I've moved

Physically and virtually.

Keeping two blogs takes up too much thought and effort. And as much as I have loved this blog over the many years I have had it, this is the one I am giving up.

I will be expanding my knitting blog a bit to include other things I am doing, including concert and other photos.

You can find my other blog here: Knitstant Gratification.

Retirement?

It's been 4 months since I posted here. I haven't had the motivation to post, and I really haven't had anything to say.

I've been debating what to do with this blog. I was hoping to get out more and thus have more to talk about, but that hasn't happened. So I was thinking that I wasn't going to post here anymore.

But I am going to a concert tonight, and that would be something to post about.

So I don't know what I'm going to do with this space. I do know that I will likely have to change the name of it next month. I will be moving, and no longer living near the lake shore. I will be quite inland.

Oh well. We'll see what happens. I just wanted to let anyone who might stumble over here from time to time that I'm not dead.

The Jesus Lizard, Metro, 11/28/09

Last night we went to see The Jesus Lizard at Metro. This show was different than most of the other shows I've been to over the past few years. First, the crowd was older. I mainly remember the Jesus Lizard being around in the late-80s and early-90s, as opposed to most of the bands I see now who have only been around a few years. Usually I'm one of the oldest people at a show. Last night I was on the young end.



Second, the music is a bit harder than most of the shows I go to these days. It was sort of refreshing, to hear hard rock that is good, as most of the new hard rock I hear these days turns me off.



This band still rocks. I wondered why David Yow was sitting on a stool for parts of the show. It wasn't until this morning that I learned that he hit the floor hard while crowd surfing the night before (they did two shows at Metro, I went to the second one), so maybe that explains it. I don't know if he sat on a stool the first night.

Jim DeRogatis' review of the first show is here.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 11/13/09

The House of the Devil

We went to the 45th Annual Chicago International Film Festival last month. I planned to write a long post about the films we saw, but I never got around to it and now it just seems like it was too long ago for something like that. However, one of the films we saw is opening in Chicago on Friday, so that gives me an excuse to talk about one of the films I saw.

The House of the Devil is the sort of horror movie I like. It isn't about showing as much blood or violence as possible, though there is some of both. It's a throwback to the horror films I used to like when I was younger. It takes place during the Satanic Panic of the early '80s. I was sitting closer and closer to the edge of my seat as the film went on, which doesn't often happen when I watch horror films. I'm not going to get too detailed about the plot because I'm sure there are plenty of sites that have done that already. Just know I had a lot of fun watching it. It will be at the Music Box on Friday.

Crocodiles and The Horrors, DoubleDoor, 10/11/09

Crocodiles





It's always a nice bonus when I buy tickets to see a band I really like, and I know and like the opening act as well.



Prior to the show Sunday night, I had listened to the Crocodiles album twice, and I liked what I heard.



I really enjoyed their set. It was very, I don't know, "me". I'm sorry, that's the best I got.



The Horrors



I had seen The Horrors once before, a few months ago when they opened for The Kills.



Although I thought they were great then, I was a bit disappointed by the set because it had no songs from their first album. I love both albums, and I don't necessarily think one is better than the other. While I was working on writing and defending my dissertation there were several songs on the first album that really helped me get through the process, particularly "Gloves".



I was hoping that, during a full set as a headliner, they would play some songs from the first album. So, I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed when I looked at the set list on the stage (one of which I took home) and again there were no songs from the first album on it. There was no apparent encore on the set list, so I held out hope that it wasn't complete.



Sure enough, they played a few songs off the first album during the encore, with "Gloves" closing out the set. I was very happy!



By the way, the set list said "St. Paul, MN" on it, which was crossed out with marker. Oops!

Chicago Wolves vs. Milwaukee Admirals, 10/3/09

My mom, boyfriend and I went to the Wolves home opener. Our seats were great. We were in the third row of the balcony behind the net that the Wolves shot at twice.



Unfortunately, the Wolves lost that game, but we had a great time.

See #12?

He's the newest Blackhawk. Well, I guess at this point he is the newest IceHog because he was assigned to the minors.

Another musical regret

I went to the Moby concert at The Vic back on September 30. It was such a great set. Moby's catalog is pretty broad, and I was curious as to how he would make all of the various styles work live with a band. Somehow he pulled it all off. Techno. Rock. Slow sweet ballads. It all sounded great. He had great musicians and singers with him, which helped. The set was a nice overview of his catalog, a little bit of everything.

Before the show I found out that Moby would be doing a DJ set at SmartBar after the show. Seeing Moby DJ has always been a dream of mine. I asked my family to write Oprah before I got a PhD to see if she could pull off getting Moby to DJ my graduation party. That didn't happen. They didn't write Oprah, and I chose not to have a party.

Here was my chance. Instead of walking up Clark, we got on the train platform. Before the train arrived we debated getting off the platform and walking over to SmartBar. But it was late, and I had to work the next day. Next time, I thought. Then I read a review of the DJ set a couple of days later.

I should have been there.

The Hotel Across the Water 2

Taken 9/9/09 in Sarasota, Florida