Official Chicago Birthday Party thread

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WHEN: Saturday October 2nd from 2 PM until ? (ha ha)
WHERE: Wicker Park, Chicago, n/a and Sarah's house. Email me at naamme @ yahoo dot com if you don't know where that is.
WHY: Late birthday party for Sarah McLusky and right-on-time birthday party for amateurist.
WHAT: Drinks and cookin' out. We will supply alcoholic beverages and vegetarian cookout items. It's kinda rude, but if you want nonvegetarian cookout items, we're gonna ask you to bring 'em yourself, but you can use our grill to cook them.

ALL ILXORS ARE INVITED. The regulars, obviously, but we're also lookin' at you, LEEEEE, Jeff-PTTL, and other lurkers if you can make it. Hope to see you there!

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 13:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah, and bring whoever you want with you.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

not quite right on time: one day early

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a Bring Your Own Meat party. ha ha

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

you had a bring your own meat party one other time.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

OH yeah, in Richmond. But then, my family was around and ended up just buying loads of meat ahead of time anyway. But they're not here, so, yeah.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:20 (twenty-one years ago)

so the meat grease thats on the grill after someone slaps a burgie on it won't make you sick? even if you already have cooked your soy burger?

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

"byom" sounds like something from a dancehall record

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

There ain't gonna be no meat grease on my grill! (Agh, I typoed that as "girl"!!)

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, we have a small grill and then there's a community big grill out back, so we could always segregate the veggie and non-veggie items.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd love to come but my brother's coming to Madison that weekend. DAMN IT.

― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Bring your brother. He wants to see Chicago too, right?

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Dear Nick and Sarah,

Thanks for the invite and I'd LOVE to come, but it's not going to be possible. As my beloved is incredibly fond of Chicago we'll get there sooner or later. I'm excited already!

Lots of love,
Mark

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.fwowa.com/photos/blog/20030727_bb_birthday.jpg

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

i will bringing with me everyone on the drag city payroll and that dude who gets up before shows and reads his poetry

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

and that crazy guy with the backpack who hangs around andersonville yelling at people

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

B-but what about the guy who jumps up and down at shows in a perfect vertical formation?

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

he can't make it, he's got a bris to attend. sends his regards though

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha! I would ALMOST have been able to make this - I would be in Chicago on this weekend if I wasn't so out of favour at work at the moment! :(

― adam. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Are you still coming here in October, Adam?

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I am looking at maybe being around on Xmas weekend, but I'm guessing FAPs will be rather thin on the ground during that time.

xpost - No, J. This WAS to be the date I would have been in town, but like I said, office politics. The bane of my existence. Actually, I'll be lucky to still be employed on October 2nd but that's for another thread maybe...

― adam. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Dear Chicago,

Wish I could go. Maybe next Spring.

LYLAS,
Mandee

― Towelette Pettatucci (Homosexual II), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

And that dude who gets up before shows and reads his poetry

I missed this reference to Thax Dougl@s!!

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 17:28 (twenty-one years ago)

(Actually, Google-proofing "Thax" probably makes more sense than Google-proofing "Douglas," huh?)

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 17:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha ha. Kelsey told me she hasn't been posting because she has a "real job" now and she's in a cubicle where everyone can see her. But she knows about the party.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I would love to go, but I'm really lazy when it comes to driving to Chicago.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

god, i'm the top poster now aren't i? so fucking lame. i should hide my head in shame. i can't wait to get a real job. fuck.

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Could you take a train in, jordan?

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 17:55 (twenty-one years ago)

IMPORTANT QUIZ

1. Venue owners let Th@x read poetry because:
(a) they actually think it's good poetry.
(b) they think it's a quaint local tradition.
(c) they think it's hilarious.
(d) they don't have the heart to tell him to go away.

― nabiscothingy, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

probably some unparse-able combination of several of those. although i actually have liked some of his poetry.

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Alternately:

(e) they have no opinions about the poetry but figure they're somehow contributing to the life of the arts in general by letting him read?

― nabiscothingy, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

(b) and (e) are similar yes?

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I've only ever seen that guy at one show, when the Aluminum Group played at Millenium Park.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

You probably don't see enough Drag City/Thrill Jockey-type bands.

I think I would like his poetry if I saw it on the page, or if Th@x slowed down or otherwise enunciated enough for me to understand it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Fun fact: Th@x caught a ride with members of Canasta to a Scotland Yard Gospel Choir show in Madison.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Could you take a train in, jordan?

I have no idea!

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

If I invite him to recite before a Fake Fictions show, will we get a bunch of cred points?

(quick self-promoting reminder: Fake Fictions TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT at Beat Kitchen!)

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

ok nick, where is beat kitchen again? and what time is the show? i'll be there no question.

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Belmont, just west of Damen. Show sarts at ten, but since you guys are headlining, you might not be on until late, right? I may have to take a disco nap this afternoon.

― Tonight at ten (kenan), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I think actually the show starts at 9, but yeah, we're scheduled to play last, so probably about 11:00. But if you can get there early enough to talk to us and help chill us out, then even better.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

what is the closest train stop? is anyone driving there and can give me a ride home? the purple line stops at 12:30 or 1:00 AM i believe.

it wouldn't be worth it for me to go home first, so if anyone wants to grab coffee or dinner this evening, let me know.

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

This is good news, because I have band practice until 10:30. I will be coming directly after.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

am. I think the nearest stop is actually on the Brown line. We can't give you a ride because we'll have a car full of band equipment. If you want to get to Beat Kitchen really early and go eat with me and Sarah and maybe Ben, we have to get there at 7 for soundcheck and then the show doesn't start til 9 so we'll have lots of time to kill. Plus you'll get to look cool by hanging out with the band.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Am: yeah, closest train stop, unfortunately, is Paulina on the Brown Line, which is six blocks away (four blocks east, two blocks north). I could maybe give you a ride home...

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

it would be really nice of you...

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Let's see how many simultaneous threads about the FF's we can get going at once. WHOAA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I hope I'm not crazy to try to ride my bike the four miles there.

― Tonight at ten (kenan), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

it would be really nice of you...

Okay, count on it, then.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 83 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

i think kish kash is a little spotty (OH NO). and the phoenix, i mean, it's really good, but it's even, uh, flakier than the first, which i must admit i find a little irritating.

but in both cases i've only listened two or three times, so that's not a final judgment.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Sunday, 3 October 2004 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

i find the flakiness irritating, not the first phoenix lp altogether. just to clarify.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Sunday, 3 October 2004 22:46 (twenty-one years ago)

You have to come to Chicago more often.

i suppose ill be back for xmas.

― phil-two (phil-two), Monday, 4 October 2004 04:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Amateurist, I forgot to mention, I put a super-secret bonus track at the end of the Junior Boys disc: track 11 is "Last Exit (Fennesz Remix)"!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I find Kish Kash very spotty as well. It's got some good stuff, sure, but I do not get the Basment Jaxx worship. I have never been able to listen to "Remedy" all the way through. I may have never en heard all of it. I just don't f'ing care.

I think the Luomo is seamless, though. Really, really lovely album. Sparkling house music shot through with melancholy.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

i worship basement jaxx

i just think there are a few sleepy tracks on the new one (there are two on rooty as well, by my count)

the luomo is not what i expected

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Phoenix is silly.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Jaymc, you have Immer? This changes things if true!

Luomo is wonderful.

― Tous Les Garcons S'Appellent Little Lord Travolta (nordicskilla), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

What did you expect from luomo, am?

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

It took me a while to warm up to Luomo. I knew Kenan liked it a lot, but it wasn't until Adam praised it recently that I went back and listened more closely. I think there's something effortless about it that made it seem not that remarkable at first. But now I really like it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't have Immer -- that was Phil's contribution!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to change your mix cd if you have Immer. What Kompakt stuff do you have?

xpost-phew

― Tous Les Garcons S'Appellent Little Lord Travolta (nordicskilla), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Phoenix is silly.

Yes, but in a serious way. And that's the key.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I knew Kenan liked it a lot, but it wasn't until Adam praised it recently that I went back and listened more closely.

That hurts, man.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't have any Kompakt stuff! Except for a couple of random Superpitcher tracks I dl'd recently.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

That hurts, man

Sorry! Adam said it was one of his favorite records EVER, though.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

That one Luomo song I heard this morning was silly too.
Fiery Furnaces are REALLY silly.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Silly is obviously Chicagoan for "good".

― Tous Les Garcons S'Appellent Little Lord Travolta (nordicskilla), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

It never gets old for me, for certain. A lot of it gives me chills every time. I really do love it dearly.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Fiery Furnaces excepted.

― Tous Les Garcons S'Appellent Little Lord Travolta (nordicskilla), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Basement Jaxx are silly, but they KNOW that they are silly.
I don't think Junior Boys are silly.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I actually wish that Phoenix record was a bit MORE silly sometimes -- and by "silly" I mean more loose, more FUN. I was listening to the first album last night and was marvelling at the sudden, weird excursions into cheesy guitar solos and hot vocoder action. Or maybe I just want more uptempo stuff like "Everything is Everything" -- sometimes Alphabetical gets a little sleepy and bland, like the new Air record.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:43 (twenty-one years ago)

fiery furnaces have been filed under "too weird for further comment" for the moment.

i like the luomo, it just isn't what i expected. it has more of a 1980s arthur soundtrack sensibility than i had imagined.

yeah the new phoenix is kind of sleepy musically (although beautifully recorded and mixed), and unfortunately that has the effect of focusing your attention on the lyrics, which are really much too flaky to withstand any scrutiny. i still think i like the record, though. we'll see.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The only one I've given a good listen to so far is the Junior Boys stuff, which I really enjoyed.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Monday, 4 October 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I must hear the Arthur soundtrack!

― Tous Les Garcons S'Appellent Little Lord Travolta (nordicskilla), Monday, 4 October 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey amateur!!!st do you need anything else? I just got a fresh pack of cdrs and I'm itching to dispense of them. Email me.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Monday, 4 October 2004 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

wow jeff, that's quite generous of you! check your email!

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 05:46 (twenty-one years ago)

More pictures, please. Having Chicago back-porch nostalgia. Want ... rickety ... wooden ... backporch.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

You wouldn't want ours then! ha ha

We got this letter a few months ago that basically said, "Never go on the back porch. Never put anything that weighs anything on the back porch..." Then they tore it down and gave us a new one.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

See, while everyone's been all focused on the tragedy of September 11th and its aftermath, Chicago has been silently going through a just-as-epochal transformation. After that porch collapsed -- last year? -- everything changed. We all stepped up and bonded together and recognized that porch collapse was the number one danger facing our city. I'll always remember Daley standing there with a bullhorn on the wreckage of that porch, pledging to take the fight straight to where they build the porches, or the invasion of those two lumberyards soon afterward. We're not wavering when it comes to keeping your grill safe, Sarah.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

(I don't know what I'm talking about or if you were even in town yet. But a porch collapsed, some kids died, really terrible, and so porch-safety liability is surely defining Chicago's new century.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

there is a special place in hell reserved for you as a result of that penultimate post

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

a place without tofu dogs

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

OH NO

― todd swiss (eliti), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Was that offensive? I really wasn't sure where the line was on that one. I don't think it's offensive, really.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's freakin' hilarious.

You can't stand on a piece of wood more than 10 feet off the ground without talking about collapsing porches anymore.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

i wasn't offended, but i was shocked

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

champaign, IL has the same problems, in fact, the building that i am living in now had a balcony collapse and fall. it makes me feel safe.

― todd swiss (eliti), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Because it's not there any more?

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, it's really no joke. A falling porch would fuck your shit up.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

it must have gotten re-attached somehow... i hope they added support to ours, i am sure they were forced to by the city.

― todd swiss (eliti), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I apologize, a little. Didn't mean to make light of either -- it just occurred to me that there was this semi-parallel, you know, a genuine tragedy sort of making everyone alert to danger all around them, or whatever. When I was living in Evanston we had a porch rail collapse at our building -- a guy I worked with was helping move a couch, the rail fell off, and he fell a couple stories into the alley. Which he probably would have survived, except the couch fell on top of him. So I was always a little wary about certain porches, and at parties would stake out a spot right next to the back door. I think the idea was that on the off chance the porch started falling I could jump back into the apartment. I was also always freaked by crappy iced-up porch stairs in winter.

Anyway I miss the porches, they're the fourth best thing about Chicago.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Wait, is Chicago actually plagued with near-falling and felled porches?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

oh god, a friend of mine told me about that story. i hired some movers to take my couch upstairs to my last apartment because of it.

xpost

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

(xpost 2 Chris) Well, the bulk of buildings have some sort of porch or deck or back-stair structure, and a lot of them are a little old. Which is usually fine, except they tend to be where everyone gathers at parties, and eighty people on an old wood thing can be dangerous. There was a collapse last year at a partyful of DePaul kids, and that kinda sensitized everyone to the safety of their own porches. And surely gave building owners a big kick in the ass to make sure theirs were solid.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

(x-posts: And the first three are...?)

When I visited Oklahoma City several years ago, the big TO DO was students falling out of dorm windows. It was this huge crisis. They'd sit in the windows at parties and fall out.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

um, do you still live in new york??? havent seen you in forever
(xp)

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The top five good things about Chicago:

1) we have a big lake.
2) local politics are as entertaining as local sports.
3) the way the whole city slows down and takes its sweet-ass time January-March.
4) the porches.
5) fat bottom girls.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Junior Boys more now. I was worried it was too slick and '80's for me, but now I like it. It sounds kind of evil to me.
I have trouble getting past the vocals on the Luomo album, I guess because I'm a rockist or TOO NOIZE or something. But I really like his bass sound.
Fiery Furnaces are growing on me a little, but their music is a little too weird for the sake of weird, like just throwing a bunch of instruments together for the sake of the clatter and not for the sake of the song. This used to seem like a good idea, but now I'm getting old.
I really like the Basement Jaxx, but it's harmed by something that's not it's fault: the iPod mixes it much quieter than everything else on the same playlist, so it doesn't hit as hard. By contrast, the Junior Boys' snare sound is like a massive thunderclap. That song where they say "Delirious" a lot is pretty awesome though.
That "Forgive this Foolish Man" comp is pretty killer.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i love bobo mr. soul

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

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Official Chicago Birthday Party thread - EVERYONE IST INVITED