Sounds like the title of an Adult Video, doesn't it??
Anyway, over the past few weeks I've been digging through some of my old cassette tapes from when I was younger and popped a few in to take a listen. Here are some that I love:
Cyndi Lauper - "She's So Unusual" - 1983
I think every track on this album is classic pop which you have all heard on the radio. Songs like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She-Bop", "All Through The Night" and on and on. My favorite track is the opener called "Money Changes Everything" which has been covered by a number of bands. A straight-ahead rocking tune with a killer synth line. I eat that stuff up!
Jim Croce - "Photographs & Memories" - 1985
This was one of my dad's old cassette tapes. He was such a huge Jim Croce fan. This particular album is a 8 song greatest hits compilation. I wouldn't really classify this as a guilty pleasure since Jim is an amazing songwriter, but then again you don't see a lot of people listening to him either. He's got a lot more hits than you think! Songs like "Operator", "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", "Time in a Bottle", "Mississippi Lady", "I Had to Say I Love You (In a Song)" take me back to simpler times.
Night Ranger - "Seven Wishes" - 1985
That's right...Night Ranger. Remember the band with hits such as "Sister Christian" and "Don't Tell Me you Love Me"? I got this album the same day as I got the Joshua Tree tape from my uncle. He tossed this one into the mix along with Cinderella. This is classic 80's rock ballads and big choruses. Hair band to the max. Great stuff.
Madonna - "Like a Prayer" - 1989
Best Madonna album ever! The song "Like a Prayer " is awesome, in fact I forgot that this was on my Roots vol. 1 mix. Other key tracks are "Spanish Eyes", "Cherish", and the disturbing last track ,"Act of Contrition" where she recites the Act of Contrition over this song played backwards and this eerie choir. Cool, nonetheless. I'm sure the Catholics don't' appreciate it! My mom loved this album. She would always play it after we went to bed.
I'll have to post some more guilty pleasures later. Tonight Amber and I are going to Kettle Moraine State Park to hang with some friends who are camping all weekend long. Then we're driving up to Neenah tonight and then to my mom's surprise 50th no Saturday. She won't know what hit her!! Then on Sunday I have to start packing for my trip to Colorado next week.
Tough loss for the longshots last night. 9-11 in extra innings. I left two runners stranded on base in the 8th. There were two outs and I was up. I struck out looking and it broke my heart. I can't say for sure if I got a hit that we would've won, but it would have been better if I would've at least swung the bat! I did have a sweet out at the plate and a nice hit earlier in the game.
I'm looking forward to July 4th. It's classic Americana. A time for community. A time for family. Fireworks. A good Springsteen record playing. Grilling. Cold beer. A Frisbee.
Have an awesome weekend, all of my faithful blog readers!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Ka-Boom! + Happy Birthday
Well, my worst fears were realized yesterday afternoon when it came time to energize the transformer at Blackhawk Sub. Overall the project has been going smoothly. Almost too smoothly. At about 2:30 yesterday afternoon I went out to the site and met some of the crew out there so we could put 14kV on the unit. The cable was tested, everybody was out of the way, the guy threw the switch...and there was a horrific noise coming from the unit, a loud popping sound, smoke coming out of the unit and the conductors in the street were galloping.
I couldn't believe it. I've been working on this since last year and we were so close to being done. We opened up the unit and noticed that someone never hooked up the connections to the unit so all the cables were just connected to the case of the transformer, thus ground. The relay in the control house tripped open the feeder and about 135 customers were out of power and I looked at the fault current and there was about 8000 amps flowing through each phase into ground for only like 1/10th of a second though.
But not to worry, not much, if any, damage was done and once the proper connections are made, we can try it again. It's partially my fault since I should have looked over their work before it was energized. Lesson learned!! How exciting it is to work in the utility industry!
Anyway, today is Amber's 27th Birthday! I was planning on doing a huge "Ode to Rew" on my blog last night in honor of her special day but I was in such a bad mood last night and I got home late from work that I just couldn't do it. But just a few facts:
-Amber was born at about 7:30am on Wednesday, June 24th 1981
-Amber was pure blonde until her hair started to turn brown in 8th grade or so.
-Amber and I met on January 1st, 2000 and started going out a few weeks after that.
-Amber has the most perfect nose, ears, feet and hands of anybody I know.
-I have many nicknames for Amber including: Rew, Raincloud, Little Miss, Cutie Rew, Amberoo, Baby-kins or any combination of these nicknames strung together. I also use the common "Hun", "Babe", "Baby", etc.
-Amber is a sucker for Ravioli and Lasgana. And any dairy product.
-Amber has a catalog of over 60 mix CD's that I have made her over the years. Some of the recent mix titles: The Ambergeddon Mix, The Notorious R.E.W. Mix, The Raincloud Mixx, Summatime (I-V) Mix.
-If you hook up power cables to Amber, the worlds energy problems would be solved, since she is in a constant state of motion and would generate a ton of power. In fact her high school friends call her "Perpetual Motion Girl"
-Amber loves to organize, clean, schedule things, hang with friends, read, make random comments.
-Amber does not like to drive for long periods, be too hot or cold, run, mow the lawn.
-Amber gets easily distracted.
-You can always tell what Amber is thinking by the look on her face. Even if she is trying to be nice and polite, you can still see a look on her face (or at least I can)
Amber wants to eat at Biaggi's tonight so we'll be going there and then open up some presents! It's her day so she's the queen!
I couldn't believe it. I've been working on this since last year and we were so close to being done. We opened up the unit and noticed that someone never hooked up the connections to the unit so all the cables were just connected to the case of the transformer, thus ground. The relay in the control house tripped open the feeder and about 135 customers were out of power and I looked at the fault current and there was about 8000 amps flowing through each phase into ground for only like 1/10th of a second though.
But not to worry, not much, if any, damage was done and once the proper connections are made, we can try it again. It's partially my fault since I should have looked over their work before it was energized. Lesson learned!! How exciting it is to work in the utility industry!
Anyway, today is Amber's 27th Birthday! I was planning on doing a huge "Ode to Rew" on my blog last night in honor of her special day but I was in such a bad mood last night and I got home late from work that I just couldn't do it. But just a few facts:
-Amber was born at about 7:30am on Wednesday, June 24th 1981
-Amber was pure blonde until her hair started to turn brown in 8th grade or so.
-Amber and I met on January 1st, 2000 and started going out a few weeks after that.
-Amber has the most perfect nose, ears, feet and hands of anybody I know.
-I have many nicknames for Amber including: Rew, Raincloud, Little Miss, Cutie Rew, Amberoo, Baby-kins or any combination of these nicknames strung together. I also use the common "Hun", "Babe", "Baby", etc.
-Amber is a sucker for Ravioli and Lasgana. And any dairy product.
-Amber has a catalog of over 60 mix CD's that I have made her over the years. Some of the recent mix titles: The Ambergeddon Mix, The Notorious R.E.W. Mix, The Raincloud Mixx, Summatime (I-V) Mix.
-If you hook up power cables to Amber, the worlds energy problems would be solved, since she is in a constant state of motion and would generate a ton of power. In fact her high school friends call her "Perpetual Motion Girl"
-Amber loves to organize, clean, schedule things, hang with friends, read, make random comments.
-Amber does not like to drive for long periods, be too hot or cold, run, mow the lawn.
-Amber gets easily distracted.
-You can always tell what Amber is thinking by the look on her face. Even if she is trying to be nice and polite, you can still see a look on her face (or at least I can)
Amber wants to eat at Biaggi's tonight so we'll be going there and then open up some presents! It's her day so she's the queen!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Like a Warm Blanket
The Longshots endured a 2-12 pounding last night versus one of the better teams that we've ever played. Their team name was the "Hit Factory" and it was true. They were hitting everything right where they needed to hit it. It felt just like home. The three weeks off didn't help us either. I did make a rather sloppy out at the plate; I caught a ball off of the plate and then rolled over backwards to tag the black part of the base. Oh well, if it wasn't' for me, it would have been 2-13!
Just killing time on a Friday afternoon, gotta head back up to Neenah soon. Summer is officially here tomorrow! Longest day of the year!
Just killing time on a Friday afternoon, gotta head back up to Neenah soon. Summer is officially here tomorrow! Longest day of the year!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Various Random Miscellaneous Updates
Over this past week I've been wanting to blog but I didn't know what to type or when I'd have the time. Since I'm not a natural writer, it always takes a while to think what I want to say and then sneak a few minutes here and there at work to get it on blogspot. Anyway, let's start with this past weekend...
After work on Friday I took advantage of the one nice day of the week and mowed the lawn. The grass was so long it was clumping quite a bit. I noticed that some of the grass didn't even get cut but I'm not going to go back to fix it! More food for the rabbits!
Friday evening we had our Young Married Couples Group scavenger hunt at B-Hawk. Good times! It was fun and not too difficult, just right. One of the things we did was to ask a person if we could pump their gas or wash their windows on their car. I asked this black guy with a little girl in his back seat and he totally wasn't into it, but he said yes anyway. Our team took 4th place!...out of 4 teams.
All week I was being bombarded with the news of all the flooding around southern WI, but Madison seemed to be pretty safe. There were road closures everywhere! I was on the DOT website most of the day on Friday because I was supposed to visit my cousin up in Hawkins since I hadn't seen him in a long while. I ended up not going because of the westbound I-90/94 closures. Since Amber was gone at a Bachelorette/Bridal Shower thingy back in Neenah, I thought it would be a good idea to help out with some of the flooding recovery efforts.
I heard on 105.5 Triple M of a Big Cleanup Day at Lake Delton on Saturday so I decided to do that. I got up at about 6:30 so I could leave by 7:30 to get their by 8:30 or so. I took Hwy. 12 up since that road wasn't blocked according to the DOT website. I left on time, but when I got to Sauk City that's when traffic was at a dead stop. Apparently there was a semi accident and all traffic was being routed up 78 to Baraboo. It ended up taking me 3 hours to get to Lake Delton, which should have only been about a one hour drive.
Anyway, I got there at 10:30, signed my life away on this form. Grabbed my trash bag and gloves and got to work. I was pretty impressed how organized things were for only having less than a week to get everything together. They had 3 huge tents set up on the new shore of the lake with water, soda, food and places to relax. The lake was essentially a huge mud pit with some water still in the deepest spots. Our duty was to collect any trash we saw. I found a lot of old cans, glass bottles, fishing lures, rods, hats, chairs. Some guy found a revolver. It took me about 5 hours to walk around the entire lake. I was covered with mud from head to toe. I wish I had a picture of me! I met some great people that drove a long way to help out. It was also very hot and humid so I started to feel dehydrated right before I decided to head home; I was just totally beat. There were times when I got stuck in the mud and no one was around me and I thought for sure I was going to sink in all the way. It was past me knees at some points. My kids will appreciate me when they have birth defects due to some substance that absorbed into skin! There was also this greasy oil slick on the water from all the gasoline from the boats over the years that settled. I cleaned up the Tommy Bartlett show area as well as that big house that you saw collapse on the news. Needless to say I was worn out when I got back home that night!
For ever man hour worked, FEMA have $7 to the cleanup effort. So the 250 volunteers averaging about 6 hours worth of work on Saturday brought in about $10,500. Doesn't seem like a real lot! They also had helicopters and planes flying overhead all day to assess the damage.
I took a nap when I got home which is always a bad idea since I'm either in a crabby mood when I wake up or have a headache. I was just a bit crabby, that's all I stopped out at the union to catch some live music with Camann and a few others. And a slice of Ian's pizza of course!
On Sunday, I felt ambitious, maybe a bit too ambitious. I decided to hit up the Glacial Drumlin Trail which runs from Cottage Grove to Waukesha. I put on the bike rack, hooked up the mountain bike, drove to the trail head and headed out. It's a great rail, an old railroad bed so it's straight, flat with only a 2-3% grade change the whole way. I hit it pretty hard and got to Lake Mills in about an hour which is like 15 miles away. I stopped at the beach there and grabbed some lunch, stretched and headed back. Riding back was a different story to say the least! The wind was in my face and my legs were so tight. It ended up taking me about 2.5 hours to get back. I had to stop so many times cuz my butt hurt and my legs were screaming "no more!" I made it home safe regardless.
This weekend we'll be back in the promised land for a wedding. Can't wait. I bought a new shirt and tie so I look super good since Amber is in the wedding party; I gotta do my part to represent!
Tonight we finally have a softball game! First one since May 22nd. Let's go Blue!
After work on Friday I took advantage of the one nice day of the week and mowed the lawn. The grass was so long it was clumping quite a bit. I noticed that some of the grass didn't even get cut but I'm not going to go back to fix it! More food for the rabbits!
Friday evening we had our Young Married Couples Group scavenger hunt at B-Hawk. Good times! It was fun and not too difficult, just right. One of the things we did was to ask a person if we could pump their gas or wash their windows on their car. I asked this black guy with a little girl in his back seat and he totally wasn't into it, but he said yes anyway. Our team took 4th place!...out of 4 teams.
All week I was being bombarded with the news of all the flooding around southern WI, but Madison seemed to be pretty safe. There were road closures everywhere! I was on the DOT website most of the day on Friday because I was supposed to visit my cousin up in Hawkins since I hadn't seen him in a long while. I ended up not going because of the westbound I-90/94 closures. Since Amber was gone at a Bachelorette/Bridal Shower thingy back in Neenah, I thought it would be a good idea to help out with some of the flooding recovery efforts.
I heard on 105.5 Triple M of a Big Cleanup Day at Lake Delton on Saturday so I decided to do that. I got up at about 6:30 so I could leave by 7:30 to get their by 8:30 or so. I took Hwy. 12 up since that road wasn't blocked according to the DOT website. I left on time, but when I got to Sauk City that's when traffic was at a dead stop. Apparently there was a semi accident and all traffic was being routed up 78 to Baraboo. It ended up taking me 3 hours to get to Lake Delton, which should have only been about a one hour drive.
Anyway, I got there at 10:30, signed my life away on this form. Grabbed my trash bag and gloves and got to work. I was pretty impressed how organized things were for only having less than a week to get everything together. They had 3 huge tents set up on the new shore of the lake with water, soda, food and places to relax. The lake was essentially a huge mud pit with some water still in the deepest spots. Our duty was to collect any trash we saw. I found a lot of old cans, glass bottles, fishing lures, rods, hats, chairs. Some guy found a revolver. It took me about 5 hours to walk around the entire lake. I was covered with mud from head to toe. I wish I had a picture of me! I met some great people that drove a long way to help out. It was also very hot and humid so I started to feel dehydrated right before I decided to head home; I was just totally beat. There were times when I got stuck in the mud and no one was around me and I thought for sure I was going to sink in all the way. It was past me knees at some points. My kids will appreciate me when they have birth defects due to some substance that absorbed into skin! There was also this greasy oil slick on the water from all the gasoline from the boats over the years that settled. I cleaned up the Tommy Bartlett show area as well as that big house that you saw collapse on the news. Needless to say I was worn out when I got back home that night!
For ever man hour worked, FEMA have $7 to the cleanup effort. So the 250 volunteers averaging about 6 hours worth of work on Saturday brought in about $10,500. Doesn't seem like a real lot! They also had helicopters and planes flying overhead all day to assess the damage.
I took a nap when I got home which is always a bad idea since I'm either in a crabby mood when I wake up or have a headache. I was just a bit crabby, that's all I stopped out at the union to catch some live music with Camann and a few others. And a slice of Ian's pizza of course!
On Sunday, I felt ambitious, maybe a bit too ambitious. I decided to hit up the Glacial Drumlin Trail which runs from Cottage Grove to Waukesha. I put on the bike rack, hooked up the mountain bike, drove to the trail head and headed out. It's a great rail, an old railroad bed so it's straight, flat with only a 2-3% grade change the whole way. I hit it pretty hard and got to Lake Mills in about an hour which is like 15 miles away. I stopped at the beach there and grabbed some lunch, stretched and headed back. Riding back was a different story to say the least! The wind was in my face and my legs were so tight. It ended up taking me about 2.5 hours to get back. I had to stop so many times cuz my butt hurt and my legs were screaming "no more!" I made it home safe regardless.
This weekend we'll be back in the promised land for a wedding. Can't wait. I bought a new shirt and tie so I look super good since Amber is in the wedding party; I gotta do my part to represent!
Tonight we finally have a softball game! First one since May 22nd. Let's go Blue!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Knee Diagnosis
I just got back from the doctor from my knee appointment. It was actually pretty reassuring. Doc said I have a classic case of Runner's Knee. Which is very treatable and curable. After examining my legs, he noticed that I have a weak left quadricep compared to my right leg since I've been favoring my right leg for so long. He recommended quite a few exercises and stretches I can work on over the next few weeks to help strengthen and stretch that area. He also recommend I get shoe inserts since I prorate. Also, I have to bike more to get a more complete training. So I'm going to get my bike properly fitted and have more of that in my workout routine. He also said a cause of this probably is because I always run hills which is all there is in my neighborhood. I need to find more flat places to run. He was much more helpful than the previous doctor was a few years ago.
Tonight is a video scavenger hunt through a church group for married couples that we help lead. I haven't done one of these since high school so I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure there will be crazy things we have to act out and impossible things to find!
Many interstates are closed around Madison. I am supposed to head up to Hawkins tomorrow morning to visit my cousin but I don't know if I'll be able to now. I'll be getting up at the crack of 5am to check the DOT website for closings. If I can't go, I plan on heading up to Lake Delton to assist with the clean-up effort. There is the Big Cleanup day from 8am-5pm tomorrow and they're looking for volunteers. It's normally less than an hour drive away, but I've got a feeling it will be way longer than that with all the detours. So regardless, I'll be up early!
Amber will be out of town for a bachelorette/bridal shower on Saturday/Sunday so I'll be Rew-less for 2 days. Let's see if I can handle it!
Have a nice weekend to all who read this blog!
Tonight is a video scavenger hunt through a church group for married couples that we help lead. I haven't done one of these since high school so I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure there will be crazy things we have to act out and impossible things to find!
Many interstates are closed around Madison. I am supposed to head up to Hawkins tomorrow morning to visit my cousin but I don't know if I'll be able to now. I'll be getting up at the crack of 5am to check the DOT website for closings. If I can't go, I plan on heading up to Lake Delton to assist with the clean-up effort. There is the Big Cleanup day from 8am-5pm tomorrow and they're looking for volunteers. It's normally less than an hour drive away, but I've got a feeling it will be way longer than that with all the detours. So regardless, I'll be up early!
Amber will be out of town for a bachelorette/bridal shower on Saturday/Sunday so I'll be Rew-less for 2 days. Let's see if I can handle it!
Have a nice weekend to all who read this blog!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
It Works!
I just got back from the field and we powered up the transformer that I've been working on for the past few months and nothing blew up! So far so good. Tomorrow we continue our commissioning checkouts and really put it through it's paces.
Man, can't believe about all the flooding going on. It has really affected MGE's customers in southwestern Wisconsin. Twice in the past 10 months, we've had to turn off gas services in that area because houses are under water. Not to mention the disaster in Lake Delton. I see that they need volunteers to pick up trash along the lake shore there. You just show up whenever you'd like and they provide trash bags. I was thinking about swinging out there after work someday next week. We'll see how the weather is.
We had two softball games cancelled in a row and now the forecast threatens to cancel a third tomorrow. I think I forgot how to play. I will still be wearing my jersey regardless.
Tonight I have to help volunteer to give a Substation tour at our Walnut substation by the UW Hospital. I asked my boss who it's for and he said that the old CEO organized a group of about 20 people to tour our GIS (Gas Insulated Substation) there. Should be cool, actually. Boss said he'd take us out to dinner afterwards.
I'm getting my knee checked out on Friday for real. A sports medicine doctor is going to examine it. I wouldn't even mind getting a cortisone shot if it meant I could run without any problems. Let's nip this thing in the bud!
I was rockin' out on the pianer last night and found out if I pull the piano away from the wall, the sound gets a ton better and more full. I wonder how far out I can pull it before Amber tells me to put it back!
Let's see if the crew can finish this series vs. Houston with a victory! Let's go!
Man, can't believe about all the flooding going on. It has really affected MGE's customers in southwestern Wisconsin. Twice in the past 10 months, we've had to turn off gas services in that area because houses are under water. Not to mention the disaster in Lake Delton. I see that they need volunteers to pick up trash along the lake shore there. You just show up whenever you'd like and they provide trash bags. I was thinking about swinging out there after work someday next week. We'll see how the weather is.
We had two softball games cancelled in a row and now the forecast threatens to cancel a third tomorrow. I think I forgot how to play. I will still be wearing my jersey regardless.
Tonight I have to help volunteer to give a Substation tour at our Walnut substation by the UW Hospital. I asked my boss who it's for and he said that the old CEO organized a group of about 20 people to tour our GIS (Gas Insulated Substation) there. Should be cool, actually. Boss said he'd take us out to dinner afterwards.
I'm getting my knee checked out on Friday for real. A sports medicine doctor is going to examine it. I wouldn't even mind getting a cortisone shot if it meant I could run without any problems. Let's nip this thing in the bud!
I was rockin' out on the pianer last night and found out if I pull the piano away from the wall, the sound gets a ton better and more full. I wonder how far out I can pull it before Amber tells me to put it back!
Let's see if the crew can finish this series vs. Houston with a victory! Let's go!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Water, Water Everywhere
Amber and I went to the Fox Cities this weekend to visit her parents and attend a high-school graduation party for some family friends in New London. Great weekend, actually! I always enjoy hanging out with Amber's dad because he makes awesome coffee and always has something interesting to say. He always has me troubleshoot his computer and vehicle wiring problems and I'm happy to help. On Sunday morning, we drove to his work cuz he wanted to show me these 3D models of this ethanol plant he is working on the design for. It was pretty sweet! At MGE we only use 2D for wiring diagrams and schematics. There is no need for 3D; I wish there was though! The party on Saturday was fun too, it was raining on and off all day and very windy. The party theme was Hawaiian (original) and they had all this tiki and torch stuff set up all over their yard and had this crazy huge bon fire that was seriously 20 ft. tall. We had to leave before they could light it, though. Then on Saturday evening, I went to St. James Martini Bar in downtown Neenah to meet Dobbins and Heather for a few drinks. Great place! Although, the guitar player was the worst I've ever seen or heard. He was a tool. And he had this little beat box that played in the background while he did cover songs. One lady there was loving it. But it was still fun to get caught up with Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dobbins.
On Friday night we had a cookout with a bunch of friends from our Book Group. I made burgers and marinated chicken on the grill. We played Boche Ball and had a fine selection of bottled coke and beer. Very high caliber people in the group, good times.
Pretty much the entire weekend I was checking out the weather and how rocked the communities between Madison and Fond Du Lac were getting. Severe storm after storm, tornadoes, flooding. The rain seriously didn't stop for 3 days and we got to experience that first hand on the drive back on Sunday. We had to attend my cousin's 9th b-day party in Lake Mills which is normally about a 1:40 hour drive from Neenah. Everything was great until we got to highway 89 and looked down where there was supposed to be a road, but all we found was a river where there shouldn't have been a river. So we had to take all of these side roads which added another 40 min. onto the trip. All along the were flooded fields and roads.
We finally got the party which was fun. Kids everywhere. My aunt and uncle held it at the school gym so the kids could run around and play. We had dodgeball (kids suck at dodgeball) and a variety of other fun games. Amber and I played PIG and she would've won had we finished. There was also supposed to be this reptile guy coming to give the kids a show but he was over 3 hours late due to the flooding. But we had pizza which was tasty!
After that we had to head to the west side so I could work the soundboard for church. Man, I cranked to 11! Every bone in my body was shaking. It was sweet. I think the congregation enjoyed it too, except the little babies.
Now it's time for me to head into the field and finish up the wiring for the transformer I've been working on for so long. The end is in sight!! I'll keep you posted.
On Friday night we had a cookout with a bunch of friends from our Book Group. I made burgers and marinated chicken on the grill. We played Boche Ball and had a fine selection of bottled coke and beer. Very high caliber people in the group, good times.
Pretty much the entire weekend I was checking out the weather and how rocked the communities between Madison and Fond Du Lac were getting. Severe storm after storm, tornadoes, flooding. The rain seriously didn't stop for 3 days and we got to experience that first hand on the drive back on Sunday. We had to attend my cousin's 9th b-day party in Lake Mills which is normally about a 1:40 hour drive from Neenah. Everything was great until we got to highway 89 and looked down where there was supposed to be a road, but all we found was a river where there shouldn't have been a river. So we had to take all of these side roads which added another 40 min. onto the trip. All along the were flooded fields and roads.
We finally got the party which was fun. Kids everywhere. My aunt and uncle held it at the school gym so the kids could run around and play. We had dodgeball (kids suck at dodgeball) and a variety of other fun games. Amber and I played PIG and she would've won had we finished. There was also supposed to be this reptile guy coming to give the kids a show but he was over 3 hours late due to the flooding. But we had pizza which was tasty!
After that we had to head to the west side so I could work the soundboard for church. Man, I cranked to 11! Every bone in my body was shaking. It was sweet. I think the congregation enjoyed it too, except the little babies.
Now it's time for me to head into the field and finish up the wiring for the transformer I've been working on for so long. The end is in sight!! I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Death Cab For Cutie - Live in Chicago 6/3/2008
Last night, I went to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago to see Death Cab for Cutie perform with a few friends. What a night! The forecast all week was looking like there were going to be severe storms and a downpour during the show. We accepted the fact that most likely we were going to get wet. We left at about 3:00 so we could beat any traffic. We had plenty of good music to bring us into the Windy City. Mix CDs were in abundance. After a few congested tolls, we arrived at about 6:15 at the park. Right way we bought a hot dog at a kiosk since it was dinner time. The opening band, Rogue Wave, was scheduled to start at 7 so we find a nice spot right up front in the lawn seating area. At 7 on the money, Rogue Wave started and played for about 40 min. They sounded great live! I only knew a few songs but am starting to become a fan. After a few beers and good conversation later, Death Cab started at about 8:15 and went until 10:00 or so. I've seen them before and this performance was incredible. The rain held out and just this ominous mist drifting throughout the cityscape was all that was reminiscent of bad weather. There was a slight chill in the air, but it was very tolerable. Here was their set list:
1. Bixby Canyon
2. The New Year
3. Why You'd Want to Live Here
4. Photobooth
5. Crooked Teeth
6. Long Division
7. Grapevine Fires
8. A Movie Script Ending
9. Company Calls
10. Company Calls Epilogue
11. Soul Meets Body
12. I Will Follow You Into The Dark
13. I Will Possess Your Heart
14. Cath...
15. No Sunshine
16. The Sound of Settling
17. Marching Bands of Manhattan
--Encore--
18. Your Bruise
19. Title and Registration
20. 405
21. Your Heart is an Empty Room
22. Transatlanticism
I was singing my heart out the entire time! The venue was amazing, the architecture was so cool and there were these trusses overhead that held speakers so you had great sound from wherever you were in the lawn seating area. State-of-the-art! Check out some pics (these aren't mine):
1. Bixby Canyon
2. The New Year
3. Why You'd Want to Live Here
4. Photobooth
5. Crooked Teeth
6. Long Division
7. Grapevine Fires
8. A Movie Script Ending
9. Company Calls
10. Company Calls Epilogue
11. Soul Meets Body
12. I Will Follow You Into The Dark
13. I Will Possess Your Heart
14. Cath...
15. No Sunshine
16. The Sound of Settling
17. Marching Bands of Manhattan
--Encore--
18. Your Bruise
19. Title and Registration
20. 405
21. Your Heart is an Empty Room
22. Transatlanticism
I was singing my heart out the entire time! The venue was amazing, the architecture was so cool and there were these trusses overhead that held speakers so you had great sound from wherever you were in the lawn seating area. State-of-the-art! Check out some pics (these aren't mine):
Another ticket stub to add to the pile, man I really have to frame those someday...
We got home at about 1:00am so I'm a bit tired today, but not too bad.
Anyway, work week is OK, busy, but manageable. I have sound rehearsal for B-Hawk tonight and then babysit my cousins until 11:30 or so. No rest for the weary!
Go Crew!!!
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