Resolutions

I love New Years resolutions - I take that shit seriously. One year I resolved to floss 5 times more than usual, another year I resolved to save every single receipt and be more financially aware, in 2009 I resolved to start this blog and in 2010 I resolved to read a book a month.

Now that 2010 is so fucking over I have exceeded my goal and hope to continue on this trend. I totally forgot how much I love books and how great reading can be. So here is a list of the best books that I read this year - inspired by my friend Dee's list at The Paper Crane.

TOP 10 BOOKS I read in 2010
Not in any kind of heirarchical order:

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
100 Years or Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
Geek Love - Kathrine Dunn
Tokyo Vice - Jake Adelstein
Perfume - Patrick Süskind
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End Of The World - Haruki Murakami
Kafka on The Shore - Haruki Murakami
Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks
Denialism - Michael Specter
Shoot The Buffalo - Matt Briggs
sidenote: the 2 worst books I read - Girl With The Dragon Tattoo & Everything is Illuminated. Fuck those books...seriously.

For 2011 I resolve to be in a band again, I think I'm going to try to learn the guitar. Wish me luck!

Top 10's of 2010

The past 12 months have been weird and I can honestly say I didn't pay attention to music as much as years past. So this is a pretty shitty list - then again when has my opinion ever mattered. So here it is, the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for, my Top 10's of 2010.

TOP 10 of '10 ALBUMS

















In alphabetical order:
Beach House - Teen Dream
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Disappears - Lux
Harlem - Hippies
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Strange Boys - Be Brave
Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt
The Oh Sees - Warm Slime
Tyler Jon Tyler - Tyler Jon Tyler

*well I guess that's only 9 - I bet if I listened to the new Deerhunter album it would have made the cut. Sorry Bradford.


Top 10 of '10 MOVIES
In totally random order:
Black Swan*
Inception
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows pt 1
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Hot Tub Time Machine
Splice
The Other Guys
Kick Ass
Due Date
Piranha 3D**



*so I haven't actually seen Black Swan yet, but I assure you I will love it
**I also haven't seen Piranha 3D yet...same deal.

TOP 16 of '10 CONCERTS












In chronological order:
Slick Conditions @ The Bottle for the JOA Variety Show*
Hollows @ The Hideout
Japandriods @ SXSW
Le Loup @ SXSW
Black Lips @ Logan Square Auditorium (close second: seeing them in Tokyo)
Disappears @ The Bottle
Gogol Bordello @ Congress Theater
Harlem @ The Bottle
The Tallest Man on Earth @ Lincoln Hall
The Dutchess & The Duke @ The Bottle**
This Town Needs Guns @ Beat Kitchen
Hole @ The Vic
Cap 'n Jazz @ The Bottom Lounge
Loose Dudes @ The Bottle
Strange Boys @ The Bottle
Tyler Jon Tyler @ The Bottle

*The amazing fake performance by Elliot, Kurt and Doug was phenomenal
**Definitely the best show of the entire year and maybe for years to come R.I.P dudes.

I can honestly say I'm looking forward to 2011

serious life update

Well it's been almost 4 months since my last update and there is definitely a reason for my absence (and a reason for the poorly photoshopped banner photo) - Bobby and I have split up.

I felt like there was no point in continuing with the blog but since this blog was never intended to be a band blog (I am definitely no longer in the band) I realized that over the past couple years this blog has served more as a journal and was only ever updated by me. So I'm back!

Get stoked - the next update will be my highly anticipated Top 10's of 2010!

xoxo

JEFF and the brotherhood

Back in June Bobby went to see JEFF and the brotherhood and told me it was amazing. He wasn't alone, everyone who was at that show told me it fucking ruled, so when it was announced that they would be back September 2nd I was stoked.

After experiencing it first hand I can honestly say that it was pretty damn near perfect. These dudes have it figured out for sure. Nashville is officially not useless.

Also, Wizzard Sleeve from Alabama played but I missed it due to getting caught in a torrential downpour. Bobby said they were 'a little gothy but still punk' - so I guess that's good.

Starting September Off Right

Last night was the Loose Dudes record release show at The Empty Bottle
as I write this I am still covered in beer and champagne.

I believe this photo accurately shows how awesome it was

this will be on repeat for the next month

Guten Tag

I can't begin to tell you how unbelievably happy I was to see Conrad again - and better yet get to see him preform again.

This band is mOck from Germany and it was such a pleasure to have them in Chicago and to have Rapid Cities from NJ also here hanging out.

We had a near perfect day of Breakfast at Flying Saucer

Shaun and Bobby

then a stroll through Humboldt Park and COCO - yum!
Maybe one of the best things about Chicago.

followed by running through open fire hydrants
yep - this day fucking ruled

Beat Kitchen merch table - it was a really fun night and a good show too
I can't wait until November to see Conrad in Berlin again

Good Music/Good Friends

I love when those things go together - it's totally magical.

Tyler Jon Tyler

Go listen to Separate Issues and try to tell me it's not the best song ever

This was my first time seeing The Girls At Dawn but they were pretty alright

....and perhaps one of my favourite people on earth, Matt Williams, playing drums in Lover!

I'm sorry that every photo from here on in is going to be from my iPhone - it's just too easy and I really like the way they look even though it's fully cheating. Fuck.

Cap'n Jazz

Back in January - at around 2am one night I did a blog post because I couldn't go to bed without sharing the totally amazing/exciting thing I had just been a part of. That night I was with a handful of people that got a surprise 4 song reunion from Chicago legends Cap'n Jazz.

I admitted back then that I was only a new Cap'n Jazz fan but it was still a totally memorable and awe inspiring experience. Now that they have officially reunited for a short summer whirlwind affair I've been trying to keep up with it.

Bobby is lucky enough to be there for ALL of it - because he's doing their merch. Also Ryan takes awesome photos and has been along for the ride thus far so I've stolen my favourite of hers :)

Ryan Kinsella
Louisville, Kentucky

Liam O'Donnell
Bottom Lounge Sunday show - everyone said Saturday was better but to me this was totally perfect
Grown men cried: for real

Elisse LaRoche
look how fucking awesome it is - lasers shooting from Davey's guitar!!!

Elisse LaRoche
I was really lucky to go with a huge Cap'n Jazz fan - thanks for coming with me Liam!
We were in the mosh pit the entire time.
Also thanks Tim for giving me that bottle of water - that place was fucking hot!
There is a photo of Liam and I after the show where we both look like we jumped into a swimming pool fully clothed.....I did not post that photo.

Bobby Burg
It rained in Brooklyn so the show got moved into a much smaller space - it was crazy!

Elisse LaRoche
The culmination
Wicker Park Fest

Jessica Hopper recently did an interview with Tim and this is my favourite part from it that kind of sums it up for me
"Playing to all these people in Philly, I asked if anyone there was at our last Philly show in December 1994—it was a show at Jon Hiltz's house. And here we are now, with Jon Hiltz doing monitors for our sold-out show, and this kid in front yells, "I was three!" So these are people who are new to us." - Tim Kinsella

Pitchfork

that's a music festival right?

This weekend is really one of my favourites of the whole year - everyone in town, the weather is always awesome and people are stoked!
This year Pitchfork was way more about hanging with friends then trying to see live music.
The VIP viewing area might as well be behind the stage, you can't see anything. If you go out into the crowd it's 100 degrees with zero shade so that sucks, but there were some musical highlights for sure.

The Tallest Man on Earth: Thanks for flying all the way from Sweeden for a 30 minute set Kristian :)
Liars: I wish I saw you at the Bottom Lounge instead
Wolf Parade: The only thing worth seeing all of Saturday
Lightening Bolt: Makes me want to quit the drums forever
Surfer Blood: adorable babies making catchy songs
Major Lazer: DAGGERING!!
Sleigh Bells: I totally love this band
Pavement: singing "Stop Breathin" with Brit

Now here is a list of friends who posed for photos.

Cutest boy at Flatstock - Dan Black

reflections
Joe Mohan

Kate, Nathan and Augie

Kristin and Billiams

Brit and Beth

Bobby and Baptiste

Dayton, Ohio

oops - forgot to post about our wonderful time in Dayton

After a not-so-wonderful 12 hour drive to get there we were totally happy to see some friendly familiar faces

Vox Humana
Thanks for playing with us Vic!

Justin from the really awesome blog Atlas and the Anchor
check it out he's always writing about awesome things

Andy and Kris N
"this song is about how Davey von Bohlen caused my divorce" - Kris N

look how much fun Dayton is!!!

thanks Blind Bob's - it was a really good show and a totally chill night

UNREST

After a super fun night in Detroit we got an early start to our epic 12 hour drive to New Jersey

"is there a Tim Horton's nearby?"- Elisse
"what the fuck is wrong with you?" - Chris Koltay

These guys were The Ropers - we showed up a bit too late and missed Bloody Amateurs :(

UNREST!!!

I learned that this lady was kidnapped once upon a time and now lives in Alaska

Mark Robinson makes some creepy eyes whilst playing

blurry friends - having so much fun they can't stay in focus!!
Wildman yelling 'TEENAGE SUICIDE' was my favourite part of the whole night

STOLEN SET LIST!!
Unrest sounded exactly like Unrest. All of the songs they played were great! If more bands sounded like them the world would be a better place. I had been wanting to see them for 14 years. They aren't really a band that puts on a wild stage show, they're stage presence is unassuming. I was really happy while they were playing. I would have rather the crowd was a bunch of wild teenagers but instead it was a bunch of people my age. Unrest will probably always be the most underrated band from the early 90's. - Bobby Burg

Maxwell's is a nice place - except for all this garbage
fuck you garbage

oh hia

Awesome wheel of destiny at Max Fish
We couldn't resist going into the city - even if was only for a few hours it was still a lot of fun

desperately needed pizza around 1am

this pizza maybe only cost $2.50 but the cab ride to get it was definitely a lot more...totally worth every fucking penny!

Ray's Pizza = Awesome times
weird shit happens inside that place and the pizza is tasty

good bye New York - thanks awesome view from our hotel in Jersey City

One of these days I really want to go to New York for like a week and not have any commitments - I've been there 3 times now and feel like I haven't seen much of it at all or experienced what people really love about it.

Detroit has a skyline too

The mini Love of Everything tour kicked off in Michigan so along the way we decided to try out the Michigan sand dunes to see if they were superior to the Indiana dunes.

so far it's exactly the same

Bobby in shorts! No Way!

similar to the Indiana Dunes the Michigan Dunes had a sign as you entered the park warning: DO NOT GO INTO THE WATER
mmmm contamination
After our scientific research we decided the Indian Dunes are closer and therefore better.

We had to stop in Ann Arbor - I had heard of Zingerman's only in legend

it was super cute and everything was sooo fucking good

delicious coffee and the best ice cream I have ever had in my life!!!
for real - it was just vanilla ice cream and I wanted to cry after every bite.

Detroit!
I have never been here before - I was so excited to drive around and see what looked fucked up!

bye sunshine

there were lots of things I would like to take photos of on this street but I was afraid of
a) getting beaten up by this fat little white kid
b) being too intrusive to the neighbourhood
so here's a photo of a half burnt house

abandoned train station
Ashleigh would love this place

the place we played

Slow's!!!
I wish I was more hungry because I wanted to eat everything - so cute and totally delicious

Duo's showcase extravaganza!!
This was Feelings and they totally ruled

yay! Josh from Our Brother The Native came to hang out with us
and look he can be in a bar and drink a beer!
When Bobby first met him he was only a tiny 17 year old :)

I like your style

City Center played 13 whole minutes - hahaha
Thank god we're playing with them in August here in Chicago
Can't wait!

"My lips are like two pillows fighting over a tiny spider"
Chris Koltay

merch - only a handful of ice cream cone tshirts left

Secret Twins totally blew my mind - and I was so upset to learn they just played Chicago a couple weeks ago!!! If only I had known of their existence.

Thanks ladies for helping set this whole thing up!

Ryan, Tim and I - thanks for letting me use your drums Tim!

"You're like the hottest dude from Duran Duran and a cricket champion"
Chris Koltay talking about how good Fred looked that night

holy guitars!

"I'm going to do bong hits and talk to the band about their emotions"
Chris Koltay

Bass Face!

I LOVE CATS!
Thanks for letting us hang out with you/sleep at your house Chris
I want to come visit you and record every single thing you say.

I tried to get a photo of my totally fucked up bruised legs - but I think the lighting was wrong
But they are totally gnarly, especially my knees.

I can't wait to go back to Ann Arbor and hang out with Fred and Ryan just for fun - and Detroit was so much fun, I want to play there again soon for sure!