it's all about meme

sigh. i finally gave in to the meme. truth is, there isn't a whole lot going on at the moment because i'm getting ready to leave for Barcelona this coming weekend. in the midst of not spending money, going out, or doing interesting things, i turn towards... the internet.

i mentioned this game in a previous entry, but i never actually did it. i usually don't participate in blogosphere-fads or 25 things lists, because, quite simply, i could be doing other things. today, i have nothing, so here is my award-winning album, "The Worst Vice Ever Invented" from my fictional band, Hovelange.

Hovelange, interestingly enough is a tiny town in west Luxembourg. they have a population of 270. i was thinking about visiting Luxembourg.

while the getting is good

i am making plans to travel.

i am making plans to travel outside of Ireland. this involves a certain amount of familiarity with Ryanair, and other 'airbus' companies. i have no such knowledge, and am therefore 'winging it,' to be punny.

first destination: Barcelona.

Barcelona promises to be a city of culture, class, and architecture. it also scares the living shit out of me. i spent the day reading reviews of hostels and travel blogs. getting robbed? no thank you. bed bugs? NO THANK YOU.

i'm scared now. i don't want to get robbed. or infested.

i booked a hostel that is located just outside of the city centre because i'm honestly frightened of what could happen in the city itself.

regardless, i'm going, and it has made me stop to think about what else i could see while i'm here.

i'm going to Venice, Italy. i want to see this city before it sinks. when i think of Venice, i consider the fact that i never got to see New Orleans before Katrina hit it, and i will always and forever regret that. I also considered Iceland because of the fact that its economy collapsed in on itself, like a lawn chair. i wonder what the country looks like now. and then, there is Greenland.

Greenland is a curiosity simply because i want to see glaciers while i still can. i watched parts of "Planet Earth" and it rekindled my love for my planet and every corner of it. i love the idea of Greenland. so does this guy. hit track 6 and have a good time.

it sounds better in Irish

a fairly uneventful, but pleasant day.

went to stables to watch karaoke. it was, of course, terrible. but i really enjoyed Billy Joel's "Piano Man" much more with an Irish accent. it just sounded... authentic. we went to scholars for the traditional irish music night, where we almost got kicked out, because we were told we 'had to buy something.' i can dig that, but honestly, we just wanted to listen to real music. had to purge our ears of the karaoke.

made plans. i like making plans. bought some tickets to paris. so very very very excited. also plotted out a tentative route for my last 10 days in europe. it gets a little taxing, but the result is more than satisfying.

karaoke is inevitably terrible. here's a snippet of "Piano Man." thank you, and goodnight.

power of the collective mind

Rene Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Would you like a drink?”
Descartes tilts his head and replies, “I think not.”
And vanishes.

I love that joke, but I love the theory of collective thought even more, although I think it might have been Hegel’s theory, not Descartes’. Maybe it was Durkheim. Bah. My point is that I have had some fantastic group encounters tonight that didn’t involve anything dirtier than a cafeteria table.

This evening, Maureen and I went to Red Raisins Café, the biggest cafeteria on campus, for a committee meeting for the International Society. Now, I’m not planning to head up some sort of committee, but if I can get a game of Journey To The End Of The Night or The Architect and The Urchin going, I would be pretty pleased. The group seemed enthusiastic and willing to try any and all activities that would involve Irish and international students. Heck, they’re screening this movie on Friday night for free, but they seem to be relying on word-of-mouth advertising.

Word-of-mouth can be a tricky thing. Like a game of telephone, the original story could get lost in the mix. Or, maybe it’s like the story Maureen and I heard at the meeting…

“Didja hear ‘bout the American student whose coat got stolen by some gipsy? Ya, I think his name was Andrew, or something…”

His name is Anthony, and he gave his coat to a Romanian girl “because she was beautiful,” but I suspect by tomorrow the rumor will say that he was actually kidnapped by a band of gypsies and escaped, but lost his coat.

After that, we met up with Sarah and Randi at Scholars Pub for our first dose of traditional Irish music. Sarah, who plays the violin, was the picture of joy. Randi, Maureen and I also got into it. There’s a snippet of video that I took. I loved the music and how easily the group responded to changes in song. I still don’t know if they were simply practicing or improvising, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter. They did it as a group, and that is something worth watching.

Knoxville, TN and Tom Waits

Something good happened. Something very good. No, call it something AMAZING.

I took a once-in-a-lifetime road trip with my best friend to Knoxville, TN to see Mister TOM WAITS perform!

I love. Tom Waits.

For starters, it couldn't have come at a better time. My head was about to explode and I was moving at speeds that could have broken the sound barrier. I quit my jobs. Not all of them, just a few.

And then, we left. Just. Like. That.

The drive was beautiful. I wish some of my pictures had turned out, but my camera has decided to hold them all hostage. I'm still waiting for its demands. We drove (well, he drove -- i don't drive stick) for approximately 8 hours before finding ourselves in the heart of All That Is Green. Knoxville is beautiful. It's a sleepy city, from what I could see, and the folks were friendly enough, although it was strange not to see a single minority, save for myself and one guy on stage.

The Stage. The Civic Auditorium was quite a sight. I'm always impressed with architecture, as I come from the mindset of, "Everything has already been built." I was sorry to see that the venue wasn't the divey-hole-in-the-wall that I had dreamed of, when I would dream of seeing Tom Waits live. But, it was lovely.

Then, there was The Poster Plan. As it stands, Tom Waits is the only musician that I will go out of my way to purchase the actual albums, as opposed to downloading. I do this for two reasons: 1) I want to HOLD onto something when I listen to his music and 2) The artwork is always jarring and beautiful. I wanted one of the posters for those two reasons. Apparently, venue officials had been notified of my obsessive need and put a lockdown on ALL posters. There were guards. For real. M and I made more than a few attempts to claim a glossy prize by ways of coercion, distraction and bribery. We lied, we cheated, but alas, we did not steal. I kinda regret not stealing. Ah, well.

The Show. Once it began, I forgot where I was. It was magical. Tom Waits. In the flesh was hooting, crooning, shouting and stamping to his heart's delight, and mine too. I was surprised at how mild-mannered the crowd was. M and I were not so mild. We danced and gazed, shouted and clapped loudly enough to turn heads.

Everything after the show was a blur. Finding a motel, eating, chatting, sleeping and driving back... I don't remember much of it. I didn't need to.

There was Glitter. There was Doom. There was the Show I'd Always Wanted To See.

ever wonder where indie-rock comes from?

there is no punk-rock stork that drops off clever lyrics and rockin' music at the doorsteps of some down-on-their-luck indie-rock band wannabes. there is no wishful pondering among the Hipsterati as they try and try to create a new sound that is at once reminiscient of detroit metal, smart prog rock and good old-fashioned fun.

there are none of these things, when it comes to the process of a band, their name and their debut album cover.

here's a meme to prove it.

fun stuff

presto! you are now famous.

warm weather storms and accordion show

woo. i drove around in a summer storm to pick up shirts and merchandise for a pal. he played an excellent show at the house of blues. i've never been there before. it was neat. so was the storm.

have you ever driven through a storm? have you ever driven thhrough a Hand-of-God-style storm while blasting Aretha Franklin? if not, then you must try it. there's nothing quite so satisfying. especially if you sing along. oh, man, was that fun. it made the wait for UPS to get their shit together worthwhile.

the show was fantastic, as usual. although, i did find the relief portraits on the ceiling of the House of Blues back porch slightly creepy and disconcerting.

if you like accordions, give Jason Webley a listen. if you don't like accordions, give it a listen anyways. then go see one of his shows. he's one of the best performers i've ever had the pleasure to watch. i'm always amazed at his ability to control a crowd, hold their attention and get them to spin in slow circles whilst staring at their pointer finger.

after you do all of that, go drive around in a storm with Aretha. then you can give me a call and we'll have a laugh.

Three-for-One

You know how there are some nights when you can't seem to find ANYTHING to do? Tonight was not one of those nights.

I can't believe how much STUFF happened today. Don't get me wrong, it was all GREAT, just A LOT. I doubt I'll be having another night like this again soon. Then again, it was the sort of day that makes me happy with my life, exactly as it is. I don't remember the last time I could say (write) that. I usually just whine.

I spent my workday at 'Conscious Choice,' writing. I actually think I might be able to make a solid go of this journalism thing. I still hate Hemingway, but I can finally appreciate his style. While I was at work, I got a call about 'testing' a new computer game. I don't think I'm allowed to divulge the silly and fun details of the game, but I will say that I had a blast playing, singing and guessing. Karaoke is like opera for the working class. Then I went to Bill's Blues Club, in Evanston.

I normally don't do well in 'blues' clubs. I find them pretentious and stifling. I suppose I should have known better because my good pal, G, invited me to come see him play tuba in a band called The Prohibition Orchestra. It was wonderful to listen to a full band play music that should be a lot more mainstream than it is, these days. I highly recommend seeing them. Oh, golly. What next? Oh, right. A cabaret show that didn't start on time, so we went to Silvie's to see another friend's band play. Also good. Then back to the 'cabaret' show, which turned out to be a series of inside jokes that weren't very funny at all.

I don't think abortion jokes are funny. It doesn't matter how you dress it up, it's just not going to be funny.

Phew. It's been a heckuva day. I wonder what's going on tomorrow...

Man Man for one of my favorite Men

I love music. Specifically, indie-rock. I know the stigma attached to those who claim to be 'indie-rockers,' and I do not apologize. I love loud, dirty guitars, a beat that I'm not sure I should be dancing to (but will anyways), denim jackets, ridiculous hair, attitudes decorated with a mild superiority complex, hipsters, filthy venues, over-priced PBRs and of course, music.

I think that I've been fairly lucky when it came to how my taste in music was cultivated, and I know that I owe much of my taste to having worked at one of the best venues in the city -- Schubas'. I learned what was good, what was bad, what was promising, what was on the the verge of failure and what I should listen to from the kind folks at Schubas'. Seriously, even the handyman has an absurd amount of rock n' roll knowledge. I'm grateful, otherwise I may have ended up listening to Celine Dion. Yikes.

I'm also grateful for friends that share my taste in music. Tonight was no exception. One of my oldest friends is celebrating a birthday very very soon and we usually go to a show for his birthday. I always look forward to his birthday because I know it'll be a show I want to go to as well.

Man Man at the Logan Square Auditorium Theatre. So. Much. Fun. I've described them as, "Rob Zombie running a circus sideshow." The energy is great. The night was wonderful. The beer was horribly overpriced and the opener sucked. M, I just want to thank you for having awesome taste in music. Happy Birthday (in a few days).

try, try as i might.

i can't play my guitar. i desperately want to, and i practice everyday, but damnit, i just can't seem to string together the chords i know into something pretty or coherent. if music were food, i'd be making a souffle out of turds. turd souffle. and it wouldn't even rise. gah.

okay, i think my fingertips have stopped tingling. here i go again.

There's Nothing Better...

than watching one of your friends having the time of their life. Wednesday night was one of the happiest nights of the year for me. My dear friend, Evan Jacover, took the stage at Schubas' to promote the release of his CD, "One Pair of Shoes". Not only is Schubas' my favorite venue in Chicago, but Evan is one of my favorite performers. His music is folksy and fun, clever and catchy, and his performance is always sincere, goofy and oddly intimate. Seriously, this guy could make friends with a rock.

Come to think of it, that's kinda how we met. No, I was never a rock (but if I was, I think I'd be some sort of clastic, like shale or sandstone), but I wasn't out looking for a new friend when I went to one of his shows at Uncommon Ground. I was actually on a date, and we'd gone there to see my friend, Kelly (of Divebar, who also played with Evan on Wednesday) sing backup. I like to hear Kelly sing anytime I can. The lady has a voice sweeter than a marshmallow angel smothered in honey (doesn't that sound good? yeah, so does she). As I sat there, watching and listening to this goofy guy with his guitar, singing about food and candy and math, I felt like I HAD to give him a hug. So, after his show, I did. He gave me a t-shirt. It was nice. Looking back, I realize how awkward that exchange was, but I also know that we're friends now, and it's purely because he knows how to make an audience feel comfortable and appreciated, which is something a lot of great performers lack.

I've been to numerous shows, and I feel that the best shows are like a see-saw, with the artist on one end and the audience on the other, with the music as the board, and the board balanced on a structure of appreciation. Without that appreciation, the board, the audience and the musician are left flat on the ground, with nobody having dangerous playground fun. When everything is in place, though, everybody gets a chance to experience that high and watch others experience it, too.

That's what Evan's show was like. Like a trip to the playground. It was fun. I wish I had a picture to post, but I don't, so I'm just gonna tell you to picture the happiest thing in the world and give it a guitar and a mop of curly brown hair.