Random Retro Wednesday Song: Mother Mother

Last Saturday evening, while Kelly, CB & I were at the Winking Lizard, enjoying some brews, we heard a lot of good and bad music. The very bad being when we first walked in and decided to not sit at the bar because this obnoxious guy nearby was singing Lyndard Skynard's "What Your Name" really loud and out of key (I am tone deaf too but that was just a bit much). We proceeded to be seated over into another room and trudged threw several bad songs until finally a good one came up, which was Blur's "Coffee and TV".

The next song that followed was Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" -- I remember liking this song in high school and she was the first alt rocker I had seen who played a violin. Back in the summer of 1996 in true alt rock glory, I saw her as part of the lineup in one of my favorite shows ever: 7 Year Bitch, Tracy Bonham, Spacehog, & Everclear when they all toured together as part of The Summer Land Tour (after the Everclear song of the same name).

I actually don't really recall Tracy Bonham's set, but I do remember these four things fondly:

1. Everclear opened with "Summer Land" which was not a single off of their awesome record Sparkle and Fade. There are a lot of great songs (Santa Monica, Heroin Girl, Strawberry) on that record, but that one is my favorite.

2. I went to that show with my friends who were working at the same restaurant where I was dish washing. They were doing buss-ing or food-prep. Anyways we were only 18 and our older coworkers who were also at the show bought us several beers.

3. I purchased a t-shirt at the show that my mom hated for the rest of the time I owned it because it said on the back "white trash and proud of it"

4. Some kids were moshing and I think of one them was wearing a Marilyn Manson t-shirt, well he got his ass kicked and he had to be carried off on a stretcher which caused them to stop the show.

Tracy Bonham - Mother Mother

Ohio Boy Lives!!!

Design above from Ohio Boy

Yesterday in our email box we were excited because we got an email from Ohio Boy letting us know that finally their site had been updated. It has been quite a while and long over due their previous site did not do justice for the quality of their work. For those who don't know Ohio Boy is the work of the supremely talented, Kent educated, Ohio bred artist & designer Andy Taray. His list of work is long and impressive including a stint as art director for MTV networks .

We have been fans of his for several years now and even own several t-shirts from campfire fire goods, (you need to check out the holiday series a whole slew of t-shirts paying homage to "A Christmas Story") were he helps out in his spare time. We are campfire were @ Bazaar Bizaree two years ago it looks like unfortunately they won't be there this year though (nor will we, since we will be out of town when it is going on Dec 13th & 14th) but the list of vendors for this year's event looks very strong. We know we are going to be missing out especially since it is back @ in the great building that used to be 1300 gallery (r.i.p.).

Snapshots of this Past Extended Weekend

You may recall our plans over the the weekend: Attending the GCP Holiday Party (Note: our apologies for having too good of a time to photograph it, but perhaps the photo that was taken of us there by a photographer from The Plain Dealer Society Section will be published), Hitting up MOCA and The Browns game. . .

The following pictures were taken at the start of and throughout this past *extended* weekend:

I just wanted to share this picture of Kelly making pizza with our Pampered Chef Stone we got as a bridal shower gift (thanks Ruth).
Note: The t-shirt she is wearing I used to wear as a little boy

Last Thursday, Kelly and Erin (my future sister in law) hit up Dante for Sushi Blues before heading downtown to go see Legally Blonde The Musical. I never watched that MTV show for the casting but I warn you never to listen to any of the music from the show b/c
it will get stuck in your skull and never leave.

On Saturday, we hit ARTscape 2008 @ MOCA w/ CB. This tree shows some of the great purses
that Mary Ann offers. Kelly purchased one last year for our friend Sarah and she loves it.

After looking at mostly women's jewelry & crafts @ ARTscape, we needed to do something more manly (whatever) and headed to Coventry's Winking Lizard for several Pints (many more than are seen above). While there, we had a memorable encounter with a really nice waiter actually named Zack Morris.

Sunday we headed to The Browns game -- this was the view from the Lodge

Our friend Adrian, Marisa (my sister) and Kelly enjoying the game
Doing my best Bono impression

The view from the highway as we trudged home after a very frustrating day on the gridiron

Friday's are best enjoyed... not at work

Today I called in sick to the office (makes a coughing noise) but for real I am under the weather and feeling run down. I also had to keep my streak going over the last month for various reasons I have not had a week where I worked a whole week m-f straight thru. One of the main reasons for taking today off is that we have got some fun plans this weekend and I don't want to miss out.

Tonight we are headed to GCP [Greater Cleveland Public Officials] Reception @ Windows on the River (Editor's Note: Thanks to Allison for bringing this to our attention, since I had previously typed GPC. Perhaps I might have mis-typed because there are cigs called GPC, not that I smoke though). It is a great party if you ever get to go -- don't miss out on a great chance to see a lot of movers and shakers in politics here in Cleveland & North East Ohio & the hors d'oeuvres are always top notch.

above pic taken at GCP Reception last year (we will get better pics this year)

Tomorrow we are going to go meet up with CB & head over to MOCA for Artscape 2008 (the reception is actually tonight but tomorrow it is free from 11-5pm. We went last year and it is a great place to go and support local artists while finding the perfect unique gift for the holidays. After that I am sure we will probably end up at a bar.

Sunday we are heading to the BROWNS game to watch (in the lodge) them take on the Texans :) I hope Brady's finger does not impact his ability to throw the ball anymore than his arm and the wind already do.

Lastly, this is completely unrelated, but I had to share this really cool f*cking video from Mason Proper who hail from Michigan. The video for their great song "Lock & Key is up for indie video of the year for MTV2's Subterranean. It shot by none other than local director Don Tyler who shot it in downtown Cleveland in and around Huron Street. As I was watching it I was thinking that it really looked like Cleveland and then when I saw that the guy in the video walked by AIA Cleveland I knew it was our fair city.

(mp3) Mason Proper - Lock & Key

Random Retro Wednesday Song: Summer Girls

Our last night in Naples, we went to the most wonderful gourmet ice cream and chocolate shop, known as Kilwin's. Usually getting ice cream at Kilwin's is a very enjoyable experience. . .however, not so much this time.

Upon entering the ice cream shop, the beginning notes from LFO's "Summer Girls" (or that song about a guy who likes girls who wear Abercrombie & Fitch) started playing, causing Jose to let out an angry "WTF?? I hate this song." It's almost as if Jose took it as a personal offense that perhaps someone at Kilwin's was playing this particular song just to torture him, ha. And, that it did -- this song has been stuck in his head since*

LFO - Summer Girls

As Of Late, This Is How We Do. . .

You may or may not have noticed, there has been a significant lack of posts from us. The reason being. . .we've been crazy busy.

A lot of the craziness is due to planning all of the festivities surrounding our wedding -- however, we must admit that the process has been surprisingly seamless. It's hard to believe that we are getting married exactly 4 weeks from today! In our true procrastinatory nature, to acknowledge this fast approaching date, this afternoon we finally had the opportunity to purchase our wedding bands :)
This past weekend, we were out of town (in Naples, where we will be wed, hence the pics we took above), this week we had The Flaming Lips Film on Tuesday (which was quite unique, to say the least! Props to Music Saves and The Beachland), the Bar Cento Blogger Meet Up on Thursday (Special thanks to Alexa, Chef's Widow, and The Chef himself). Due to the fact that we've not been able to just hang out and do nothing, that is what is on the agenda this evening*

We are going to cook, listen to music (obviously), drink, and watch a movie -- four of our most favorite activities:

On "tap" this evening, 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale from the awesome Akron Brewery, Thirsty Dog

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps [Recipe]
Jose thinks these are the sh*t!

Chicken and Mushroom Quesadillas [Recipe]

Ladies & Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains [1981]

After reading reviews about this film via some of our favorite mags (Venus, Under The Radar, and Interview), we decided to check out this cult classic, originally released the year Kelly was born and just recently released on dvd, features a young Diane Lane and Laura Dern in an all girl punk band. There are also performances by Steve Jones and Paul Cook (of The Sex Pistols), Paul Simonon (of The Clash), and Fee Waybill (of The Tubes). Not to mention, it was directed by Lou Adler who also happened to produce The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Bonus:

Just a sampling of some superb tunes that we've had the pleasure of listening to while writing this post. . .

[Mp3] Damien Jurado - Abilene A beautiful song we seemed to have overlooked throughout the years
[Mp3] Fiction Company - Design Sounds like Beck, The Napoleon Dynamite OST is full of all kinds of fun surpsises
[Mp3] Nina Simone - Feeling Good We cannot wait to check out her Anthology that just came out a few weeks ago
[Mp3] The Stills - Love & Death A favorite from a band we both have soft spots for, even though their last couple albums have been sub-par
[Mp3] The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage All we know is, Norwegian white boys (aka Erlend Øye) can definitely bring the funk!

Tonight! Free Screening of Flaming Lips Film: Christmas On Mars

Returning late last night from an extended weekend in beautifully sunny Naples (FL), we were none too pleased to be welcomed back by Ohio's painfully frigid air. . .

However, one thing that we do happen to be pleased about is that we came home just in time to view this evening's FREE screening of The Flaming Lips Film, Christmas On Mars :)

Who: You and your friends!

Where: The Beachland Ballroom

When: TONIGHT, doors open at 8pm (film starts at 8:30pm)

Why: It's a good excuse to get out and stop complaining about the weather. Oh yeah, and drink Christmas Ale!

Random Retro Wednesday (although posted on a Tuesday) Song: Party All The Time

Friday night, while getting ready to go out, Kelly and our friends were shouting out song requests for me to play. You know how important is for you ladies to hear those perfect songs to get you going before heading out on the town.

Kelly made one particular request that was pretty much beyond awesome. That request being Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time." This song is the freaking jam because, as you know, not only is it Eddie Murphy dropping those smooth vocals but the person backing up and bringing the funk is none other than Mr. Rick James ( R.I.P.). It is too bad Eddie Murphy had to go and start making all those terrible Disney flicks -- it is just ridiculous how talented he was in the 80's. Speaking of his recent acting, he was robbed of an Oscar for a performance where he actually returned to form, in Showgirls Dream Girls (<--Editor's/Kelly's Note).


P.S. - The reason for lack of posts is because our laptop has issues and in the hospital at the moment*