Saturday, June 27, 2009
Today's Seats
Look for me. I'll be the guy eating from the buffet and drinking free
beer.
Posted by OhCaptain at 11:39 AM 3 comments
Labels: St Louis
My wife, I tell ya...
All those posts from yesterday were done from my phone. Here's the scoop typed on a keyboard that's a bit easier to use. So, one of my good friends comes to town for a visit. I knew about this for a while. I'd been making plans to do a little of this and a little of that...heck, we were even having a meeting of our whiskey club Friday night. All is good, he arrives on time Thursday night. Just after I get done dropping the kids off at grandma's so we can have Friday to just enjoy.
Posted by OhCaptain at 8:52 AM 5 comments
Labels: St Louis
Friday, June 26, 2009
Baseball Heaven
the house, because there are no seats above or behind us. Wow!
Posted by OhCaptain at 8:06 PM 0 comments
Labels: St Louis
A change of plans
It would appear my wife and good friend, TheBiggTree, have conspired.
Seems the plan is for me & TheBiggTree will be heading to St. Louis
for this weekends Twins games!!! Tonight and tomorrow, I'll be in St.
Louis!!!
Can you say roadtrip???
Posted by OhCaptain at 8:07 AM 1 comments
Labels: St Louis
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Best Concert Ever: Because @MomoFali asked...Here's my answer
My favorite band of all time has to be Pink Floyd. Of all the bands I've seen live, to this day, they are one of the bands that I might abandon reason and pay ridiculous amounts of money to see live. I seriously would have no trouble getting a second job just to see them live.
The year is 1994, and Pink Floyd announces the tour in support of the album "The Division Bell". With a Saturday morning ticket sales start, I had no problems dropping everything, grabbing a few things and heading to the Metrodome in Minneapolis to camp out for tickets. It's gonna be cold? Like I give a shit. I want these tickets damn it! I didn't mention in the last post that I went to see them on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour in 1987, but now you know. So this was going to be the second time I got to see the greatest band ever.
The line had started forming by the time a co-worker and I got there. No biggie, we were only about 25 from the start of the line. Now we wait. {time passes, not fast enough, but it passes} In the morning, a representative comes to the line and announces that the order of ticket purchases will be done by lottery. Anyone here at this moment gets a number. I take my ticket and see it's the number 15. Not bad. After handing out all the numbers, this same person announces that we need to form a new line.
Will the person with the ticket number 14, please come forward. Look at your tickets and form a line in numeric order starting at 14.Oh My F%@#* Gawd! I'm second in line! (Excuse my French...but Oh My F%@#* Gawd!) There was still 1 hour before the tickets could be sold. They told us we could buy up to 8. I reached into my pocket and sure enough, there was enough money to buy the 4 I came here to get. Um...where's the nearest ATM? I should buy more tickets...ya think? Could I sell main floor center stage tickets to Pink Floyd? Anyone? I found an ATM and figured the money was an investment. These tickets weren't going to be unused.
Posted by OhCaptain at 9:00 AM 3 comments
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Best Concert Ever: Because @MomoFali asked...Part 2
In my first post, I left off at about the time I met my wife. SurprisedMom asked the question in the comments "Does marriage change your musical taste?" For me, it's guess, probably not. I still love the same types of music I did back in the day, but my appetite for concerts has changed. I've also grown a lot more tolerant of concerts by artists my wife wants to go see.
Marriage requires quite a few compromises. You learn how to share each others lives. My wife is a Top 40 girl who also grew up listening to classic rock and a bit of country. Most Top 40 gives me the willies and I've stated my view on country a few times. Silence can be a beautiful thing.
Raising a family and staying married are very important to me, so some of the more {cough} adventurous concerts have been left in the past. I remember once, me and some of my friends thought it would be fun to go a Poison concert. "Unskinny Bop" made me want to hurl, but can you imagine all the drunk girls there??? Sometimes it's not the band you go to see at the concert if you know what I mean.
There's been a few other show. I couple of months ago, we went to Heart. Each year we try to make it to a few show at the State Fair. We saw Hootie and the Blowfish with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, I really enjoyed that one. We saw a Dennis DeYoung-free Styx with REO Speedwagon. Hearing "Renegade" performed was definitely a highlight.
Posted by OhCaptain at 3:00 PM 3 comments
Monday, June 22, 2009
Father's Day Weekend Photo Dump
I like Father's Day weekend. I should, shouldn't I? It's a weekend for dad to get pampered, sounds like a great deal to me!
We spent most of the day in our hometown hanging with family. It rained most of the day which put the kibosh on my wife's plans for the day.
For the last few weeks, basically since the spring flowers have started showing up, I've been "sending my wife flowers" every time I pass a beautiful one.
Posted by OhCaptain at 9:30 PM 2 comments
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Best Concert Ever: Because @MomoFali asked...
Sometimes, posts just start out from the strangest sources. This one starts with something I saw during the Meat Wagon Rampage of last weekend. Rampage is probably the completely wrong word...as far as I know, there was never a tour shirt with the perfect name. So. Anywho.
I was following the #momo tag on Twitter cause that's what any sane person does on a Sunday in Minnesota, right? Which by the way isn't exactly a clear channel and if you follow the link, it will be a while before you find the conversations, but again, I'm veering WAY off course. (I'm sensing a trend)
I'll just share with you the screen cap of the particular item I'm talking about today.
I got to thinking about what she was asking. I've been to some really great concerts, concert festivals and bar acts. There's a good chance I'll be stone cold deaf in the nursing home. Let's recap the concerts that come to my mind:
First Concert: Judas Priest with opening act Great White. Some time in high school.
My first concert. Let's rephrase that, this was my first REAL rock concert. I've probably seen enough things at church and school that were called concerts to know what truly miserable a concert could be. (I'm picky...get over it)
Since, in the aspect of time, this was my first one ever, a benchmark may have been improperly set. Great White was/is probably the worst band I've ever seen live. They were horrible. This did predate "Once Bitten/Twice Shy" but I'm quite sure that that song sucked enough to not move the bar at all.
On the other hand, Judas Priest was FANTASTIC. This was the Defenders of the Faith tour, complete with gigantic mechanical stage monster. Heavy Metal HEAVEN!
There were a few more in there that I don't recall much from. Must have been money well spent. I remember seeing Deep Purple on the Perfect Strangers tour. Can't recall one minute of it.
We move along to college. I scraped together enough actual currency to get a ticket to the U2 Joshua Tree tour. I think the Bodeens opened for them. This concert was everything I expected. The band sounded great and to be honest, the Bodeens were pretty good too.
u2 Live!!!!
Oh my god! They are playing something from their next album! This song must be BRAND NEW!!!Yes, to these girls, the Joshua Tree was U2's debut album. Sigh. They did tell us they were U2's biggest fans.
Concerts off campus were tough to come by in college. Seems they only accept real money, which I didn't have. IOU's didn't work, and flattery got me no where. Junior year, I did get to go to one that stands out though.
Prince: We won't ask
Although my taste has always leaned rock/blues, I still was a fan of Prince. Darling Nikki is a teenage boys dream song. Prince grew up here in Minnesota. Much like the rest of us twisted masochists, he's lived here most of his life. Before he embarked on large world tours, he'd often do some warm up concerts here in MN. My guess this how they typical got set up went:
So that's the background, here's the story. My buddy Kirk stops by my dorm room. His dad called him and asked if he could use two tickets to one of these warm up concerts from Prince. Kirk asks his dad, "Um, they free?" ($10 is 2 cases of beer...yikes!) "Yes they are, but when you are done at the show, don't ask." Whatever...FREE CONCERT TICKETS!phone ringingStadium Dude: Hello, St. Paul Civic Center.Prince: Yo, it's Prince. I'm going on tour, you booked Friday night?Stadium Dude: Nope.Prince: Cool, pencil me in. Be there about 6 to set up, concert at 8.Stadium Dude: Got you penciled in. Usual price for tickets?Prince: 10 bucks OK?Stadium Dude: You da man.click
It looked like we had seats in the first level of risers. Not main floor...bummer. Neither of us had ever been main floor. We walked around looking for our seats and then things started coming together. Yep, we were in the 10th row of the first section of risers but here's the best part, we 6 feet from Prince's piano. HOLY SHIT! We were eye level to princes piano with not one single person between us and the piano. We didn't ask where the tickets came from. His dad got a very warm thank you. Oh, that concert rocked too.
Lollapalooza: Three years of every band I wanted to see.
- 1991: Main Stage: Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, Fishbone, Emergency Broadcast Network
- 1992: Main Stage: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry, Ice Cube, Soundgarden, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pearl Jam, Lush | Side Stage: Jim Rose Circus, Sharkbait, Archie Bell, Porno for Pyros, Basehead, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Sweaty Nipples, Arson Garden, Seaweed, Seam, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., The Look People, Stone Temple Pilots, The Vulgar Boatmen, Truly, Skrew, Tribe, The Authority, Samba Hell, Café Tacuba, Rage Against the Machine
- 1993: Main Stage: Primus, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Arrested Development, Front 242, Babes in Toyland, Tool, Rage Against the Machine
1992, I don't remember catching Rage Against the Machine. The main stage had my attention most of the day, but in 1993, I did catch them. They blew me away. This marks the first time I ever saw a band at one of these festivals and went to the music store the very next day to buy an album. I would have bought it the same day if I could.
People who read this blog won't know this about me, but people that know me in person might recognize this. One of my life long goals is to be the only guy in the old folks home without a single tattoo or body piercing. So far so good. During the festival of 1992, this pierced & tattooed kid walks up to me:
"Dude! You are such a conformist! Look at you! You've got nothin'!"It was shortly after this that I met the one that would transform my life. When I talk about music and concerts, my brain just floods with ideas. Before I tell you about the best concert I've ever attended, I'll tell you the stories of the best concerts since that big turn in a young mans life called marriage. But that's gonna be a whole other post....
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
"No tattoos, no earrings? How can a conformist like you be here?"
"Ah! I get it," I replied, "You're an idiot! Have you looked around? Everyone looks like you. Am I really the conformist or are you?"
He looks at me with the most puzzled stare.
"Whatever." (well played genius)
Posted by OhCaptain at 9:45 PM 6 comments
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Walking Wednesdays
Here's a picture of the entrance to the chapel.
This is kind of fun, blogging while walking. Gotta go though. I just made it downtown and should watch where I'm walking. :-)
Posted by OhCaptain at 11:58 AM 2 comments
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Out for lunch
It's picnic time. See ya when we get back!
Posted by OhCaptain at 5:08 PM 6 comments
Friday, June 12, 2009
When the intertubes change the world
I still can begin to describe how busy life has been lately. I've been struggling to keep the unread posts in Google Reader below 300. I haven't forgotten about any of you, if there are any of you left. I'm still here, just the minutes I get for blogging are precious and few.
I have been trying desperately to keep up on one thread though. Unfortunately it's been mostly through Twitter so I get only glimpses and gasps. It's important enough for me to try and check back at what I've missed and try to piece it back together.
The best that I can do is encourage you to go over to WeaselMomma's blog and read the story of 3 crazy women doing the amazing. MomoFali's daughter did something that ain't good. She left the freezer door open and thawed the families food. Thousands of dollars of frozen cow. They had stocked up. We aren't talking about a family losing their tasty frozen treats, they had stocked it with the meat they would need for the next year. An admirable goal that is now sadly lost.
The crazy ladies, Melisa, Surprised Mom, and WeaselMomma are planning an epic roadtrip to restock the freezer. So incredibly awesome. You wanna help? Shamelessly stolen from WeaselMomma's Blog:
Many of Momo's blogging friends have already donated, but the window for donations to Momo's Meat Wagon is still open through Saturday. We are working through paypal via sending donations (any amount is appreciated) to weaselmomma@yahoo.com .Do what you can, cheer, donate, spread the word. Mostly, just do.
Posted by OhCaptain at 11:44 AM 5 comments
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursdays on First
It's back! Thursdays on First is back in downtown Rochester. This event is put on by the Downtown Alliance, a collection of downtown business. Before I took my current job, I'd live in this town for the entire 5 years it's been in existence, but hadn't really heard of it and gone
My co-worker and good friend MumblingSages got out from behind our desks to head down and check it out today.
The crowds at lunch we looking great too. You have to remember that this place is located at the heart of one of the largest medical services providers in the world. I know, small town, ginormous hospital, it doesn't make sense, but it's true that one of the worlds largest and well respected hospital/clinic organization is located in the middle of the corn fields. We prefer to call it home.
The picture to the right is looking back at the clinic. Of course, I don't work in any of these buildings. We work about a mile away in a little building hidden in the back of campus so no one sees us. Geek pride!
So, what is my favorite item at this collection of artist, crafts, restaurants and other items at an open air market. Well of course it's the world's greatest homemade marshmallows!
Posted by OhCaptain at 2:43 PM 4 comments
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
St. Marys Chapel
In my last post I mentioned that I had photographed the inside of that chapel. Well, here's the link.
Posted by OhCaptain at 7:43 PM 4 comments
So much undone
This photo is of the chapel here on the campus of the hospital I work at. Huge building and modern technology every where and yet this beautiful sanctuary sits. A refuge for the people suffering and the nuns that make this place go. I have quite a few photos on the photoblog I could link to if anyone wants to see the inside of this place. Unfortunately, linking on the phone is an illusive task.
Peace
Posted by OhCaptain at 1:31 PM 3 comments
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Newton's First Law
This picture is a classic example. Anyone else wonder what would happen on a bus hurdling down the highway if it say suddenly stopped?
Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by another force or object. Like say a windshield.
I try to surpress logic when I ride. Makes me feel a bit better about standing in a tube moving 60 mph.
Posted by OhCaptain at 5:16 PM 5 comments