October 9 His Spirit Lives On....

Happy Birthday to John Lennon...a dreamer who is not the only one...he continues to inspire people to believe the world can be a better place...all you need is love.

September 8 Lincoln Park

I have fallen way behind with updating this blog. So I am writing this almost two months after it happened but I want to illustrate how something so simple can have incredible meaning over time. This was a rare day that Chrissy & I got to spend together. There are several reasons why days like this are so important to me. First, we rarely have the same days off from work. Technically, I was off due to quitting my job. The main reason for quitting...too much time at work, not enough time living my life. Second, I thoroughly enjoying going to the city, so does Chrissy. We might seem strange to some people, who goes to the city to relax?  I love the energy of the city. It is contagious and it revitalizes me. Lastly, to be honest I had forgotten about this day. I was reminded of it when I recently found these pictures in my camera. Between September 8th and today, I suffered an injury that I am now recuperating from...more about that in another blog...so I won't be having another day like this one for quite a long time. And that is the important thing to take from today's blog...enjoy the little things in life that make you smile...they add up to a lifetime of happiness.

We started out by walking along the new boardwalk around the lagoon in Lincoln Park.

Then we stopped at the Green City Farmer's Market to pick up some fresh fruit, handmade pasta and artisan cheese.

We spent the afternoon at the Lincoln Park Zoo. We took our time, had lunch at the zoo and enjoyed seeing all the animals without the crowds since it was a late summer Wednesday after school had begun. It was a wonderful, well spent day. That I capped off with a great pretzel on the way home. A simple, yet easily overlooked day that everyone needs more often...so get away from your computer and have one.

August 30 The Reason I Ride

 The perfect day. How often can you really say that? It seems that most of us rarely get to enjoy spending time doing something that we truly love. That is why today is a perfect day, the weather is great and I have all day to ride the single track trails at Sweet Woods and Brownell. I decided to start at Brownell Woods. As soon as I get out of my car, a deer is right in front of me.

She just freezes as I unload my bike. Then I see why she is so concerned. A very young fawn walks out of the brush toward me. I have seen seen polar bears in the Arctic, grizzly bears in Alaska and Yellowstone, had a black bear walk up on my brother & me in Wrangell St. Elias and  I  have stood about 20 feet from a herd of walrus in Spitsbergen. But I still love seeing the local wildlife in the forest preserves. The mother deer jumped out and chased her young baby down the bike trail I was about to ride down. It felt good to be riding again. I love the feeling of escaping while riding through the woods. On the best of rides, the rest of the world disappears and it is only me surrounded by nature. Today was one of those days when it felt like something special could happen at any moment. Then I came across what appeared to be a campsite where the single track trail runs along the railroad tracks.

I discovered the site was set up by a man named Leo. Unfortunately, Leo was not home during my visit. He left a sign in book on the bench, his artwork in the trees and his mission or life statement nailed to a tree.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed his view of how he chose to live his life. Basically Leo decided to forgo working at a job he hates to spend his remaining years doing what he enjoys, trains, artwork and beer.

 

I really enjoyed what Leo had done with his place in the woods.

It was a very clean campsite with all kinds of recycled artwork and some unique creations.

Eventually I continued down the path. I kept hoping I would see Leo on my way back to the car but I never did see him. I did sign his book so he knows I stopped by. I took the Brownell trail to the train tracks, rode down the train tracks across the creek and started down the Sweet Woods trails. I startled a young deer sleeping in the tall cattails along the tracks which in turn startled me when it jumped up and ran. Then I discovered a new bridge across the ravine near the tracks.

This is easily the most impressive bridge built here in my ten years of riding these trails. Whoever built this bridge should be very proud. It looks like a tree fell across the ravine. Then someone split the bigger branches to use as the bridge deck and nailed them along the downed tree trunk. At the far end of the bridge are several thick slices of the trunk laid flat across the wooden supports to complete the bridge. There are several large branches used to keep the tree trunk from shifting left or right. Damn impressive and looks as natural as anything growing in the woods. It is very cool to ride across it. Further down the trail I discovered something else I hadn't seen on my last ride about a month ago...a grave site

Somebody buried Jeffrey Pope's ashes in the shade of a huge tree in the Sweet Woods Forest Preserve. I stopped to pay my respect and began wondering about Jeffrey. He died back in 2002 so I figured someone kept his ashes all these years then decided to bury them in the woods. In my mind I came up with this story...he probably loved spending time in these woods and whoever had Jeff's ashes wanted to keep them around for awhile because they loved Jeffrey. As the years went by, the pain of his passing lessened and that person decided to Jeff's final resting place should be a place he loved. I wished Jeff well and continued riding the trails.

On my way back to Brownell, the sound of me rustling past a downed tree caused three baby raccoons to walk out of a hollow tree stump. Maybe they thought I was mom coming back. I stopped to take pictures and one ran up a small tree, the other two ran up a big tree. Mama must have taught them right. They seemed nervous so I took a couple of quick shots and went on my way. Back at the car I realized, this was an exceptional day in the woods. Life is good.

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August 8 What Lollapalooza Is All About...Music

Once again, I am rushing to get to Grant Park to see an early performance. This time it is Frank Turner and it is raining.

Last time I saw Frank Turner it was a solo acoustic set and he was great. This time he had his band and they were great. Frank is one of the best songwriters out there today. He had the crowd singing along in the rain. Due to the small stage, the band was also getting soaked but just ignored the rain and rocked out. It was another great start to my Lolla experience. Mother Nature must have felt like partying today because within an hour the sun was out and it was time to enjoy some music and a beautiful summer day. RIYL - well crafted lyrics, having fun, sing-a-longs
I checked out the Dodos and the Company Of  Thieves for a song or two but decided to get out of the rain and have lunch...a very tasty BBQ chicken burger.

I wanted to see the Band Of Heathens from Austin, Texas. I'd never heard this band but I liked the description of them in the Lolla program. They have a rocking country sound leaning more toward rock & roll lyrically. The three guys in this picture took turns with the lead vocals which gave them a varied sound and style. I really liked their set but wanted to check out Ike Reilly. Lolla provides a lot of exercise if you want to see all the bands you like. RIYL - The Band, multiple singer-songwriters within a band

Cynical, honest, vicious, emotional, sarcastic, real, humorous lyrics. Of course I loved Ike Reilly. I might be late to this party but I'm a huge fan now. I already owned his "Salesman & Racists" CD but never gave it much of a listen. My mistake. I now own almost all his records. Absolutely brilliant songwriting about social, political and personal issues. Ike seems to have lots of issues and is willing to sing about them. This is what rock and roll is supposed to be...dangerous. Believe me, this guy does not have that 'politically correct filter' turned on when writing songs and I fucking love him for that. Brutally honest songs sung with the power of a punk attitude. RIYL - a pissed off Bob Dylan, enjoy angering uptight people, rock'n'roll with a punk mentality, great songwriting

I wandered around for awhile. I saw  a few songs by Mumford & Sons, Hockey (how could I not check out a band with that name) and a crazy ass band called X Japan.

On my list of must see performers today was Erykah Badu. I can't say I am a huge fan but I love her style. Her deejay warmed up the crowd with late 80's early 90's call and response hip hop songs. Then she appeared on stage looking like Glenda, the funky witch from 125th Street in Harlem. She took complete control of the stage and the crowd...singing like an angel with the force of the devil. On a hot humid afternoon, Erykah was keeping it real cool...her band and background singers were spot on perfect. Her set ran long and she shouted down Wolfmother as they started their set on time across the park on the main stage. Very impressive. RIYL - Erykah Badu...because no one is like her...strong black women with a social conscience
I walked to the north end to check out MGMT & the Temper Trap. Both bands have a dance rock sound and the kids seemed to love both of them. I didn't stay long because I had to get back to the south end of the park for Cypress Hill.

Cypress Hill had the crowd in a frenzy as soon as they hit the stage. Part of that could have been the rockin' beats, part of it could have been the cloud of pot smoke that hung over the crowd on this humid afternoon. Either way it was impossible not to jump around and have a good time. RIYL - marijuana, old school rap with rockin' beats, having fun

I didn't spend much time at Perry's DJ stage for several reasons. One, I'm an old, fat white guy that can't dance. Two, I'm not the biggest fan of club music. Three, I'd rather see live music and lastly, there are not enough drugs to make me ignorant of how goofy my dancing looks. That said, I really wanted to see Felix Da Housecat's set. So I wandered into Perry's. There were kids who looked like they had been in there all day...glassy-eyed and dancing madly. That's cool with me. Everyone was just having fun.

The music is non stop here. As the stage spun around Felix began as Flosstradamus ended. It was just beginning to get dark so the lights began to take effect as the area filled with smoke from the dry ice machine. As it got darker the energy on the grass dance floor seemed to increase. So did the fun. Sure I felt old but I still enjoyed the music. But no hot young girls jumped into my arms like this one did for green man.

And I could not shake my hips like the hula girls did all over the dance floor.

I did have an interesting moment but I'll save that for later. I wanted to catch the start of Soundgarden's reunion show.

I watched Soundgarden from way in the back. They sounded good. I was a fan back in the day but I really don't like when bands reform long after their prime. They seemed to still be able to bring the hammer down on stage. Chris's voice wasn't the same but that's a minor complaint. I really wanted to see Arcade Fire so I headed to the opposite side of the park. RIYL - 1990's original alternative music, rock'n'roll played by a legendary band

As I passed Buckingham Fountain, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. The colors and the light were perfect. Arcade Fire had the north end of the park jammed. I didn't see it this crowded all weekend. Unfortunately, the sound was awful. I could barely hear the band and it seemed like there was no bass in the mix. So after a long weekend of music, I decided it was time to leave.

I walked out thinking about how much music has affected my life. It was a great weekend on a few levels for me but the biggest was all the cool bands and great music that I got to see and hear.

So as I headed toward the subway, I was thinking about the power of music. I use music to relax, to fire me up, to escape for a few minutes or to bring perspective to a situation. Music is almost always playing around me. It is very important to me and I can not imagine my life without music. So I'll end with three stories about the power of music.
The first story took place in NYC this past June. After the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, I was on a crowded F train heading north through Brooklyn. On the train were a group of twenty something year old tatooed punk rockers and sitting across from them were three teenage black kids. A couple of the punkers were singing lyrics to punk songs and they saw one of the kids smile while listening to his Ipod. This began a friendly back & forth on the music each person liked, hip hop and punk. At the punkers request the kid did a freestyle rap about meeting punk fans on the subway. The kid was really good. One of the punk rockers asked him if he ever recorded anything and the kid said that he had not. It turns out that guy owned a recording studio. He gave the kid his card and they exchanged phone numbers both promising to get together to record some music. I was so excited to have witnessed this scene that my two thoughts were...only in New York City and how cool that a love of different types of music brought these diverse people together. 

The second story happened to me at Perry's DJ area tonight. I was taking pictures near a group of young kids, boys & girls about college age. They were dancing to Felix Da Housecat's set when one of them asked me why I wasn't dancing. They rejected my first excuse of being too old by pointing out someone my age dancing. Then I said I couldn't dance and I was told anyone can dance. So I put my backpack down and attempted to dance. Deservedly so, I was ridiculed by a couple of the kids in a polite way and encouraged to keep dancing by others. As I picked my backpack up one of the young girls that forced me to dance gave me a kiss on the cheek and said that was for dancing with her. As I watched the kids dance, I thought about the music causing so many people to move together as one and I walked away smiling.

The last story also happened tonight. While I was standing in the middle of the park watching Soundgarden, I began to tear up. Here's why, years ago Soundgarden was playing on my stereo when I got the phone call about my friend Scott. He had died and I was stunned by the news. So tonight while Soundgarden played I thought to myself, damn I bet Scott would have loved Lollapalooza. He loved music as much as I did and I am sure that he would have loved spending the past three days with me in Grant Park. So with 'Spoonman' blasting from the stage, I looked toward the sky with tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face and asked Scott if enjoyed Lollapalooza this year.

August 7 It's Punk Day At Lollapalooza

I slept in today. No early bands were worth me getting up early to see. The south stages have punk bands most of the day. So today it looks like punk day at Lolla for me.

I ate lunch and listened to Blues Traveler from the lawn on the south end of Grant Park. Then I met up with my friend, Eric and a buddy of his. We checked out Against Me! while waiting for Gogol Bordello.

Against Me! fired up the crowd on a hot sunny day. They spit out a ton of three minute punk songs covering the usual punk topics including politics, world views and social ills. Of course I love that stuff especially when done well by a punk band. RIYL - political punk songs

Years ago I saw Gogol Bordello open up for Flogging Molly or the Dropkick Murphys, I can't remember which band. But I do remember being blown away by their music, energy and incredible stage show. Today is the first time since then I got to see them live. Nothing has changed except they are deservedly very popular now. They converted any non-believers in the crowd with the best performance of the day.

Everyone I talked to was impressed by Gogol Bordello, including those that had never seen them before today. The best word is unique, they are like no other band I've seen. Sure some would use 'strange' instead. But it really is impossible to stand still and not have fun while they are playing unless you are dead. RIYL - worldwide influenced music with a punk edge, letting loose & having fun

I watched AFI on my way to the beer garden. I will only drink Budweiser if nothing else is available so I had to get beers at the Lederhosen Biergarten. On the way I met up with my friends, Ian & Amy and we checked out Deer Tick for a song or two. Then we met Eric at the south main stage for Social Distortion.

I have been a Social D fan for years but I don't think I've ever seen them live. Yea, goof on me. I can't remember. Anyway these guys showed the younger bands how it should be done. There was a mosh pit just to our right so I jumped in a few times. The crowd around us knew all the songs which made the show better for me. I heard complaints about some in the crowd not knowing these old timers. That would be their loss.

Even at my age I had a blast acting like a kid bouncing around singing the songs. Back in 1983 they were considered punk, nowadays I would call them a great rock and roll band with a punk attitude.

Ian & Amy rocking to Social D

I left the Social D set exhausted and hoarse. I needed a full body massage but had to settle for a drink and some food. RIYL- rocking punk music performed by masters of the craft

We walked back to the beer garden and checked out Slightly Stoopid (a ska/reggae band like Sublime) and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes (a talented band of hippies...what's not to like) along the way. Both sounded good to me. I ended the beautiful summer night sitting on the grass with Ian & Amy watching Green Day with Chicago's skyline in our view. A great ending to my day.

Green Day from way in the back. We moved up on the left side due to sound issues again with the main stages. Green Day played a varied set of old & new with a bunch of covers included. Green Day might be considered old timers by the Lolla crowd so that means Social Distortion must be legends. Either way, it was a nice contrast seeing those punk bands back to back.

It was a crazy scene on the way out as the police tried to stop the flow of people so traffic could move along Michigan Avenue. So when the crowd was allowed to cross Michigan, they were met by those that already crossed with cheers, dancing & high fives. Another fun day in the alternate Lollapalooza world. Only one day left here and then back to the real world.