Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!

It's my favourite time of year again - RESOLUTION TIME!!!

You may recall last year's resolution and how it came true. This year I've got 2.

1. Save $200 a month towards my retirement. Once I have enough (I'm not sure how much that actually is) I'm going to invest it in a mutual fund.  See below some sound, drunk financial advice given to me on a napkin.


2. Run 5 miles - like a normal jogging type person.  This was not my idea.
 Because I was forced into this, I've forced Nathan into a resolution as well:
by 2013 he must be able to touch his toes!


He's got a long way to go.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Genuine Class

And the finale in my quest to shed the label of philistine - The Ballet! 

 
Fancy Pants
 
 Cheap Seats
The Auditorium Theater
 my beautiful date Julie
moments before I turned my phone off - unlike the jerk sitting in front of us
I did not take this photo (thanks google images)

It was absolutely beautiful.
I plan on attending so many more ballets in 2012!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Staying Classy

This past weekend I was in Minneapolis visiting my boyfriend, but this time there was more on the itinerary than watching The Simpsons and eating at Seward Cafe. 

For months I had my calendar marked - November 4th Sibelius.
Before meeting Nathan I had never heard of Finnish super genius/total romantic/alcoholic composer Jean Sibelius.
Also before meeting him I used to pluralize "anyway" every time I said it.
I'm a better person in so many ways for meeting this man.

such a babe

 
my second favourite pose

gross

 
seriously amazing seats
turns out I like harps and am not a huge fan of xylophones

I can't pretend to understand this music anymore than I can pretend I know anything about rap, so I'll spare the half ass attempt to describe what it was like or what was good or bad about it. It was just beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

So far in 2011 I have gone to the opera for free and seen the a Symphony Orchestra for $15. There are barely 2 months left in the year - can I squeeze in a ballet to round it all out?
If anyway can score me seats to the Joffrey let me know!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

I Don't Love You

Warning: This blog post is not about a local Chicago all friend garage rock band.

I rarely use this blog to talk about anything personal, especially when it doesn't pertain to music, but as I was laying in Savasana today in yoga I couldn't stop thinking about Kim Kardashian, and it was pissing me off. I'm supposed to be relaxed in Corpse Pose; it's my absolute favourite part of class, but there I was thinking about how stupid the world is.


1) Why is her divorce news in the first place?
 2) Why do I even care?


Asides from the obvious disgust about the astronomical amount of money spent on the wedding (Estimated at 10 million.  Just to put that in perspective, that sum could have built 200 schools in poor countries around the world for kids who desperately want an education Nicholas D. Kristof) I am more disgusted by the state of the word love.

Last night I read Ms. Kardashian's public apology to fans (fans of what?) about her separation after a lousy 72 days. In the cliche packed, totally soulless, rantings of a woman, who is probably a functioning illiterate, I read, "I love with all of my heart and soul" and " I believed in love and the dream of what I wanted so badly".

How can you possibly love someone with all your heart and soul and then dump them less than 3 months later? And it's not just her. I can attest to using this word incorrectly on a number of occasions, but I have made an effort to never let that happen again.  Saying I love you is too easy these days.  

 
I love you is, and should be, the ultimate. There can't be I love you lots, or I love you more.  It has also become a lazy way of expressing how you feel.  I have been in a relationship for over a year now and have not said I love you once. I've said things like, "I love your face" because I definitely do.  It's a great face, and I also love looking at it, but I have not uttered those 3 words to him.  There is a simple explanation. I don't love him. He doesn't love me. It's fine. 
 
In the past I would have (and always did) jump the gun on that phrase. In my ignorant youth I may have said it within weeks of starting a new relationship.  Confusing love and lust is easy and forgivable when you're 19.  I even confused it at 23 when I got married (possibly a less forgivable mistake).  But Kim Kardashian, at 31 (according to her wikipedia - I think she looks much older) should have learned by now.  Yet from reading her apology note to the internet (the internet being the most saddened by the news of the divorce) I can't help but feel like she hasn't learned a thing.  She'll be dating some other dude within a month and telling him she loves him too...with all her heart and soul.




Thursday, October 27, 2011

Change of Season

The last time I was dumped I was 19. My skater boyfriend totally broke up with me at a party while we were wasted, and I freaked out. Some how I punched my best friend in the face before being thrown into a car against my will and driven home because I was a sobbing/screaming/punching mess. Last night I was dumped by what felt like 4 boyfriends all at once. 

For anyone who had asked me in the past few months how things with Summer Girlfriends was going inevitably got an earful about how much I had a hated being around a bunch of passive aggressive vaginas normal girls all the time (Caitlin excluded).  That being said, I did love playing music with them and eating pizza every week.  I always thought we were having fun.  If I learned anything from this experience it is that I shouldn't be in an all girl band, and that I should actually learn how to play a guitar. 



I assure you, this is NOT the last band I will be kicked out of :)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

progress: 9 months later

Back in January I posted THIS - look how far I've come! 


(This picture is misleading; I still totally suck)

Friday, September 30, 2011

Wavves

Yesterday when I was jogging home from my huge 2-lap run around Palmer Square I RAN into my friend Jacob from California. Turns out he's the drummer for Wavves these days - clearly I have not been facebook stalking Jacob enough. 
Anyway, I couldn't pass up a chance to see him play, so even though I had very important plans of sitting in sweatpants watching Breaking Bad on Netflix all night, I went to the show.

I want to hate Wavves: It's moronic (Nathan's favourite word), that kid acts like a little bitch, and he looks like an ex-boyfriend of mine circa 2001. Yet, it was a great show and it was super fun. Damn!

Falkor put it best this morning as we reflected on our fun had at the show, "Wavves is this generations Blink 182." It's true. It's totally true.

best photo I could take of Jacob with my iPhone

This video rules - One day I hope fans make awesome Home Improvement videos of Summer Girlfriends' songs.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Nones

Last week I went to the Empty Bottle (shocking) to see The Vivian Girls (also shocking). We managed to get there early enough though to see the local openers Nones.  I had never heard of them before, but recognized Sara Jean drumming so I knew they were a Chicago band. Even though they had my least favourite instrument, the fucking horrible saxophone, they totally ruled, and I cannot wait to see them again...maybe even play a show together?
 
Nones 

Penis/Saxophone

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Inspiration

Summer Girlfriends have been asked to do a MUSIC VIDEO!!!! In the meantime totally checkout this video for Wild Flag. It rules and if we had the budget we would totally have a video where we run around causing good-natured mayhem!



Wild Flag - Romance from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Coffin Pricks

Yet another amazing Chicago super group - I bought their shirt, it's fucking awesome.
Stay tuned for photos of it..it's currently in the laundry.

Coffin Pricks - Quencher's 8/19/2011 from Elisse LaRoche on Vimeo.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Our Brother The Native


When I saw on facebook that Josh Bertram was looking for blogs to help promote the remix of his song Rhythm Hymns I ⌘t'd a new tab so fast and listened to the song. YOUR TURN!

I also totally recommend just going over to their soundcloud
this song kinda rules. "Behold" Live on WCBN by Our Brother The Native

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Love of Everything

Last night the unthinkable happened - Summer Girlfriends played with Love of Everything at The Empty Bottle. It was definitely a monumental moment for both Bobby and I, and I'm happy to report that it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Chris Hansen as Paletazo started the night. I always love hearing those songs. Then some strangers played some music that had horns (sorry dudes, I ran outside to talk on the phone during your set). Then it was our turn. I've played the Bottle before, plus I practically live there, so I thought it was totally no big deal. But once I was up on that stage (the highest stage we've played so far as Summer Girlfriends) looking out at near 300 people, yeah I was a little scared.

But we totally killed it!
(Photo by Kristin Aardsma)


The new Love of Everything songs are amazing, but what was most surprising was that on the old songs I used to play, Matt plays the exact same beat. I found myself with a permanent shit-eating-grin air drumming along to I love all you guys.
Go buy Bobby's new 7" here: BUY IT!!!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Tim Kinsella

I took this photo!

I feel weird making a blog post title with someone's name - rarely do I use this public forum for anything more than a place to show what bands I've seen and where, but I've been following Tim's blog lately and felt the need to share it with the 10 people who look at this thing.

His latest post is actually by guest writer/life-long friend Sam Zurick - and I highly recommend you make the attempt to read it in its entirety. Read it here.

When I first moved to Chicago I had never heard the name Tim Kinsella before. He is one of my ex's best friends and I consider myself lucky that I got to know him so well over the past 3 years. I'll never forget the first time we met. Bobby brought me to Rainbo to have a beer and introduce me to him. This was right after Tim's wife had left him, and he was still in a pretty dark place, but he was trying to do his best to not lay all his shit out in front of a stranger (sidenote: one of my favourite things about Tim is his unabashed earnestness). He did his best to include me into the conversation, and asked me what my favourite band was. A harmless get-to-know-you type question. He even prefaced it by saying, "I'm really into Wire again, I think they might be my favourite." Without hesitation I answered, "NOFX." To which Tim stared blankly at me, turned back to Bobby and continued his conversation.

This one too

Luckily, Tim gave me another chance and I've always felt like we've gotten along well. I've become a fan of his music, his entire family, and his ideas for restaurants that you lay down in and that have separate crying rooms.
Last year Tim wrote a book, which isn't out yet, but you can pre-order it here and I am anxiously awaiting my copies arrival.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

USA! USA!

I'm allowed to stay!


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Vancouver

I'm back in my home and native land for the week and instead of facebooking the 1000 photos I take I decided to finally get instagram - it feels more appropriate to upload a photo every 10 seconds on there than on facebook or twitter. So, if you want to keep up with all the things Canadian I love follow me: summerelisse


Sunday, August 7, 2011

vocabulary

It took 3 months, exactly, but I have finally finished Infinite Jest. Here are a list of words I had to look up while reading the book.

Ablutions
- a cleansing with water or other liquid, especially as a religious ritual
Actaeon - A hunter who, for having seen Diana bathing, was changed by her into a stag and was torn to pieces by his own hounds
Aether - Ancient Greek personification of the clear upper air of the sky
Aleatory - Of or pertaining to accidental causes; of luck or chance
Anachronism - Something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time
Anathema - A person or thing detested or loathed
Apercu - A hasty glance
Coalesce - To grow together
Crepuscular - Of, pertaining to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct
Cyanosis - Blueness or lividness of the skin, as from imperfectly oxygenated blood
Demimonde - A class of women who have lost their standing in respectable society because of indiscreet behaviour or sexual promiscuity
Dilettante - A person who takes up an art, activity, of subject merely for amusement
Dipsomania - An irresistible, typically periodic craving for an alcoholic drink
Dysautonomia - A rare inherited disorder of the autonomic nervous system
Epaulet - An ornamental shoulder piece worn on uniforms, chiefly by military officers
Ephebe - A young man, especially an ephebus
Fantod - A state of extreme nervousness or restlessness; the willies; fidgets
Fugue - Music. A polyphonic compresion based upon one, two, or more themes, which are enunciated by several voices or parts in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment, and gradually built up into a complex form having somewhat distinct divisions or stages of development and a marked climax at the end (what the fuck!?)
Ineluctable - Incapable of being evaded; inescapable
Imprecate - To invoke or call down (evil or curses), as upon a person
Leonine - Resembling or suggestive of a lion
Matriculate - To enroll in a college or university as a candidate for a degree
Mottle - To mark or diversify with spots or blotches of a different colour or shade
Nacre - Mother of Pearl
Nadir - The point on the celestial sphere directly beneath a given position or observer and diametrically opposite the zenith
Neuralgia - Sharp and paroxysmal pain along the course of a nerve
Obfuscate - To confuse, bewilder, or stupefy
Oculist - Optometrist
Ommatophore - A tentacle or movable stalk bearing an eye, as in certain snails
Osseous - Composed of, containing, or resembling bone
Parodic - Having or of the nature of a parody (d'uh)
Picayune - Of little value or account; small; trifling
Piebald - Having patches of black and white or of other colours
Puerile - Juvenile
Quincunx - An arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle
Sinistral - Of pertaining to, or on the left side
Sobriquet - A nickname
Solipsism - The theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist
Sulcus - A furrow or groove
Teratoid - Resembling a monster
Thanatophobia - An abnormal fear of death
Trochee - A foot of two syllables, a long followed by a short in quantitative meter, or a stressed followed by an unstressed in accentual meter
Wraith - An apparition of a living person supposed to portend his or her death

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Summer Girlfriends

At the beginning of July a strange email popped up in Canadian Girlfriends' inbox. It was from another Chicago band called My Canadian Girlfriend. We were aware that they existed, but from looking at their website (which I am definitely not about to link to) we thought it was a pretty safe bet that there would be no problem with similar names. Of course, when you assume you make an ass out of you and me. We were politely asked to change our name because they felt "people are likely to be confused by our respective names." However, we felt there would be no confusion and replied that we were not going to change it.

Fast forward a week and we get another awesome email in our inbox - a cease and desist from their lawyer! We discussed it democratically and decided that fighting these douche canoes was not worth our time or money. The full report can be found here So now I present to you Summer Girlfriends go like us!!!


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Runnies

Friday night we (we being Nikita, Caitlin, Sara, Nicole, and I) played a show at Crown Liquors. It was our last show as Canadian Girlfriends...but I'll touch on that another time.


This blog post is only to highlight how amazing 2 things are

1) Nathan's and my awesome knuckle tattoos

2) Mary's voice




FOUR LOKO - PERL JAMM



I absolutely LOVE Outer Minds so when The Runnies agreed to play with us I was totally stoked. Listen to these bands, trust me, soon you'll want Mary singing you lullabies every night before you fall asleep.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Pitchfork 2011

This photo accurately describes how I felt about Pitchfork this year.
Thanks Stephanie Bassos all your photos were amazing.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Print Media

Last weekend a friend of mine, who works at The Reader, asked me to take some photos of my weekend and do a little write up. Like a blog post for the paper. That used to have a name right? An Article?
Well here it is!!
Make sure to read the comments section - somehow my innocuous little musings have created an uproar. Awesome!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Bittersweet

Monday night was the final Loose Dudes show - this is the only picture I've seen surface on facebook, but I know there is footage of the entire thing. I will post it as soon as it is available, so we can all relieve the fucking glory that was that night.


RIP Loose Dudes - you were my favourite band of 2010-2011

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Horse Feathers

What I found most remarkable is how utterly silent everyone gets. A rare opportunity to see a great band with a bunch of respectful people.

Horse Feathers - 7th Street Entry 6/23/11 from Elisse LaRoche on Vimeo.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

@summergfs

We played our first show!!!
Part of the Girls Rock Chicago Kickoff fundraiser/Party!!
It was a huge success - for us at least.
Also - I signed us up for Twitter...I'm still skeptical about it but if you want to keep up with when we're playing/what we think is adorable (re: cat photos) you should follow us
@summergfs



We didn't suck!

White Mystery totally ruled - as always

I got to see my favourite small person - Miss Mila Kinsella

hanging out with friends on the grass in a park
totally perfect

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Pop Rocks

Another attempt at a song by Canadian Girlfriends

Canadian Girlfriends - Pop Rocks from Elisse LaRoche on Vimeo.



What you learn from recording video of practices instead of just audio? We all do something weird that we didn't know we were doing. Rock stance?! Where did that come from!? ha!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Finite Vacation

I'm taking a break from reading Infinite Jest. I've crossed the half way point and while it has become much easier to read, exciting even, as the story falls towards its denouement, I needed a reprieve. So today I picked up Patti Smith's autobiography Just Kids from the library. Where I get all my books, because they're free!

Two hours later I was half way through the book - I see myself finishing it tonight, or perhaps tomorrow if I fall asleep...reading in bed is always hazardous.


Marge and I both totally love it. It is an excellent and fucking easy (especially after trying to digest David Foster Wallace) read.

ASS EVERYWHERE

The last time Big Freedia was in Chicago she played New Years Eve. It was probably 32 degrees that night and at least 300 people were at the show dressed in gold lamé booty shorts, the other 100 were in all glitter. You know what was surprising - on a 75 degree day in June I saw only 4 people in inappropriately small clothing. Interesting.

This was the most genuine fun I've had at the Bottle...ever?
It was impossible not to shake your ass and grin from ear to ear.

the professional ass shakers


Azz Everywhere
Seriously, if you get a chance to see Big Freedia - go. You will have fun.




This is just because I love to see some ass bouncing. I do not in anyway condone Mr. Ghetto or shopping at Walmart.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Best Show of 2011...Thus Far

Sunday night at the Empty Bottle totally ruled.
It was amazing for several reasons.
#1 - I had an ice cream sundae before the show
#2 - It was like 80 degrees outside even at midnight
#3 - every band totally exceeded my expectations
#4 - so many hugs

Head of Skulls
Who are always awesome - were extra awesome because they covered Silly Girl
I need more Descendents covers in my life

I will never tire of Hansen saying "this next song is by Head of Skulls"
It's funny, every fucking time

This was my first time seeing Football - I was hoping for some glitter but instead I got like 15 minutes of furious punk rock. This band is comprised of 4 of the nicest dudes I know, when I heard they were in a band together I thought it was a joke, it seemed too perfect.

Football - Empty Bottle 5/29/11 from Elisse LaRoche on Vimeo.

I love you iPhone



The Marked Men fucking killed it
I knew I liked them but I didn't realize how many of their songs I totally loved

They also had an honest encore.
All songs played, left the stage, no plans of playing more and being brought back up, totally exhausted and covered in sweat, for 2 more songs after what seemed like 100 songs already
It was a wonderful night




This is pretty much what it was like

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ball Hall

Last night many friends (well only 2 actually) were in town from Michigan. City Center
Secret Twin and Swimsuit played alongside new Chicago friends Distractions and some dude from Lawrence, Yoda's Voice at Ball Hall. Unfortunately, Saturday nights are never good for me and I was out before I got to see Secret Twin or Swimsuit play. Such a bummer - I will definitely make a trip to Ypsilanti or Ann Arbor or Detroit to see them all play together again soon.

Maybe they'll all be back in Chicago again - there is no way of knowing.

Kedzie & North

by the process of elimination: Yoda's Voice
They surprisingly ruled

City Center sans Ryan is still amazing
50% less hugs though

with this filter the stairs look super creepy

One day when I make a record I will give it to Fred.
Thanks dude - it was so wonderful to see you, as always.