i used to do this far more frequently, but i did it today [actually - it's not been that long since i did it - november 9 was the previous time, but it had been probably almost a year before that]. yes, i laid down to take a brief nap and wound up sleeping 3 plus hours oh well. groggy, but must do dishes, etc. i'll be leaving this pad through the weekend tomorrow morning, i think, although plans aren't panning out as well as planned. hopefully a saturday night reunion [post irish-usc, of course] is in the cards. probably out for quite a few days, rud

yesterday i received in the mail a pair of cd's that i had purchased a few weeks ago on ebay. cds that I had downloaded, but that I though warranted purchase, especially at dirt-cheap-ish ebay prices. Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Wowee Zowee. I like Crooked Rain more, I think. Catchier, I'd say. Granted, I've only been through CD versions of them 3 or 4 times, and the computerized version between 5 and 10, but there's more immediately catchy about crcr. Especially the opener, and [obviously] cut your hair. range life. gold sounds. pretty great---perhaps better than slanted and enchanted. i can live without the noise jams on both crooked rain and wowee zowee...particularly on each album's penultimate track. hit the plane down for cr, and i'm not sure what it's called on the latter. but good good purchases.
this sounds like i don't like wowee zowee. i do. just don't love it like i love the 'crook.

not so much to add today. made hearty lentil soup from a cook book my aunt gave me about this time 2000. i'd rate it a 4 out of 10...slightly below average on my homemade meal scale. went to jack's on locust in the 'port, where their monday night football special is--get this--1.50 brews and....one dollar cheeseburgers. woof. quite good. had two that i shouldn't've. eisch was there. then fred came. then josh came. then fred left. then the three remaining left. rates as 'fairly good.' i think that's it. 3-day weeks rule. tomorrow's wednesday! woof.

i travel back to evanston/chicago frequently. sometimes the 6.5 hours round trip get to me, and, at the end of the weekend, i wish that i had just saved my gas money. this was not one of those weekends. this was a super weekend. nothing exciting, just a lot of folks.
friday - managed to hang out with sacks[y] for the first time since march - 'death to smoochy' - and managed to coax [moody] mittelstadt into joining us. i had no idea where to go prior to the evening - alas, i've never really been in glenview for an extended period of time while being of age. sacks suggested meier's tavern, on lake just west of skokie boulevard. sacks was so, so right. the company was good. reminiscing was done. our bartender was a weird, weird man who dropped out of northwestern after a year, i believe. [he saw my hat.] he disagreed with my contention that tyson chandler is a sure hall of famer. [i was on the inebriated side of sober at the time, i'd say.] but the three of us caught up and, more importantly, caught each other up on the developments in the life's of mutual friends. wonderful.
saturday - after turning down notre dame tickets, i went to evanston to watch the cats-illini for the sweet sioux tomahawk and, quite frankly, nothing else. [if you've ever wondered, norfwestern ticket takers do NOT care if you look NOTHING like the person whose ID you use to enter the student section. I used stacey [ben's girlfriend's] ID---the taker looked directly at it, and let me in. big ups to ryan field] actually left at the half---been wanted to join stacey in watching the bucks. the bucks won. i returned home---helped my sister with her physics homework ! [i'll say...this washed up physics student still sort of has it]
returned to etown that night for the nemo birthday experience. flax was there. tang was there. anuj was there. other regulars were there. a good time was had by all. played flips on the same team as greg and rob layton [leighton? leyton? not sure], the 'shaq' and 'kobe' of flips. incidentally, u of i krista served as robert horry. nemo and i were, respectively, samaki walker and derek fisher. he was worse.
toasted to the now-employed mendo, stole five dollars when the 'caps for money' winner did not claim his/her prize. slept on a couch, blanketless. wasn't so cold. some sort of drink had been spilled on the pillow earlier in the evening---i slept in it. [that's my story---might have been drool, or... but i doubt it.] apparently krista couldn't handle my snoring [i had apologized in advance---i knew it was coming---i had been congested] and moved from the matress on the floor to a couch down the hall. it happens.
sunday---woke up. said my goodbyes. watched the bears in glenview. and now i'm home. worth the gas money--and i made five bucks.

sweet sweet day. got a call from my brother at work---chose to 'ignore' it, as i was at work. the message came around 452, 8 minutes before leaving time. i got home, at about 515 i checked my voicemail. my brother, as it turns out, was playing in iowa city that night...well actually, at six. it's about an hour 10 minute drive to iowa city...they were playing second, and the show had to be done by 930. i quickly changed out of my tie, called my bro and said 'lets ride.' [understand, i haven't seen my brother in almost six months, and i don't think i've spoken to him in that time. it's been too long---he's a great dude]. so i got there and i told the guy i was on the list and he asked for my name and i started to give it and then dave came up to me and gave me a big hug, signifying i was welcome. the first band was on, so we watched and chatted. they finished---i saw dave's girlfriend jenny, gave her a bigol' kiss, and proceeded to the front as my brother and band were loading the stage. [they also bought me a beer---woof] dave's band, seven days of samsara, hasn't played outside of milwaukee in forever---he guessed maybe 2 years---he told me before the performance that kids from louisville and cincinnati had come to the show. perhaps indy also? total, 150-200 folks [i'm a poor estimator/er]
i don't go for the music my brother plays---i like the intensity of it, but i don't generally like the sing/growl/growl stance the vocalist---incidentally, dave----uses. that being said, the performance was awesome. rockin'. energetic. about 8 times [in a 25 minute set], dave knocked down his mic stand [he also plays bass] and somebody in front had to pick it up...during this time, he would growl into one of the guitarists' mic. before their penultimate song [i like the word] he mentioned how he had thought of me [not referring to me by pointing, just talking about 'my brother'] as the crew crossed the mississippi river and remembered that i live in the land of the fields of opportunity and how he was excited that i came and that the song was inspired by our late grandfather. the song ruled. energetic, and then some.

during the last song, a crowd gathered near the front. and my brother put his mic stand on the floor [not the stage] and during the chorus about 12 people from the crowd screamed along with him. apparently a traditional closer [one that people were singing the words to even before it was recorded, dave later told me]

after the show, the merch table was fairly packed with fans new and old. t-shirts, records, cds were sold, zines, buttons, stickers, posters [bitchin' ones] were given. dave nabbed me a cd [although i'm not sure i was supposed to keep it] and a t-shirt [which he told me to take]. a guy came up to guitarist andy and told him a story about the first time he saw seven days---like they were the stones or something. the kids behind me talked about how sdos was an 'awesome live band.' small group, but an appreciative, appreciative one.

no hanging out time post-show...dave works tomorrow morning. although he hinted he might accept my invitation to stop by next wednesday, the day before thanksgiving. that would rule.

on the way home, i listened to a bit of the cd [after the one i had started before arriving was over] got through four songs...sounded like trail of dead with growling instead of tuneless singing. i love the new trail of dead album. tuneful, sweet, sweet instrumental breaks. me likee...i'd listen occassionally even if it weren't my brothers music.

sweet, sweet day.

I watched O Brother Where Art Thou tonight. Enjoyed it as I watched it. Moved very quickly. Made me giggle. Made me tap my toe occassionally, made me laugh out loud. And then it ended--she was all "I counted to three"--and it was over and I was all "what just happened?" I see few movies, and this was low on my list of movies to see [alas, the local Blockbuster is lean on selection] so I'll probably never see it again. Oh well.

I also am not embarrassed to say that I saw the final episode of the Bachelor. I had seen one previous episode. It was pretty tremendous when Brooke [again, not embarrassed that I know her name] said "hell." Not so sweet when you're pissed off, are ya Alabama girl?

I can't think of a better song produced with a cheap keyboard than D-Plan's You Are Invited. Wow.

I am convinced that one of the greatest joys of the post-collegiate life is the conversations with fellow former classmates--particularly the ones that you don't speak to for half-years at a time. I just spoke to a friend of mine---i had not spoken to him since may--and the conversation was great. so great, in fact, that i might wind up seeing him at thanksgiving. odd. not sure what to make of it. but a good time. 79 [free] minutes of a good time, which is nice.

now listening to black rebel motorcycle club - b.r.m.c. I'm still not sure which is the band name and which is the album title. I can proudly say that I saw them on a sunday night in austin texas in may 2001. they were the first of three bands---and the show was a three-dollar cover, and i was one of less than 50 there. brmc opened, greenhornes were supporting, and centro-matic was the headliner. two weeks later, brmc was apparently signed to virgin and apparently on craig kilborn. meanwhile, greenhornes may catch the coattails of the 'garage' rock movement [they're deserving...also saw 'em about a year ago] and centro-matic produces its lo-fidelity beauty. they've inverted in popularity. i'd rank them brmc, centro-matic, greenhornes. fine rock groups all.