The Bon Iver Pronounciation Debate:

First and foremost, pardon me if this becomes one of the dumbest blog posts i've put out there. I finally went in for my cough and cold today, and it turns out I have Bronchitis AND a sinus infection... so there are all kinds of gross things going on inside my body. The antibiotic they have me on is making me nauseous and exhausted. I am seriously going to bed as soon as Beauty and the Geek (one of my not-so-secret favorite shows) is over...

However, this means that I haven't smoked for most of the day... it's making me cranky. But maybe it's time to quit? Hmm... if I can make it through the next couple days, I might finally say goodbye to that nasty habit. I found myself being incredibly embarassed when the doctor asked me how long I had been smoking (don't ask).

But what I really need to know IS... how do you really pronounce Bon Iver?? Ok, yes -maybe Justin Vernon means it to mean "Good Winter," but after having my pronunciation corrected the other night, and my four years of sort-of paying attention in high school French has me a bit perplexed and jonesing for some clarificiation. First and foremost, if it's Winter, it's Hiver... Not Iver. So can't I just say "eye-ver" without getting corrected??

I need to figure this out before I finally see Bon Iver (NEXT WEEK) in Eau Claire. I was a week ahead of myself and thought it was today...

nonsensical blogpost over

Bruce Springsteen ...

Christ, isn't that widget one of the ugliest things you have ever seen?

Well, bear with me. I had a moment with this song last night, as a group of me and what have so recently become some of my closest friends briefly drifted to sleep at the same time. But that was disrupted by my uncontrolled laughter at the unprecedented preciousness.

I'm not a stranger to Bruce Springsteen, but I could puke non-stop for at least thirty minutes over what beauty I have missed, raising myself on radio all these years. So, last night, Darkness on the Edge of Town almost killed me.

I'm going through a wonderful and awful, confusing yet eye-opening time of self-realization and exploration. I'm twenty-eight years old. Am I cut out to be an adventurer? I'm still not sure what I want out of my experience. My life is very much my own - as I share it with some amazing people, and a person or two who I need to say some amicable goodbyes to. For the most part, I am inexplicably happy. And then there are the darker moments, but I manage to keep that at bay with the perfect song and a cup of hot cocoa, which usually puts me right.

I can't decide if I want to run out into the street screaming or if I want to dance around my living room joyously in my underwear with all the shades up. Out of all the emotions that truly hold us back from living life to the fullest (or whatever cliches are out there) - For the most part, I am NOT a cynic. I have the heart of an optimist (in a jar of formaldehyde on my bookshelf), but I am prone to my moments of rampant complaining and ranting. I love and despise some things will all of my being. And somedays the things I love become the things I hate and vice versa. That's just who I am. I am a dealer of extremes. Highs and lows, for all my many moods.

But Christ - it's gonna be a hell of a week that will THRILL and exhaust me. Seriously, as I sit here listening to Born to Run I am having a moment. What is it that makes me fight back tears while listening to Thunder Road? Is it the absolute excitement of even the IDEA that I will be seeing The Boss of Alexa Jones on Friday? I am a sap. You got a problem with that? Well, I say with a smirk - go fuck yourself :)

I guarantee, that on Thursday around 9pm, I will be out of breath, thrashing my hair about and screaming my brains out to MOTHERFUCKING ART BRUT! Oh yeah, The Hold Steady is pretty sweet too...

And of course, a Halloween dance party at the Varsity on Wednesday?? Dance Band, MC/VL? Zombie-a-thon?? How much fake blood can I manage to cover myself in? Only time will tell. Shit, I need to go to sleep or I will be dead by Saturday...

So...who is going to Chicago with me on the 30th of November to see Hall and Oates??!!

Yeah, we were there...

So CultureBully, Jon Behm and myself had the experience of seeing GWAR on Sunday night...

This is what I reported...
CultureBully pulls out all the stops and includes VIDEO in his summary...
And Jon Behm took a whole lot of fantastic photos...

YOU LOVE STOOK!

(Photo by The World Famous Alexa Jones)

Check out Sarah Askari's piece in the City Pages about our man, Stook!

And make sure your ass is at his dual CD release with Dan Israel, also featuring Molly Maher and Martin Devaney at the Varsity Theater this Friday, October 26th...

Photo by Eric Démoré - click the pretty picture for a link to more of his photos...

I had to take down the Basia Bulat widget because, well... my blog isn't a MySpace page and I can't control how the song starts up right away and breaks my heart... however - here's a link to her CBC Radio 3 page where you can still stream The Pilgriming Vine and a couple others. Have at it!! She's soooooooooo amazing!!

Who took Aaron Landry's gnome?

Turns out, the little guy decided to go on an adventure. He must have convinced some kindhearted friend to free him from his front yard perch...

Oh lawn gnome, the places you will go...

...and the things you will blog about

with the photos to prove it.

Great Black Book Article



I'm only halfway through this, but I already have to share. I love Kyle Matteson for forwarding this my way. That guy is a pretty cool dude!

Here's the link to some Ryan...

Primadonna baby bitch or not, I still love his music.

I can't resist... this is great...

However, I challenge you to watch the whole thing from start to finish.



Thanks for the tip, Chris K.

More Comedians!



These guys have to come to Minneapolis. I want to go comic book shopping with Brian and Patton and have a threesome after. Um, that's wrong on so many levels. And mostly a joke.

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!

Spoon setlist photo by Brody McCoy

Brody over at BritishRockIsAlwaysTop posts pictures from the shows he goes to (ok, Brody goes to every show that's worth going to) LIGHTNING FAST... which is great when you want to relive the performance IMMEDIATELY. So, hooray for Brody, hooray for Spoon and HOORAY for Alexa Jones making shadow puppets on the back of Britt Daniel's white fitted shirt when he was standing right in front of us... Good times, good times...

Joe Torre to Elmo: Hey little guy, what am I gonna do if this is my last game with the Yankees??

What the hell is happening to me? For the second day in a row, I have fallen asleep unexpectedly on my couch for two hours. I am not really a nap person at all.


Laziest
Weekend
Ever

Hoot One/Season Two

What a great night. I knew how much I missed spending my early Friday nights here, but I guess I didn't know how much. I was there an hour early in anticipation of it being incredibly busy, and got to see THE Elvis Perkins walk into our basement sanctuary, which had been totally rearranged and reorganized for better sightlines and a gallery of Tony Nelson's great pictures had been placed along the walls.

The basement of Java Jacks on Fridays is like a church to some of us, meeting up with old friends, new friends, and the musicians, singers and storytellers. Week after week, we are introduced to new tales, new faces - and are enriched by it. Welcome back, Hoot.

Carl Franzen, Elvis Perkins and Jim Walsh/Hoot One, Season Two

Steve Cohen, documenting it all/Hoot One, Season Two

David de Young got a great picture of the best photographers and nicest guys in town, Steve Cohen, see his Hoot pictures HERE...

Back (from left): John Swardson, Stook!, Martin Devaney, Jim Walsh w. future superstar and one of my personal Hoot faves, Graham Earley in the front/Hoot One, Season Two

Graham is amazing... he closed out the first hoot of the season by leading the crowd in a singalong and playing Ike Reilly's "Put A Little Love in It." Absolutely perfect.

Two Saturdays * in a row, I have sat on my couch instead of going to shows. I think I like it. For now.

Another weekend, another sweet Rhapsody mix. But this one is personal and not for sharing. Maybe I'll throw out a few as I ramble...

Northern Sky - Nick Drake: I heard the tail end of this on The Current as I drove home from my ill-advised volunteerism that went on before it was even dawn. It was sunny and humid and my ac was cranked in my face as I enjoyed a lovely drive which would spiral into pajamas, naps and movies - among all other sorts of laziness when I arrived home. I did the arm out the window move. Nice moment.

I'm already bored with this blog. I'm going for a walk with the mix and the lake. The couch needs a break from my ass...

*the way it was written earlier, it sounded like I have been sitting at home doing absolutely nothing for the past two weeks, which is totally not true

I found an awesome new photographer in my quest to find shots to accompany my spur-of-the-moment Arcade Fire review... his name is Aaron Brown, and this is my favorite snapshot he captured last night...