I saw Smashing Pumpkins last night at the Chicago Theatre. Their first of 4 Chicago shows. The first time they’ve been back to Chicago in 7 or 8 years. 8 rows up and center, staring at Billy as he came out in a golden headress and shiny gold dress.
I know everyone says it’s not really Smashing Pumpkins with D’Arcy and James but their replacements are pretty good. Billy even went as far as to get a blond female bassist and a dark haired male guitarist. Good continuity. They also added musicians for the tour. They had horns, keyboard, accordion and a mystery electric string instrument. Fancy electric violin?
The show was 2.5 hours total. 2 hours of the show was good. The 20 minute long Pink Floyd cover was a good time to go to the bathroom. The 10 minutes of Billy’s ego rambling at the end was just confusing.
Sometimes this week I get a recording of the show so I can continue my swooning.

I was supposed to go to a party at a friend’s house but last minute decided that I needed to go downtown to be PART OF HISTORY or I would regret it forever. So I lured a friend out and off we went!
As soon as we got close to Grant Park, we were part of a flood of people. Things were surprisingly organized. There were signs directing ticket holders and non-ticket holders to different sides of Grant Park. An automated voice told people where to go and what was allowed in. I did not get tickets, I replied to the email invite too late.
We got in quickly and wandered toward one of the big screens showing CNN coverage. There were 4 screens showing CNN so people didn’t have to all crowd in one area. All night the crowd cheered and booed at predictions, took pictures of kids with flags, chatted about how lucky we were to have good weather and waited in hopeful anticipation. It was a really good vibe and a really friendly crowd. It was mostly younger but I saw lots of different types. A few older people in wheelchairs, some kids and babies, frat boys, activists, people talking about the hood, people talking about the opinions voiced on CNN. A lot of people talking about the hologram interviews on CNN. Fucking Will.i.am in hologram form!
All night CNN made predictions as polls closed. Finally it was down to the last few West coast states. They rolled out the graphics for predictions and I expected it to go state by state but instead Obama’s name flashed across the screen with a big yellow check mark next to it. And the crowd goes wild! Screaming, cheering, flag waving, kissing, crying. I admit I cried a little as I stared at Obama’s name. I don’t have a lot of faith in this country, I don’t consider myself patriotic. I would never pick up a flag to wave. This election brought out a lot of political interest that didn’t have 4 years ago. This country is in a fucking mess right now. Obama has to live up to his claims of change because we have no other choice. The road we are taking is obviously not working. I kind of feel bad for the mess he is coming into but I feel hopeful that he can start to clean it up.

Shortly after the CNN announcement, McCain made his speech. They had reported earlier that McCain’s people turned off news coverage at his rally earlier in the night. I think McCain gave a good speech. I think it was even better that Palin didn’t speak at all.
When it was close to Obama’s speech time, the TV’s switched from CNN to the stage at the other end of Grant Park. A woman sung the anthem, then some canned music. Signed, Sealed and Delivered, some country song, Sweet Home Chicago, one more song I can’t remember. Too many songs. Too many shots of Oprah. I loved one shot of an older couple. The guy points to the camera to point out to his wife that they were on camera. She pushes his hand down, still smiling and looking toward the stage and not the camera.
Obama comes on with his family. Talks to his girls, kisses his wife, you can see him say I love you to her. He thanks his campaign staff, Biden, his family, promises his girls a puppy. He lists types of people and includes gay and straight. People cheer. He starts with the “yes we can” and I get a little teary again. He ends, music comes on and Biden and families come to the stage. Lots of hugs and smiles.
The walk back is amazing. It’s near midnight and the streets are filled. Lots of cheering, signs, high fives, sleeping children, vendors, police calmly watching the crowd. Further down there are some scary looking Federal police with rifle looking weapons and riot helmets strapped to their side. They were all just watching. The crowd was happy, wasn’t acting up or even pushing toward the CTA. I didn’t leave downtown right away but I heard the CTA did a good job of managing the crowds.

I tried to take pics but it’s hard to take pictures at night with either a big flash or tripod. Here are a few anyway!

Muppets all month at the Gene Siskel Film Center!

I think I am going to see the Muppet History documentary and Labyrinth.

Maybe I should dress like an insect every day.
I went to the work dressed as a “worker bee.” Black dress, striped tights, yellow wing (that light up!) and antenna. My coworkers loved it. I just wish some of them dressed up too. It was just me and a few clients dressed up.
Went home, got some cheap bike head light/tail lights at KMart. Take that Target and Sports Authority who had sets for twice as much!
Then I switched from my dress to some black shorts and long sleeve shirt and bloodied myself and my bee costume up. Zom-bee! Sticky coagulated blood for my face and drippy blood for the bee costume. And a little bit of blood for the floor, the sink, my shirt, my hands…um, everything.

Then I dragged my new (to me) bike out of the basement, decided to take side streets because I’ve never rode on a city street before and zoom! I was off. Slowly. So slowly. Oh god, why does this take so much effort to get not far? Why can’t I coast? I was sweating and half dead by the time I got to the roommate’s boy’s house. Roommate looked at my bike and pointed out that I was in the wrong gear. I thought
1=easy. Guess not. Also the guy that sold me the bike called it a hybrid but roommate thinks it looks more like a mountain bike.
I wanted to flop on the couch and sleep but it was time for My First Critical Mass! So we rode downtown in all of our zombie, bloody, whitefaced awesomeness. I really struggled with the hills. Yes, Chicago has hills. Small ones but my thighs really felt them when I was barely able to keep up on flat surfaces.
We got to Daley Plaza and it was filled with costumed riders of every sort and a few parents and kids trick or treating. I gave candy to kids, took a few pics and drank a lot of water. Then remembered I didn’t have a chance to eat dinner, maybe that was why I was feeling weak? No, I’m just out of shape.

So we rode through downtown very slowly which I didn’t mind at all since I was exhausted. We waved at people and the traffic cops made sure no one tried to run us over. We get out of downtown and it seems like a parade. The entire street is ours and people are coming out of their houses and businesses to wave and cheer at us. Ya, some people came out of their cars to swear at us but being toward the back of the mass, I expected to see a lot more anger. I read today that mass was estimated 2,000 people.
Then things got very slow and weird. We were close to the highway, on some small road near a bunch of warehouses. There was an ambulance that needed to cut through so we got separated from the rest of the mass. It was so slow that I got off my bike and walked it for a bit because it was impossible to ride that slow with so many people around. After all the slow down, we went back on big streets. I’m not sure why that route was chosen but when riding from Milwaukee & Halsted to Milwaukee & Ashland, why not just take…Milwaukee! Instead of whatever fucked up little streets we were going down. By the time we got to Wicker Park, we were separated from the rest of the group by a noticable amount. Streets were no longer being corked, more cops were seen arresting people than riding with us. I was exhausted and my roommate and her boy were disappointed that the mass got split up so we stopped to get food.
I heard from another friend that did the mass. He was near the very front and didn’t have as many problems. So it wasn’t that we were recklessly heading into trouble, trouble just found us somewhere along the way. With a group that large, I can understand it.
I was so sore that I took the bus home. My ass, knee and elbow still hurt. I’m going to try to ride the roommate’s bike to see if hers is better because I’m still not sure if I was so exhausted because I haven’t rode in forever or if it’s my bike’s fault. I would like to blame my bike because it’s easier getting a new bike than getting sexy new legs. I’m hoping the weather stays nice for a little while longer so I can get some riding in before winter. I know it’s crazy to expect the weather to be nice at the end of November but if by some crazy chance it is, maybe I will do the Nov Mass.

Things are improving at work and with clients. At work I had my yearly review and my boss had lots of positive things to say. The agency keeps talking budget cuts and I get nervous since I haven’t been successful in getting a grant since I’ve been there. I also haven’t applied for a lot of funding which is another things my boss and I talked about. I would like to you know…do my job. She reminded me that I have to be pushy about getting staff to listen to me. I am pushy and they do listen but they don’t act. People say “ya sounds like a good RFP” and then nothing. I’m kind of caught since my boss pointed out that if I want to move up, I need grants to pay for my promotion and I need stuff to do to validate making a new position.
In volunteer-land, I have one client that has stuck around. Client 2 disappeared, client 3 is a maybe. The client that did stick around is really interesting and motivated. I feel like I have a good connection with her and she is older than me which makes me feel better about the other client saying I was too young. The maybe client is the one that said I’m too young, so at least she hasn’t bailed completely!

I’m looking for Halloweeny things to do. It looks like I won’t be getting a bike in time for the Critical Mass ride. I’m still looking on CraigsList because I do want one but the cheap bikes go really fast.

Oh, and I went to The Whistler, a new bar in Logan Square. It’s small but I like it. They have a stage for live acts and a DJ table. They do the whole ‘craft cocktail’ thing that’s getting so popular in this area. It pretty much means fancy mixed drinks with rare ingredients that take more skill than sloshing bottles to assemble. One of their drinks comes with a candied hibiscus which is delicious. It’s very much the indie cool kid scene but not Wicker Park hipsters. Think cardigans and a slightly older crowd that still drinks PBR. I wore argyle and felt OK there.

I’ve been kind of busy or maybe just slacking, either way here is my delayed Lollapalooza report. No pictures because all of my pictures turned out pretty bad. I was too far away, too short and my camera too old.
I went on Sunday with a friend that is equally averse to the sun (he sweats, I burn) so we arrived late in the afternoon. We saw Saul Williams rock out with his make up and band in costumes. He said he felt bad that we had to choose between seeing Kanye or NIN as headliners and with his music you don’t have to choose. Well, obviously he was not aware other bands were playing at the same time he was. We left toward the end of his set and saw some of Blues Traveler because my friend liked them in high school. After he got over his nostalgia, we went back over to Saul Williams and caught his cover of “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”.
Next was Gnarls Barkley, dressed in some weird yellow suit jackets. Too hot for Star Wars costumes I guess. The first three songs sounded exactly like the CD. I could see them playing, they had live instruments but it was all oddly robotic. We lost interest a few songs in and went to see Girl Talk. Actually we got crushed by the Girl Talk crowd on the way to the disgusting toilets. So we kind of heard/saw Girl Talk while in line for the bathroom.
Then we wandered to Flosstraudamus for reasons I cannot remember. (Why, yes we do have musical ADD.) Flosstraudamus was like Girl Talk but not as good. A guy in the crowd asked about my tattoo and correctly identified it as not a sea creature. Then we went over to see The National, who were playing on the stage next to NIN. We sat in the very back of The National crowd which was the front-ish area of the NIN stage. It was an hour before NIN went on and already the front center area was filled.
As soon as The National finished, NIN started. I’ve liked NIN since high school and I have never seen them before so I couldn’t possibly dislike the show. They had an interactive LED fence of lights that changed from static, to logo, to boxes that Trent could poke and change color, to a close up of Trent’s mouth while he was singing. They played old and new, took an instrumental marimba interlude in the middle and then went into some of the harder new stuff. The 2nd to last song in the encore was Hurt and I stopped screaming along for that one and just silently took the song in. Also, Trent looked so good, all sweaty and muscley and rockin his mid-40’s.

I got my hair chopped short yesterday. I gave the stylist this picture and she did an excellent job at copying the haircut. We made some minor changes, a little longer at top of the back of my head so I can make it stick up. It’s a fun cut but probably one I should have had 10 years ago.

I burninated at Pitchfork on Sunday but it was well worth the redness. I had no idea there was a nice big park next to Cobra Lounge. I feel bad for the neighbors since one of the stages was right against someone’s backyard and I don’t think that neighborhood is too big on the indie rock. I saw Apples in Stereo, Les Savy Fav, Ghostface and Raekwon and a little of M. Ward. The rest of the time was spent wandering flatstock (gig poster sale) or sleeping under a tree. It was like the sun was sucking energy out of me.
Les Savy Fav was by far the most entertaining act. The singer had multiple costumes, threw a wireless web cam into the audience and displayed the bouncy results on the big screen, ran off stage briefly to reappear in a garbage can and told us stories about the Native American burial ground the park was built on. There was also music playing.
Ghostface and Raekwon were great but the crowd was annoying me. As you can guess the crowd was largely white hipsters. So hearing some guy with mismatched socks going “word,yo” in a not so subtle ironic way is annoying after the 10th time. Hearing some kid behind me explain to his friend that “these guys used to be in Wu Tang” just made me feel old. And wtf was with putting them on the small stage? It was packed which just added to my annoyance.

I just noticed the candy I’m eating says it has a bat signal in it and I didn’t see a bat signal. I may have ate the bat signal.

I saw Dark Knight on Monday. Wasn’t there a TV show called Dark Knight? I remember it being Canadian and the main character’s last name was Knight and there were vampires. If it wasn’t so late I would call my parents because I know they watched this damn show and IMDB is telling me its some medieval sci-fi show.

So the movie was awesome. But since everyone’s jerking off over this movie, I have to offer a few criticisms.
The movie was PG-13, why couldn’t Maggie Gyllenhaal’s breasts make an appearance?
Was Aaron Eckhart cast because they couldn’t get Denis Leary? Twinsies!
Where was the big flaming Batman logo?
And that’s all I can say without giving away parts of the movie.

Co-ed Prison Sluts is back at the (new location of the) Annoyance Theatre! The web site said it last ran in 2000 which makes me feel old and surprised that I can still remember he lyrics the classic song “Shit, Motherfucker.”
(I’m going to get great hits/spam comments from this post!)
This weekend is sold out but I want to go soon!

This whole patriotism thing can suck me but I was loving the backyard fireworks this weekend. I stayed out late Thursday and Friday so instead of cursing the 2am fireworks in the alley, I was on my back porch watching them. Due to a technical failure (listening to a boy) I could barely see the city’s fireworks show on the 3rd. North Ave beach may be crowded on the 3rd but there are a bunch of goddamn buildings in the way between you and the fireworks. A ton of other people didn’t seem to know this either so I don’t feel too stupid.

Boxing boot camp is almost finished so I need something new to keep me active. Jabb boxing gym has similar classes that I might go to. I like boxing but I really want to run away and join the circus. OK, it’s not quite that kind of trapeze training but it’s still trapeze! My upper body strength has got slightly less sad since starting boxing but it’s still pretty pathetic. I’m hoping the aerial training class will help me work toward the awesome back I want. (Awesome back=showing off tattoos)

I didn’t do a pictorial like I usually do with new recipes but I made some really good granola just now. I’m taking spoonfuls while waiting for it to cool. I’m concerned how its going to clump when it cools. I used my friend’s family farm honey and expensive Irish oats that come in a tin. I didn’t use the wheat germ suggested in the recipe and my fruit is raisins, dried cranberries and dried cherries.

(Answer to the title is Yes. And there is a 5th,6th and 7th of July, too. Haha! Egocentric Americans!)

If this picture doesn’t make you smile, you’re probably the devil.
Obama’s Ipod