June 13 The Old Town Art Fair

I had a picture of our shitty weather for June 11th's blog but decided not to use it. I mention it now because today we planned on going to the Green City Market then to the Old Town Art Fair and the Wells Street Art Fair. We invited Chrissy's Great-Aunt, Ann. It was raining again this morning. June 13, 58 degrees and rain. Welcome to summer in the city. Ann said she'd go anyway. The rain got heavier and once we got into Lincoln Park it was like a swamp. We did make a quick run through the market, had freshly made crepes in the rain, bought a few items and swam back to the car. I had to turn on the heat to warm us up and dry us off. We drove around looking for a place to eat lunch and settled on Manny's Deli. Ann & I had the huge pastrami sandwiches. Chrissy had a veggie sandwich. At a Jewish deli, she gets a veggie sandwich. I filed for a divorce immediately. Then slowly the sun broke through the clouds. We jumped on the subway and went to the Old Town Art Fair. It actually felt warm in the sun. This fair is held in a great old neighborhood and includes a garden walk through some beautiful front & backyards. We talked with a bunch of artists. Ann had a couple laughing as she asked about their artistic process and she had me laughing as she critiqued others. When I found out it was Ann's first time on the subway, I wanted to get a picture but she was yelling at me "no more pictures" so I stopped. I've said it before and I'll say it again. She is really impressive. She is like a twenty year old in an eighty year old body. I love going places with her. She always makes me laugh.

June 12 Happy 27th Birthday Reg

Sometimes the funniest line of the night comes from a surprise source. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Tonight we went out with Bill & Vickie to celebrate the birthday of Eric (also known as Reg). It was also game seven of the Stanley Cup finals. We hadn't seen Bill & Vickie in months, so it was good to get together. The night was moving along just fine, a few friends from the Sudden Death hockey club showed up, the beers were cold, the Penguins had an early lead, a good time being had by all. Then some douchebag, who happens to write a not so interesting blog, spilled Reg's beer right into his lap. Happy fucking birthday to you. There weren't many napkins on the table, so Vickie, who was sitting to Reg's right, started drying him with her napkin when she realized maybe he should dry that area himself. Damn, another birthday bummer. The night moved along much better after that. The Penguins upset the Red Wings in Detroit to win the Cup. Reg forgave me for spilling the beer. And when Reg's birthday dessert showed up with a 27 candle, it wasn't Bill or me who had the best line. Surprise!!! It was Vickie. When Reg said he was only 27 years old, she said "You look like shit for 27!".

I didn't have time to photoshop Bill out of the picture. So just put your hand over him on your monitor and you have a great picture of his beautiful wife.

June 11 Fever Marlene

A few years ago, Cindy Lou and I went to the Double Door to see some live music. A band called Fever Marlene opened up for The Gufs. We both thought Fever Marlene were much better. Since then Cindy has driven to their hometown of Milwaukee to see them. Tonight we went to the Subterranean to see them open for Locksley. Once again they were better than the headliners. After the show we talked with Scott (pictured with Cindy) and Kevin, the duo that are Fever Marlene. They were both really down to Earth guys who happen to write great songs and put on a good show. I also talked music with Joseph, who is a booking agent and part owner of the Double Door so now I have a connection for free passes to the DD. On the way back to the subway, Cindy was looking for a friend but didn't get any takers. The "Drum Machines Have No Soul" sticker was on the drummer's case for the band, The Ivorys. It perfectly explains my point of view about music. We missed their set but the guys were so cool about moving their equipment around so I could get a picture, I bought their CD. And it rocks. Check them out at their Myspace page.

June 10 A Day In The Life

All apologies to the Beatles for today's blog.

I woke up, had to pee

Work called, they didn't need me

Found my way downstairs, made some waffles

I love the smell of waffles in the morning

Saw the dishes, they were dirty So I washed them in a hurry

Started craving a coffe cake
So I mixed the batter and started to bake

Got bored, nothing to do

Called my dog and said I'll make a fool of you

He looked so stupid, he wouldn't talk

I felt bad, I took him for a walk

Late in the day, scratched my farmer's market itch


Then to the Sox game, with Nick Nisevich

June 9 Kids Today

I DJ at the Deep River Waterpark for Tubing Tuesdays. I used to be out on the deck where kids could make requests. For the most part, the kids were polite and I had fun to talking music with them. There was always some punk ass kid who would tell me I suck because I couldn't play a song with the word fuck repeated several hundred times. It comes with the territory. Let's just say tonight felt more like October than June and the waterpark had about 25 guests. Obviously a slow night. But I did get this request list from one of the kids that works at the park. That's cool, it is much easier to play requests than guess what songs people want to hear. Nowadays kids do ask for a lot of old songs. My guess it is due to video games especially Guitar Hero and Rock Band. This list was handed to me and it made me laugh. I asked her if Billy Idol sang Spin My Round. She said yes. Just a quick note, this song was sampled by Flo-Rida who had a big hit with it last year. So I'm guessing that is how this kid even knows the song. Surprisingly another kid standing there knew it was really done by Dead Or Alive. I told the girl I would play that version.

June 8 Short Window For Grilling

Sorry to keep repeating myself but our weather has been shitty all year. We are 160 days into the year and I'll bet we haven't had more than 45 days of sunshine. A blanket of gray clouds usually mixed with rain now, snow earlier. More of the same today until the sun broke through just in time for dinner. I fired up the grill using my favorite brand of hardwood charcoal and grilled some key lime soaked tilapia with fresh asparagus soaked in lemon juice and steakhouse seasoning. Very tasty and even more enjoyable eating it in the sunshine.

June 7 57th Street Art Fair

We spent the afternoon in Hyde Park, which happens to be President Obama's neighborhood, at the 57th St. Art Fair. Walter & Jaimie met us there. The weather wasn't perfect for a street fair, it rained all morning and the temperature dropped suddenly in the afternoon. But we had a good time checking out the different types of artwork and talking with the artists. This fair requires the artists to work their own booths which I really like. We always try to support the artists whenever possible. Our walls now have limited space for new pieces so we look for that one of a kind gift for people on our birthday & Christmas lists. Afterwards we had a good meal at the Calypso Café, which we highly recommend. If you are looking for something to do in Chicago next weekend check out the Wells Street Art Festival and the Old Town Art Fair. Both are within walking distance of each other. The Old Town Art Fair is more subdued. Wells Street is lined with bars and turns into a block party with really good artwork available.