Jack's Mannequin & The City

Oh what fun last Sunday was...

Charlie had won tickets to go see a studio performance by Jack's Mannequin at the Live 105 studio, and then tickets to see them play Slim's later that night. He got two tickets, and I was lucky enough to be invited. Woo!

We headed out to the city to catch the studio performance - got their way too early so we had to stand around for about 45 minutes, but it was all good.

Once inside the studio - we realized how intimate (not like that sicko) the mini-concert was going to be. It was just us, 6 other contest winners, about 5 Live 105 people and the band. Pretty damn cool....

Here are a few pictures from it and a video of them covering MGMT's "Kids" (notice my head in the right corner)





After they played about 6 songs we headed off on a bar hopping adventure. First we hit the Rouge Brew Pub, and drank some good Oregon beer and ate some decent appetizers. Then it was off to Vesuvio, which was made popular by Jack Kerouac. Charlie drank a couple gin & tonics while I had a vodka tonic. Very cool two story bar. Lots of crazy decorations and patrons. Gotta check it out...




Then it was off to City Beer - a cool little place that not only sells beer on tap, but has a very extensive bottled collection that are available to take home. Good beer, good bread and good cheese.

We then headed down a couple blocks to Slim's to get into the show - thanks to Charlie's sly talking we were able to cut into line. Got in, got drinks, and then... headed back outside. The first couple bands were terrible so we hung out outside with a guy Charlie went to high school with (but they didn't really remember erach other) and his girlfriend. We went across the street to Butter - a bar/club that is purposefully white trash. With drinks like the After School Special (vodka & grape soda) and Latchkey Tea (a Long Island with strawberry soda instead of cola) the place was amazing. I guess they usually play house music, but horrible rock from the 80's was on the turn tables, so it was fantastic.

Finally we headed back over to Slim's to catch Jack's Mannequin. They put on a great show - the sound was the best we had heard at Slim's. It was a great day with my brother... awwwwww!

The word "count" is now a dirty word....

Charles showed this to me.... so hilarious

Enjoy....

Politics... I hate 'em

Well another election day is rapidly approaching, and I've had it up to here with the amount of retarded slap fights that seem to be going on with all of the candidates and propositions. Though a few interesting things have popped up lately...

Steve Young, who at the height of his fame was the Mormon Golden boy, has given around $50,000 to the campaign to defeat Prop 8. The funny thing about this is that the Mormon church is one of the top supporters of getting Prop 8 to pass. Mormons have donated close to $9 million dollars, and the churches leaders have sent letters to its members urging them to vote YES on prop 8. Any fall out for Steve Young's "disobedience" has yet to be seen. Though he did gain respect from me. No church should tell you how to vote - it should be a decision between you and God and that's it. I for one will join Steve in voting No on Prop 8, because I don't believe the government should have any control over marriage, gay or straight. In my mind marriage is a spiritual act, and lets face it - the government is NOT who I want dictating my spiritual practices.

In other proposition news:

Prop 1 - Voting YES - I'm down for a high speed rail.
Prop 2 - Voting NO - Chickens can live in cages for all I care.
Prop 3 - Voting YES - Kids need Hospitals too...
Prop 4 - Voting YES - Call me old fashioned, but Parents should know what is going on in their kid's life
Prop 5 - Nevermind - That's all I can write about politics for now...

Just go out and vote.

I'll drink whiskey instead of water cause I can't stand to be sober in this place

Well I had a fairly eventful week last week. After working Monday and Tuesday a few friends and I headed up to Tahoe for a few days of fishing (caught three little guys and released them), relaxing (beer & dominos) and gambling (lost $240 - ouch!). We went on a little hike to see the salmon, and try to catch a glimspe of a bear eating the salmon. Of course 5 minutes after we leave the bear shows up - some friends were still there, so I got some pictures...

I came home Thursday night and woke up Friday morning with a terrible cold. However, I had tickets for WhiskeyFest that night, and I was not going to miss it. A bunch of us headed out to SF, ate at the 21st Amendment Brewery (great food) and then headed over to the Marriott. It was great - I got to catch up with Tom Bulleit (Bulleit Bourbon), Jess Graber (Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey), got to meet Jimmy Russell (Wild Turkey) and John Hansell (Malt Advocate Magazine). It was my dad and my brother's first time at one of these events, so it was really fun to have them there. But alas, large amounts of whiskey and head colds do not mix... I will leave it at that.

So my Saturday, Sunday, Monday and half a day Tuesday were spent on the couch with a terrible cold.

Looking forward to being well again (I think tomorrow is the day).

Busy Busy Busy

Well, its Saturday. I like the weekends. It means no work... oh wait, there's cleaning, laundry, and the ever ominous homework to get done...

Life is busy, but with fun things, so its all good... Here is a breakdown:

• 10/8 - 10/9: Go to Tahoe with some friends
• 10/10: Go to WhiskeyFest
• 10/12: Rival Schools & Middle Class Rut concert
• 10/21: Charles' Birthday
• 10/25: Wine Party @ the Cond
• 10/28: Jenny Lewis concert
• 10/31: Halloween
• 11/3: Highway Patrol concert (Josh Pinkston's band - you should really go - contact me if interested)
• 11/7: Rise Against & Alkaline Trio concert
• 11/13: Ben Folds Concert
• 11/15: Safeway Foundation Gala
• 11/27: Thanksgiving
• 12/12: Seeing Wicked in SF
• 12/25: Christmas
• 1/1: New Years
• 11/7: Rise Against Concert

Damn! That's a lot of things....

The Counting Crows concert was great (no Anna Begins though... sniff) and surprisingly Maroon 5 was actually decent...

More later.

Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows

Headed out to Shoreline to see Counting Crows tonight - this will be my third or fourth time seeing them, but it will be Shannon's first - so we are excited... Less exciting is Maroon 5 opening for them, not that their albums suck, but after seeing them perform live on TV... not looking forward to it so much. Another band, Augustana is opening up - checking them out on iTunes right now... not bad but not exactly my cup of tea. But Adam Duritz and Co. will make up for anything lacking the opening bands bring. Here's hoping they are still playing Anna Begins.

Oh by the way Vegas was a blast - I came back with more gambling money than I started with. Woot.

Sad Songs

Shannon and I went to see Damien Jurado this past Wednesday. Incredible show, nothing like a bunch of depressing songs to lift your spirits.

With sad songs on the mind, here are 5 that I really dig right now:

Damien Jurado - Medication - A song about a guy who can't be with his married lover, so he spends time with his suicidal brother and prays that God will take his brother's life to ease the pain. First time i heard this was Wednesday night.. brutal.

Pedro the Lion - Second Best - A wife convincing herself its ok to be second best and trying to rekindle the romance with her husband at a hotel. This song floored me when I first heard it.

Brand New - Jesus Christ - Deals with being alone, trust issues and a loss of faith. A great sad song on an album of sad songs.

Neil Diamond - I Am I Said - A man trying to prove his existence despite being alone and far away from home.

Ben Folds Five - Evaporated - Probably one of the saddest songs I know, and without a doubt one of my favorites. Not sure what its about, but considering his song Brick is about an abortion he and an ex had, its quite possible its about the same experience. Heart breaking.