Columbus Rocks (Eff Cleveland)

No delicious panini. We opted for Thai. I know we made the right choice.

Last weekend, Ron and I took an impromptu road trip to lovely Columbus, OH - home of Ohio State University and the Columbus Crew, the Midwest's own MLS team. The hotel was in Shadysville, but it was a bed and a shower. It worked.





People in the Midwest tend to love their beer. PBR, Oberon, Blue Moon, Beck's, Stella - good beer is something to be appreciated. I couldn't help but capture these brew landmarks as we drove through Ohio (these are for you, Shawn!). For those who appreciate good ol' American Bud, take off your cap and show some respect.





Columbus is being attacked! I love this very clever bit of advertising. Downtown Columbus is basically High Street. You start out with tons of galleries and cafes and bars for all kind of folks (hookha bars, hipster bars, pubs) except for annoying college students; those bars were all on a parallel street away from the main drag, with patios a mile long. High Street then becomes slightly ghettofied, with lots of check cashing establishments and fast food restaurants. High Street then turns into Ohio State University - literally. Lots of bookstores, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Jimmy John's, OSU gear stores,and the campus itself. On Sunday, we were looking for somewhere to eat breakfast and we noticed this hole-in-the-wall place called Jack and Benny's. There were about 8 to 10 groggy looking college students standing around outside. Instantly, we knew this was the place. And it was. We waited for a half an hour, but my avocado and Swiss omelet was TOTALLY worth it.





The Crew was victorious against the New York Red Bulls, 1-0. It was the Crew's first win in 13 games; everything else had been a loss or a tie. Thank Jebus for the Fox Soccer Channel!

Hi, I'm Earth. Have we met?

Shit, man! How the time flies when you're planning to leave the country for two weeks. Final plan is as follows - Germany to France to Switzerland to Italy to Germany to Prague. I haven't reached excitement overload. I'm too busy with life in general to focus completely on the trip yet. All I know is that this will by far be one of the best experiences of my life. As long as I don't die in some wacky extreme sport in Interlaken. Onward...

As most of you know, I have been arts-and-craftsy for most of my life. My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was 16 and since have churned out scarf after scarf - both for fashion and for function. I used to make fitted caps as well. The Detroit Urban Craft Fair rekindled the crafter deep inside that only seems to come out once a year during the holidays. I'm going to work on some hats and create my own etsy page. Nimble fingers, get to work!

Okay, time to run some errands and make some tasty panini. Pictures of our Columbus/Major League Soccer trip to come soon. Laters!

EDIT: I've added some new links to the left. Check out some unique handcraftiness from some local artistians.

A Weekend in Phrases

Editors were great. Lots and lots of cool people. Great times with good friends. Young British boys make me want to dance. No Wolfmother on Friday. Raging pissed. No reason why. No big hair and big guitars. Got The Go! Team instead. I hate exclamation points. Fuck that. Hung out with Sarah and Jason Barthlow. Parked right on the railing of main floor. Score. Drank New Castle. Liked Sonic Youth. A lot more melodic than I imagined. Lots of feedback. They're pretty old. Conversed with Nummer and Damore. Damore, I still need the Editors b-sides faxed to me. Thanks. Flaming Lips did not dissapoint. Never stopped smiling. Dancing Santas and hot alien chicks. "Yoshimi" sing-a-longs. Giant balloons. Wayne hunted and killed the giant balloons. "She Don't Use Jelly" never gets old. That video makes breakfast look damn sexy. Confetti cannons and streamer cannons. Acid-infused adult birthday party. Covered "War Pigs." Nice. Detroit Urban Craft Fair on Saturday. Went with Ron, Amber and Autumn. So much robot representation. Bought a suede robot bracelet. Lots of awesome crafts. Purses. Clothing. Jewelry. Pillowcases. All handmade. Too bad it's only once a year. Collected lots of business cards. Lunch at Traffic Jam. Amber and Autumn ordered the mother of all paninis. It could feed four people. Take-home containers rule. Hair appointment. New red hightlights. I'm firey now. Roar. Allen Park street fair. No mullets in sight. Dissapointed. Apartment clean. Talladega Nights. So funny. Shake and Bake. Nascar remains a mystery to me. SO MUCH PRODUCT PLACEMENT. Need to buy milk now. Peace out. All Lolapalooza travelers - 500 words by Friday morning.

Nothing's quite as it seems in the city of dreams...

My mind is ready to be blown. My face is ready to be melted. Wolfmother in T-minus one hour. I may be impregnated by rock tonight. Fire when ready, boys...

Not from another planet...

Check out Zorbing. It's like you're a hampster, rolling down a mountain.

I love the Swiss.

Time Warp(ed)

I am officially not old. If anything, I feel a bit younger, a bit hipper, with a little more spring in my step. Ron and I survived with minimal sunburn. Warped Tour was everything that I excepted. First of all, there was merch as far as the eye could see. In the age of the $40 concert t-shirt, the Warped folks took their attendees into consideration and embraced "punk pricing." Every single band had their own merch tent along the concourse in Comerica, so it was covered and relatively cool, if you took the body heat into account. Daniel walked away with a year subscription to Alternative Press for five bucks, plus a triple (yep) album from one of his favorite bands The Early November and two t-shirts for around $40. I almost snagged a Thursday hoodie for $35 (the most expensive item I saw all day), but opted for The Sounds new album...and we already know how I feel about The Sounds. Secondly, the food was hot and greasy and a 20 ounce bottle of water was only two bucks. We polished off five bottles each that day with only one bathroom break. I love science! Lastly, as Ron put it perfectly, we saw teens embracing all that was teenagedom. We usually see kids out and about in Oakland county (i.e. Birmingham and Royal Oak) and they look like little adults. Tops are just a bit too tight, makeup is applied a little too thick, hair is far too shiny. The Warped kids reminded us of how teens should be - pimpley and awkward and goofy! Kids just need to be kids. Like I said, they made me feel young and they made me appreciate what being young means.

Daniel had a blast. At this point, music is one of the most important things in his life. He has fully embraced playing the guitar and has a great musical ear. He can play most songs after a handful of listens. There was so much going on that you couldn't possibly experience everything. Since this was Dan's day, we had to default to the bands that he really wanted to see, while he tolerated Thursday (too much screaming) and The Sounds ("they were alright," which actually means not alright) for Ron and I. Alas, we missed out on NOFX. They've been on the Warped Tour for the last 150 years, so we'll be seeing them next year. And there will be a next year.

Everyone knows that I have a soft spot for the Warped bands. I hate the word 'emo,' but you know what I mean - jumpy, upbeat, generally lovelorn bands like Motion City Soundtrack, Saves the Day, The Academy Is... Well, none of the bands that I saw disappointed. You couldn't help but get caught up in the lyric-yelling hand-waving, clap-along songs. Dan and I made a serious music trade at the end of the day. Lots to absorb.

Now, a visual representation of the day:


This is Dan - gotta love the hair. His, not mine...


The Academy Is... - I tried to hack it with Dan, but everyone rushed forward when the band took the stage and I panicked a bit. I can't deal with crowdsurfers anymore, so I hung back with Ron at the soundboard. Dan was all the way up to the stage. He's the fan! That's where he's supposed to be! The lead singer is so thin!


Moneen was next. This buzz came from Dan. The guitar player had crazy hair and they were one of the harder bands on the Vagrant stage. Not terrible.


Ron and I stood in line with Dan and he got to meet The Academy Is... and get The World's Coolest Ticket Stub signed by the band . He also walked away with the set list from Motion City Soundtrack. Lucky kid...





The Sounds. Yeah, they get two photos.


The Pink Spiders were up next. Ron and I really liked them - very Hives-ish. I think the band shops at H&M...in the women's department.


Saves the Day - an acoustic treat for the kids. I thought it was a nice palete cleanser. Not a fan of the pink hair, but man, was it a sing-a-long.


This is a crappy photo of Thursday, but they KILLED IT. This is the fourth time I've seen them and the new album is their best yet. At least I caught Geoff Rickley in mid-air!

Reality check of the day: The official program included bios of all the major bands on the bill. The genres of music describing these bands were pulled right out of someone's ass. Emocore? Post-punk screamocore? Pianocore??? Really? Well, my band is pretty much melodic-yodelcore-smoothed-out-xylaphone pop. We sound like Panic! At The Disco.

That is all. Was it hot as balls? Yes. Would I do it again? Without a doubt.