let's recap 'the rest of break,' which ended today.

as you'll recall, we left you on the early morning of monday, december 27. as near as i can recall, here's what happened after that:

12/27 - an early-morning trip to hillside, illinois, to watch the first four games of the annual proviso west holiday basketball tournament with coach. i was impressed with gbn's jon scheyer and hf's julian wright, but i was also impressed with some kid named mac on julian, as well as maurice (marcus?) green of leyden's, who's purdue-bound. return home came at about 330, and i soon after headed to watch the quite unimpressive cats in a win over delaware state with dad. the night closed with kevin and coach, taking down a few beers and seeing way too many not-quite-recognizable high school acquaintances at 'the yardhouse.'

12/28 - errands. actually, first, i watched i am trying to break your heart with annie, which is a fascinating film. then, errands. withdrew some cash. had a passport photo taken at walgreen's. (i hadn't shaved. i wore a 10-year-old gray flannel shirt (not pictured, i don't think). i intentionally messed my hair. i'm hoping i'm one day a crime suspect, because this is an unflattering picture.) filled out the passport forms. returned home. watched some more arrested development. watched nd's awful insight bowl performance against oregon state. ugly, but not completely unexpected.

12/29 - killed some time. went to nevin's with jenny and didi, along with adolphus and the j-man. a good time was had by all. also, saw high school acquaintances who were worth seeing, which was exciting. the 'entering the restroom double take' was quite cool, and led to about 4 minutes of solid conversation with people i never really talked to.

12/30 - went to chipotle with annie. played rummikub with annie and steve and mom. headed to the city for two days of rock. arrived in lake view at about 515, with j-dub, m-dub, and betty arriving soon after. ate pizza. drank beer. watched watch me jumpstart and part of the who went home and cried, a pair of gbv documentaries. prepared for night one of the two greatest nights in rock and roll history. (more on the show in a moment...)

12/31 - saw the cats, who played much better in a victory over texas-pan american. ate a corned beef sandwich with robby and neil and gurs. slept much while watching the boise state-louisville game, which i had been looking forward to. rocked again. (again, more in a moment...)

1/1 - not hungover, but quite tired, i drowsily recovered on the basement couch at 1206. up at about 2 p.m. to see the thrilling conclusion to the iowa game. (argh.) headed over to the boy's hip lincoln park apartment at about 530, watching the rose bowl and the first quarter of the fiesta bowl. greatly enjoyed the boy's company, although moreso before his non-sports-liking roommate came home and therefore made things more boring. (i mean, you can't have a two-person 'is mike hart better than adrian peterson' conversation when the third person is left out.) did not particularly like his pizza, although i can now confirm that pineapple pizza is officially my favorite. returned home to watch the remainder of the utah win with my dad, falling asleep part-way through. recovered in time to watch the final five episodes of arrested development's first season.

1/2 - on a sunday morning, up early for mass with the whole family (except d and the boy). ate a black bean chicken chili omelet at breakfast, the second time i've had the greatest breakfast ever (the first included unstadt.) went to costco to buy various things that i'd never buy myself, including a six-pack of bell peppers and this wicked-great rotisserie chicken. watched the bears disappointment at brysi's house, along with kevin, coach and the hoosier express. returned to glenview for dinner with all but d (the boy had returned to glenview, disillusioned by his roommate watching a&e). played a sleepy game of rummikub with mom, dad and annie (another annie victory). packed some. agreed to make a mix tape for annie, who's driving back to new york soon enough.

1/3 - monday morning. got to the dentist's office just in time to find out that the hygenist was out sick. returned home to finish packing. headed for the port at about 1130, driving through some freezing rain and the like. upon my return, i unpacked. napped some. that's about it.

1/4 - slept through a blood donation appointment (haven't set a makeup time yet...possibly thursday. a few more errands. bought the futureheads cd with a gift card. the borders employee snidely called the arcade fire 'the new indie it band,' like she was a hipster, what with being a qca borders employee and all. purchased a wireless router, and am now typing from the comfort of my couch.

1/5 - today. returned to work. with about a foot of snow falling in the area, i was 'frozen-out' of my car. that is, the doors would not open, not because they would not unlock, but because they were literally frozen shut. i got a ride to work, and tried unsuccessfully to open them after work. the outlook for tomorrow is not good. after work, i debuted my new wok, making leftover chicken with vegetables. this wok'll be great.

i also listened to the cats. this is scary, but they're at the point where i'm expecting victory over indiana. that should never happen, but indiana's bad and the cats played great again. i don't study game lines, but i wouldn't be surprised if the cats were favored. (i just checked. they were, by 1 1/2.) thompson seemed to play his best game ever, and jenkins made another bid for more playing time. also, doyle played well for the second straight time. i'm dumb, but it's far too early to count this team out of the postseason. there's some talent there. (during the iowa game that's no tv, the color guy just said "northwestern is now a team that nobody wants to play.")

now, let's get back to the guided by voices shows, the final two they'll ever play, at least until their reunion.

the company - dave, marc, gurs, mike, jim and betty for show one, the final four for the grand finale - was tremendous, but the show was better.

both shows opened with "over the neptune/mesh gear fox." both featured "pendulum." (all three of these songs are the types that dreams are made of...you've never heard 'em, and you're just hoping for the chance.)

i'm not eloquent enough to really put into words how amazing these two nights were, but suffice to say that they were absolutely incredible. the thursday night show was the greatest crowd i had ever been a part of. the wild bunch at the front was ten deep. i had broken into a full sweat by about the sixth song (demons are real, perhaps). there were some bob witticisms, such as "why do we play pink gun instead of (insert pop song here)? because i fucking like pink gun better" and "so do we rip on franz ferdinand and modest mouse because they get more attention than us? hell yeah we do." or something like that.

the stage was adorned with the customary crates of cold beer, as well as white buckets inviting both vomit and liquid waste. at stage right, a bar tended by trader vic. he was generous with shots all night long. bob felt the affects of it. For me, the highlight was probably the Greg Demos and Jimmy MacPherson-assisted back-to-back assault of "I Drove a Tank" and "Shocker in Gloomtown." and the smiles, all around. and the slurpee afterwards.

i was completely beat after the first show, but also completely overjoyed.

oh yeah. tobin sprout opened. he led singalongs of 'atom eyes' and 'straw dogs' (which was awesome) and 'awful bliss' and 'mincer ray' and, most impressively, 'gleemer (the deeds of fertile jim).'

the second show was even more wonderful. like ten times as wonderful. like four hours of rock and roll. like, 63 songs. like the most amazing crowd i've ever been around, with the entire place pogoing and singing and fist-pumping and sweating and wishing happy new year and exchanging kisses on the cheek (usually initiated by me).

gurs and jim and i generated the perfect drinking schedule. with the go (a tremendous opener) scheduled for 10, gurs and i had a few beers at about 815. we then walked to jim's place, where we had a few shots. then, during the go's performance, we had a few more beers. it was a real nice buzz, nice enough to last us through most of gbv, but limited enough so that were fully engaged for the final portions of the gbv performance.

again, an 'over the neptune/mesh gear fox' medley to open it up. 'things i will keep' and 'the best of jill hives' early in the set. (it was during jill hives that i ripped apart my undershirt, hulk hogan-style, simply caught in the moment. i'll keep that shirt.) 'Red Ink Superman' (WE'LL EVEN THE SCORE IN WORLD WAR FOUR!) followed by a not completely unexpected but absolutely well-executed version of '14 Cheerleader Coldfront.) Other songs missing from night one played during the finale included 'Beg for a Wheelbarrow' and the sublime 'Tropical Robots' and the more-sublime 'goldheart mountaintop queen directory.' 'i am a tree' rocked the house for the second straight night.

and, bear in mind, this was the first third of the show.

we got the traditional two encores, although the second seemed almost-unexpected.

the first encore had an incredible punch: my impression now (my first time seeing it), hunting knife, queen of cans and jars (absolutely scorching when they do it), hot freaks, motor away, i am a scientist (not a quiet voice in the place...everyone knew every word), teenage fbi (ditto), echos myron (absolutely bounce-tastic), and smothered in hugs (a classic closing-type song...i'm not sure there was a dry eye in the house).

and then, it seemed like it was over. beatle bob came out to thank everyone. but the 'g-b-v's wouldn't stop. and, after five minutes of chanting and screaming and yelling, bob and nate and doug and chris and kevin came out for one final bow, and blitzed through the final seven songs that they'll ever play as a unit.

the encore started fittingly, with 'a salty salute.' it continued violently, with 'postal blowfish' (never released on an official lp). the next stop was pop, with 'pendulum' again (you feel like you're part of an ingroup when you know the song, which is a synapse-sticker. 'Dayton, Ohio, 19-something and 5' felt like it would be the grand finale, but it wouldn't have been appropriate (it's not one that everybody knows). the next track, the unreleased 'he's the uncle,' wouldn't have been a good choice either. 'exit flagger' certainly would have been, and we all bounced and rocked and jumped (and, in my case, broke up a potential fight) like it was the end.

but it was not.

bob thanked us again, and announced the final song, "the anthem of guided by voices."

and there it was, plain and simple, 'don't stop now.'

this big daddy was beyond happy.

and it was truly unforgettable and, after the show, i was convinced that this band is the greatest to ever exist. isn't it great to exist at this time?