Best Shot(s) Monday--I'm BACK!

And I'm lovin' it! Yeah, I'm starting to actually like the D50, as long as there's lots of light and Cadence cooperates. Of course, it's just the Magic Lens (50mm f/1.8) that I'm using on it.

Here's Cadence playing All Aboard the Ducky Train with her dad's skateboard. Great. Now I have Ernie singing the Rubber Ducky Song in my head. Do you have any idea how hard it is to erase a Sesame Street voice from your head once it gets started??? I better turn on some music...

So our friends Jenn and John and their daughter Ada came over for dinner on Saturday. They live close enough to stroll over, and it's a shame that this was our first time having them for dinner, considering we've lived in our place for over 1 1/2 years now.

Cadence was so excited about Ada coming over. She asked me all day for Ada and got so cranky and impatient I finally told her to take a nap (at 4pm) and that when she woke up Ada would be here. Luckily, that's exactly what happened, or I'm sure there would've been hell to pay had Cadence awakened to no Ada.

And then after asking for Ada all day, Cadence proceeded to call her "Hay-na" (Helena) all evening. Go figure. Anyhoo, I hope we have Ada and her mom and dad over BEFORE another 1 1/2 years have elapsed.

Oh, and go see other folks' Best Shots Monday at Tracey's Picture This!

I Do Like the Rawk Oh So Much...

So the show Thursday night...was pretty damn long. Sticking to the green theme of the occasion, I took the 22 Clark bus to the Metro. Public transportation is an amazing thing, folks. I am thankful to live in a city that has it, even when it's pretty f*cked up at times.

There was a lot going on. For one thing, there were like a half a dozen acts on the bill. My lovely kickass friend Miss Mia was the host for the show. Okay, I'm just gonna summarize with a some photos cuz it's like way late and I'm still exhausted from last night.

This is Imelda de la Cruz. She was one of the winners of the Audio Emission contest to get her song on the i-go Compilation CD that will be in every i-go car.

This is the winner of the Hip Hop category, Animate Objects. I realize the photo doesn't show the whole group. That's not the point. The point is that this is an awesome photo and it took great skill to take.

Actually, it was totally an accident. Anyhoo, moving right along...

So there was actually a lot of time to kill in between sets. I used that time to people watch, of course. I spent a lot of that time spying on the Windy City Rollers who were at the show apparently as the hired dancers/rabble-rousers planted in the crowd. They seem like an awesome bunch of women. Damn. Roller derby. Another way I could totally get brain damage. Actually, I had no idea who these women were until this really hip-looking totally hot Asian girl (Shoot. I totally forgot her name. Sheena? Shawna? Dolores?) asked me if I knew who those women were and could they possibly be the Windy City Rollers? Then I remembered hearing that they were supposed to be there, and that's exactly who they turned out to be.

I suppose I could've somehow gotten to the "green room" to schmooze with my friends in the Detholz! but I suck at the schmooze so I kept myself occupied by taking a lot of really stupid photos and making up stories about the people around me and looking like I was totally content being alone. Which I was, actually, because that's how I generally operate when at shows with the purpose of taking some photos in addition to enjoying the rawk. I know, I know, I'm so antisocial.

The band that played before the Detholz! was called Palliard. Their influences are good old fashioned traditional country/blues and probably alcohol, and they sure do put on a good show.

Dude. They had not ONLY an upright bass, but a PEDAL STEEL GUITAR as well. If they'd had a banjo, I would have totally swooned.

You can see a slideshow of all the Palliard photos here.

The Detholz! were definitely worth the wait. I haven't seen them play live since they invited me out to their Urbana show w/ Wilco, which was over a year ago.

I have to be honest with you. I'm not totally thrilled with the photos I took. It was a learning experience, however, and I am still determined to convince the folks at Pitchfork to let me bring in my camera to the festival. God forbid I have to watch Sonic Youth and Cat Power while armed with only my Point 'n' Shoot.

The Detholz! setlist was largely new to me, although they did some of their oldies-but-goodies. It was as frenetic a show as ever.

Jim (Mr. Frontman) does stuff with his body that makes me concerned about his internal organs, and he did at one point end up a sweaty convulsing mass of flesh at the feet of his audience. I'm really not sure how he kept his flip-flops on through it all.

Speaking of flip-flops, the crowd was pretty docile (for a Detholz! show), but this here lady did hit Jonny AND Jim with her flip-flops towards the end of the show. I think she was "with the band."

You can see the rest of the Detholz! photos here.

You can see ALL the photos from the entire i-Go Audio Emissions CD Release Party here.

Oh! And I did finally get to meet in person my mutual lurker friend Elaine! We're totally gonna have coffee one of these days and laugh about all the dirty little details we know about each other's lives.

I also got to see my friends Derek and Linda Becker (Derek manages/books the Detholz! and many other fine bands). They're another couple of friends I really need to see more often, and outside music venues for a change.

Anyhoo, it was past midnight by the time I finally got home. Oh, and look! It's past midnight now! I'm totally done here, y'alls.

Three-Day Weekends Make Me Need a Vacation

Seriously, folks. Sometimes our lives just get so busy, I have to go into work to get some rest. If it weren't for the commute, I would LOVE going to work like ALL the TIME.

We went to our friends Jeff and Lena's house in Elgin for a BBQ/Birthday party on Monday. They recently bought an old historic Victorian house that they're fixing up. We were celebrating both Jeff's and Uncle Jay's birthdays. Jeff and Jay went to high school together and are now business partners for Periphix Computer Solutions.

It was a nice day to grill and be outdoors. I like city life, but sometimes it's nice to have a yard and some (relatively) fresh air.

I mean, when was the last time we played croquet in the city? Like, never, that's when.

Cadence was unusually docile for most of the afternoon. She was happy to just watch what others were doing, or just play by herself, often singing nonsense songs. Maybe it was all the unfamiliar faces, although most of Ted's immediate family were there. Or maybe it's because there was a big bowl of chips just within her reach. I guess I'd be happy too if I were a 2-1/2-year-old and there were all-you-can-eat Doritos around.

Anyhoo, it was cool to see the inside of an old house and see all the work Jeff and Lena have put into it. They could totally have a Bed and Breakfast if they wanted.

The day didn't end with the BBQ. We went over later that night to my cousin Ben and Rachel's apartment to see my aunt and uncle and Ben's sister Jessica who were visiting for the long weekend. We were supposed to be having coffee when we got there, but my aunt had JUST finished cooking dinner, which ended up being a feast of shrimp, squid, alaskan king crab legs, korean spicy pork, and zucchini and eggplant fritters. I guess they went to Super H-mart and went a little crazy because there was a huge seafood sale going on. Ted and I love our aunt's cooking, so we dove in and pigged out.

Ben and Rachel's daughter Eden is growing so fast! It's fun seeing another little baby. I like seeing how Cadence reacts to her, and she seems to be warming up to her quite nicely. She asked me later at home if we could get a Baby Eden too. HA HA HA! Yeah right. So I told her if we had another baby in the family, Mommy and Daddy would have to take care of the other baby too, and she didn't take too kindly to that idea.

Anyhoo. I need a vacation.

Birthday Part Deaux

So the rest of my Birth day...Cadence and I rode a couple buses and made our way to Trader Joe's in time to help Ted finish grocery shopping after his shift.

With the rain and all, there was a LOT of splashing involved while waiting for buses and walking to Trader Joe's from the bus stop. Thank goodness for Kidorable boots!

And I couldn't believe that someone left this bike outside in the rain in front of Trader Joe's. That's got to be the rustiest bike I've ever seen, and no wonder. They didn't even bother to park it underneath a covered area.

My cousin Kris and our friend Connie came over for dinner. My brother stopped by and ended up staying too. We got carry-out from an Indian restaurant (YUM!), drank some Tripel Karmeliet and homebrew, and reveled in the goodness that is Tres Leches cake from Rolf's Patisserie.

And look! For once, I actually have a photo of the whole group. I'm pretty bad about taking photos when I'm with friends, but I made sure we got one in. I was going to do it with a timer, but I like the look of the Arms Reach Self-Portrait.

Alright. Off to bed for me.

See. Miracles CAN Happen.

Well, my laptop survived Tropical Storm Cadence. So far so good. And thank goodness because I had not yet uploaded my photos from Saturday night when we got to see our friend Jozka and his beautiful girlfriend Susannah who were visiting from Ann Arbor. Joe was the happiest I've ever seen him, and that made me happy too because I've often worried over him.

Joe was roommates with Ted @ 800 South when we first started dating. He and I bonded over Douglas Coupland and songs played on guitar. He's one of those people with whom I've shared some very special memories--moments of pure joy and pure sadness. He moved to Ann Arbor that summer after the Infamous 800 South New Year's Eve Party where we first met, so we were friends in the same city for only about 8 months. We only see him sporadically now, but it always warms my heart and brings back some of the sweetest memories ever.