Apostrophe S

Just to touch on something that I talked about before, adding the words “of justice” or “of doom” to the end of any noun produces awesome results. Check out this story on Chicagoist.com: Bus of Justice. I’m all for anything called the Bus of Justice.

But you really came here to be updated on my tremendously exciting life. Right?

Wednesday was a good day. I had a decent day at work, but the real fun came AFTER work. Can you believe it? After work, I went home and watched some L&O (from the DVDs, mind you) and then went to a late show of Fahrenheit 9/11 with Roxy. Boy, what a movie. It’s not a great documentary. I mean, it’s basically images and words arranged to make Bush look like at idiot, maybe even a sinister idiot. But that’s not all it’s about. I was glad that Moore didn’t just spend an hour and a hald villifying the Bush family, although he did spend quite some time doing that. But there was another message: The war on terror is a failure, and it was carried out poorly. Now our soldiers are in harm’s way for what is probably less than pure reasons. Greed, even. Nothing in the film is untrue, but beware that it is skewed. Take Michael Moore’s crusade with a grain of salt. He’s an angry white man. But he does make good points, and the film is a thought provoker, and anyone who sees it and doesn’t have a second thought about voting for Bush this fall must be stapled to the wall on the Right. All politicians suck anyway. It’s all about perception. But enough politicking. The movie will keep your attention.

Thursday turned into a better day than it started out as. My day at work was a tiny bit stressful. There was this page that just wasn’t happaning. Everything I tried sucked. But anyway, you don’t want to hear about that. You want to hear about how I saw the
Old 97s.

After work, Mouse, Talula, and I went to this Thai restaurant called Far East Taste. It was a very homey place. It didn’t seem like much, but apparently it’s pretty popular around here. The food was excellent. I’d go back.

After dinner, Mouse and I drove down to Seaside to see the Old 97s at the Green Room, which is on the boardwalk. This was a pretty neat venue, because you could sit at the bar, see the band perfectly in one direction, and in the other direction look out the window and see the Atlantic Ocean. I’m going to miss places like that when I go back to the cornfields.

Before the show, Mouse and I walked up the boardwalk a ways and got some Italian ice. Italian ice is one of those “new” things I’d never heard of before I came out here. It’s kind of like a snow cone, but the ice is much finer. It’s more like sorbet, but quite so creamy. Mouse told me about her childhood at the boardwalks. These things have been around for a while. It’s kind of neat. It’s like tiny amusement parks hanging out over the ocean, connected by long wooden paths with shops and games and food all along them. I guess that would be a boardwalk.

The opening act was a guy named Charlie Mars and his band. He was really good, also. So good I decided to buy his record. I know some people back in Indiana who would probably really like this guy. Like people who may have just returned from and internship in Chicago. And boy, are you in luck! Because Charlie Mars is playing at Birdy’s in Indy on Thursday! If I were in Indiana, I would go.

The Old 97s are kind of a alt/country/rock band from Texas, and they play a variety of music, from country dities to balls-out rock. And Roxy really thinks the lead singer, Rhett Miller, is hot. He’s got a solo record out also, which I’m not yet familiar with, which he played a few excellent songs from during their first encore. So it was a fun show. Roxy even ended up with a the soundboard guy’s setlist, which she got some guys in the band to sign.

I ended up running outside to feed Roxy’s meter after the show, while she tried to chase down Rhett. When I tried to get back in, the bouncer said “no.” So I had to sit outside on a park bench looking out at the ocean. It could have been a lot worse. While I was sitting there, the bassist from the Old 97s, Murry Hammond, came out of the club and walked past me and down onto the beach. I watched him walk out there. He had a very satisfied step. When he finally reached the shore, he put his hands on his hips and just stood there. I thought to myself, “Surely he’s seen the ocean before.” But maybe he hadn’t. Or hadn’t in a while. He is from Texas, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. I don’t think he knew I was watching him.

Oh, you’re probably wondering when Roxy came into the evening. She just met us at the place after she got off work.

After all the festivities (and a speeding ticket on Mouse’s car), Roxy and I went back to the house. A good evening. And this weekend is (hopefully) going to be even better.

Mouse also showed me this Web site, Pollstar.com, which basically keeps track of most rock and other shows. Just type in a city or band or whatever. Very cool.

Also, I stumbled upon the most awfulsome Web site yet: Mr. T. Vs Everything. It’s basically a collection of Web sites detailing what would happen if Mr. T was in a contest with something else. There’s a whole bunch of them. Enjoy. And take care…

ON AIR: Low Flying Owls - Glad to Be Alive