The Good Old Times

ZOMG! (yes, I started a post with ZOMG!) It's the second post in 2 days! You know what that means, nothing new for the next 2 weeks. I hope to change that, but no promises.

Anyway, I first want to say that it's actually quite cool and un-humid outside, so I'm really looking forward to sleeping well tonight (I hope). And no nightmares.

Tonight we went to the classiest of classy places, Texas Roadhouse. Bridgit is in town from Germany for the next 10 days, so we have to cram all of America (and all of Milwaukee) into 10 days, at least till she comes back for Christmas. Also on tap: Red Lobster, Brewers, Jazz in the Park and lots and lots of Miller Lite. I'm rather looking forward to it (but still reeeallyyy need to do wash because she's crashing here while I'm in DC this weekend!)

On an unrelated note, I'm really annoyed with the rise in twitter-related content on the news. It's been going on for a few months now, where the news peeps read viewers' tweets or show their twitpics on the news. I know that it's hard to pay to produce decent content when you work for an over-the-air broadcast production, but have you really reduced yourselves to reading TWEETS? (and don't get me started on properly crediting the photos...)

Don't get me wrong, I love the twitters, and I'm still amazed every single time I get new followers. It kind of blows my mind that people actually want to read what I say. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. But the second my tweets go up on the news when there are sooo many other far more important things to be doing real reporting on? I'll cry myself to sleep. And then I'll probably also cry in my dreams. While twitter can be a quick and dirty way to gauge public opinion, I do not yet feel it's a viable news source that deserves air time on a major broadcast network. The same goes for folks that can call and e-mail in. Reporters are taking the easy way out by reading opinions over the air when real investigative reporting goes by the wayside.

But I'm in a good mood today, so we'll leave it at that.

I did 18 push-ups today, and was invited to be in the monthly 5k club, which I think I shall do. After all, I already have a playlist made. And I'm pretty excited for DC this weekend, FYI.

If you're bored, hit up http://www.teecycle.org and buy yourself something nice. I got a shirt with a duck on it. It will be awesome.

The Curse of Live Music

Yes, I know Summerfest ended 3 days ago. Better late than ever - you know that's the unofficial theme of this blog, right? Anyway...

I love Summerfest. A lot. I love seeing great shows from great bands and being outside at night with strings of lights floating above me. The best Summerfest show I've ever seen to date remains my first ever show: Blues Traveler in 2003. They played three encores. THREE! It was amazing. What's better is that I mention this to folks and they say, "Oh yeah, I heard about that show!" Makes me feel happy.

At any rate. This is what I really wanted to get at. Take the following two scenarios:

#1:

You camp out on bleachers for 3 hours and suffer for two not-so-high-caliber bands to see the one band that is worth camping out 3 hours for. The guy the next bleacher over provides a small amount of entertainment as you and your friends try in vain to figure out what combination of acid/speed/heroin/cough syrup/booze he has chosen as his potion for the evening. A pack of teenagers laments their lame parents and the challenges of keeping their shoes clean while they speak of their one friend who isn't there, sometimes happily and sometimes cattily. The show finally does start (even though you missed the opening song because you tried to grab another beer but were thwarted in your efforts to get back to the stage quickly by the afore-mentioned teenagers). You rock out to the second and third song and then settle down a bit as the band plays "one or two things off their new album" - which lasts for 45 minutes. As they start to ramp up again with their more well-known songs, your drug-induced neighbor falls into you, spilling what's left of beer all over your shirt, possibly even stepping on your foot. The pack of teenagers find six more people to stand on the bleachers with them, pushing you awkwardly into the guy next to you who may or may not be named Jethro. The band's most famous song is played and the whole crowd sings, but really, you just can't wait to leave. And you really have to pee.

#2:

You camp out on the bleachers for three hours and see two bands who you really enjoy. The first was a great cover band, who doesn't love them? The second was a local band that you'd heard was good but had never witnessed - until now. They were great! You make friends with the folks around you - not just strategically so they don't get mad when you run to the bathroom, but they actually are legitimately cool people. You add one or two of them on Facebook while you wait and vow to run into each other at next week's something-or-other. One of your new friends even grabs you a beer on their run right before the show starts - and they didn't even roofie it! The band you came to see opens with a killer track, and then jumps right in to an amazing set - you know all the words to everything and so does the entire crowd. They don't have a new album out this year but instead play a deep cut off of their first album from 10 years ago - and it's amazing. You rock out to two encores and hug your new friends on the way out of the gate.

You obviously went into both shows expecting the same amazing experience. Unfortunately it doesn't always turn out that way. I have this same thought every year as I'm planning my Summerfest experience. I usually hope to be pleasantly surprised when I do decide to go - and I hope for this more often than not - but sometimes it does happen. Oh well I suppose. (The real reason I wrote this is because I wanted to describe the guy standing next to you and the game about deciding what drugs he's on.)

In other news, did anyone see QEII's sweet hat today?!?!?!? Someone else please tell me that you think this is amazing:

That's all I've got for now. I hope I can get some good sleep tonight. I put the AC in my window, but my silly studio is kind of a big place to cool. Tomorrow I will buy Tylenol PM - hopefully this will cure my insomnia (well it wouldn't technically be a cure... more of a fix I guess).

I changed the blog background - hoping it encourages me to read more... I'll let you know how that goes.

Friday Night

So on Friday night, at about 11:00 PM, I'm walking through the Red Light District in Amsterdam, which is quite an interesting mix of tourists wandering around trying to see working girls and interesting-looking guys trying to cut a deal with the working girls (supposedly the going rate is 50-80 Euro for 15 mins).

Anyway, we turn down another pedestrian street with a kebap shop, a frites shop, a sex toy shop and a few bars. One bar is packed, and the entire crowd is singing one song...



Ok there weren't quite that many people there, and Noel and Liam weren't playing live, but it still sounded kind of awesome. I suppose I should also say that 80% of the time I hear that song, something ridiculous happens (nothing of note on this trip though...).

At any rate, I am now back, but make no promises of uploading my pics anytime soon, seeings how I still have not uploaded my pics from last summer's Germany and Spain trips. It feels a bit strange to be in my own apartment, and I have to go grocery shopping so I can cook my own food again (I am thrilled at the thought that I will not get a dirty look for using my credit card to pay for something less than 50 Euro... apparently they hate the fees over there). I was channel surfing (glad to see America didn't explode after the DTV conversion) and almost left it on Telemundo because I still find it somewhat odd to hear people on the street speaking English.

Anyway, it's good to be back. Not really looking forward to work tomorrow, but c'est la vie.