Concert Etiquette

What has two arms, a camera, and no manners? This jack ass! A few weeks ago, this idiot spent the majority of the My Morning Jacket show at Merriweather moving from row to row and holding his *&$%ing camera in the air taking pictures and videos of the show (and generally annoying and blocking the view of those around him).

1. We had good seats, but there is no way he was getting decent shots from that distance, in that lighting, with that camera.

2. Dude – there’s a concert going on. You might be better served watching it in real life rather than through your 2” LCD screen. WTF?

So I guess this is where we have landed as a society? We’re all “documentarians” trying to boost the number of views we rack up on YouTube. It was bad enough when people came to concerts and talked through the whole thing. But this is just stupid.

I did learn one good thing though. Twitter is a great tool for alerting Merriweather security of obnoxious people. It certainly helped to clear out all of the people from the back rows crowding the aisles up front.

#ididn’tjointhemymorningjacketfanclubandgetfifthrowseatsjusttohaveabunchofassholescrowdingtheaislesallaroundme!

Hurricaniption Fit

Looking at grocery store shelves (and shopping carts) in the advance of Hurricane Irene, it would appear that a large lactose intolerance convention is about to take place and that the attendees are planning to binge on lactose, suffer gastrointestinal distress, and then eat bread. I.e., the shelves are cleared of milk, toilet paper, and bread.

How long do people really think they are going to be trapped in their homes? I understand the tp, but seriously, can you really not last without milk for 24-72 hours? If that’s the case, the Dairy Council has pulled off the coup of a lifetime.

Screw milk. Make sure you have games to keep the kids occupied, a flash light, gas or charcoal for the grill and some good red wine to go with the steaks that are going to start thawing out quickly if we lose power.

Oh, and my money is on a spike in births in May…

East Coast Earthquake?

That was a surprise. It's feeling like 1993 around here! Anybody else need a stiff drink?

The Beach-Free Summer

Ok, I’m going to come clean on squandering proximity to the beach. We’ve been to the Fenwick Island area about five or six times since May and we have spent maybe three hours at the beach. It feels wrong to spend the weekend at the ocean and not spend anytime there, but I partially blame nature for keeping us away. If it’s not raining, it’s a land breeze day and the green heads are unbearable. And if that’s not the case, it’s a heat index of 115!

Oh, and then there is the realization that taking a two and four year-old to the beach is almost more trouble than it’s worth. It was one thing making the annual trip to the Outer Banks and being within a two minute walk to the beach. But packing the kids and car, lugging the crap over the dunes, setting up the umbrella, sweating through your shirt only to then be attacked by the flies – it’s a tough sell.

The last time we were at the beach (a few weeks ago) we bought the yearly pass for the Delaware State Parks thinking that it would encourage us to make short trips to the beach since we wouldn’t be worried about wasting $8 on a botched 30-minute trip to the beach. Well, as soon as I paid for the pass, carried all of our “gear” down to the beach, set up the chairs and two umbrellas – the green heads struck with a vengeance! And they always strike the same way – they start biting me first, then they bite our four year-old, and then they bite the two year-old. And when the girls get bit – they lose their freaking minds! So, within the span of 30-45 minutes, we’ve paid $50 for an annual pass and lugged four chairs, two umbrellas, numerous buckets and sand toys, and 65+ pounds of children over the dunes, down the beach, and back again. Good times.

We tried the beach again the next day. This time, we are blessed with a sea breeze and the flies are nowhere to be seen. But now, my two year-old makes it abundantly clear that the ocean is a terrifying thing (at least in her mind). She won't get within 30 feet of it, and when my wife goes for a swim, my daughter just shouts "mommy, mommy, come back. I scared, I scared." It's as if she's been watching Jaws rather than Yo Gabba Gabba and princess movies.

So maybe I'm throwing in the (beach) towel? Is taking young kids to the beach is just more trouble than it's worth? I'll try again this weekend. Here's hoping for good weather, sea breezes, and patience.

Summertime Rolls

Earlier today, Tales of Two Cities did a post on summer songs.

It got me thinking. Going back to the summer of 1985 and Burn for you by INXS, I’ve always had a summer song. This year it’s more of a summer album, and it’s Nothing is Wrong by Dawes. There’s no way I can narrow it down to one song, but Time Spent in Los Angeles, Coming Back to a Man, How Far We’ve Come, and Fire Away can battle it out.

Aside from Dawes, other votes for my summer song go to:

• Lost in My Mind – Head and the Heart
• Tree by the River – Iron & Wine
• Circuital – My Morning Jacket
• California Wildfire – the Henry Clay People

Other past summer song hits of recent years include:

• Moab and Sausalito -  Conor Oberst
• Here Comes the Sun Again – M. Ward
• Kingdom of the Animals – Iron & Wine
• He’s Gone – The Grateful Dead
• Shoot the Moon – Norah Jones
• California Stars - Wilco

And of course, don't forget Summertime Rolls by Jane's Addiction...

Mezcal Madness

If you’ve read my blog before, you may have caught on that I love beer and smoked meats. This love has not been great for my waistline. So, earlier this year, I started running and limited my drinking to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only. I did some math – my beer, wine, and cocktail calories were adding a decent chunk (pun intended) to my weekly caloric intake.

So, I was kind of shocked last night when I realized I hadn’t had a single drop of tequila or mezcal all summer long. The P90’s love Mexican food, but we rarely have it on the weekend, opting instead for “fancier” fare. As a result, I haven’t had the occasion to mix up margaritas, palomas, or agavonis.

But the weather last night was amazing. The deck was calling. And it was too nice of an evening not to sit outside and enjoy a cocktail.

So I made an agavoni. But I used mezcal in place of the tequila. It was delicious. A little rough around the edges (isn’t mezcal always?), but delicious.  So I broke my no drinking during the week rule. It’s cool. The weather is lovely tonight and I went for a run. It will all equal out in the end…

Here’s the recipe

• 2 oz. Mezcal
• 1 oz. Campari
• 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
• A few dashes of Orange Bitters
• Twist of Grapefruit Peel

Serve over ice.

MMJ and Neko Case Duets

Tomorrow night, two of my favorite bands are playing together at Merriweather. And it just so happens that they comprise two of the best voices in current music – Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Neko Case.

After we put the kids to bed last night, Mrs. P90 and I were discussing how we hoped that Neko would join MMJ for at least one song. We were trying to think of what they should sing together. I thought of the version of Helpless that Neil Young and Joni Mitchell sing in the Last Waltz. I went to bed trying to think of other songs that Jim and Neko would sound great on. Here’s what I came up with. 

1. Helpless – Neil Young and Joni Mitchell
2. Sometimes Always – Jesus and Mary Chain and Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star)
3. In My Hour of Darkness – Gram Parsons and Emylou Harris
4. Sleep All Summer – Crooked Fingers
5. Don’t Give Up – Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush

Yes, I realize I’m going very obscure with Sleep All Summer, but I think Jim and Neko would sound amazing on it. And while Don’t Give Up would be great for them, I’m not sure it the right choice for a live show. Hmm, maybe the two of them should do a whole album together…

On a side note, looking at the setlist from the show on Wednesday in Pittsburgh it looks like Jim and Neko did a duet of Islands in the Stream. Hopefully we can at least get a reprise of that.

And if you’re not already planning to attend this show, I urge you to reconsider.