cousins

this was an interesting photo shoot. again, thank goodness for digital cameras. the babies were actually the most cooperative of the 3. it's the 4 year old that never looks at the camera. or at least doesn't look at it long enough to get a good shot. anyway. here they are. rainah is just about 8 months old, talan is 4 1/2 months and hayden is 4 1/2 years.

lollapalooza 2007

about a week and a half ago, dave and i took our annual trip to chicago for lollapalooza. i had every intention of getting this post up much earlier, but due to technical difficulties (the fact that i once again took video on my digital camera vertically and then could not figure out how to turn the video so that you didn't have to watch it sideways) i wasn't able to post until now. luckily, dave knows some people that know some things and we were able to get everything all worked out. i know many people have been waiting for this post because of all the talk surrounding one of the videos. believe me, it's well worth the wait. here's a photo album to show just how much fun you missed out on.

we dropped the boys off to grandma and papa's house on thursday nite and headed of to chicago on friday morning. we left a little later then planned but we still got there in time to see most of the set from the polyphonic spree. i enjoyed it thoroughly, even though the sound on the stage wasn't too great for their set. the weather was close to perfect all weekend, especially considering two years ago it was 105 degrees on the second day. i did quite well with my whole anxiety around too many people considering there were so many of them. i only wanted to fight a handful a people. that's pretty remarkable since we were there for 3 days. and it wasn't until the 2nd to last band on day 3 that i had my near panic attack and had to just get away from the masses. not too shabby.



shortly after the polyphonic spree, we went to see the silversun pickups which was one of the bands i was most excited to see. the set was great and about 3 or 4 songs before the end, dave looked down and realized his wristband had fallen off. we left the show a little early to go talk to security and figure out what we needed to do. at first we were told "it's not looking good for those losing wristbands." but after talking to several people and them noticing how my band was doubled over we touch my wristband and then mine fell off. the girl putting them on was doing it wrong and they eventually gave dave a new one. good thing, cuz i was planning out where we were going to hide and camp out each nite in the park so we didn't have to leave. here's some shots of the silversun pickups before our stomachs sank at the site of dave's naked wrist:


we ended meeting up with jimmy morski (i think he goes by jim now, but he'll always be jimmy to me) and his girlfriend, lorraine. turns out jimmy is a "middle of the mass" kind of guy so we ended up far closer to the stage then we ever would have been without him. this picture was taken while we were waiting for lcd soundsystem to come on. another highlight of the fest. dave describes the singer as the damien jurado of electronic rock. they were great.

last year i got an order of guacamole at one of the food stands. it turned out to be the best guacamole in the world. dave isn't a big fan of the stuff, but the second he tried he, he told me to get another order. on top of all the bands we were excited to see, we couldn't wait to eat at least one order of this guacamole every day. if you are ever in chicago, go to adobo grill and get their guacamole. it's no joke:

day two brought us more good weather and more great bands. this was the day that we tell everyone about. we headed over to see the sam roberts band. a band i didn't think i knew. turned out, i did know them, and i liked them a lot. the won me over even more with their set. no, that's not bruce springsteen, that's sam roberts:

while enjoying some sam roberts band, 2 guys in front of us were enjoying them even more. they had some mad dancing skills and we decided to get some on tape (due to more technical difficulties, i could not get the videos to embed right on the blog. just click on the rectangle thing and it will take you right to the video on youtube)



each year we take our self portrait. here is this years:

this is while we were sitting at a table eating, probably some chicken satay and guacamole. i just dig this picture:

after many people tried telling me i just HAD to go see the yeah yeah yeahs i stuck to my gut and went to see snow patrol. one of hayden's favorite songs is actually chasing cars. so i video taped a little bit of that just for him. the snow patrol set was the most memorable of the weekend, for several reasons, but mostly for the videos below. the videos you all have been waiting for. we had a couple in front of us that honestly was about to make a baby right then and there. every song that snow patrol started playing these two would freak out and start singing to each other and practically miming the song. it was too absurd to video. and not nearly as good as the video we did take. one of the last songs of the snow patrol set, they brought out niki from the silversun pickups to sing a duet. she sounded far better on this song then she did at her own set.


when we first sat down on the grass at the snow patrol set i noticed this guy with these jean shorts that were rolled up and his pockets were hanging out. so i immediately point him out to dave. at first i think it's totally serious. you have NO IDEA the kind of outfits we saw through the weekend, so we just figure this was another one. i couldn't wait to share this photo with my whole 3 blog readers:
and now for the videos you've all been waiting for. i'm usually directly in front or behind the biggest idiots at any concert, but not at snow patrol. turns out, rolled up jean shorts dude had a buddy and the two of them were the main show at the snow patrol set. they were the most entertaining people i've ever seen and i wish they lived next door to me. after the set, we had to go up and thank them for the most enjoyable time we've had in a long time. we were told they were going to visit my blog, but who knows if they'll remember the site or if they gave up trying since it took me so long to post this. anyway. i hope you enjoy this half as much as we did. and this is only a tiny bit of it. these guys were in character the entire set. (the shirt says "same dance moves since '97) (again...i'm a retard and couldn't get the actual videos to embed on the blog. click on the rectangle thingys and it will take you to the videos)




dave, nick and jimmy watching a bit of interpol on nite 2 just before it started raining:

we have never gotten to the park in time for the first band. most of the early bands just aren't that important to us. but on day 3, basically the first band to go on was juliette and the licks. and i had to be there. juliette of juliette and the licks is juliette lewis. and i love juliette lewis. i have since found out there are many of my friends that do not like juliette lewis at all. but i lover her. and her set rocked harder than any other set we saw all weekend. we were pretty close to the stage so i was able to get some great pictures. i put my camera away and at the end of the set she started crowd surfing and got right up to us. she then stood on top of the crowd directly in front of me. the whole time i was thinking "man i wish i had kept my camera out" there really was no way i could have gotten to it in time, especially since the whole crowd had packed in to get as close to her as possible. but if you want to see it, there are pictures up on her myspace page. we just missed being in the picture of her standing up. we were that close. so yeah. juliette and the licks rock and i suggest going to see them if they come through your parts:

after juliette and the licks, we met back up with jimmy and rachel varty. i did not tell them to stand in descending order:


a bit later we headed over to see a band that dave had heard good things about called "dios." well, when we got to the stage dave realized it was the same band that we had seen the other year open for the twilight singers. we liked the band, but we LOVED their drummer. he honestly is the most entertaining person you will ever see. my theory is, he desperately wanted to be a front man but just didn't have the voice, so he sits behind the drums and is the front man from there. another band you should check out if you can:

the most entertaining drummer ever:

beatle bob is a well-known figure in the st. louis music scene. He has been seen doing his characteristic dancing at concerts both in the crowd and onstage with the performers. He is known for his arrhythmic dance moves and beatle-inspired "mop top" hairstyle and 60's attire. His constant presence and dancing is welcomed by some concertgoers and an aggravation to others, but even his detractors admit that his presence signals that one is seeing the best music event in town on that particular night. He has allegedly been to at least one live show every night since Christmas Eve 1996, and seen over 10,000 bands over the last decade.
According to a 2000 article in the riverfront times, Beatle Bob's real name is Robert Matonis. The article reports that he has been banned from some local record stores due to allegations of shoplifting, and that he has used falsified credentials to gain press access to music events. thank you, wikipedia for this copy and paste job. and thank you beatle bob for entertaining us last year and this year:

while waiting for my morning jacket to take the stage it looked like it was going to start pouring. it never did, and my morning jacket put on a great show. they had the chicago youth symphony orchestra come out and play with with and asked the crowd to take out all recording devices (which were on the prohibited list, mind you) and record a song and then upload it to their site as they will be editing all of the fan footage to make their new video. i took a few pictures, but not video. we were a bit too far back:

pearl jam was the last band to play. they were the only band playing at that time which meant everyone attending was at that stage. that means A LOT of people. we sat on the curb and enjoyed the music far away from all the people. we got up once to take a few pictures and to actually be able to say "i SAW pearl jam" vs. just "i HEARD pearl jam." jimmy went and got us a bargain on a pizza which they were selling for $10 and he managed to get for $5. i got myself a delicious iced tea for $1 and we stayed till the bitter end. this is way too many people:

this pizza was a bargain and delicious (no, dave cannot ever take a serious picture):
so. as you can see, a great time was had by all. my dad insists that we're too old to go to concerts, especially 3 day concerts, but the lollapalooza generation is older than me. there was one 19 year old girl, however, that started talking to me and this other guy who made us feel quite old. she tried giving us the history of lollapalooza and when we corrected her and told her we were at lollapalooza '93, she said "you were?! how old are you?!" but on the other end, we met the raddest couple and the guy had seen the velvet underground back in '69. so see, dad, i wasn't even close the the oldest person there. there is even "kidzapalooza," an entire area for kids with bands just for them, punk rock hairdo's, a rock and roll petting zoo, the works. and if i thought i would have as good as a time with my children there as i do without them, i'd love to bring them. but until that day comes, we'll just hope that grandma and grandpa don't mind having them for a few days each year.
i want to give props to matt and amy hader for allowing us to crash at their place for the third year in a row. for not caring that we leave shortly after waking up and don't get back in until after they are in bed. i usually can't sleep in any bed but my own, but yours is so ridiculously comfortable i didn't want to leave. thanks for having us, yet again, and for telling us you want us back next year too! you guys are the best and we love you.
and of course i must once again thank the snow patrol dancers. you seriously have no idea how much better you made our entire trip, just from that one set. if you do ever read this, please get in touch with me so that i might get your contact information and try to book you for a party or something.
and to perry farrell and any other people involved in booking bands. you should seriously contact me, cuz i've got some ideas.
until next year, chicago. stay sexy. (since california already took classy)

no elephants at a zoo?!

today we took our annual visit to the detroit zoo. last year we actually didn't go because i was working. but the year before, heather went into labor and hayden had me in tears. this year was a lot better. i was never in tears and heather didn't go into labor. i was a bit worried seeing as though i only have a single stroller and now 2 kids. but hayden did rather well staying with us this time and stopping when i yelled stop. usually on the first time too. we went with heather, andrew, ellanore, henry, and yet to be born and named wood as well as jenne and trey villanueva. talan stayed in the stroller the whole time and i'd have to check every so often to make sure he didn't fall out. man, that kid is great. here's what we did:

because hayden's face is pointed at the camera he thinks he's actually looking at it:
jenne and trey:
heather (with baby wood inside), henry, andrew and ellanore wood:
hayden and ella:
man is it hard not to touch the butterflies:
camels and hayden actually looking at the camera:
ella, hayden, trey and a monkey:
this is just a rad picture. they weren't really looking at anything:
hayden is not so sure that bear isn't gonna bust through the glass:
or fall right through:
cute kids. i think a seal is somewhere behind them:
this is to prove that talan was actually there.
you have no idea how hard it was not to push him in. a little less hard than 2 years ago, but still hard:
i felt like we were in an episode of lost:
he was thrilled with the kangaroos. they were supposed to be hopping around among us, but they all were just laying under trees:
hayden told me the giraffes were his favorite part. however, he was only there for about 2 seconds:
the woods plus talan on the train ride back. andrew doesn't realize talan has no idea what pointing even is:
a train. hayden's idea of heaven: