two dolla

not the same michael franti i know

Years and years and years ago (sometime in December of 2001), upon the insanely strong recommendation of a friend, I went to go see Michael Franti and Spearhead at a little joint called The Blue Note in Columbia, MO. I’d barely gotten a chance to listen to the music before four of us headed from Sedalia down I-70. I remember the show being one of the most amazing live shows I’d ever seen. The crowd was full of people that had followed this music for a while. And, quite honestly, their less than rhythmic dancing was a little awkward for me to watch, but there wasn’t a single person dancing that could have cared any less. And it was a really great experience – probably one of the best live shows I’d ever seen.

Totally took this at the show with my hot-to-trot Sony Mavica that stored pictures on floppy disks.

I listened to songs like these (off his Stay Human album, which is my favorite of his, by the way) for a long time:

And, then, the other day, a little part of me died inside. The same dude that had lyrics talking about not caring who politicians “were screwing in private” and the conspiracy behind Princess Diana’s death and wanting to “give the corporation some complications” is being played on 101.3 KDWB, which is one of Minneapolis’ 987908 stations owned by Clear Channel. It’s the same radio station that can be counted on to play no less than 13 songs by P!nk in the course of one work day. And the same radio station that’s been trying to give away tickets to something called BOOTY CRUISE.

Michael Franti, what happened, dude? I mean, nice work on bringing in some cash, but where in your darkened soul did you think it would be a good idea to appear at Sneaky Pete’s in downtown Minneapolis and actually be sponsored by the biggest mainstream radio station in the area? It makes me a little sad inside.

(Don’t get me wrong. I love his new song. I just hate that it’s turned him into mainstream.)

i’m still tired

I had this neat idea that I’d post all the pictures and the lovely tales from my time out West last weekend, but it didn’t work out that way. Between catching up on sleep, doing laundry, working, catching a Lynx game, and making sure Riley doesn’t forget me, I haven’t had much time to do anything but pack up for a trip East of the mighty Mississip – my annual Summerfest trip to Milwaukee.

Tomorrow night, Rick, Brooke, Angie, Justin, and I are catching Daughtry (HELL YES!) in concert and probably drinking some beers, because, you know, that’s what Summerfest is for and stuff.

Riley and I went for a ride today and it happened to be in the general direction of where his daycare place is. He was very sad when we didn’t turn down that road. Little ass. He still has the weekend after this one to stay there, too, while I spend time in St. Louis with The Cuz, her fam, and the awesome folks at the Boob Ha Ha. (Did you check that out? No, really, did you?)

Hey, is anyone hiring for something a 2 year old boxer can do? He’s good with his hands and doesn’t bark much. He needs to pay his daycare and allergy food bills, because I’m tired of not getting any financial support from him. (I kid.)

wisconsin means drinking in latin

I realized this weekend that I’d been neglecting my weekend wrap-ups that I enjoy so much.

Friday: There were five us in the office for most of the afternoon. The other 25ish people in our department were nowhere to be found. It made for a long afternoon. On the drive home, I started stressing about the buckets of rain that were coming down, because I had half a dozen people coming over to my place at 7 and hadn’t really done enough cleaning to entertain the masses in casa de Wendy. I was kind of counting on a dry night and planning on using the picnic tables outside my apartment.

It ended up cleaning up for the night and we had a good time eating meat products filled with cheese, beating a piñata, and grilling inappropriate things on the community grill. Also, we met some of my neighbors that live in the other building. One does amateur wrestling and proclaimed loudly that you could probably “grill poop and then a faggot would eat it”. Hey, that makes perfect sense to me. And it also explains why I will be avoiding the amateur version of Andre the Giant as much as possible. And I do love it that Riley loves my friends so much.

I also mentioned my plans for the best fundraising schtick ever. Stay tuned for that.

Saturday: Man, I slept a lot and man, it was nice. In the afternoon-tide, I ventured over to Matt’s, where our caravan would depart en route to Finals Fest, held in River Falls, WI. Luckily, the rain dried up while we ventured less than 10 miles into Wisconsin. By the time we were cowboy hat shopping at the gas station, it was shaping up to be a great night to be outside. There were seven of us, all over the age of 25. When we arrived at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls campus, we were at least 5 years older than the majority of the crowd. It was concern, yet entertaining.

I’d heard talk about Mike Doughty from both Jenni and Jodi, but never really listened to anything of his. How I regret that decision now. Dude was awesome! His voice was jacked up, so he stopped in the middle of a couple songs and apologized, but it didn’t matter. Now I know that anytime he’s around, I’m there. Live music is the best way to discover someone new to add to your music collection – I guarantee that.

Closing the show? Reel Big Fish. Holy awesome, why has nobody told me about these guys before? This is my kind of music! Needless to say after Saturday, I spent a lot of money on music. I guess it averages out, considering the concert was free.

After the concert, we headed into downtown River Falls and drank a lot. I wish I could tell you more, but quite frankly, I only remember bits and pieces that would make me look like an alcoholic college student. And I’m not in college, so, well, you get the picture.

Sunday: More sleeping. Watching the Twins screw around badly and lose to the Red Sox. Dinner with my Work BFFâ„¢ and her roommate. More sleeping. Desperate Housewives action – best last scene with Susan ever. And again with the sleeping.

I’m tired today, but have a ton of work to do. Riley’s at the vet for his comprehensive exam and I pick him up after work. He’s gained 5 pounds since being on his new dog food, which puts him up to 75 fat pounds. I call him Fatty, but in reality, he’s not fat at all.

I’m slowly uploading the weekend’s pictures to Flickr. I knew you were going to ask.

he’s bringing sexy back

According to Justin Timberlake’s MySpace blog (what?!?), he’s coming to my neck of the woods January 27th. Performing alnog with him? Pink. Someone named Wendy is so going.

Justin Timberlake? Pink? If only Clay Aiken were opening for both of them, right?

pink concert at first ave

I have a history with Pink – the incredible artist, not the disgusting color. In blog archives that aren’t available right now, I know there as a very involved debate probably five years ago in the comments of an entry I wrote about who was more awesome at the time – Jennifer Lopez or Pink. (Pink, I’m sorry I ever put you in the same class as J-Lo. But I was young and dumb!) Then, she had a concert back in 2002 that I really wanted to go to, but couldn’t because I was in a wedding the very same weekend. When I saw she was coming to First Ave tonight, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I would be there.

First Ave is one of the best places I’ve ever seen a concert. Think about it – a former Greyhound bus depot turned into the backdrop of Prince’s Purple Rain? What’s not to love about that?

Given the best venue in town for someone that has the kind of vocals Pink does, I was entranced by her entire set. From the new stuff on her latest album I’m Not Dead to some of her awesome old school stuff like “There You Go”, she threw in a ton of stuff from her sophomore album M!ssundaztood. She even rocked it out a with a rendition of “What’s Up“, originally done by 4 Non Blondes.

She saved my favorite part for the encore – just her and an acoustic guitar. On some awards show a while back, I saw her sing “Trouble” with nothing but the guitar. It was raw in a really good way, and I searched high and low for a place I could download it.

While she’s an energy-filled firecracker and so much fun to watch when she’s rocking out to “Stupid Girls” or “Get This Party Started”, I enjoy her just as much when she shows the audience just a little bit of her vulnerability during the songs where her voice is what stands out, and not the jumping and rocking and dancing and all that other good stuff.

I love Pink. I’m so glad I could catch this concert. If she ever comes here again, I’ll be sure to be at that concert, too. It always makes me happy when I get psyched out of my skin to go see someone I love perform and then I’m even more psyched after the concert’s over.

For your entertainment, YouTube has this video up of a live performance of “Dear Mr. President” and also the “Stupid Girls” video that you must see right this very second.