November 24th, 2003 13:40 hours CST currently listening to: "How Can I Apply?" by The Trash Can Sinatras

It's snowing, but it's so damn cold out right now. The wind temp says 9 degrees. Brrrrrr. I had a nifty weekend though. Friday night I hung out with Hope and we caught up on stuff. She's gonna cat sit for Stella while I'm home for the holiday. I'm hoping Stella doesn't go into heat until after I get back. I feel like it's a ticking time bomb. I meant to get that done on Friday, but I spaced out. Anyway, Hope and I went to a few bars and just sort of chatted about stuff.

Saturday I played SSX3 all damn day. I managed to go out and get groceries as well as have breakfast at Kitch'n. I was due for some banana pancakes, baby. I met up with Cory, Judy and Adam at a party south of my area. Not much happening there. Cory had me in stitches a few times. Judy, Cory and I went to a Mexican place around 2 AM and pounded down some burritos. I finally got my scooter into the basement, thanks to Cory. I miss riding her sooooooo much.

Sunday was pretty laid back. I managed to clean my bathroom. Practice went really well. I took out my ear plugs for the first run through our set list for next Tuesday's show. Big mistake. Man, that room is loud. The clipping lights on my 500 what power amp for the PA are constantly coming on. Not good. It shouldn't be as bad when at the venue. But still, I would bring ear plugs, if I were you.

Today has been really busy. I've been running around installing Photoshop for people in the office, but I managed to find time to create a friendster profile for airiel. I'm starving and I can't decide where to go for food. Under 55? Cosi?

November 21st, 2003 13:40 hours CST currently listening to: "You Were The Last High" by The Dandy Warhols

Happy Friday, people. I didn't much of anything last night. I got through the first of the 2 discs containing the documentaries for the Two Towers. Then I played SSX 3. Yeah, exciting. I don't know what the hell is going on tonight. I think I may be hanging out with Cory, I don't know. Same for tomorrow night although Krissy told me that there's something going on at Club Foot for Susan's farewell to New York. All I know is that I have to clean my apartment. It's driving me nuts. I don't have clothes and dishes and stuff lying around, it's just things like scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen. Bleh.

I went to the DMV this morning to get an Illinois state ID. That's the happiest place on earth, let me tell you. Actually, the first two people I encountered were alright. The cashier and the people that were taking the pictures for all the ID's were a bunch of cunts. How can you be that pissed at your job at 8 AM?

Oooh my new contacts just arrived. Spiffy.

So yeah, after discovering that the guitar player I had the hots for is indeed gay, it at least sort of shook me out of this emotional funk I've been in. Meaning, I haven't had any emotions either way lately. So, yeah, I guess I'm gonna start asking people out now or something. Provided there are any.

November 20th, 2003 08:55 hours CST currently listening to: "Your Girl" by Blue States

Man oh man, I'm tired. Cory and I went out for a beer after practice last night. One beer turned into four. We saw an all girl cover band called Cat Fight. They had a pretty broad song list, but a lot of it was shit. HOWEVER, they were really fucking good. I'm serious. Cory said early on that "ok, the bass player is so technically above my abilities." I also said that of their guitar player. Her fingers turned to blurred lighting when she started soloing during Jane's Addiction's "Jane Said". I grabbed the guitar player after the show and we talked. She was really happy to hear all my compliments. I gave her an airiel CD and she said she'll try to make the show on the 2nd. I asked why the hell she was playing in a cover band and she laughed and blushed and said "well, because I need the money!" Don't we all.

We rolled out of there around 12:30 I think. I stopped at a Shell station to get gas and put air in my tires. I made a left onto Palatine Road where I shouldn't have. They have lots of medians in the suburbs that are designed to be driven over, but this was not one of them. So, I was driving down the wrong side of the road for about a block. There were no cars around so I wasn't worried about causing an accident, though I was cursing myself for doing something so stupid. I consider myself to be a very good driver. Well, I cursed myself even more when the cop car pulled up behind me, as I got onto the correct side of the road. He was very cool with me, but since it was a moving violation, he took my license. So that sucks ass. I have to pay $75 and pray that they process it fast enough so that I can get my license back before Thanksgiving. I have a feeling it won't get there in time. I'll have to take my passport with me to go to any bars. That thing is old and has bar none, the worst picture ever taken of me. I'm talking to the point where they won't even think it's me and that I'm trying to scam the door men. Shiiiiiit.

November 17th, 2003 10:35 hours CST currently listening to: "Firefly" by Airiel

Didn't do that much this weekend. My old friend Lisa was in town for a convention. I took her out on Thursday night and we went to the Black Beetle. It was the only bar we could get into because her wallet had been stolen and she had no ID. The doorman was on the phone and just waved us in. We caught up on all sorts of things. She has two kids now and is married. I can't fathom having that kind of living setup. Hell, I can't even manage to get a simple date these days.

Friday I went with DJ to Boston Blackies and had a massive burger and a few beers. Then we met up with Lisa at Navy Pier to see The Matrix: Revolutions at the Imax theater. Man, there's nothing like being next to ego-maniacal geeks when viewing a sci-fi movie in a theater. I nearly killed the entire row in front of us. Fucking assholes. (see my pet peeves list) Anyway, afterwards Lisa and I took a cab to get to my car, then went to Lava Lounge where I ran into practically everyone I know. I was telling her about David Golitko and the Assassins and all that when all of a sudden, David walks up to me out of nowhere and gives me a hug. He seemed pleasantly surprised when I told him that airiel is now a 4-piece. (We tentatively scheduled to record the "Winks & Kisses: Crackled" EP during the first week of January. After that, it's going to be next to impossible to schedule anything with him, as the Assassins are gonna be on tour.) Lots of people where there. Miguel, Marcos, Brian, Ryan, Katja, Mischa, Aric. I bumped into the girl who was wearing the same Bauhaus t-shirt as me at 'Round The Coyote a year ago. My god, she's cute. I must investigate. She's into scooters. Fucking winter! Damn you!

Saturday I did little to nothing. I reestablished my love affair with SSX 3. That game is the shit. I need to get a broadband adapter for my PS2 and got online and start busting heads. I tore down my pedal boards and cleaned up my old pedal board to use, since the two new ones weren't working out. It's so nice having my old board back. I even got all the power adapters velcro'd down and with the power rack unit in there, the thing only uses one power chord now. I have one wall wart remover to replace and then it's good to go. I went outside briefly to get some food, but that was it.

Sunday I finished the velcro on the board and Rachel came over to help me get it down to my car. It's not that it's that heavy, it's just huge and difficult as hell to carry on your own. I gave her the presents I bought from London and she really loved the bag most of all. We played with Stella a bit and then she took off. We have plans to go to some all-you-can-eat fish and chips place this week. Glorious. Practice was pretty good last night, even though John had to cancel because he was sick. The drum machines were back in action, since we practiced with Adam to get his parts down. I LOVE how cool things sound with an extra guitarist. All those little sweet spots start sticking out and it's hard to get the smile off my face. We made a set list for the show on the 2nd. I hope everyone makes it out there. It's gonna be weird, but cool.

November 13th, 2003 16:45 hours CST currently listening to: (I'm Gonna) Kick You Out by The Caesars

Well, the trip to London was amazing. I already felt bitter and jaded the moment I got on the plane to Chicago. I'll do my best to recall all the details.

Thursday, 30 October -- Flight was two hours late. Ben and I stuffed ourselves on McDonald's breakfast items and then I continued the gluttony by getting us a cinnabon to split. They had to fly in a Boeing 777 from Houston because ours was broken. The flight was pretty empty, so we got to stretch out a bit. There was a group of Brits there who were doing lighting for somebody's tour. They all found empty sets of seats and fell asleep the first chance they got. I watched The Matrix: Reloaded on the little screen in my chair. Pretty slick. It was raining when we arrived. The cab driver loved to drive in the middle of the road.

Friday, 31 October. -- The North Line of the Tube was still down, so Jen gave us the bus directions on how to get to the Euston station. Naturally, we get on the wrong bus and end up at Tottenham Court Road station. We got a coffee and then walked around. Once we were on Oxford Street amongst tons of other people, we noticed the stores and started buying stuff. It ruled. I found a great coat, marked down to 30 pounds from 170! We went all over the place, wearing ourselves out. We met up with Jen at Marble Arch. I immediately starting singing Blueboy songs in my head. We met with Jen's friend Betsy and then walked to a pub. This was the only sign of Halloween we would see on this trip. It's just not celebrated there the way it is in the States, but this place was DECKED OUT with cobwebs and all sorts of cool shit. After standing around, not able to get a table but drinking a pint of local beer, we went to a restaurant and got the classic fish and chips lineup. Deciding we were too tired, we went back to Jen's.

Saturday, 1 November -- We hit the Camden Town Market, which is amazing. Tons of bootlegs t-shirts. I found a Stone Roses shirt and damn near pee'd myself. Found a good Smiths one as well. We got lunch and I fell in love with 'bangers and mash' (sausages, mashed potatoes, peas and onion gravy). The Camden Town area is what I would describe as a street fair with normal shops mixed in. There's booths everywhere with all kinds of clothes, CD's, food and other stuff. We stopped at a Sainsbury's (local grocery chain) and got some food for Jen's flat. It would cost us less to cook food at her place, and I was in serious need of cereal, despite the fact that they have no lactose free milk besides soy milk which I've never been that crazy about. Ben and Jen cracked open a bottle of wine and I fell asleep on the floor. We went to a bar called the Hope & Anchor where we watched some unremarkable indie bands. We were drinking pint after pint of Stella Artois (which is stronger there) and I even started doing shots of Jack Daniels. They measure their hard alcohol there due to taxes, so when you ask for a shot, it's never filled to the top. It's sad, I know. We danced a bit and then moved on to the Garage, where they were spinning some fantastic fuckin music. We walked in and the place was packed. We were already pretty hammered, so I didn't even care when this guy accidentally poured half a pint on my head. I just kept dancing. I think the guy I met at the bar was actually hitting on me, cuz he took a swig of my Smirnoff Ice and sort of gave it a hum as he did it. Man, I was drunk. They played I Am The Resurrection by the Stone Roses and I fucking freaked out. Here I was in London, dancing in a club to possibly my favorite band of all time. All the while, Jen is making out with some dude. It got to the point where the house lights came on and the bar staff were about to forcibly remove them because the place was now closed. Good for her though.

Sunday, 2 November -- Holy hangovers, Batman. We managed to wake up around 3 PM. We made it out of the house around 6, I think, and walked around High Gate and looked at the houses. We made it to a pub for some hangover food and then just went home and fell asleep.

Neat thing about pubs: you have to order your drinks and your food at the bar. You also don't tip. You only tip at restaurants, where funny enough, the service is usually crap and you don't feel like tipping.

Monday, 3 November -- Ben and I took the Tube out to Heathrow and flew to Manchester, our version of Mecca for all intents and purposes. We took a train from the Manchester airport to Piccadilly Station. We noticed how quickly we were covering ground on the map we had and realized that Manchester is not a big place. After dropping our bag off at the hotel, we walked around and did some shopping. I found a fucking Stone Roses PICTURE DISC of the first album and freaked out. I also got two t-shirts, one of which I'm wearing right now. I'm still kicking myself for this, but I found an original copy of the Blue Monday 12" single from New Order. The one with the floppy disc sleeve. I can't believe I didn't buy that. We checked out Affleck's Palace, which is 4 stories of used clothes, freaky accessories and techno-wear. Didn't buy anything there. I gave Danny a call and he recommended an Indian restaurant outside of town. We probably would have gone, but we both fell asleep back at the hotel so we decided to hit a local Indian place instead. This was my first time eating Indian food and it was really good. We walked around for a bit and then hit 5th Avenue, which was a dance club that we'd read about. It was PACKED with students. The dance floor, the stairs, all the seats were filled with people. We had a great time. I remember them playing "You and Me" by the Wanna Die's, "Rocks" by Primal Scream, "Step On" by The Happy Mondays, "Big Mouth Strikes Again" by The Smiths, "Spread Your Love" by The BRMC, "She Bangs The Drums" and the crowning jewel of the evening, "Fools Gold" by the Stone Roses. Here I was, dancing in Manchester with one of the cutest girls I've ever seen, to Fools Gold. Life is good. We met these two guys, Dale and Chris, while in the coat check line on the way out. They took a shine to our American accents and wanted to hang out. They took us to a place called the Press Club, which apparently you can only get in if you're somehow affiliated with a football (soccer) team. I guess Dale looks like this Daniel guy from the Manchester United team and got us in under the guise that I was a goal keeper from the States along with Ben who was a defenseman. Anyway, we got it and drank these huge cans of Stella and Red Stripe. We talked all night long about politics and the differences in our cultures and backgrounds. Brits in general have a much bigger grasp on history and culture. Chris, who turned out to be only 20, really surprised us at his knowledge of U.S. events and policies. He and Ben got along great. *wink wink*.

Tuesday, 4 November -- I discovered that Ben snores loudly. I eventually put on my headphones. We managed to store our suitcase at the train station, which was a big help, as we didn't have to leave for nearly 4 hours. We hit some shops that we'd missed before. I found more Stone Roses on vinyl! The Made of Stone 12", Elephant Stone 7" and What The World Is Waiting For 7". I'm a happy boy. We walked all over Manchester and ate at a really cute Italian place before taking the train back to the airport.

Wednesday, 5 November -- I seem to remember Ben and I doing laundry. We hit the launderette up the street from Jen's place and also mailed our postcards as the postal service was finally no longer on strike. Afterwards, We made it down to Merc on Carnaby Street. I got back to the suits and then made eye contact with the girl who greeted us by the door. I did the raised eyebrow "can you help me" look and she did this little jump that I can really only describe in person. Her name was Silvia and she was Italian. Wearing a pinstripe suite and sporting a Lambretta button (or badge, as they call them in the UK), we talked about scooters and all kinds of things as she helped me pick out parts for my suit and also other clothes there. I would have taken her back to Chicago with me if I could have. I'd have to murder her P-Series riding boyfriend first, but hey, you gotta do what ya gotta do. She was laughing a lot and got really clumsy. It was so adorable. I can't think of what else we did that night.

Thursday, 6 November -- This was our sight seeing day. Ben and I went down to the Embankment station and stopped for a coffee and I got a muffin as well. We ate on a bench overlooking the Thames. It's just incredible how wonderful the weather was while we were there. We walked down the houses of Parliament and took pictures of it and Big Ben. Also Westminster Abbey. We made our way down the Thames all the way to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge (which we had always confused with the London Bridge). We went back and slept for a bit. We had done a lot of walking. I think that's why despite all the crap I was eating, I didn't gain any weight. Rock on. We went back down to Oxford Street to find a club called..... Closets, I think? Crap, I can't remember. We were there to see a friend of Jen's play in a band called Sleepless. They were quite good. Kind of a Mogwai, Cure, Slowdive, instrumental thing. The layout of the bar was really weird and not really made for watching bands. Jen met with us fresh from her date with Andrew, the guy she was snogging with at the Garage on Saturday night. Glad to know they were both into each other while drunk OR sober. We hit some numetal themed bar and there was this couple that was making out, but the girl kept staring at me and grinning while kissing this guy. I honestly didn't know what to do except grin back. He kind of creeped me out, but she was cute. Whatever.

Friday, 7 November -- Ben and I split up and did our own things this day. I went down to Camden Town and met up with my counterparts in the London office. They were all really fun. Stephen showed me around the server room in the other building. Their office dwarfs ours here in Chicago. We hit a nearby pub and I bought a round of drinks. These guys eat so damn fast! Almost all of us ordered the same burger and chips but I swear I was on of the last of the 8 of use to have food left on his plate. It's fun getting drunk at lunch. I went down to the Camden market to buy gift things for Rachel, but the vendor I wanted to go to wasn't there until the weekend. I made it down to Merc again to exchange the 3/4 coat I'd bought. I didn't realize it was navy, so I exchanged it for charcoal. Sadly, Silvia wasn't there this time. I hit the Lambretta clothing store and got a cool track top that's ultra comfy. I also got a new watch that I love to death. I haven't had a working watch in months. I gave Emma a call and she invited me out to see some bands play at the Metro Club. I ran back home and got cleaned up then met her outside the club. The first band was Shortwave Set, who are kind of a neo 70's pop rock outfit. The guitar player was a bit drunk and we both noticed about the same time that his fly was open and his shirt was sticking out. The 2nd band was Elefant. These guys had "we jerk off to Suede and Rialto videos" written all over them. Emma commented at one point "he's singing so British." I asked where they were from and she said "New York!" and at this point we both started laughing because the guy really was going overboard with it. Granted, I'm sure playing in England was this guys dream, but when you switch accents between singing and speaking, you're asking for a lot of ridicule.

We decided to get some food so she took me to a Chinese place. I hadn't had Chinese at all on this trip because Ben and Jen aren't big fans of it. Thankfully the girl isn't vegetarian either, so that was rad as well. We had this duck with pancakes appetizer and I got out my lactaid pills, as pancake batter (these were like crepes) usually has milk in it. The dialog went like this:

Emma: What are those?
Jeremy: Oh, I'm lactose intolerant.
E: So that's what, and enzyme?
J: Yeah, exactly. It just dissolves the milk sugar for me so that I don't try to digest it.
E: So what happens if you don't take them? You break out in a rash?
J: uh...... no, it's worse.
E: What, you die?
J: Hahahaha, no. Though sometimes I wish. It pretty much just sends everything right through me.
E: Oh you get diarrhea!
J: !!!! Ssshhhhhh!!! yeah, that's what happens. Jesus.
E: Oh whatever, we talk about bowel movements all the time over here.
J: Let's hear it for England
E: Hahahahah.

So here I was, having dinner with Emma from Lush, one of my favorite bands of all time and one of my major musical influences and we're talking about having the shits. I can't tell you how much I love reaching a "comfort zone" with a person like this, especially on the first night we meet. Hahahaha. We talked forever, about all kinds of stuff. About the Sing-sing show in Chicago, fancy dress parties, scooters, real-estate, the difference in attitudes that Americans and Brits have with the term Shoegaze. It was a really cool evening. I gave her a hug in the Tube station and went home and lied in bed, wide awake for about three hours. *sigh*

Saturday, 8 November -- Jen and I met up with one of her American coworkers and went to see The Matrix: Revolutions. I loved this movie. I really, really want to see it again. DJ and I might go on Friday night. They show previews for about 25-30 minutes before the movies but they're almost all commercials! I think only two movie trailers were shown during that. That really sucks. We met with Ben at Piccadilly Circus and took the train over to Embankment to ride The London Eye, which is this enormous Ferris wheel on the Thames. It takes about 25 minutes to go all the way around and the pods hold about 15 people. Afterwards we split a bottle of wine over some pizzas and then Ben stopped at the flat to drop off his camera. Jen and I went to a bar in Camden Town where Jarvis from Pulp and Damon from Blur used to frequent. Betsy met up with us and we had a good time. I talked to these two French girls, Sibylline and Caroline for a bit. Oh, and in case you're wondering, nothing happened on this trip, which is cool with me, because that really wasn't why I was there. Hell, I'm still just jazzed that I got to make friends with Emma. Anyway, we went to a club called Underworld, which had to be the loudest club I've ever been to. The music wasn't so great but they did play "She Bangs The Drums" at one point. The DJ didn't play any of my requests. I thought we were all leaving, so I got out to the street to realize that Ben, Jen and Betsy were still inside. So I got myself some chips and chowed down. Eventually they popped up and also got some chips, then we got on a bus and went back to Jen's and passed out.

Sunday, 9 November -- We all woke up hung over and our ears were ringing like mad. A bowl of frosted flakes ("frosties", rather) and about 4 Advil helped out with that a bit. Ben and I went down to the Camden Market again to get gifts for people. I also scored a few more t-shirts. I had to actually buy a bag to take my new clothes home. Ben had packed a suitcase inside a suitcase, but his was already full. The guy told me 10 pounds even though it was listed for 50, so that was extra cool. We took Jen out to a neat Italian place, who's name I can't remember. I had a pasta dish that was mouth watering. That, with a few glasses of wine really made me feel fantastic. We went down to a bar nearby, where she was going to meet with Andrew. We got to meet him as Ben and I were leaving. Ben and I packed our stuff and that was pretty much it.

Monday, 10 November -- We said our goodbyes to Jen and then took the trains out to Heathrow. We managed to have enough coinage left to buy a sandwich that we split. The flight home was again on a 777, but this time it was packed. We were hoping to be able to stretch out, since neither of us can sleep while sitting in a chair. No such luck. I watched Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, which was pretty much the fluff I'd expected it to be. Then I watch The Whale Rider, which was outstanding. I'm glad I finally got to see this. The main girl in this movie is only 12 and she does an amazing acting job. We got back to Chicago right on time. Stella was very glad to see me and wouldn't leave me alone. I was a bit cheesed off that the back door was unlocked, the electric water fountain was bone dry and there were MGD bottle caps in a pile in my living room, but whatever. It was just nice to finally be home. I think I got to bed around 8:30, after calling Dave to tell him I would be taking a sick day the next day.

So here are the pictures from London.

Tuesday, 11 November -- I managed to sleep in quite a bit. Went to the grocery for a sec to get milk, cereal, some other things and laundry detergent. I did a few loads of laundry, chatted with Emma and caught up on things. Stella would not leave me alone. It was really cute. She was constantly rubbing up against my face and also my my hands, which made it really hard to type. I got a nap later on as well. Jet lag is a bitch. I tried to get people interested in going out with me that night, but nobody was free. I went to Hi Rikki and got some food and also read a magazine that had a cool interview with Robin Guthrie. I went over to Reckless and bought the new Broken Social Scene CD and also found a copy of airiel's "Dizzy" in the A section, finally. They did a nice write-up for it. Went to the Double Door and saw "My Were They" play a set. I hadn't seen Michael or Kerry since the BRMC show last month. I hope I get to hang out with Kerry some more. We never get a chance to actually talk about anything. The Eaves went on next and they were pretty good. Their singer had this gorgeous burgundy Rickenbacker 360 that I was drooling over. I lasted through the first song of the third band, Sea Ray, before jet lag sunk it's claws into me once again. I never even made it out to Neo like I had planned. Oh well. They were replacing the boiler in my building, so we had no heat. At least we had hot water. Thank heaven for electric blankets.

Wednesday, 12 November. Work is weird. I forgot my keys. It was good to be back in some respects. I went to lunch with DJ and we talked about London and the new Matrix movie. Practice last night was fantastic. We offered Adam the extra guitarist position and he accepted. We're now getting ready for our show on December 2nd. It's gonna be weird, as it's in a restaurant/pub in the middle of nowhere up in Arlington Heights. Who knows what the turn out is gonna be like. I have to make hand out flyers and get the word out fast. The heat was back on when I got home, so that was a relief.

I'm working with a guy about setting up a show on December 10th. Not sure who we're playing with or where we're playing. I picked up the black and white pics from Central Camera. They came out alright, but they're a bit useless as now we have Adam playing guitar with us. We'll have to take new photos. We may still use these for the press kits though. Those are priority right now. I have to stay late tonight to do a sever update. I might put SP4 on my Win2k machine as well. I'm gonna pick up my old friend Lisa after I get off work. She's in town for a convention and I haven't seen her since before she got married. She even has kids now. Makes me feel like a 26 year old boy.