The Day The Music Died

Michael, it is sad to see you go.

Your music has been the background to so many of my greatest memories and shows up frequently in the soundtrack of my life. I remember the time when we fell in love.

You will be remembered.

Rothbury Ramblings (7 Days!!!)

Wow, I guess that was over a week ago that I last posted. Time does fly when you're having fun.  Cue me getting really nerdy but, I wonder if thats what J.J. Abrams had in mind when he made the LOST island like some kind o time machine? Does that make sense? Maybe so, Maybe not. I'll bet those who talk to me IRL know how addicted to LOST I am these days, even though I'm about four years late. Boone and I recently took up the full time job of watching LOST from beginning (Season One, Episode 0) until the end (or at least those available on abc.com).  Anywho- He & I are only about a few episodes into season four, so don't spoil it for me! 

NOW, where was I? AH yes. Phish! Phantastic! So sunny and steep and spectacular. They played some of my wish list and some that I hadn't even thought to put ON my wish list. I really liked that they were up to their old tricks with the trampolines at Saturday's show.  I also lost it when Trey brought out THIS during Frankenstein on Sunday. Saturday's Bathtub Gin just made my heart melt and filled me with warm fuzzies.  Now I really can't wait til Toyota Park! 

Up next on my plate, other than (seriously, this time for real) finding a job, is Rothbury Music Festival in Rothbury, MI.  Last year's fest was life-changing and I only imagine this years will be no different.  Or at least a rockin' good time.  Plus who can say no to a String Cheese dance party coupled with a Dead performance? Not to mention the STS9 PA set that I'm (guilty!) totally looking foward to. I would also be borderline lying if I didn't mention how insanely pumped I am to see Chromeo again, and a night set, no less! Last year's Lollapalooza's set was awesome, but during the day when it was hot and dusty. I could go on for hours about the multitude of reasons I'm pumped for Rothbury. Sherwood Forest: a magical glow forest filled with hammocks. Tripolee Domes: probably the best outdoor venue set-up I've ever experienced and certainly the only to feel like you're indoors and out at the same time. (Tripolee Domes is also consequently the same place I fell in love with both EOTO and Lotus last year.) SO, if you haven't yet gotten a chance to look into it, you should. www.rothburyfestival.com.

   Sherwood Forest, in all it's glow-ry. Ha, ha. 

Wow, that really looks like some shameless advertising, but I promise you it's not. And yes, I do have a countdown going in my kitchen if you were wondering. 7 days!!!!

Just Another Merchandise Mart Monday

Today, the tempventures continue.  I have been placed at KimballOffice, during NeoCon, the world's trade show. Or really, what seems to be a gathering of office furniture designers. My job? Answer a phone that may or may not actually be connected to anything because it has failed to ring yet.  Not that I'm complaining about being paid to surf the internet or anything.  

In an attempt to keep myself boredom free without napping under the desk, I'm going to revisit my weekend and recount the memories.  Voila! Enjoy!

Friday, I was able to see a friend perform at the Chicago Blues Festival in Grant Park.  Fernando Jones and the Columbia College Blues Ensemble performed on the Mississippi Juke Joint Stage and was pretty fantastic.  Nothing like a little Al Green to loosen up my carpel tunnel.  I found it humorous that a list of prohibited items included illegal substances alongside coolers, alcohol and  dogs. 

As a lover of all things covered in barbecue sauce, I attended Chicago's Ribfest this past weekend.  Also attending Ribfest was the entire rest of Chicago, successfully morphing the street festival into a standing-room-only situation.  After tasting several of Chicago's best rib samplers, I found the best ribs in the city.  Mrs. Murphy's & Sons Irish Bistro offered hands down the best ribs of the day.  Many ribs were falling off the bone, but these were melting off.  So melty and doused in whiskey marmalade barbecue sauce that they required to be eaten with forks.  I definitely went back for more meat when the rest of my friends opted for pina coladas served inside a real pineapple. 

After Saturday struggled to be sunshine-filled without raining or getting too cold, Sunday was beautiful.  Lucky me, to have a friend that not only owns a boat at Montrose Harbor, but also invites me on it! I spent a lazy day floating about with the sunshine skyline in full view and a cold beer in my hand!  Who knew Miller made cans with a top that can be opened, closed, and opened again.  I hardly spilled any beer on myself when we reached our top speed of 12 miles per hour. 

Eventually I ate my weight in hummus and passed out due to the overexposure to sunshine and alcoholic beverages, only to wake up at precisely the time I should have left for the train. Success. 

Mr. Anastasio's Opus

It's day two of my Prudential tempventures and today it is very clear that there were no blinds blocking my view yesterday, but clouds. I was working in the clouds yesterday. So many clouds that I could not see out the windows. I admit I felt pretty silly when hours later I realized that I could not see the tops of Chicago's beautiful skyscrapers due to the days dreary cloudage.

Anywho. The real reason for this quasi-meaningless post is that I recently acquired the new Trey Anastasio solo-ish album, Time Turns Elastic. It's an orchestral composition that is meant to be listened to as a whole, instead of sampling track by track and I'm pretty impressed, despite the fact that Rolling Stone only gave the album 2 and one-half stars coupled with a half-assed review. The 29-minutes in three movements begins with the first composed by Don Hart and then opens into Anastasio's silly, light, and inspirationally introverted lyrics with Landslide. The rest of the tracks give composing credit to both Hart and Anastasio. It's very instrumental and flows "in and out of focus," according to Anastasio's lyrics. I really enjoyed how he coupled the classical orchestra with his electric guitar shredding I'm so fond of. I did a few internet searches of the album to see what Phans on tour are saying, but it seems like most of them are probably busy at Bonnaroo. At any rate, after discussing the album with a phriend, it seems that this is Mr. Anastasio's Opus. With hints of Phish and other Trey songs throughout, this solo album only shares a few recognizable bars and lines from the name-sharing Time Turns Elastic single included on Phish's fourth-coming studio album. I, for one, give it more stars than RS, and would recommend it to a friend or phriends.

Since we're getting so Phishy up in here, I might as well mention that in 8 days I will be seeing my first live Phish shows!!! I can't even fit the amount of exclamation points that this occasion deserves!!!!!! Plus, it's the 23rd birthday of someone very near and dear to me, so that's gonna be crazy too. I'm hoping for a Birds of a Feather, Cities, Contact or really anything from Junta.

Mother Nature Seems To Have Forgotten It's Summer

So here I am, waking up at 6am in order to arrive at my job-de-jour when I realize that even though it's 10 days into June, it's freezing. And raining. And still dark. Finally, I arrive on the 56th floor, slightly damp, only to find that the beautiful view of Millennium Park and the south side has been hi-jacked by some blinds that appear to be powered by some kind of hidden switch. Foiled again.

Irregardless, today calls for reception fun at Prudential Capital Group, and I have to say this is one of my favorite places to temp. It's not the awesome view or the crazy friendly people that work here. It's the fully stocked fridge of unlimited caffeineated sugary beverages. We're talking Mt. Dew, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke with lime, Fresca, V8, sparkling water of many varieties, Root Beer, Dr. Pepper AND bagels with cream cheese. There are not many things I enjoy more than a sugary beverage laced with some caffeine. I like how these people think. Why stay home when breakfast is waiting for you at work?

Disclaimer No. 2: This blog sucks.

On the job front, things are progressing slowly.  On the fun front, things are progressing quickly.  Although seemingly unrelated, the fun front will probably suffer if the job search keeps going this slowly.  I'd better buy some Mt. Dew and increase my resume carpet-bombing. 

This past Saturday I went back to my old stomping grounds of Kalamazoo, Mich. and caught the Bell's Brewery Beer Garden Opening with a performance by Greensky Bluegrass and special guest Pete Kartsounes.  We got down and had a great time, despite the lingering threat of rainstorms.  

This blog is pretty useless, seeing as how my comment count is at a grand total of zero.  Now the question lies- do I continue to write pointless nonsense that goes unread?