Green Day in Concert: My Review and Recap

I had a feeling that those posts I did a couple of weeks ago about the best concerts I'd ever seen were unfinished. This past weekend, OhCountess and I embarked on the "Weekend of Rock Tour". No complaints, it was well worth it, going back to work sucks.

On Saturday, July 11th, 2009 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we witnessed what could only be described as the best non-Pink Floyd rock concert I have ever seen. Big words from me.

This concert capped off an amazing weekend of music for my wife and me. As I posted earlier, the Basilica Block party started it off. I realized I was hanging out in the Twin Cities area for the weekend, so I tried to contact Terri of TerriTerri fame. I'm always up for the idea of a blogger meet up but nope, her daughter was playing in a softball tournament. This did spawn an idea, though. With a little planning, anyone interested in meeting at the Block Party next year? Kind of a Midwest blogger gathering??? Just an idea...back to Green Day!

Green Day is a band that's hard to pigeon hole. They're mostly punk, with a bit of pop and a lot of rock. Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer and lead guitarist, is very much into liberal politics and ain't afraid to share that with you. They can be loud, raucous and everything I think of in a rebellious rock band.

The concert began with the band playing their latest album, 21st Century Breakdown, in order. This is pretty much as you'd expect. It's a rock opera after all. The order of the songs has a lot to do with the meaning of the songs. It's the story of a young couple trying to navigate this crazy world we live in.

I should apologize for the quality of the pictures. I had heard cameras weren't really welcome here. No way I'm sneaking my good camera in without drawing attention to some bulging body part. We shot all of these with either our iPhone cameras or my wife's point and shoot. Strangely, I really think that capture the event well.

If you've ever listened to Green Day, you'll recognize that they are a pretty high energy band and from the beginning, you knew, this was a no holds barred, high energy with no moments rest concert. Billie Joe has energy like no other performer I've ever seen, but best of all, he can work a crowd. On no less then 4 different occasions, he had members of the audience helping out on stage.

At one point, he running around the corners of the stage, sounding like an Evangelist. Singing praises. He stops over on the left side of the stage and asks if there is a child that can be saved. Um, Ya think there's anyone that wants to go on stage? One dad volunteers his 12(? could have been 13) year old to go on stage. I don't remember the exact words but it was something like "You're gonna let you 12 year old on stage with a punk band?" Billie Joe starts talking to the kid up close, whisper style and the kid just starts swaying with his hands in the air.

He had a little chat with the kid and then they broke into East Jesus Nowhere. The kids just standing there swaying side to side with his arms in the air...all of us following in step. During the song, there is a big "saving" moment. The beat changes and BOOM! He places his hands on the kids head, he falls backwards "saved style" and LOUD explosions from pyrotechnics fill our ears and eyes. The kid gets a hug from Billie Joe and goes back to his dad. Of course the crowd loves it.

Dad Stuff over at Stuff In My Brain was apparently at this same concert, sitting a few rows behind us. Yikes, had we known. He noticed the same thing I did. What a cross section of people were here. Next to us was a mom with her 7 and half year old. He was wearing ear plugs. Behind me was a lady in her late 50's or early 60's - rockin' and looking like she was having a great time.

The two girls sitting next to me were talking about how their parents hadn't let them get the Dookie album. That didn't make me feel any younger...That was 1994. But that's a pretty awesome if you think about it. 15 years.

Through out the show, he was making constant references to Minnesota. His wife is a native of Mankato. As the story goes, in the early years, the tours used to come through here all the time. You know, so he could hook up with her. Boys.

I've read somewhere that he's always like it here, not just because of the hot babes, but in general. He made lots of comments that gave you the impression that this was like home to him. The band started playing riffs from well known classic rock songs, you know, like Black Sabbath's Iron Man. They'd only play a little bit of the song, but it was fun, but then, he played the opening riff from Let's Go Crazy, by Prince.

I don't know how punk rock concerts work in other parts of the world, but here in Minnesota, Prince is in a protected class. Sure, he's arrogant, a bit over the top and his music is funk not punk, but he's deep down well known as a hardcore Minnesotan...We'll sing a Prince song with anyone. It's what we do. Normally, I hate covers, but Green Day made that song theirs and it rocked.

This was followed up the band playing Shout! from the Animal House soundtrack. I know, a Green Day concert. Sure, it was a punk/rock version, but it was fun. During the "lay on the floor" portion of the song, they did a montage of other classic songs. Gawd this was fun and the crowd was just eating it up. Looks like we got a picture of Billie Joe singing on the floor (above).

The picture on the left, just above here is how I'll remember this. He's standing on the monitor, being the rock god he's becoming.

The band left the stage and the arena went dark. You knew it wasn't over, there were so many good songs to go.

This picture on the right is Billie Joe returning for a little acoustic set. He started by playing a song I don't think I've heard..."My Minnesota Girl" a song about his wife. Very cool...and this would be the crowd to appreciate it. This was followed by Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) off of Nimrod. Yeah! I was hoping for this!

Something you don't see at most rock concerts is a crowd that is fully engaged. Sure, they go nuts for their favorite songs, but at no point did the crowd ever disengage. Billie Joe ran off stage for what I thought was a guitar change, but returned with an enormous Super Soaker and proceeds to spray it at the crowd. Cool, nothing new if you ever been to a festival in August, but he pulled another 13 year old out of the crowd and gave him the gun. In the mean time, he's run off stage again and returned with the leaf blower/toilet paper spewer. Yeah, shlocky, but very fun. Those new rolls don't last long so off he goes again and grabs a different gun. This time he screams..."Who wants a t-shirt?" Yep, one of those t-shirt guns. So much fun.

All the while, the band just sounded great. The band played the opening of Boulevard of Broken Dreams, one of their more popular singles. Billie Joe steps to the mic and out of his mouth, he started on the WRONG verse! Apparently, he's got a sense of humor because he just laughed and turned around. The band kept playing and when the time to start singing came around again he steps to the mic and realized something, the crowd was singing it for him. Word for word. He just let it go. No one complained and we got the entire first verse out + chorus before he stepped back in. I have to think, it must be pretty cool to be on stage and hear a stadium full of people singing a song you wrote.

I've always wondered how bands like Green Day play the first hits for so many years and not just get completely sick of them. Dookie had so many remarkable songs on it, but they've been playing them for 15 years. This band didn't skip them. They just let the crowd do the work. During Longview (still one of my favorite songs), for each verse, a different member of the audience did the singing. There's three verses so three lucky fans got their shot. The first girl was pretty good, the second, well, she kinda sucked, and last, this guy gets up and rocked the house. At the end, after singing the best lyric in rock history ("when masterb***'s lost it's fun, you know your f'n lazy"), Billie gets on a mic cheering him on and says, "For that, you HAVE to stage dive!" Every fans dream. Lucky bastard.

The show wraps up. The band had played for two and half hours. One of the longest concerts I've ever been to and every minute of it was just fantastic.

OhCountess, who tends to lean to the pop song side of the music dial, looks over at me and said, "that's the best concert I've ever seen." Better then Rob Thomas? Yep. (I would have been looking for early exits from that...just sayin').

The house lights came up. We were in Section 104, row M seats 13 and 14. Dead center of our row. No rush, we stayed in the hotel across the street so we were really in no hurry. We took a few pictures and said good bye to our neighbors. Our throats were sore and our ears were ringing, but in the end it was all worth it.

This was, without a doubt, the very best rock concert I've ever seen that didn't have Pink Floyd on the ticket. It was very, very close to that good too. You may or may not realize just what that means coming from me...but it's huge.

After the show...cocktails with my bride cause there was no way we just gonna fall asleep after that.

Rock on!

Sorry about the quality but

It friggin Green Day!!!!!!

The weekend of rock continues

Heading in to the show!!! It's time for Green Day!!!

For the record

Time for a quick update. Last night, we went to the Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis. It takes place at the Basilica of St. Mary.

Terri, yes, you need to go! Next year for sure. Maybe this could be a blogger meet up??? It could happen.

OhCountess won the tickets to the VIP section. WOW! All of these pictures were taken from our seats. I like the lack of obstruction and the private bartender handing out free beer. Mmmm....free beer.

The Black Crowes were the headline act of the day. Man, did they rock! Those guys put on a fantastic demonstration of the proper way to do a southern blues/rock jam. The only disappoint of the night came as they didn't play "She Talks to Angels," one of our favorite songs.

Erin McCarley was the first act of the night. We weren't sure if we had ever heard of her, but she did sound great. She set the mood for a great night of music.

Next up, Mat Kearney, as far as bands for an out door show go, this guy was amazing. Great voice and just fun music. His guitarist happens to be from Minnesota. He talked several times about how excited they were to be here (of course, don't they all do this?). One really funny comment had to do with how much he loves Minnesota and Minneapolis. He' love it more without some of the winter, but of course, our homeboy had to chime it that putting up with those winter days is still worth it. I couldn't agree more.

Even with a little rain, the concert was a great time. The sights, the sounds and even the smells of the food vendors are hard to put into words.

I was dubbing this weekend "The Weekend of Rock Tour." Tonight, we are off to see Green Day! I looked EVERYWHERE but I can't find my skinny tie. Damn! But we might just have to change that. We are making a stop at the Mall of America today to see Buzz Aldrin. He's a geek rock star of a different...this is the second man to set foot on the moon.

I'm quite sure, there will be plenty more Tweets and blog posts from my phone, as long as the battery holds up. I really need to get an iPhone 3GS. Wait! There's an Apple store at the MOA...hm.

The man that looks like Jesus...#BBP09

The Black Crowes have taken the stage. Enjoy your lived while we are
in rock heaven...

This is more like it...

Mat Kearney on the stage, a cold beer, a cocktail for my wife and
FOOD!!!

Rock on!

VIP seating?

OhCountess seems to have gotten us VIP seating at the Minneapolis
Basilica Block party...oh boi!!!!!

Warm up act Erin McCarley is playing now. Sounds awesome!!!

Weekend in St. Louis: Getting there...

So, how ya been? Had any surprises lately? Been busy?

My life has been nothing but busy and surprises. I don't think I'll bore you with the day to day joys like being the only member of a team of 3 to be working last week. Or the craziness that are the "weekends" of my life...or wait, maybe I will.

Not this past weekend, the pig roast is another post coming soon, the weekend before. You may recall I put up some short posts, a medium size one and a few pictures. To recap, my wife hid a plan to put me in a car and drive to St. Louis Missouri and watch my beloved Minnesota Twins win one of two games vs. the St. Louis Cardinals. Oh, how I love away Twins games...hehe

In this and the next post, I'm gonna share the adventure that was the road trip to St. Louis.

When we left, I was still pretty much in shock by the whole thing. I mean, I went to bed thinking, "how am I gonna keep TheBiggTree (TBT) occupied all day?" As we made our way south to Iowa, we knew breakfast was going to happen....but where.

Thankfully, we love to eat at mom and pop places when we road trip. You know, you can have fast food any day, but on a road trip, live for the moment, take your life in your hands and order "the house special".

This photo on the left, it's the house special at Dave's Restaurant in Charles City Iowa. It's called the Big Daddy and works like this...take a plate full of hash browns, place an easy over egg on them and cover the whole damn plate in sausage gravy.

They had a little daddy at a reduced price but for some reason, we were hungry. The picture, that's what I left behind. It kicked our ass but MAN, was it tasty.

While I was eating, TBT kept reminding me not to over do it cause we had a stop to make soon and we wouldn't want a gut full...OK...so why did we order the big daddy? Can this possibly just sit nicely in my tummy while, as he said, do a little hoofin'?

I was officially "navigating" on our little adventure. I've done this before when planning a trip on Google Maps, add a sort of fake stop to make sure it routes me a certain way, so I improvised and by passed what looked like a fake stop in the travel plans. Oops. No, TBT wanted to stop there. It was our next destination.

No worries, we got ourselves righted and made our way out of town. We drove and drove and found finally found 240th St. It was a gravel road. Um. Okay. We drove down the road looking for a certain house number. I remember asking him, "you planning on whacking me and know a guy that will help you bury me?" We were in the middle of absolutely no where.

Another thought I had was maybe he was taking me to the Field of Dreams. My trivia on this sucked but I knew it was in Iowa, we were going to a baseball game, it could happen, but none of the farms on this road looked anything like the movie.

I'm not sure how I missed this the first time we passed it, but here it is, The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club.
TBT is a fantastic tennis player. He has taught it at some of the private clubs in the area. He'd remembered reading about this place in Tennis magazine. I lettered in tennis in high school. That was 22 years ago.
When you make a reservation, they go all out. It's hard to see, but in front of each chair was a lawn sign, with our names on them! Now don't we feel special.
It really is a grass tennis court in the middle of the corn fields and the wind mills. It was absolutely amazing. Neither on of us had ever played tennis on grass. We both have some very limited experience on clay, the other major court surface, but here in the US, asphalt is mack daddy of tennis courts. This was really cool! Again, a complete and total surprise.

Our next stop wasn't a total surprise. One of the things we planned on doing while he had come to visit me was do a little geo caching. In his travel folder he had several geo caches that were on the way. One seemed to be just ripe for the pickin'. It was called JBird's Nest.

I'd never really done geo caching before but had always been very interested in it. Father of Five had written about it and I know others who have and it always sounds so fun.

TBT had the handheld GPS and a little experience. By the clues, we guessed this church was the right spot and sure enough, there it was under the tree!

OK, it really wasn't that brain dead easy. We walked around the back for a while and looked behind all the ventilation systems.

We didn't want to stay too long. We still needed to complete our primary mission. Busch Stadium and a baseball game. We left New London and got back on the highway making a bee line to the hotel to drop off our crap and catch the train into the city. Like we had any idea how to do that...

Until tomorrow...

Happy Indpendence Day!

Mmmm...looks like we are having roast pig for dinner.

Today's Seats

Holy crap! This is the view from our club seats. Section 202 seat 30.
Look for me. I'll be the guy eating from the buffet and drinking free
beer.

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.

Supposedly, my wife needed to work yesterday. She got up, showered, got dressed in her work cloths...the whole enchilada. She even left...

My friend was downstairs, awake and fiddling with his GPS. I went outside to take the garbage and recycling to the street and while I was out there, he'd come out too. He asks me to come over a look at his GPS to see if it looked right to me. It said "STL"...destination, St. Louis.

We had talked much earlier in the year about getting to some Minnesota Twins away games. The St. Louis on seemed to have the most promise, but as far as I had know, it just wasn't gonna work out.

"Um, are we going to the game?" I asked.

"Yep"

ROAD TRIP!

This is a surprise birthday present from my wife...that crafty vixen!

The picture at the top was taked from our seats during the first game. You see, when you drive 8 hours to go watch your team play, you catch as many as you can. There's a noon game today and we have tickets to "The Legends Club".

Other plans include possibly playing some cards at a local casino, visiting the brewery, toursty stuff and wandering aimlessly like tourists.

What a great time we are having so far. I'm sure I'll be posting more later as long as the battery in my phone holds up...

Twins Win!

3-1

Baseball Heaven

The locals call these seats baseball heaven. Is there a bad seat in
the house, because there are no seats above or behind us. Wow!

We made it!

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???

Best Concert Ever: Because @MomoFali asked...Here's my answer

In my previous posts, (here and here), I told you the highlights of my concert adventures through the years. I'm sure someday, I'll remember details about more of them. Fighting through the haze of youth can be tough.

In this post, I'm going to tell you the story of the best concert I've ever seen. It's a story that isn't exactly as cut and dry as you might think. This story takes place between my single days and my marriage; the later stages of our courtship.

Our courtship almost ended abruptly over an enormous misunderstanding. I tend to be a guy that tells you like it is. No riddles or innuendo. Just straight up. I also tend to take your words at their meaning as well. Women, most men don't get subtle.

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.

I got home (remember, this is before working class kids like me had cell phones...1994 people) and told my hawt girlfriend about the miracle that had occurred. I really couldn't wait to ask her to go with me. Originally, these tickets were for a friend of mine, my brother and one of his friends. My brother and I will buy tickets to Pink Floyd and then check with the boss and the calendar. We are that big of fans. "It could be fun, but why don't you see if someone else wants the tickets," she told me. WTF? Are you kidding me? These are 9th row, center stage to Pink F'n Floyd. "OK. I'll see if I can get rid of it."

I was really disappointed. My favorite band in the whole world, the best seats I could ever imagine getting and my amazing girlfriend at my side. I spread the word that I had the extra ticket. It was actually hard to get rid of just the one. The other extra three tickets were snapped up quickly.

The day of the concert came. I had not stop asking her if she was going to change her mind. She always gave me the same answer. Later that afternoon, I got a call from my brother, he'd found someone for the ticket. Cool! I called her up and told her she didn't have to go, we found someone for the ticket. Her voice sounded strange and she hung up. Weird.

Later we headed up to Minneapolis to the best concert I'd ever seen. Jeebus. That band can rock. No warm up act. Just 2 hours of auditory bliss.

When I got home, the buzz was crushed. My girlfriend had gotten hurt rollerblading after we left for the cities. She was so mad at me for not taking her she went rollerblading like a crazy woman and had crashed herself up, probably breaking her ankle.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Women sometimes don't really mean what they say. At the moment I called her to tell her that she didn't have to go, she was primping herself and getting ready to go to the concert. She was almost as excited as I was to go and I didn't know.

So there you have it. The best concert I've ever seen. Pink Floyd.

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.

I'm really grateful that my wife loves a good concert as much as I do. I can't remember the order exactly of these concerts, but these are the best of the concerts my wife and I have seen together and my last guys night out show.

Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band:

This concert was a no brainer. It was announced and we just looked at each other and nodded. Her step dad growing up was a huge Segar fan. I didn't even have any problems with the idea of getting 2 extra seats to bring him and his wife with.

The first batch of tickets sold out before we got any. So disappointing. By the end of the week though, there was an announcement. A block of tickets for behind the stage would be released. Obstructed view. They were worth a shot and my wife got them. We told her step dad and he couldn't be more excited. He was going to SEGAR!

Since he had a good job and so did his wife, they sprung for a hotel next to Target Center. We met them up there and headed over to see the show.

It seems that when they sold the first batch of tickets, they didn't realize the stage was in the round. We were 5 rows from the back ramp. These tickets were only obstructed by the fact that we saw the back of the drummers head. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS IN PLAIN VIEW!

The show rocked on and I got to enjoy watching my wife's step dad play air drums like a teenager with a smile that never left his face. He passed away a few years ago from cancer, and for me the memory that stands out the most for me to this day is the smile he had on his face and his his wide open eyes. We miss you Tom.

Billy Joel:

If you've never seen him live, you've missed one of the greatest entertainers of our time. His show was amazing. He took one break during the show we saw. One. Sure, the band left the stage, but he never did. He just sat out on the stage telling stories about the songs, his life, whatever. He was definitely worth every penny we paid to see him.

Harry Connick, Jr.:

Believe it or not, I'm a jazz fan too. Not as big a fan as I am of the rock/punk/alternative stuff I go on and on and on about, but I like it well enough that I do mix it in quite often.

I introduced my wife to Harry Connick. It wasn't hard, we both loved the movie "When Harry Met Sally". They way he mixes jazz and old school pop always amazes me. Of course, my wife thought he was hot. Women.

This concert was at a much smaller venue in Minneapolis then a stadium concert, which was for the best. A show like this is definitely a small venue event. Like Billy Joel, Harry is a consummate entertainer. Crooning to the ladies and improvising like a jazz master.

This is hands down the Best Date Concert of all time.

Charlie Daniels Band:

I know, he's country. But I can now say that I've seen him perform "Devil Went Down to Georgia." Even a rocker like me will admit that that song kicks ass. The concert was at a local casino. I only mention it because I got to see "Devil Went Down to Georgia" live.

---

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.

This should make you wonder, what is OhCaptain's favorite concert of all time? Like I said, things with music are rarely easy with me. My next post will be the story of the best concert I've ever seen. I promise. Actually, I already wrote it (hehe). It's scheduled to post 6/24/09 and 9:00 AM to be exact.

You seen any of these bands? Got any guesses as to what the best concert I've ever seen is? Patience young grasshopper...tomorrow.

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!

Saturday, Ohcountess had to work. She was off being one those angels wearing the uniform of a registered nurses. (Have you thanked one lately? why not?) Since I had already declared Sunday to be a "Honey-do List Free Day", the Mrs didn't want to waste "Honey-do List Available Day" and had given me a list of chores.

Being the good husband that I think I could be, I dutifully complied. On the list was some lawn care; lawn mowing, trimming and patch repair. typical stuff, but I'd grown bored of my sprinkler options so I did what I'm sure everyone does, I packed up the kids and headed to Toys-r Us and picked up some new sprinkler systems...not sure I like the colors but the kids seemed a bit more impressed with them.

That orange thing above the slide...that's one of the new sprinklers. It rains down on the occupants of the pool. Huh? The picture below shows the other new one, it's hoses randomly flap all over the place, doing a nice job of getting everything wet. Not too shabby. Of course I never asked permission for the Chief Budgetary Officer (CBO) for this. Had a feeling this would be one of those days that it would be better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

---

Father's Day

Sunday morning was of course the big day. The alarm was set for 8am apparently. I don't remember requesting a wake up call but there it was, beeping like some kind of crazy sadist begging for a beating, which I performed with all the zeal I could muster.

The kids did have a plan for the morning. I had come downstairs to a chorus of "NO! DAD! WE AREN'T READY!!! Go Back to bed!" OK...then make sure Mom doesn't set the damn alarm clock...Geez!

On the left, it's the first of my new a Jerry Garcia neckties. Probably my favorite ties. Mom lets the girls pick out a new tie each Father's Day. Good thing I have to wear one every day to work, otherwise they'd be awkward.OhCountess got me a book I'd been hinting at: The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2. This volume has some really great pointers, and techniques for doing better flash photography and using studio lights. I'm already ready to try one trick in there, the "Sports Illustrated" look. Not the swimsuit issue but the one where the sky is a deep blue behind the subject and they are well lit...I'll let you know when I have a sample.

My favorite Father's Day presents of all time are rarely things that you can buy in a store. It would seem that last week at our daycare provider, the kids made the projects you see below. HOW COOL ARE THESE????

With the help of the Mrs, these have now found a home on my desk at work. They do look an awful lot like cookies. More then one jokester tried to take a bite out of them today.

---

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.

After a quick trip to Lowes, it was time for dinner. We've lived here for about 7 years. Somehow, we never quite got to the local TGI Fridays. I hadn't been to one in years. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that they don't have much of a beer selection. Killian's Irish Red made the top of the list. Not one of favs, but definitely not one of the worsts. Above our table...the bomb you see on the right. Um...it's a bomb above our table.

---

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.

She reminds me that a photograph doesn't replace the real thing but I've been sending 2 or 3 a week! I'd be broke by now if I tried that :-)

On the right, a sample of a recent shot. Just to show you how knowledgeable I am with flowers, what the heck is this? I have no idea but really thought it was pretty.

How was your Father's Day? I've seen a few post so far, but I'm again FALLING WAY BEHIND in my blog reading. Ugh. I need to come down with the flu and catch up or something.

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.

Normally, questions like this get the "Easy Peasy" response. I think I replied back, but as you might guess, I've been to a few concerts in my day and this question ain't that easy. Things about music and me are never easy.

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!!!!

Probably the best memory I have of the concert was these two teenage girls in front of us. I had been a fan of U2 since the album 'War'. Cool stuff. Anyways, these two girls got really excited when they played the song 'Sunday, Bloody Sunday' and I quote:

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:

phone ringing

Stadium 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

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!

After a little bargaining with Kirk's mom, she promised to fill the gas tank for the drive home. Yes, we were that broke. We travelled from St. Peter, MN to St. Paul. Picked up the tickets and decided to eat at Dayton's cause we had Dayton's charge cards and they had a deli. Chowed down on really overpriced something and headed to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

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.

I went to the first 3 Lollapaloozas. You want to check bands off your list of "Bands I want to see before I'm too old" list, this is how to do it. Here's the line-ups so you can get the idea (the bands in bold were on the list of "bands I want to see before I get old"):

• 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 was by far my favorite concert festival. It's scary to think just how big many of those bands were when Pearl Jam is #2 on the list. The order of the bands typically was least popular to most popular. Pearl Jam as 2nd least popular just boggles the mind.

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'!"
"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)

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....

'Til next time, Rock on!

Walking Wednesdays

The place I work for does an amazing job of promoting healthy activities. Until the end of September we will have Walking Wednesdays. I've been trying to get away from desk to walk when weather permits.

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. :-)

Out for lunch

We took the kids out for lunch today. Way out. Weather is perfect.
It's picnic time. See ya when we get back!

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.

Thanks for listening!

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.

We were pleased to find Newt's had a really nice spread. There is a reason that this place has been voted the best burgers for the last bazillion years. Nummy! They were cooking their burgers out side on the sidewalk, making the smells almost intoxicating. They've also chosen the, as MumblingSages put it, "Hooters marketing" approach. The girls working the booth were, um, not displeasing to the eye. (When I got married, no one put my eyes out...OK?)

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!

Eloise is a friend of mine from playing cards. Somewhere, she got this crazy idea to make homemade marshmallows. And by homemade I mead from scratch. "You can do that?" I've heard people ask. "Yes, yes you can." And guess what, once you've had one...you will NEVER enjoy the bagged kind ever again. Sure, they are OK, but nothing and I mean NOTHING like this.

My favorite is the S'more, it's a homemade marshmallow dipped in chocolate and then rolled in crushed graham crackers, but coming close is the peppermint flavored dipped in chocolate. Dear God, you've died and gone to heaven. She's also got raspberry, and coconut and to die for rice crispy bars.

If you are on a diet or strict vegan, the smells in this area of town will kill you. Or in the case of the vegans...you might just want to switch teams. I have no words to describe how good the downtown smells today....you'll have to check it out for yourself.

Did I make you hungry? Sorry :-D

St. Marys Chapel

In my last post I mentioned that I had photographed the inside of that chapel. Well, here's the link.

I hope you enjoy them!

So much undone

Time has been evaporating before my very eyes. I have 3 posts started and unfinished that are of the written variety. My baby girl turned 6. We saw the movie 'Up' and loved it. Summer vacation has begun for everyone but me. Oh well. Such is the life of a professional geek. Maybe tonight I'll get something finished. I hate the word maybe.

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

Just enough cuteness

Here she is, OhPrincess2 at her Spring Sing.

Down in my heart...

Newton's First Law

I often joke with people in the south that if the would spend less time teaching disbelief in science and just a little more time teaching Newton's First Law of Motion, they might be able to drive in the winter time.

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.