just that the benefits of monogamy outweighs the cons.

for most people.

I think if I'm in a relationship again, it will not be an open one. If at some point we decide to have a guest appearance in the bedroom, that would be OK, but I'm too jealous to be OK with my guy being with someone without me.

Jeff, does this mean we have to stop being fuck buddies?

Yes.

cool thing, what are you gonna do for me?

I have to go to work waiting on white corporate monogomous males who will foist a system of monogamy on me now.

Feeling hungover at work: :(
Everything else: :) :) :)

Open relationships: :(

If at some point we decide to have a guest appearance in the bedroom

HAHA I just had a vision of Jesse's bedroom as Kramer's Merv Griffin set.

JESSE?!?!? In your worldview, WHY would white corporate males be pushing for marriage? That doesn't make any sense unless you back it up with something!

It makes perfect sense, but it sounds like Jesse actually took a class in it, so I'll let him field it.

I don't know what we're talking about anymore.

Seriously, I am so confused about what point Jesse is trying to make here. I'm not mad at Jesse, I'm just frustrated trying to figure out what we're talking about. And I feel like trying to make any kind of argument against open relationships is making me sound like an asshole homophobic square.

I am all for gay marriage. I am fine with open relationships and polyamory. I think they can work out great for the right people. I am just against redefining marriage to be something nebulous, where you make a kind-of commitment that doesn't mean anything, which I feel is what happens if you take out the monogamous aspect.

What would getting married MEAN if the couple agreed they could sleep with other people? What would be the point of the marriage.

?

Oh just off the top of my head marriage has GENERALLY SPEAKING raised the quality of life more for men than for women for hundeds of years, ie men gained more benefits and lost fewer freedoms than women did in the marriage contract. Sure, women might gain a wage-earner, some physical safety through having a man to watch over them, and a method of keeping their land in the family when they couldn't own property on their own, but that's hardly a ringing endorsement, and they paid with their lives in childbirth blah blah.

Plus the penalties for adultery, childbirth out of wedlock, and infanticide through exposure, abortion, "accidental" smothering in their sleep, and so on, have been MASSIVELY higher for women since, like, the early middle ages. For instance women in late medieval France could be, and were, executed for murder for not keeping their babies alive even when the whole household was starving b/c of deathly poverty, but men were never implicated even if the father was known.

Just for starters! Only incidental to Jesse's points which I think he is somewhat confused about, but just to comment on traditional marriage as a basically patriarchal institution.

Nick, so basically you're saying that open marriage is an oxymoron?

I thought ours was... oh, never mind.

I guess my main objection with the WHITE MALE CAPITALIST OPPRESSOR thing is that it makes it impossible for me to take the opposing view without casting myself as the white male capitalist oppressor bad guy.

I understand the historical perspective as presented by Laurel but I don't get its significance to two people in modern times who are considering getting married.

The only actual working definition we have of marriage is two people united "in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law." There's nothing in there about monogamy at all, which is one reason why adultery is not a crime. If you consider your own marriage as being defined by monogamy, it's because you included it in your vows, as the vast majority of wedded couples do. But I don't think that it's a necessary component of marriage.

Do Nick and Sarah have an open band marriage? Can you play with other bands? If so, do you have to tell the other person? Or do they have to be there too?

But seriously, I don't really feel like debating this today.

I've been surprised just in my first month of marriage how many people have reacted to that news with some negative statement about marriage and how they never plan to get married. I mean, sure, it's not for everyone, but GEEZ! A little smile for me, maybe? Even a fake one?

I agree that marriage in the US - the only place I know it really - has a very patriarchal past, but I don't think that means it is inherently flawed as a concept (not that anyone is saying that). I believe, personally, that I can be a married feminist.

It doesn't bother me that some people go for 'open marriages.' Whatever floats your boat. I think it is most important that the two people getting married have an understanding of what marriage means to them and how they are going to treat it.

That last sentence is OTM.

Thanks.
Now can we talk about something else?
Today is my Friday.

I wanna talk about something totally lightweight and fluffy.

Yay Sarah. New topic of conversation, please.

The only actual working definition we have of marriage is two people united "in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law." There's nothing in there about monogamy at all, which is one reason why adultery is not a crime. If you consider your own marriage as being defined by monogamy, it's because you included it in your vows, as the vast majority of wedded couples do. But I don't think that it's a necessary component of marriage.

Well I think this is a side conversation, since you're talking about a legal definition. Adultery may not be a crime, but it can be used as reason for divorce, so I think the idea that marriages are by definition monogamous is implied by that.

Wait, I forgot to say that basically the institution of marriage pretty much dates to the time that human beings stopped hunting & gathering and started farming, because suddenly there was property and savings to be passed down, and men wanted to know that it was their own offspring who were benefitting -- ie marriage basically STARTED OUT being about the control of women's fertility.

That we have made it into a meaningful life-long bond betw two people for better or worse, even if that exists more in popular imagination than in reality, is a real testament to human ingenuity and I think is a beautiful dream that does us good even if we can't attain it or live up to it all the time -- IF that dream is good and useful for you in the first place. If it isn't, find another dream.

My sister just went and got her marriage license in the thinly-populated (~1000 year-round residents) UP county where she's getting married later in the summer. The people at the courthouse gave her a pamphlet on STDs and reproductive counseling.

Which is funny because she's currently pursuing a master's in public health policy.

I don't know how people get married, but I don't really want to talk about it either.

That IS funny.

C used to tell stories about how her dad stocked the hall table w/ a drawer of condoms and told her (and prob R) "Now. I am not condoning you becoming sexually active. Definitely not. In fact, I prefer that you don't. HOWEVER. If you must, use these." Thanking u, public health dad!

We got a sex ed pamphlet at the Chicago marriage license office too, so it's not just the rural areas.

laurel -- I had typed out that EXACT THING, and then deleted it, about the transition from hunting and gathering to farming.

Ok now we're all on the same page, let's move on.

I wonder if he kept an inventory of the condoms.

ha

xposts Yeah, she said that the STD thing was a pretty much across-the-board policy in most states, and then went into a bunch of reasons why it was a dumb policy. She's a lot smarter than I am about things.

My mom totally had at least 5 different kinds of sex related things for us (condoms, lube, spermicide, ... what am I forgetting? maybe multiple types of condoms?) all in one closet. I'm talking BULK SUPPLIES. And she made us all show her we could put protection on a banana. But I never took anything out of there.

Lube, wow. That is a concerned mom.

lol No kidding.

No micro-tears for MY daughers, no sirree!

My mom just made sure that I knew it was cool if I was gay, which led to a classic "Mom, I'm not gay!" - "It's okay, you can tell me!" argument.

One of my favorite twisted memories was of my mom going in the bathroom where one sister was in the middle of taking a bath and forcing her to put the condom on the banana, even though she was naked and wanted privacy. YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME YOU CAN DO THIS! THEN I WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE! ha ha

ha ha, Jordan

Laurel is that crying "tears" or ripping "tears"? If the latter, owwwww.

I'm thinking ripping tears.

Speaking of such things, when Nick and I went to see Knocked Up, he warned me there was going to be a really gross part. Does everyone know what I'm talking about? Anyway, I didn't think it was that gross. It was less gross to me than throwing up in movies or bathroom humour.

In fact, I think I was crying embarassing schmoopy tears during that part.

And laughter tears when ex-Undeclared dude walks in.

It was less gross to me than throwing up in movies or bathroom humour.

Ha, both of which were ALSO in the movie (well, there was definitely puking, right?).

The girl I saw that with was very very grossed out by that part. Enough that I don't know if I can hang out with her any more because my friends and I talk about bigger gross-out shit than that ALL the time. EvenEspecially on the internets!

Which part?

Yeah, it was weird, everyone in the theater (mostly doofy college kids) recoiled at that part, which kind of made me sad. I mean, the movie meant for it to be a big gross-out scene, but whatever, you can't deal with a vagina? (I'm assuming this is the scene we're talking about?)

What part is this??

Re tears: yes, micro-tears are normal during rough sex, or even more or less "normal" sex if there is relative dryness for whatever reason. This is why women are whatever-percentage more vulnerable to STDs than men are, esp blood-borne ones.

SPOILER

There is a scene where a baby is shown being born/crowning.

OH I can deal with a vagina heh heh heh.

This is why women are whatever-percentage more vulnerable to STDs than men are, esp blood-borne ones.

WHITE MALE CAPITALIST OPPRESSION

On the micro-tears tip (oops) -- I was semi-aware of this, but at the same time hearing about it just makes me think owwwwwww.

...and micro-tears.

XP oh please are you serious? THAT'S the gross part? Excuse, me: "gross".

The college radio station I worked at had a liner that went, "Just like a sore dick, you can't beat \/\/MTU!"

Except it was more like "d*ck".

You know what's worse than micro-tears? Macro-tears.

rimshot!

I think I'm going to pop my summer baseball cherry this weekend. Minor league, with a ticket price that includes unlimited (?) beer and hot dogs (!).

I have heard v. good things about Madison minor league baseball.

The Schaumburg Flyers game last weekend was a good time, although it was a pretty long, high-scoring game, which I sort of chalked up to the fact that the players just weren't that good. And beer was only slightly less than Wrigley prices.

xp In fact, from one of the dudes who work at your company, Jordan:

i went to a madison mallards baseball game last night with a bunch of dudes from the curling club. it was fun even though the team and the league is really terrible, and here is the reason why: for $20 you get all the beer you can drink and all the food you can eat from an hour and a half before the first pitch until the end of the seventh inning. there were 17 different beers on tap, and about 15 things on the menu.

I don't really care for baseballing, but I would definitely do that.

WOW that's a lot of food and drink!!

sweeeeeet

Minor league baseball is great. In Greensboro, we lived about as close to the Greensboro Bats (R.I.P.) stadium as we do to Wrigley now. Dollar draft night is great. It was just like sitting in a giant beer garden, with a baseball game going on that you could sometimes pay attention to.

DUDES, I totally just got a company email that we are closed on the 4th (which I was expecting), but also the 3rd! WOO!

Baseball games are fun on a pretty day.

My favorite baseball snack is a big salty pretzel with mustard.

http://muertoderisa.typepad.com/muerto_de_risa/images/pretzel.jpg

Yes, Please!

That will be much more fun than the outdoor chamber orchestra concert I was at last night, where people apparently get very irate if you talk above a whisper. LIGHTEN UP, CLASSICAL DUDES.

"get very irate if you talk above a whisper" = flash the devil horns and shriek "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

I did want to kick some beats during the Shostakovich piece.

Pop quiz.

Without googling, from what song are these lyrics taken?
Now...
Hear this
Pay attention to me
'Cause I'm a rich white girl and it's plain to see
I got every kind of thing that the money can buy
Let me tell you all about it
Let me amplify
I got DIAMONDS
You heard about those
I got so many that I can't close my safe at night in the dark
Lying awake in a sick dream

Never heard it!

After googling, I still don't recognize it.

I had this early 90s pop song stuck in my head and wanted to see the rest of the lyrics. I'm guessing that was a rap? I'll have to watch the video later.

You don't know that song?

Maybe if I heard the tune or something? Dunno.

I've never heard it, either. Was it on the radio? Wikipedia sez there were five singles from that album, three of which I recognize, but that song wasn't one of them.

Oh, weird.

I guess I just heard that album alot.

Watched video.
It's more of a Blondie-type spoken word bit than a rap.

Here it is, if anyone is interested.
(Annie Lennox Monday Can't Buy It)

The three songs I know from that album are "Why" (which I once pumped at full volume from my bedroom after being grounded for something stupid), "Walking on Broken Glass" (which is probably the album's biggest hit, since I still hearing it occasionally in department stores and on adult-contemporary stations), and "Little Bird."

"Why" (which I once pumped at full volume from my bedroom after being grounded for something stupid)

AWESOME

ha ha I am still LOLing about that

Now I'm watching Debbie Gibson videos.

WHY rules.

This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread
These are the dreams I'll dream instead
This is the joy that's seldom spread
These are the tears...
The tears we shed
This is the fear
This is the dread
These are the contents of my head

John playing "Why" really loudly is the most perfect thing I have heard today. John was a teenager very much in character.

I think my whiny-ass parents-punishing record was "The Wall"

WTF? Two coworkers just passed in their own little world and one was like, "I TOTALLY hate long, curly hair. I mean, I guess it can be pretty sometimes, but most people don't know how to fix it right."
Coworker number 2: "Yeah, I totally agree."

Whatevs. They both have boring hair.

I never punished my parents with music. I was so uncool like that.

As I got cooler, my loud just-to-annoy-you-Mom music got better. The Cure "Disintegration" was big for telecasting that I was feeling depressed, Nirvana meant I was angry, Jesus Lizard meant I was fucking FURIOUS.

Pixies meant I was happy, but I don't think that was ever communicated very clearly.

God, teenagers are little assholes.

In 5th grade I blasted (as loud as my shitty mono tape deck could "blast") "Parents Just Don't Understand" after getting grounded and/or sent to my room.

Kenan OTM. That's why I was in a hardcore band that practiced in the attic.

I have a Thing for long, curly hair. :>

If I was mad at my parents I would blast Metallica or go play drums.

i got drunker last night than i have in quite some time. met stingy, went to adobo, made a new friend, ran into an old one. went to picante directly after leaving adobo? came home with unfiltered camels? sent ill-adviced text and myspace messages? why is my front door not closed?

holy mackrel.

FRI, July 13 Short People Appreciation Night, featuring Emmannuel Lewis (AKA Webster). Ticket prices on day of game will be based on height! All fans on the Great Dane Duck Blind will receive a Mallards T-shirt courtesy of Covance. Special Guest Appearance by Jimmy Winn.

'twas good to meet you kevin. hope no one came into your house while your door was open.

Kevin, I trust you inaugurated Stingy into CHILX with aplomb.

POO: Hazing/induction rituals

yeah he did. also, one of the bartender's friends who was hanging out turned out to have gone to my high school in north carolina, which was pretty random!

xxpost if not grace

I have curly hair. It fucking sucks. I opt for normal dude short haircuts over having it long and fending off mother birds looking for nesting and getting stuck going through doorways.

I bonded with a bartender last night over our shared slightly curly yet wispy (and fading) hair type.

hey mattt - did you go to the usa v. mexico game? i was there. never had the feeling of being a foreigner in my own country until then.

Mine repels water.

I like my curly hair. It gives me character.

Actually I did. After the match, I ended up trading jerseys with a Mexico fan in the soccer tradition which got a round of applause from the other fans in the area. Afterwards I got invited to go post-game tailgating with another group of Mexico fans. We may have been foreigners in our own country, but I also know other born-and-raised, red-blooded American sports fans are fucking dicks compared to these guys. I had a great time. My voice has still not recovered completely.

I probably blasted mark isham and bruce's nebraska, or wait i only had a clock radio in my bedroom.

yeah the atmosphere of that game was so much better than your typical american pro game. I almost felt bad about the US winning afterwards, since it would have been such a great party vibe if mexico had won. too bad there were the typical obnoxious american fans scattered throughout that had beer fights.

I don't remember ever blasting something in particular. Though I'm sure I did. Probably Angel Dust by Faith No More.

I blasted Jane's Addiction "Ocean Size" at least once. No talk, all action. That's me.

Oh and this song I taped off the radio called "Never Satisfied" by the Infidels.

I know I listened to Ritual over and over, especially "Three Days." Not because I was trying to send a message to my family, though, just because I loved it. And, you know... it's got sex in it.

Again: over and over

http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/pop_albums/8/5/e/c859244spef.jpg

ok, serious wtf's now: i just found the pants i was wearing last night in my freezer.

If we're talking about albums on perma-repeat, that's another story entirely.
xp

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ha ha!

It was pretty warm last night.

LOLOLOLOL

It was pretty warm out last night. I could see chilling some jeans to cool off in later.

xpost!

"I thought maybe we could just go back to my place and chill."

Laugh it up, but: over and over

http://downloadmp3direct.com/img/cover584_14879.jpg

lol @ pants

there was a commercial, wasn't there? A dude puts his tighty whities in the freezer, then puts 'em on, and it's all, "Yeah. It's kinda like that."

I know I have ranted about those commercials before. A soda that's like hypothermia. Extreme.

i don't know if it's related but i did watch the seven year itch two nights ago. still no sign of my belt.

Look in the crisper.

don't have a crisper. belt was on a shelf behind my ukelele.

i want a burrito now. i think picante may be calling my name.

hush...hush...picante's calling my name...

your fridge doesn't have a crisper? is it a mini fridge?

no, there's a place where drawers for a crisper should be but no drawers.

aw, that's sad. not as sad as a dorm fridge, though.

you should demand a discount on your rent! WHERE IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO PUT LETTUCE?!?!?!

IT'S AN OUTRAGE, I TELLS YA!

ok, i think it's time for me to have a cigarette.

Those dorm fridges didn't refridgerate shit.

True, but I miss the one we had at the ol' practice space. When we remembered to stock it with drinks, it was very very nice.

2 mo' hours of this boringness

Who gets the 4th off besides me and Sarah? Should we do something to celebrate our homeland's birthday?

Amen. There was scrambling and madness this morning, and now... dead calm. Don't know what you got till it it's gone.

YES. It might be raining though, so we should have a backup indoors plan.

Oh, I get the 4th off, too. Doesn't everybody?

outdoors plan:

http://www.ugf.edu/gallery/images/slip_n_slide.jpg

indoors plan:

http://g2007.com/wef/twister.jpg

I was thinking something less... fratty.

Fine, we'll do it your way and play bagtag.

Girl at top on top photo: OMG! OMG! Put me down! OMG OMG!

What is fratty about a giant Slip N Slide? That shit is just fun.

Dan, do you have cornhole paraphenalia?

Nope, no cornhole apparatus.

Bagtag is reserved for more solemn occasions.

I dunno, I was just thinking that those pics screamed "JUNIOR YEAR PARTIEZ WHOOOOO GO STATE!"

http://www.barchicago.com/images/flyers/BCHIIndependenceDay-Asml.jpg

"JUNIOR YEAR PARTIEZ WHOOOOO GO STATE!"

It's only stupid when other people do it.

That's where you'll be, EZ?

Oh, Twister.

I believe Kr and I are going to Geja's for a fondue dinner on the 4th. (It's their 42nd anniversary, and everything's 42% off.) But if there's some afternoon hijinks, I'd be down.

Have you been there before, J?

It looks yummy.

Nope!

Nothin' like a big ol' pot o' cheese.

Have always heard good things, though.

The last time I had fondue was probably when Kelsey had a fondue party. I don't know if that was the party that Hstencil showed up at or not.

It's only stupid when other people do it.

Nope, stupid all the time. I grew up 2 blocks from a half dozen frat houses and that never changed.

What I mean is, if you see me doing that un-ironically, feel free to punch me in the junk.

No idea what I'm doin' on the 3rd/4th Sarah. Dancing could be fun.

xpost You're going to make a great old man.

Already 80% of the way there! 90% if you count how I'm feeling after helping K@tie move for 5 hours.

for the fourth i will be on a deck at towga's duplex in southern california. i won't just be getting drunk, i'll be getting drunk FOR AMERICA.

Walter Matthau as... The Dan Mart1n

I could be so lucky.

I still really want to go to Neo sometime.

I could be convinced to do some dancing if the circumstances were right.

PS: know who else likes to dance? and i know because she told me so, in person, when i invited her to play Dance Dance Revolution with me?
THIS LADY:
http://www.loc.gov/about/awards/legends/biopics/Judy_Blume.jpg

I had more fun at the ALA conference earlier this week than I thought I would have.

she did not accept my invitation.

...but she watched me play. (at least for a while, til she had to do a book signing)

We should build a horseshoe pit in my side yard.

Speaking of... what happened to 'shoe?

she went to India for a while, i think?

Sarah, definitely, any time you can take off a Friday we can go to Neo on a Thursday night. Or, actually, Neo from 10 to midnight could be enough and you'd just have a short night.

And Neo has couches for the brahs who don't want to dance.

That's awesome about JB!

E - ok, maybe in a couple of weeks! (not show night or pitchfork weekend, because I'll need energy for that, but the thurs after that? 19th?)

I am still boggling at Amanda inviting Judy Blume to play Dance Dance Revolution.

(Why did you get to go to the ALA Conference, btw?)

I know!

The week after my suggested dance date is "Slayer Christ Illusion Re-Issue Release."

D works for them! The song I played to was "The Neverending Story", which just puts it over the top into superduper awesome for me.

She was standing right behind me, so I thought WHY NOT.

You DO know that Nick has the extralong dance version on LP, right?

Me: Hey, you should play!
JB: hey, I do like to dance...
Me: Me too, let's play!
JB: ...mmm, maybe some other time...

then i played. I should have shouted THIS ONE'S FOR DEENIE but I didn't.

xp how would i know that?

Surely he's brought it up before? I mean, who wouldn't brag about that?

I must have blanked that out due to extreme jealousy.

YSI? I don't know this song. Is it the theme to the movie or something?

yep

god that movie

ATREYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

"Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film The Neverending Story."

ok, I know I make a lot of Simpsons references, but that is the second time today I have given a nod to THE SAME EPISODE. This is too nerdy.

John, you are joking?
I saw that movie SO many times when I was little. We weren't a movie-owning type of family. We even rented the VCR for a long time when we'd go check out movies. But anyway, we'd check out NES over and over and over...

it's by Limahl, who i think was the dude from Kajagoogoo?

video here! fly a fantasyyyyyyyyyyyyy

And I'd always fantasize I was the Princess. OF COURSE.

but she was so lame! all she did was sit up in a tower and wait for someone to say her name! i wanted to be riding a horse with atreyu, like his sidekick or something.

limahl's singing in that video is criminally awful.

I think I may have seen the movie when I was younger, but I don't really remember. Maybe I only saw parts of it at a friend's house. Was there like a big flying dog or something?

that's a luck dragon, you sillyhead.

OK, the chorus of the song sounds weirdly familiar. It makes me think of Reading Rainbow for some reason.

xp That thing creeped me the fuck out. Something about the eye/teeth combo it had going on.

Speaking of which, did anyone notice that there's a restored version of Labyrinth that's coming to theaters soon?

I NOTICED!

It's already at the Landmark Century, I think.

Or no, it's not, it must've just been on the marquee.

Yeah, that's where I saw the trailer for it.

Gah, PF music festival set times released. Dan Deacon and Girl Talk are going to be in the stupid fucking tent.

and I just realized that Deerhunter isn't Deerhoof. Silly me.

the tent is for teh dancin!

About half of what I want to see is in the tent. But I figure, hey, shade.

I couldn't get in it last year. It was so packed most of the time, I couldn't even get under the tent part.

Cadence Weapon in the tent too :(((((

Ditto. Fuck that tent.

oops xp

I wonder who the special guests of Yoko Ono are going to be.

Gah, PF music festival set times released. Dan Deacon and Girl Talk are going to be in the stupid fucking tent.

I pretty much figured this would be the case, but I'm still disappointed.

I just bought tickets for Radio Birdman in a couple weeks. I have never heard them.

I wonder who the special guests of Yoko Ono are going to be.

One of them's Thurston Moore, according to the Pitchfork interview he gave recently.

At least the Junior Boys aren't in the tent. NOBODY PUTS THE JUNIOR BOYS IN A TENT.

yeah, but they put so many good people in the tent. I will seriously be in the tent 94/7.

The top 4 bands I was looking forward to seeing are in the tent.

Put Iron and Wine in the stupid tent.

Same here. Anything with a whisper of a beat has been ghettoized.

BEARDO EMO IN TENT NOW

Maybe it's because they are TOO INTENTSE.

bbbut I was only little! I thought I'd be a ballerina when I grew up. That princess was very graceful. Also, she got to be alone with BASTIAN!

Middle sis was the one into horses.

I was cats.

So I think the way I'm going to work this is...

SATURDAY
Grizzly Bear at 3, Fujiya and Miyagi at 4:10, Iron and Wine at 5*, Clipse at 7, Cat Power at 8, Girl Talk at 8:30, and then karaoke at Hidden Cove.

SUNDAY
Junior Boys at 3, Sea and Cake at 4, Jamie Lidell at 5*, Stephen Malkmus at 6*, either Of Montreal or The Field at 7, and then decide whether I care enough to wait through a New Pornographers set to see De La Soul.

* acts that could easily be skipped in favor of Uno, beer-drinking, getting interviewed by Ted Leo, etc.

I don't like having to pick between Battles and Fujiya & Miyagi

Yeah, that's a tough one. Thing is, I like the Battles album, but I love the F&M album.

Check out Craig Taborn's Junk Magic on Sunday if you get there in time.

also, clipse vs. dan deacon. :( :(

You can sea the cake anytime.

Saturday:

1pm – 3pm – Ken Vandermark and William Parker Quartet
4pm – 5pm – Battles
6pm – 7pm – Mastodon
7pm – 9pm – Dan Deacon and Girl Talk

Sunday:

4pm – 5pm – The Sea and Cake
5pm – 6pm – Jamie Lidell
6pm – 8pm – Cadence Weapon and The Field

And whoever else in between. I'd like to see Fred Lonberg-Holm, but I don't know if I'll make it there that early on Sunday. Too bad, because that's probably the only time I'll be able to actually see something in the tent. FUCKING TENT.

I care little about the headliners. Maybe curious about Yoko, if anything.

I'm definitely curious about Yoko, I just have a feeling I'll be beat by the time she goes on stage, and I'd probably rather go to karaoke at that point, since it's part of a birthday party for a friend I haven't seen in several years.

Actually, last time I saw her was at Lollapalooza '95, come to think of it.

My friend Becky, not Yoko.

so is there anything going on THIS saturday?

Get Yoko to skip the show and go to Karaoke.

hey jeff - I heard you were a basketball fan. are you watching the draft tonight at all?

oh yeah, I love watching the draft.

only one hour away!

i know this is late notice but i will be in uptown tonight for beverages if anyone wants to drop by. i'll be up there about 10.

I'm pretty sure my whole weekend is free right now, which is awesome.

I spent last night at Hopleaf, which I would heartily recommend to Stingy (and anyone else who hasn't yet been there) if you're at all interested in good beer. Get there early, though, because that place fills up fast.

Speaking of good beer, I tried to go to the Map Room last week, and man oh man was it packed. Bucktown has blown up even more since I last tried to hang out there.

Someone take me there and buy me drinks.

really, anywhere.

Yeah, the only time I've tried to go to the Map Room within the past year they actually turned me away at the door because it was so crowded.

<i>i will be in uptown tonight for beverages if anyone wants to drop by.</i>

Thirsty Thursday on the Wilson platform.

last saturday after the show at ronnys we wound up at the bucktown vfw? and it was PACKED BEYOND PACKED??? to quote my friend lisa, "i've never seen so many people so desperate to get laid in one place before." it was true and it was disgusting. then we went over to the note for the late night dance party. my friend todd has the place from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. the last saturday of every month, always a good time.

xpost- i'll either alight the red line at sheridan or take the ashland bus and get off at irving & clark.

I propose a Hopleaf/Map Room FAP, on an upcoming Sunday around noon.

Map Room has free pool, for what it's worth. No foodz though.

I propose good times

hopleaf seems kinda far north. i guess there's a way to get there though.

I'm biased toward Hopleaf just because it's walkable from my apartment, but I'm cool with either.

Hey, speaking of which, does anyone remember what the Unibroue draft that Jesse (and maybe someone else) ordered at Bar on Buena that one time. The one I tried and proclaimed the worst beer I'd ever tasted, a vile combination of butterscotch and ass? I'm asking because Kr ordered a Unibroue Ephemere last night and it was pretty good, and so I want to try other varieties from that brewery while avoiding the offending brew.

stingy, when i've gone up there i take the damen bus. it takes a while but it's a nice ride, you'll get to see a lot of the city anyway.

oh yeah, and the hopleaf is TOTALLY worth the ride. you really should go.

it has good reviews on yelp!

ok, i'm going out for dinner and to watch the draft. you all know where i'll be if anyone gets thirsty this evening.

That Unibroue was their Xmas beer, I'm pretty sure. Go for Don De Dieu, La Fin Du Monde, or Maudite, they've all treated me well in the past.

Wait now I'm starting to think that was Goose Island Xmas beer...

I think *I* ordered some sort of Xmas beer (maybe Goose, I don't remember) and then recommended it to others at the table.

I had that Fin Du Monde and thought it was fine, fwiw. Have not had any others.

I'm guessing it was one of their darks, J. Maybe Trois Pistoles or Maudite, based solely on your flavor description.

Hmmm, maybe it was just a bad batch? What was weird is that everyone else thought it was delicious, though.

I'm glad that someone decided to make a website called Beer Me

I think the same brewery makes Blanche de Chambly, which I like a lot.

I figured it out: Kelly Clarkson is trying to be Fiona. I'm for this. It's not a perfect record by any stretch, but I like where she's going with this. After all, I loves me some Fiona.

Srsly -- check out this record. Very downloadable.

After all the shit she's been through over this record, and after listening to the first three tracks, I almost want to write the lady a fan letter.

Seriously, I am so confused about what point Jesse is trying to make here. I'm not mad at Jesse, I'm just frustrated trying to figure out what we're talking about. And I feel like trying to make any kind of argument against open relationships is making me sound like an asshole homophobic square.

I know you weren't mad.

I'll look for the article and ask Courtney about it so that I don't give anymore bastardized summaries or representations of it. Even if I show it to you it is still full of some pretty subversive ideas that are hard to swallow.

my take:

Jesse: "I get too jealous. Is there another kind of relationship that might help ease this tension in my relationships?"

Nick: "I just got married and I'm very happy with my decision and I love my wife. Will ILX please ease off with this all-of-a-sudden marriage-slamming vibe?"

We had a Unibroue on draft at our wedding.

I don't remember which one. I was drunk.

This was at the Hopleaf. Where people get drunk.

Where people get drunk but also experience whatever the Belgian word is for "delicious."

Yeh, sorry about seeming to be marriage-slamming, because that's not at all what I want to do.

The author that I was referring to is John D'Emilio.

John D'Emilio (born 1948, New York City) is a professor of history and of women's and gender studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has taught previously at George Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1982.

(I never knew he taught at UNCG!)

I think I was conflating a couple different ideas and mixing in a little of Jenny-isms in their for good measure!

Courtney tells me that D'Emilio's point is that capitalism rendered marriage obsolete since the nuclear family used to provide children who were workeres who supported the family; since the Industrial Revolution individuals were able to earn their own livings outside of the home, changining the significance of marriage, and arguably making it irrelevant to how we live today. Especially after the World Wars, people learned that they could live outside of marriage; this is threatening to the world view that Christianity and to the ruling class as it is a shakeup in the conventions that keep people in line (controlling reproduction, women). There is a catch-22: capitalism made obsolete an institution that it values.

ANYWAY: What I think we can all learn from this is that Big Academic Theory is hard to reconcile with real life!!! Sure some things make sense on paper and maybe we people could stand to look critically at the way we live, but I think priority #1 is enjoying life, and examining it to death needs to back the fuck off.

In other news, I went to Bally's for the first time yesterday. It's OK, but I really miss Cheetah terribly. One thing in particular is the TV situation: at Cheetah each piece of cardio equipment had its own individually controlled TV and headphone jack. These TVs are what kept me going for the long slow burn. At Bally's they have 7 or 8 big screens on the wall and you have to tune your radio to listen to them (if you can find something you want to watch)--I don't have a radio.

Anyway, I gave my body a little surprise and then went and had 2 beers and a shot with Courtney and I was HAMMERED. Then my long-distance something-or-other called and I was all slurry and babbly and I wanted to die of shame.

xpost marriages are as individual as the people in them, obv. But I like grand theories like this, esp ones that involve capitalism. They charm me.

And when you throw evolution into the mix, whoa daddy.

Hi, I'm in a Day's Inn in Lexington, Kentucky.

What is in Lexington?

Me.

well, that makes it awesome already, right?

Are you going to visit the Kentucky Jelly factory?

That was dumb and I'm sorry. I've been up since 5 for no good reason.

I has an idea. For Pitchforkfest, Saturday night, I think I'll reserve a room at the notorious fleabag Viceroy Hotel, across the street from Union Park. That way, Saturday night I can just walk across the street and crash, and be fresh for Sunday, when I will walk back across the street. Also, I have been curious about this hotel for a while. "Notorious fleabag" is no overstatement. It's a really cheap place to sleep, though.

Do they still have the sign that says "Transients Welcome"?

Is it a flophouse or a hotel? I don't think you can "reserve" rooms in a flophouse.

I'll call and ask.

I mean, I know it does also function as a hotel. Rooms go for about $50 a night.

PS This is a gross idea.

I'm thinking, sleep on top of the covers, don't take your clothes off. It comes out to about the same as cab fare there and back.

And surely there's a shower!

hey guys, if you need a shower, i'll give you my room key.

ok, nevermind, the place is closed.

I feel so naive. I looked up three -- 3! -- so-called hotels in the vicinity. Two of them had disconnected phones, the other one told me they only rent by the week. Ok, fine, I guess I'll go home. :(

Working down the street from that place, Dan and I would giggle everytime we passed the "Free Parking for Transient Guest" sign. I'm kinda bummed it's closed. I don't really go in for heroine and hookers, but were I to start, that place was to be my first stop.

Kenan if you had gotten a room there I would have been so excited. And scared for your security.

hahaha xpost

We had the hooker suite at the Travelodge in Newark, DE. It was awesome, it had a plastic chandelier and purple lights.

The first room they tried to give us at the Day's Inn last night hadn't been cleaned up, so they upgraded us to a room with a jacuzzi tub. The jacuzzi tub is not in the bathroom, but right in the middle of the hotel room. Above it is a mirror topped with fake ivy. Classy.

Oh man, I started watching Vanishing Point last night and passed out at about 8 pm. Woke up around 11:30, saw that I missed text from girl, moved to bed, went back to sleep. Almost 12 hours! I kinda felt like I had my evening stolen, but I feel amazing this morning.

Haha, that hotel room is awesome.

Honeymoon suite for the honeymooners.

(I think you know this, but I totally wasn't knocking marriage at all -- just talking about open relationships/marriages versus closed ones, and not being either judgemental of anyone else or perscriptive. But I do think a sweater with HOMOPHOBIC SQUARE sewn into it would be cute.)

I bet there weren't bathrooms in the Viceroy, just a shared one down the hall. Maybe a shower down the hall too.

I stayed in a place like this one night in Montreal when I was 20 -- one with hookers on the stoop. And just a little hook-in-a-loop lock on the door. The one on Broadway, just north of iHop, is still in business if you want the brush-salesman-down-on-his-luck hotel experience.

I loves me some Fiona.

You know she's playing Ravinia in August?

I'm really not a ravinia kinda guy, tho.

Have you been there, K.? A nice night and you might change your mind.

meh. Old people.

I'll cavort with the middle-aged when I'm middle-aged. There's plenty of time.

I've only been to Ravinia once, but it was a great sloppy Sonny Rollins show (w/Cyrus Chestnut opening).

It's only about cavorting with nature and a great sound system. Everyone else is out of focus. (I'm going there tonight btw.)

Wait, Nick, did I miss why you were in Lexington? And are you broing down with Nickalicious?

We are en route to Virginia for Sarah's cousin's wedding. I didn't want to take more time off work so we bought the airport card for the laptop and found a motel with free wifi about halfway from Chicago to VA, and I'm working from the motel this morning. Hopefully I'll be done soon and we'll finish driving to Virginia.

So we're not actually going to see any of Lexington.

Oh yeah, I do remember the road trip now.

Just got a new über boss here at the Press. I hope the dude cleans house.

What can anyone tell me about the area around Palmer Square Park? Is that considered Logan Square still?

afaik

It's a nice little area. Sad, though, a teenage girl just got shot near there, caught in gang crossfire.

Friends of ours live near Palmer and Drake, they were able to get a free standing home there. Nice enough, people have chickens in their yards. Long ass walk to the train though.

It's a nice little area. Sad, though, a teenage girl just got shot near there, caught in gang crossfire.

A Pleasant Place to Witness Events that are More Gang-Related in Nature

oh, how pleasant! Positively serene.

Yeah, I was just lying. It's constant warfare at all times, crack houses on every block, whores, lepers, and let's not forget the parasitic robots that roam the alleys at night.

And it's not that far a walk to the California stop.

I was just joking. I think of few parts of town as truly dangerous.

haha Logan Square is a lot like THE FUTURE.

We were thinking about looking at a couple condos in that area, but its weird the split in reactions we are getting from people who live/have lived/know the area. It's pretty much right down the middle between people saying "its great! I love it!" and others saying, "better invest in Kevlar" or "gunshots all the time".

No man seriously those robots'll get ya.

The story of the girl in the park is very very sad. It's the first time I've heard of any gang violence in the area. The police have got those who are supposedly responsible. There is some community outcry that the gentrification happening in the neighborhood is pushing the gangs closer into contact with each other, leading to increased violence. I don't know whether to believe that or not, but there is a lot of new construction in that area, and new businesses opening farther north near our place. It's weird to be a part of that change.

Long walk from palmer and drake, not from the park.

It's the first time I've heard of any gang violence in the area.

OK that's not necessarily true. There's a lot of grafitti, the occasional questionable noises (gunshot? firecracker?) and in the south-west area of the hood things are very different than the opposite side.

I think if you're involved in the communities which have the most gang violence, you see more of it. Since we're not, we don't "see" it as much. I dunno -- MANY of my students are way more aware of gang violence in those areas than my friends seem to be.

It's just an observation, not necessarily a statement of TRUTH or whatever.

I saw all those things (Dan's recent list, not the robots further up) at Clark & Winnemac when I moved to Chicago, when Win-Clark Liquors was on the corner instead of a hardware store.

by "involved in" i mean "a member of"

So as far as whether to buy, Jon, the trends of the past 10 years anyway show that it would be a great place, investment-wise. If only I had bought at "Uptown"/"gang-infested" Clark and Winnemac instead of rented...

What do you mean by "involved in the communities" and how are your students more involved than you or your friends are?

(xpost: But you're still a "member of" that community -- unless by "community" you mean "racial group" rather than "neighborhood.")

Right I mean I know a few families sprinkled around the neighborhood, they've mentioned it, and our landlords talked about the situation briefly, and sometimes it's blatantly obvious. But I don't go to neighborhood watch meetings or talk to the alderman's office or anything. I don't know. I'd like to think my newish presence in the area isn't making that big a footprint, but when you consider how many people in similar situations to my own are moving there these days, it adds up.

The tapas place that just opened on Kedzie around the corner from my place seems really weird to me, but in the back of my mind I kind of know that the whole square area is going to slowly become like Wicker Park, most likely.

Is that Azucar?

I was trying, however unsuccessfully, to be racially sensitive -- what I meant is that we are not Hispanic or African American, we (most of us, I think) do not have younger siblings or cousins who are in the public schools; we, as (basically - don't get mad) yuppies are not the demographic that sees a lot of that stuff firsthand.

so last night I went out with a friend and his English friend who was visiting on a business trip. we went in this bar that had these things called "table tappers", has anyone seen these? they are long cylinders that have a tap that you put on your table (duh), and hold 2.5 pitchers. they were pretty sweet. then the bar also had a Wii on a big screen, so we played a lot of Wii bowling, which was fun. then they had one of those jukeboxes where they have it all computerized and thus have a ton of songs to choose from - the English guy kept insisting on playing things like Moby and Paul Van Dyke, and the bartender at one point kinda complained to us, "you know, whenever you put on techno, people leave the bar." anyway, we eventually put on stuff like Def Leppard and Bon Jovi and people liked that, and at one point this large woman asked my friend to come over and spank her, which he did. that was somewhat unexplainable. the jukebox also had Sun Ra's "Space is the Place," which I was tempted to play just to see the reaction of the crowd to a 20 minute free jazz song, but I decided against it.

xpost re Azucar: Yep. Haven't been, the menu looks slightly boring. And then there's the constant swarm of yupgrupsteries hanging around the door. Oh, and MORE SIDEWALK SEATING! Yaaay

I thought by "in the community" she meant someone has grown up and/or lived there for ~20 years vs. someone who moved in from out of state 3 years ago and doesn't know his neighbors.

ok you're all boring the shit out of me suddenly

Shall I do a little clown dance for you instead?

I thought by "in the community" she meant someone has grown up and/or lived there for ~20 years vs. someone who moved in from out of state 3 years ago and doesn't know his neighbors.
that's also what i meant. we are not indigenous to the neighborhoods we live in, whether we like to think so or not.

Where was this, Jon?

I've been devoting substantial time to setting up my little personal music channel on LastFM.

we went in this bar that had these things called "table tappers", has anyone seen these? they are long cylinders that have a tap that you put on your table (duh), and hold 2.5 pitchers.

Yeah, I've seen those in a couple places. Mostly in sports bars or those that cater to the frat scene. But still it's a great deal. They're usually in the same places that have appetizer specials every night, so you drink out of your table tapper while eating like $2 mozzarella sticks.

I still don't really get the issue with sidewalk seating. You get to sit outside on the sidewalk in the sunshine, it's nice. Is it that problematic to walk through (or around)?

Chicago: You Drink Out Of Your Table Tapper While Eating Like $2 Mozzarella Sticks

yeah this could be described as catering to the fat scene, although there weren't really any frat boys there. the table tappers were indeed awesome.

mozzarella sticks + beer = the fat scene

well they didn't serve food, but they let you bring in your own, so that was nice of them. plus wii bowling.

Those places are almost always in high-traffic areas and the last thing I need when heading to the liquor store or home from the train or whatever is a bunch of people blocking the way with trays of food or walls that squeeze the available walking area (it is a sidewalk after all) down from 12 feet wide to like 2 feet.

I don't deny this is a total pet peeve.

lol

@ "fat scene"

Most streets I don't mind sidewalk seating, but on Milwaukee near Earwax there's that new Irish pub and there is not enough rooms on the sidewalk for both tables and pedestrians. That will be the flashpoint for the Bros-vs.-Indies riots of summer 2007.

xpost - so stingy, where was this bar?

More sidewalk seating! Less street!

I'm going to open a bar with a deep fryer for customer use. BYO things to fry.

(you will sign a waiver at the door)

list fryable things here.

1) squid

They ought to put those Azucar tables out on the median in the middle of Kedzie. AN EXCLUSIVE DINING EXPERIENCE

2)all the stuff in Bourdain' chapter on Scotland

3) a whole turkey

4) mozzarella

"My monchego smells like bus."

Speaking of deep fryers, I was so happy to see the Reader eviscerate Chicago Ale House this week. It's totally OTM:

IF A HIGH school business class had an imaginary budget to build an imaginary restaurant, they might come up with something like the CHICAGO ALE HOUSE in Lincoln Square. It has something for everyone! Do you have pot stickers? Yes! Chicken noodle soup? Yes! Salad caprese? Baby back ribs? "South of the border quesadillas"? You got it! The concept, carefully disclosed to us by our waiter, might work well if the restaurant wasn't in, you know, Chicago: the only restaurants with "something for everyone" are inside malls in the great suburban nowhere where the competition is nothing for no one. Or if everything, or even something, was done particularly well. But the pad thai tasted like it was from an ethnic MRE packet; hummus -- a mere mile from the half-dozen excellent versions on Kedzie -- was dry as dust. The Buffalo Trio, fried shrimp, wings, and "our famous chicken strips" -- in short, the sort of food Chicago Ale House should damn well get right -- was disappointingly bland, a waste of a deep fryer. Chicago Ale House's selling point is its beer, of course: there are 60-plus drafts. But they've been selected with little passion or imagination, and it says everything you need to know that Miller, Budweiser, Old Style, PBR, and Coors, in their various permutations, take up a bewildering nine taps.

the place was at Division and Dearborn. I then walked home from there to Division and Ashland (thereabouts), and was only requested to buy cocaine once the entire way!

hahaha south of the border quesadillas

Fuck cocaine, I've needed weed for like the last month and everyone is flaking out on me.

5) cocaine

DUDE WTF ARE YOU DOING WITH MY COCAINE?!?!?!

hahaha

so the last two songs we played on the jukebox were a LIVE version of Huey Lewis - Power of Love, and then Warren G's Regulate. a GREAT combination!

I listened to "Regulate" on the way to Home Depot last Friday. I felt like a total G.

what? people offered you cocaine on the street? i must look like a TOTAL square because no one has ever EVER offered me drugs on the street. Like, NEVER.

ps haha "needed"

well we were walking opposite directions, and the guy first asked me if i had a light, and then i said no, and then he asked me if i needed any coke, and i said no. we never really stopped, just had this convo as we walked past. just shows i'm not a total square i guess!

people have asked me for a light, so maybe they were just on the verge of offering me drugs as well. WHO KNOWS.

i am going to go to the gethsemane garden store now, where squares like me get their plant on.

where squares like me get their plant on

The expression "get your ____ on" is alternately annoying and hilarious to me. I think it's totally dumb, but I enjoy saying it ironically.

Much harder to thing of things that are not fryable.

John, here is my friend's girlfriend's review of the CAH.

When I used to get on at the Western blue line stop every day, I'd run into this guy a couple times a month who would offer me blunts and PCP while I was in line for Dunkin Donuts coffee. I'm not really big on running around screaming at people and lifting up cars, so I always opted out, but I was always flattered at the offer.

Also, yes, OK, I don't "need" weed, but I would very much like some! My brother once bought some from a dude in an alley next to the Bryn Mawr el stop. It was totally good stuff, too.

the place was at Division and Dearborn.

I bet this was Finn McCool's. Big sports bar? I lived a block north of there for a few years. Sports bar, but great deals on food/drink during the week. I played trivia against some cops there.

it was actually called Mother's Too, and I would agree with these Yelp reviewers that it was best enjoyed being fairly drunk. A sample review:

"Good god, does anyone still actually go here? A great place to go to be waist-deep in vomit from the underage girls being hit on by guys in their 40s. I have been here on a few occasions and each was worse than the last."

I had a good time though, for reals!

Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle Dan and I would giggle

DUDE WTF ARE YOU DOING WITH MY COCAINE?!?!?!

I was at a party where someone brought a bag of coke that was pretty damp, so my ex-bf told the supplier to put it in the microwave for 15 seconds--something he used to do regularly. The guy left and soon emerged from the kitchen holding a plate with a black, stinky glob of cocaine and plastic.

(You gotta take it out of the bag first, duh.)

Jordan, I left a comment on the M@ng0 L@ss1e.

She's quick on the reply. :>

Hey, anyone wanna do something this weekend? Huh? Huh? I think Kr and I might be going to Duke of Perth tonight?

L1ndsay may be up for brunch on Saturday or Sunday if you wanted to do that.

i'm up for whatever, as i've always stated.

I'd like to do something but cannot really consider options at the moment. I would appreciate being kept in the know if something comes together, or I can help think of things later on.

i'm going out for the afternoon, so i'll check back in after 5 and see if anything has developed.

xpost You are very wise to extricate yourself from the planning process. It's never pretty.

Yeah, and I've got a lot of shit to get done if I want to go home at a reasonable hour!

Courtney and I are going to Taste.

Do you has a flavor?

I just saw a blonde woman jogging outside my office with a t-shirt that read "100% GRINGA." I'm not sure I understand the point of wearing that.

Well, you know, she's trying to take back the power of that ugly racist term. Like the n-word. Except for white people.

http://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/bang407.jpg

Don Imus is not as funny as Richard Pryor, about anything, ever. Except maybe he wears a funnier hat.

We should've planned a roadtrip to Steely Dan at Summerfest tonight.

I told you guys about that months ago. There were no takers.

At lunch I was walking out of the bagel shop when a woman pulled up in front of me in her Lexus SUV, pausing long enough to toss a Starbucks cup in the general direction of a trash can while she talked on her cellphone. Her license plate read, "NO YUPIE".

I was 100 ft away from Steely Dan at Jazzfest and did not go listen. I regret this but would make the same decision again.

Dan M is a yoopie

Don Imus is not as funny as Richard Pryor, about anything, ever.

Wow. You have opened my eyes to a blinding truth. Thank you so much.

Rosie O'Donnell is not as cute as Maggie Gyllenhaal, wearing anything, ever.

I'm avoiding work so hard that I'm actually choosing to let my mom rattle on about how I need to date Jewish girls instead.

you're through with white girls.

HEY!

Hey, how else was I supposed to make fun of his stupid asshole hat?

What happened to the DC thread?

Any recommendations for someone looking for a great place to eat in DC? Price should be range $90 or less per couple including drinks. Something delightful and preferrably and maybe even cozy and/or cool would be ideal. I'm thinking along the lines of Tizzi Mellouls here.

more cool than cozy - http://www.zaytinya.com/

cozy and cool but off the beaten track - http://www.vegetatedc.com/portal/

if you actually want a moroccan place, there's one called marrakesh, but i'm not sure i'd recommend it. more dc in character would be an ethiopian place like meskerem or etete (tho i favor the west african food and sometime live music at bukom cafe).

That first one looks awesome, and actually right in line with Tizzis!

More recommendations?

I ate Ethiopian a couple of times in DC. It was a place on M Street just on the inside of Georgetown.

This doesn't help anyone, but I remember going to DC with my dad in middle school and seeing a band called BLACK AMETHYST, where a bunch of singers would sing r&b to backing tracks + live drummer. No bass player, but one of the singers would occasionally pick up a six-string bass to play unaccompanied slap solos between songs!

The only time I ever went out to dinner in DC, we went to a place called the District Chop House, and I had a big ol' chunk of tuna steak and some beer that they made there. It was very good, but nothing super-amazing or particularly cool.

Noah Wyle Knows He'd Get His Ass Beat: DC 144

I'm sneaking out, peas.

http://www.jaleo.com/ - owned by the same guy as zaytinya
http://www.heritageindiausa.com/index1.htm
http://www.bistrofrancaisdc.com/

It was a place on M Street just on the inside of Georgetown.