Sunday, August 27, 2006

A Suggestion

If you're feeling mopey and depressed, wondering where your zest and passion for life has gone, go find a baby watching someone play guitar. It's guaranteed to reawaken the most naive and wonderful things inside you.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Summer Picture Roundup, Part 1

So here is the first of my posts recapping my summer through the pictures I've taken. Enjoy!



The Patty Griffin show last weekend was pretty good, but I gotta take issue that she didn't play anything off of Flaming Red. It is her best album by far, and she's got no business leaving those songs behind. Granted it was just her and Doug Lancio and not a full band, but still. Throw me a little "One Big Love" at least! Her new material was a bit spotty as well. A couple of really good ones, but on the whole didn't really blow my skirt up. The trip to Raleigh was fun though, and here are some more pictures from that.








































And here are some from my trip up to New York.




















































Next time on Summer Picture Roundup: Chihuly and babies!!

Monday, August 21, 2006

Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac

Hey all,

So this is the last week of summer before classes start. Or more accurately the last half-week of summer, since classes start on Thursday. I can't decide how I feel about classes starting, and I suspect that how I feel will change many times during the first few weeks of school.

This is just a short blog post anticipating my longer, end-of-summer blog post coming later this weekend. It will have lots of pictures (hopefully many from the Patty Griffin show on Saturday, because I got insanely close and hopefully got some real winners) and finally an account of Bonnaroo for those of you who still care (probably only Shannon). So that's coming later in the week. Have a good one till then!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Summer's here and the time is right for racing in the street



The Pete Yorn show was absolutely amazing. So much more than I expected. If you get a chance to see him on this tour, do yourself a favor. He will also be touring in the fall in support of his new album, Nightcrawler. And he said he would be coming to Richmond, so give him a listen.

He began on guitar by himself with one of my favorite tracks from his Live in New Jersey CD, "Feel Good Again". He followed it with a few choice songs, including "Friend of the Devil," a nice treat. He then gradually brought up the rest of the band for the rest of the set, the highlights of which were "For Nancy (Coz It Already Is)", "Black", Warren Zevon's "Splendid Isolation" (a rip roaring cover and the highlight of the show), The Smiths' "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", and "Life on a Chain". He then topped himself in the encore, at least for me, by opening with Springsteen's "Racing in the Street" going into his own "Murray". On the live album he does "Atlantic City" into "Murray", and it was awesome that he switched it up.

Overall it was fantastic, absolutely exceeding my expectations.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

NYC Part 2, West Virginia Bluegrass, and various and sundry

So I really intended to blog more about my New York trip when I got back, but I got back and didn't. I'm not the most reliable person this summer (or in general, for that matter). But as usual, here I come, better late than never.

-Saturday Teddy and I went to Odessa, our old East Village brunch spot, Odessa, and finally got to sit down and have a chat about things. Ted is one of those people who always has and interesting and valid viewpoint on things, and he articulates it very well. His opinions grow on you. It's one of the things that drew me to him in the first place, and it was great to get his take on recent events in my life and in the world.

-We then made our way up to Central Park to be joined, in order, by the following: Erin, Jillian, Tara, Kyle, another Erin who I had not met but will be living with Kyle, and every Orthodox Jew spending Shabbat on the Upper West Side. We unknowingly set up our blanket right in the middle of the designated meeting spot for Orthodox Jewish singles (the NW corner of the Great Lawn, in case you're interested, but trust me, speaking from experience, don't go down that road). We then went to a really good Mexican place on the Upper East Side where you got to watch them make your guacamole. And it was almost as good as my guacamole.

-We then went to a little pub down in the Village (actually the same one I went to with Jonesey on Thursday night) and played pool for a good long while. Miri also came down and met us, and she and I ended up walking around the Village for a while after everyone else had gone home. She is in Israel right now, so if you pray, do so for her safety.

-Sunday was baseball day! We went out to Brooklyn first, where I got my first look at Erin's new (to me) apartment. It was small and hot, but nowhere near as small and hot as her old place. We then met our friends Randi and Jared for brunch near Erin's place. The brunch was wonderful, and it was really great to catch up with Randi and Jared. They are the most chill, down-to-Earth couple on Earth, a real example of how things are when two people are perfect for each other.

-Ted, Kyle, Erin and I then travelled to the Staten Island Ferry station, where we met my best friend from the Adcenter, Lizzie. She is just about the most fun girl I know (and also the shortest). We all took the ferry over and watched the Staten Island Yankees get their asses whipped by the other team, whoever they were. But there was much beer drinking and peanut eating, as well as some other mishaps that are probably only funny if you were there and tipsy, so I will spare you all.

-Ted had to go to work, but the remaining four of us went to Erin's place and fixed dinner and sat out on her roof, which is amazing and totally makes up for any shortcomings in the apartment. There was the most magical breeze blowing, and we sat out for hours listening to music and watching the flight paths into JFK and La Guardia. This was definitely the best moment of my trip to New York, and the most salient reminder of what's really important in life.

-I got home a little after midnight from that, and Ted and I ended up staying up until 4 talking about life and other things. Again I reiterate that Ted is one of the best friends a dude can have.

-I met Lizzie for lunch the next day, and then I missed my flight because the shuttle was delayed. And because I didn't leave lunch early enough. So I got on a later flight, but my bag really wanted to go to Burbank, CA, so JetBlue decided to send it there instead of Richmond. With my car and apartment keys in it. Awesome.

-The rest of the week was uneventful. I hung out with Rebecca a bunch, indulging her new obsession with the calamari at Edo's Squid. I've never liked that place much, but I gotta say the calamari is probably the best I've ever tasted. You Richmond folks should try it, you will not be let down.

-This past weekend I went out to Featherfest, a yearly weekend of camping, bluegrass, drinking, and good times put on by my cousins Johnny and Colette Featherstone in Sod, West Virginia. Colette's parents live on the top of a mountain, and you have to take this very perilous road to get up there. Perfect place for a party. So I hung out with all of their friends all weekend and had a blast.

-I went to the podiatrist today, and I think that I am going to be having surgery on my feet pretty soon. This concerns me because it means that I won't be able to run my two 8K's this fall, but we don't choose these things. They choose us. And I have to say I am glad to be finally getting this done. My podiatrist up in New York was doo doo, and I couldn't see one on my new insurance for a year after I moved to Richmond because of that lovely pre-existing conditions clause that insurance companies slip into their policies. Big health care rules!!

-I haven't blogged about music in a while. I'm going to see Pete Yorn at Alley Katz tomorrow night. I'm not all that into him, but one of my favorite music blogs, I Am Fuel You Are Friends, did a big story on him recently, and she seems to dig the new stuff. So I'll give it a whirl, in keeping with my live music renaissance which started with Ryan Adams at the Norva and has continued recently with my brother's band, Big Nurse.

-Speaking of live music, here is a list of shows I want to see in the coming months:
8/17 - Bela Fleck at Innsbrook
8/22 - Bruce Hornsby at the Charlottesville Pavilion
8/26 - Lyle Lovett at the Charlottesville Pavilion
9/13 - Band of Horses at the Black Cat
9/20 - Jose Gonzales at Starr Hill
9/22 - Aimee Mann at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens (WTF?)
10/1 - Los Lobos at the 9:30 Club
10/4 - Old Crow Medicine Show at the 9:30 Club
10/23 - Social Distortion at the Norva
10/28 - The Avett Brothers at Attucks Theater (Norfolk)
10/29+30 - The Decemberists at the 9:30 Club
Holla at me if you want to go to any of these shows!

-And last but not least, my dear friend Brad killed his blog. It is now occupied by someone blogging in what looks to my untrained eye like Mandarin Chinese. But I could be wrong. It is pretty hilarious that they wanted the address screamingdeer.blogspot.com. I can't imagine why.