2009 was a pretty good year for me. I was fairly productive in both my full-time employment and my side ventures. I became a homeowner, went to 59 (or 62, depending on what you count) shows, listened to scores of albums, read a little more than usual and met a few new good friends. I didn't buy as much as I have in the past, but I was rather ( Read more... )

The last few months have been relatively busy. Work has been bonkers. My social life seems to ebb and flow at a dizzying pace. And I haven't really taken advantage of my new home - specifically, the music room. Sure, I sit in here to use the computer, but I haven't really sat down and listened to music. But tonight I'm doing just that ( Read more... )

I had a DJ gig last night. Yeah, that's right; I live in Chicago and had a DJ gig at a bar without televisions during a season opener featuring the Bears and Packers. Maybe you want to guess how many people were in attendance. It wasn't quite as many as a normal person has fingers and toes. I can't say I was terribly surprised by that, though. I ( Read more... )

Last weekend was Lollapalooza. (It should be some sort of indication of how busy I am that it's the following Friday and I'm just now sitting down to write about it. Although, I did just get a new desk for my new home today. So my desktop's not sitting on the floor anymore. My wireless has a kink in this new joint, too.) Friday was terrible. It ( Read more... )

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Yesterday I became a homeowner. (Well, it's a condo.) Earlier in the week my father referred to it as a "milestone." I did not think that was accurate until I started to think about it. All my adult life I've been working toward this, whether I knew it or not. Even when I didn't have money, I was responsible with it. I've never made wild purchases ( Read more... )

I would guess that not many people go to a movie when nothing about it seems appealing. Maybe you don't think the actors have chops. Maybe the director is completely out of his comfort zone. Maybe the story doesn't grab you much. But sometimes those movies turn out pretty well against all odds. Luckily, I have an outlet to screenings for these ( Read more... )

I realized a few months ago that almost all of the shows I was going to were headlined by national bands and rarely even had local support. So I started going to more local shows. Got to support the scene, right? Friday night I caught Fake Fictions, Coltrane Motion and White Mystery. Fake Fictions were all right - reminded me a lot of early 90s ( Read more... )

I'm not a big Yeah Yeah Yeahs fan. They've had some really good songs. They have a reputation for putting on a good show. But their albums haven't won me over. This latest one, though, has been pleasant on my ears. So, in the interest of making good on stealing their music, I plunked down $28 to see them play live on Tuesday. First of all, the show ( Read more... )

I'm in Louisville, Kentucky. I've been on a baseball trip with my dad this week. It's much in the same vein as our past trips to spring training and a weekend here or there elsewhere. We were in St. Louis on Sunday for a Brewers/Cardinals game. It was my first visit to the new Busch Stadium. I thought it was all right. Maybe I was unfairly biased ( Read more... )