Tuesday, August 05, 2008
This song brought me to tears....
...when I was at 10,000 Lakes. I had never seen the Flaming Lips before, and I knew very few of their songs. But this song just hit me. (I'm a softie.)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
I was a tent pole, again...
Here I am in Detroit Lakes last Wednesday helping one of my friends set up his tent for the 10,000 Lakes Festival. It was pretty windy that day, so we were all working quickly to ensure that our tents didn't become very large kites!...Phil Lesh just published the setlist from Saturday night...it was a very good show! Shakedown opener!!!
The last show I caught was right after Phil and Friends--Cornmeal. The link has a download of this very energetic show.
Monday, July 21, 2008
I was a tent pole...
...on Saturday while helping to hold a tarp up during a neighborhood performance of The Adventures of Juan Bobo by Open Eye Figure Theatre. (My son stayed dry while playing with one of his buddies.)
It was a delightful show, made even funnier while undergoing the impromptu exercise.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Obama at the Xcel
I am very thankful I had the opportunity to attend the Obama rally last night at the Xcel Energy Center. My friend Jeff and I got downtown at 6 p.m. and had a 30 minute walk to the end of the line. At the time I was estimating that there was little chance we'd get in, as we walked well over 15 city blocks. Regardless, I was happy to see the throng of highly enthusiastic people waiting on the historic night.
The line did get moving, albeit slowly, and after 8 p.m. I thought for sure that the Xcel had filled up, but had not heard anything. The line moved faster, and before we knew it, we were outside just a few feet away from the entrance. Jeff and I made it in just a couple of minutes before Barack took the stage.
I am still processing the evening. I am filled with a huge amount of respect for him, but also for the voters as a whole who came out to vote. Despite that racism is still a problem we as a society need to grapple with, I am very proud of our country having moved from the violence and chaos of the civil rights movement to nominating an African-American to be a Presidential candidate. It does speak positive volumes about how we have grown as a country!
I'm sure I'll have more to say in the next few days, but I wanted to share my initial set of thoughts about last evening, and to say thanks again to Jeff for getting me out to the rally! You are a great friend!
The line did get moving, albeit slowly, and after 8 p.m. I thought for sure that the Xcel had filled up, but had not heard anything. The line moved faster, and before we knew it, we were outside just a few feet away from the entrance. Jeff and I made it in just a couple of minutes before Barack took the stage.
I am still processing the evening. I am filled with a huge amount of respect for him, but also for the voters as a whole who came out to vote. Despite that racism is still a problem we as a society need to grapple with, I am very proud of our country having moved from the violence and chaos of the civil rights movement to nominating an African-American to be a Presidential candidate. It does speak positive volumes about how we have grown as a country!
I'm sure I'll have more to say in the next few days, but I wanted to share my initial set of thoughts about last evening, and to say thanks again to Jeff for getting me out to the rally! You are a great friend!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The closing of the Warfield
I'm thankful for Irenie keeping up on all things Bob Weir related. She posted a news item Monday regarding the last nights of the Warfield Theater. Bob joined Phil Lesh for the last night of the five show run. Phil had a very unique way of closing this out. Check out the set lists!
I'm downloading these shows off of bt.etree to listen to later. I'm psyched to listen to these and even more excited to see Phil and Friends at 10,000 Lakes Festival this summer!
I'm downloading these shows off of bt.etree to listen to later. I'm psyched to listen to these and even more excited to see Phil and Friends at 10,000 Lakes Festival this summer!
Friday, May 09, 2008
We saw Juno last night...
Thanks to the grandparents, Melissa and I went out last night to see Juno for the first time. I thought it encompassed so much: it was beautiful, sad, funny, and thoughtful. Thanks to Diablo Cody for such a great film!!!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Dread maintenance
I wanted to give Stefanie at Maude thanks again for the very nice maintenance work she did on my dreads. I haven't seen her for a couple of years, but by chance, I ran into her recently. She always did good work on my dreads in the past. If you need dread work done by a stylist with a great attitude, check her out!
Monday, March 31, 2008
A very nice weekend!
My sister-in-law flew in this weekend to visit us. Our son turned four on Friday! We had a very nice time with his aunt and with other family members and friends. We had a party for him at the Children's Museum yesterday. Lots of kids running around, while we adults talked politics, sustainable development, careers, etc. Good times!!!.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Busy evening ahead! Chess AND music
I've got the last round of the Twin Cities Chess League this evening followed by a show at First Avenue. They are having a benefit concert for the music department of Lyndale Elementary. To be frank, I'm more excited about the music than the chess (I'm 0-6 in the League), but I'll play a good game regardless.
Spring is here!
I took this picture yesterday afternoon. I made a 311 call to the city to take care of the ice and flooding water in the alley behind our home. Thanks to the hard work of a couple of workers and a copious amount of calcium chloride, they finally opened the sewer. It was covered with roughly four inches of ice! (The picture is a result of my fascination with running water since I was a kid.)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Obama!
I was both a bit surprised, but entirely pleased, that three of the four remaining members of the Grateful Dead got together on Monday night to play a show for Barack Obama. They have played many benefits before, but never for a political candidate.
One of my web buddies, Irenie, has more details about the event over at her blog.
The show is available over at bt.etree.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Bobby Fischer
In the last week since Bobby Fischer's death, I realized that I probably would not have gotten into chess if not for him. My dad was enthusiastic about chess in 1972, and in either that year or the next, he taught me the royal game.
"The Bobby" as I like to refer to him was probably the greatest chess player ever, and it is sad that he went into obscurity and mental illness. In my chess lessons this morning, some of the students asked about chess, but two asked about "bad things he said about the United States." I explained to them that Bobby suffered from mental illness later in his life.
On a very positive note, I used the Game of the Century to demonstrate the two key goals in the opening--1) develop your minor pieces and a few pawns to control the center and 2) protect your King by castling. In the game, both Donald Byrne and Fischer followed the first rule, but Bobby punished Byrne for not castling! Bobby was 12 at the time, just a few years older than the students I teach.
I am thankful for chess for Bobby's countless contributions to it! Thank you and rest in peace!
"The Bobby" as I like to refer to him was probably the greatest chess player ever, and it is sad that he went into obscurity and mental illness. In my chess lessons this morning, some of the students asked about chess, but two asked about "bad things he said about the United States." I explained to them that Bobby suffered from mental illness later in his life.
On a very positive note, I used the Game of the Century to demonstrate the two key goals in the opening--1) develop your minor pieces and a few pawns to control the center and 2) protect your King by castling. In the game, both Donald Byrne and Fischer followed the first rule, but Bobby punished Byrne for not castling! Bobby was 12 at the time, just a few years older than the students I teach.
I am thankful for chess for Bobby's countless contributions to it! Thank you and rest in peace!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Happy New Year
It has been one month since I wrote anything here. I had such a busy month I did not have time!
In addition to my chess teaching, I started working for Kelly Services doing temporary work at an area foundation to help them get through their year-end gift processing. It has been gratifying to see how generous people can be!
Our friends Jeff and Tiffany held the annual holiday party in mid-December that was great! As many of our group are busy with little children, we seldom get much time to get together as a group. I always look forward to the good times and cheer with this group of friends!
We had a good family vacation visiting Melissa's family in Alabama. I haven't been to her mom's home before, so it was good to finally visit there. On the tail end of the trip, we spent a couple of wonderful days of eating, drinking, listening to music, and generally absorbing the good energy of the great folks of New Orleans! I loved visiting there, and I would love to go back.
I am making forward progress on my Master's degree with my recent visit with my advisor. I am looking forward to completing this.
I wish all the reader's of my blog a happy new year! Cheers and good blessings to you!
In addition to my chess teaching, I started working for Kelly Services doing temporary work at an area foundation to help them get through their year-end gift processing. It has been gratifying to see how generous people can be!
Our friends Jeff and Tiffany held the annual holiday party in mid-December that was great! As many of our group are busy with little children, we seldom get much time to get together as a group. I always look forward to the good times and cheer with this group of friends!
We had a good family vacation visiting Melissa's family in Alabama. I haven't been to her mom's home before, so it was good to finally visit there. On the tail end of the trip, we spent a couple of wonderful days of eating, drinking, listening to music, and generally absorbing the good energy of the great folks of New Orleans! I loved visiting there, and I would love to go back.
I am making forward progress on my Master's degree with my recent visit with my advisor. I am looking forward to completing this.
I wish all the reader's of my blog a happy new year! Cheers and good blessings to you!
Monday, December 03, 2007
Particle at the Cabooze
The snow that fell earlier in the day didn't keep a few hundred people from enjoying Particle's Saturday night show at the Cabooze. I had a great time, and remarkably I wasn't too tired on Sunday, despite getting home late!
Setlist (from The Breeze Board):
12.01.07 Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN (w/ Josh Clark of TLG)
I: Triple Threat, Young Lust*, Six Long Weeks, Hot Dog**,W*** > Launchpad
II: Battle Without Honor or Humanity#, Wet Spot, Truth Don Die***, Silver Lining > Children's Story > 7th Gear > Find a Way, Denmark
encore: Jam > 7 Minutes till Radio Darkness
*w/ Eminence Front tease
** TGL song first time played
***w/ billie jean tease for 25th anniversary of Thriller
#w/ Baby Please Don't Go tease
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Pakistan: Cricket star Khan freed
Imram Khan, the Pakistani cricket star who started a hunger strike Monday to protest the state of emergency imposed in Pakistan, was freed with hundreds of other political prisoners!
Monday, November 19, 2007
From the Seattle Post-Intellingencer: Dissent starts with a YouTube clip.
Mark Trahant, editor of the Seattle Post-Intellingencer editorial page, wrote an opinion piece on Pakistan, dissent, and YouTube. Please check out the article here.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Holy f'in Meat Puppets!!!!!
Two mornings after the Meat Puppets' Saturday night show at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, I am still on the floor!
First off, the Varsity is a very nice venue. It is carpeted, warm, clean, with tables on both sides and above the main floor. It has the ambiance of a jazz-dinner club, which was inviting and frankly, quite a bit better on the feet than standing on the hardened floor of most other venues. As part of the now 40+ club, it was great walking into the Varsity and not fee like the normally out-of-place, maturing, male rock fan, aka "the creepy old guy," (ala Greg Behrendt). Part of my tribe now includes other aging hipsters, and we weathered and peppered-haired individuals were a majority on Saturday!
Ha Ha Tonka, a band from the Ozarks, opened. They played the typical 30 or so minutes, and they had enough diversity and energy to keep me engaged the entire time. Two songs in particular stick out. They performed an a cappella piece, later followed by Black Betty. They closed their set with a country-flavored morsel that was a good appetizer before the Puppets came on.
It has been 19 years since I saw them in the Cleveland Flats at Peabody's Down Under. My head at the time was filled with both Grateful Dead and many punk songs. I was wondering how they would sound after a long break filled with personal struggles. (The Onion did a good interview with them.)
Curt came out, followed by Ted, followed by Cris. I was fortunate to get a space right in front of Cris. They warmed up with a couple bars, then we were Attacked by Monsters for the opener!
Cris was wiry and on fire as he beat on his bass, while Curt played fluidly. Ted Marcus, although not the original drummer, played well with the Kirkwoods throughout the set, which included Up On the Sun, Plateau, Looking at the Rain, Lost, and The Whistling Song.
As they were nearing the end of the show, they pulled out their ferocious jams, a mixture between very fast punk rhythm and psychedelic jams. Those couple of interludes amazed me, and I felt they played even stronger when I saw them years ago!
They wrapped up an encore of Climbing, Maiden's Milk, and Backwater. The latter was their only hit song, but one that many in the audience were excited to hear.
I was gratified to see them play again and with so much intensity!
First off, the Varsity is a very nice venue. It is carpeted, warm, clean, with tables on both sides and above the main floor. It has the ambiance of a jazz-dinner club, which was inviting and frankly, quite a bit better on the feet than standing on the hardened floor of most other venues. As part of the now 40+ club, it was great walking into the Varsity and not fee like the normally out-of-place, maturing, male rock fan, aka "the creepy old guy," (ala Greg Behrendt). Part of my tribe now includes other aging hipsters, and we weathered and peppered-haired individuals were a majority on Saturday!
Ha Ha Tonka, a band from the Ozarks, opened. They played the typical 30 or so minutes, and they had enough diversity and energy to keep me engaged the entire time. Two songs in particular stick out. They performed an a cappella piece, later followed by Black Betty. They closed their set with a country-flavored morsel that was a good appetizer before the Puppets came on.
It has been 19 years since I saw them in the Cleveland Flats at Peabody's Down Under. My head at the time was filled with both Grateful Dead and many punk songs. I was wondering how they would sound after a long break filled with personal struggles. (The Onion did a good interview with them.)
Curt came out, followed by Ted, followed by Cris. I was fortunate to get a space right in front of Cris. They warmed up with a couple bars, then we were Attacked by Monsters for the opener!
Cris was wiry and on fire as he beat on his bass, while Curt played fluidly. Ted Marcus, although not the original drummer, played well with the Kirkwoods throughout the set, which included Up On the Sun, Plateau, Looking at the Rain, Lost, and The Whistling Song.
As they were nearing the end of the show, they pulled out their ferocious jams, a mixture between very fast punk rhythm and psychedelic jams. Those couple of interludes amazed me, and I felt they played even stronger when I saw them years ago!
They wrapped up an encore of Climbing, Maiden's Milk, and Backwater. The latter was their only hit song, but one that many in the audience were excited to hear.
I was gratified to see them play again and with so much intensity!
Friday, November 09, 2007
Conference on the Grateful Dead
Weirophile Irenie, at Weir Freaking, wrote a post partially about the upcoming conference, Unbroken Chain: The Grateful Dead in Music, Culture and Memory at the University of Massachusetts. As noted in the comments section, Steve Gimbel will be blogging about the conference at his blog, Philosophers' Playground.
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