I Too Blister In The Sun

Friday after work Jocelyn and I went to the zoo to “Feast with the Beasts” and see the Violent Femmes. It was a good time. We walked around the zoo and ate items from some different restaurants. The food was ok but I was really there to see the Femmes. Their entire show was awesome and they entertained from beginning to end. The thing that made it weird was I hung out with the lead singer a couple times in New York. Gordon was a regular at The Blind Tiger in NY, as was I, so we had talked to each other a couple times. Don’t get me wrong here, we weren’t bosom buddies or anything. We were just a couple of the privileged few who got to stay after bar time and have a few extra drinks while the Tiger was being cleaned up. So most of our encounters were about 5 in the morning with a belly full of beer. The craziest was the time that Gordon, Chris and I went to see a band at The Knitting Factory. It a good time but I felt very awkward the whole night for some reason. Anyway, I got to see the Femmes at the zoo and they absolutely kicked ass. Shout out to Wertz, The Blind Tiger, and Gordon.

Saturday morning was the first step on my quest to get back in shape. J and I signed up for the 5k Sausage Race at Miller Park. We got up about 7 and made our way to the race. I did my pre-race ritual of sitting around and waiting to start. Finally at nine the race started. If all of you thought being one of those racing sausages is nothing but fun, think again. The sausages all had to run the 5k with us. They all got to start in front and it took me a mile to catch the Polish. The course was fairly easy and towards the end of the race you run into Miller Park and do a lap around the field. I finished and had way too much left in my tank. I ran it in 22 minutes. Not what I wanted but it’ll do for my first race back. Jocelyn on the other hand kicked major booty and ran the race in 25 minutes. When it was over you received a free brat or hotdog. So I ate J’s hotdog as well as my brat for breakfast. When the race was over we cruised home. The day was gorgeous and with your entry in the race you also received a ticket to that night’s game. We were going to go to the game at six but the weather was too nice so we headed the park at three. We met some nice people next to us in the lot so we talked with them and grilled up my marinated tenderloin and a can of beans, delicious. We went into the game about the third inning. The Brewers blow. We stayed and watched them lose until the seventh and then we headed home. We were going to go out but we both laid down and fell asleep. We woke up at midnight and decided we really didn’t need to go anywhere.

Sunday we actually had a good time too. Luedke’s parents invited J and I along for a boat cruise on the Milwaukee River. It was the margarita boat tour. We cruised down the river and into the marina while sipping some boat drinks and listening to the tunes. After the tour the whole clan went to Mo’s for a couple pints. When that was over we wrapped up the weekend. A thanks to the Luedke’s for taking us along!

Wastin’ Away Again In East Troy

I thought now that ‘fest was over I was going to get some much needed rest but no such luck. Since almost everyone had Monday off we did some pre-planning and bought some tickets to the Brewers v. Cubs on the day after the 4th. The game was fun and went as expected. We got drunk and watched the Brew crew beat the Cubs with a first inning Counsell homerun. What I didn’t expect was buying tickets to the next two games on drunken whim. So I ended up going to the next two games as well. The games were not the drunken debauchery that one is used to but they were still too much fun to explain. Why can I not explain the games you may ask? Because there is no better feeling than sweeping the Cubs right out of Miller Park and back across the southern border of Wisconsin. [INSERT FAVORITE EXPLATIVE] THE CUBS!. Thursday was finally a well deserved day of rest.

Friday we headed back to Miller Park to see Brewers v. Reds. The main reason we went was because of the Beer Pen tickets. $10 for a t-shirt and a ticket is a great deal. It’s my second such shirt but can anyone really have too many t-shirts. J and I went to the game with Delahunt and Steph so we had our drinking buddies. We hung out and drank up a couple of Wisconsin’s largest jager bombs. The game was awful and I have to say one of the worst games I saw of the year. We ended up staying at TGIF until one drinking yards. That was way too long because I was able to snatch up a couple Jimmy Buffett tickets on eBay so we had to be prepared to be waste away again tomorrow.

Saturday was a perfect day. It was the first summer day I think we had all year. Mid to high 80s with plenty of sun. We left for the show about one. We met Jocelyn’s boss from the Sports Dock in a Wal-Mart parking lot outside of East Troy so we could park together at Alpine. Once at Alpine we set up camp and did tons of people watching. People watching is always half of the experience and this concert was no exception. To our right there was a passed out fifteen year old who had too many margaritas with his mom and now she was taking care of him. To our back there were some guys that had a weed whacker blender with a sombrero and hula skirt on the blender. Once we scoped out the lot we settled in and got to the eating and drinking. Jocelyn’s boss and her husband were all kinds of fun. Besides those two there were two other guys who were friends of theirs. Gina’s (Jocelyn’s boss) husband is a cop and one of the other guys was a detective. They had some great stories. Gina’s husband was also a professional water skier in the Dells for a time so he had some amusing stories about that whole era in his life. We smoked some priemo cigars he brought, ate tons of gourmet food and of course had some margaritas. Finally it was time to go into the concert and we must’ve lost track of time because we missed the first set. Well, we lost track of time and I had trouble getting in. First I got caught with a water bottle (full of hooch) so I couldn’t bring that in. J was already in so I heaved it to her over the fence so I didn’t have that item to deal with anymore. Then I went through again and they found the camera in my pocket. I didn’t even know I still had the thing. Obviously I’m not going to throw a digital camera away so I yelled to J that I was going to throw it back on the bus. Saying this kind of confused J because we didn’t come in a bus. But me being ever observant and an uber trickster I ran to the buses right by the gate and shoved the camera in my unmentionable region so they would find it. Yea, I know I’m tricky, even slyer when I really don’t know what’s going on. So we finally got in. J and I grabbed a couple of sodas and headed to our seats to catch the rest of the show. The show was great as expected! The only hitch from here on out was the fifteen bucks I got charged for two large cups of ice. The lady made me buy water to fill the large cups so the ice was covered. That was a small hitch because the whole Buffett atmosphere is always so positive that really nothing can bring you down. So once the show was over we headed back to the parking lot and had some more to eat. I played with a hula hoop that I found in the parking lot and we listened to some Buffett tunes to keep the party going. We finally left the parking lot around one and got home at two safe and sound. Another successful trip to Alpine.

Color Me Exhausted

I believe I left off on the Tuesday of ‘fest. Tuesday J and I were going to go see the Midwest Operas stirring rendition of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and then go to see Kenny Wayne Shepard. We made it down to the fest ground in plenty of time and got a good seat for what we thought was going to be a cover band doing Floyd. Instead it was absolutely the worst thing I’ve seen in my life. We weren’t the only ones that thought that this “rock opera” was going to be worth watching because there were tons of hippies waiting to see them as well. Since the hippies had their senses dulled/heightened they couldn’t process how much this rock opera sucked. J and I as well as handful of people were able to determine how awful they were in about two minutes. So we left which really threw a wrench into our plans because now we had 3 hours to kill before KWS. So we decided to walk to get a beer and I ran into my good pal Gregory. He and his woman were down for the night. In the process of getting the beer we learned that you didn’t need a wristband to get into the main stage. J and Greg’s woman both loved Jessica Simpson so we did what any whipped man would do, take them to their free concert and then hold it over their head that we went to the JS concert. We sat there for a couple hours and watched the concert. I think Greg and I were watching different things on stage than the rest of the audience so we were able to block out the music and prepubescent screaming. After that was over we headed on home.

Thursday was our next day and was going to be the last. I biked down to the grounds and got wristbands to see The Bodeans and Steve Miller. We headed down to grounds pretty early and grabbed a bite to eat before the show. We went in and got some pretty good seats for the show. The Bodeans put on a really good show. I’ve seen then a couple times at Lakefest in Sheboygan but I can honestly say I don’t “remember” seeing them there. We then stayed for a handful of the Steve Miller songs. It was getting late so we headed out of the concert. On our way out we got to check out Paul Oakenfold. We watched him for a bit, admired the trance scene and glow sticks, and then started home again. On the way home we ran into another stage and heard Peter Frampton doing “Do You Feel Like We Do.” No true rock n’ roll fan could pass that up so we had to stop and listen to that. Finally we got out of there and made it home.

Friday I went to a house warming party at my buddy Chappy’s new place. It was going to be a “couple beers” night. Then we got playing darts, drinking beers, and talking stupid so I ended up going to Rosie’s with the entire crew. We got to check out some crazy dude with wings on that was completely out of place in the Rosie’s. I guess that are no real good bars in Milwaukee where you can walk around and wear your wings.

Saturday J and I woke up early. We had to drive to Rockford for my college roomie Harv’s wedding. We got to Rockford and the weather was just awful. Lucky for us the wedding was outside. We dropped our stuff off in the hotel and met up with the rest of the clan who was also staying there. We all hung out in the hotel room for a couple hours and had a couple CCs. Once we got ready, gathered the group and got going we realized we were going to be a little late. Lucky for us a humongous thunderstorm delayed the whole wedding. The wedding was supposed to be in a botanical gardens area but instead it was held in a tent. Lucky for us we all got poured on and got to sit through the entire wedding drenched to our nether regions. The wedding was nice but none of us could hear any of it because the rain was hitting so hard on the top of tent. After the wedding was over and we were on our way out, it cleared up, of course. The whole crew headed to Oscar’s Sports bar for a drink before the reception. After that drink we all headed to the reception. It was a nice reception, small, but nice. The meal was also very different than most weddings. The meal was six different types of pasta dishes. They were very good. Not as good as the merlot though. I myself accounted for at least three empty bottles of merlot, one of those glasses being on the front of my shirt. Towards the end we tried to get some shots of Jameson for the ol’ college buddies to salute our fallen soldier. The damn place wouldn’t sell any shots so instead we got a couple tumblers of whiskey and some cups (it wasn’t that easy but for the sake of me typing it it was). So we had a toast to Harv our man, congrats buddy! From there some of us went back to Oscar’s while some of us went to Culvers (a whole story behind that one but I want to keep it PG). We then all eventually made it to Oscar’s. A couple people were only there in person and really don’t remember it, I was not one. We had a good time. Drank some liters of beer and acted dumb in our dress clothes. From there we headed back to the hotel. I know we were up late but I really don’t know what we did there. I remember Adam jumping on the aerobed from a chair. Actually I remember pushing him off the chair onto the aerobed. I know we acted like rockstars until 4:30 in the morning and the hotel room looked like it when we woke up. It was so much fun though. It was great to hang out with the old college roomies again. We woke up Sunday and drove home.

We got home Sunday and it was going to be a nothing day. Sleep, sleep, and more sleep. I had Monday off for the holiday so I was going to recoop from the craziness of ‘fest. So when we got home I was biking to Chipotle to pick up burritos (it was closed for the dumb holiday) when I happened to run into the old Evans Scholars. For those of you who don’t know the scholars I can describe them as this. Golf Caddies who got full rides through college; they live the frat lifestyle when they aren’t in an “actual” frat; they’re all drunks; they travel in large packs; I always run into them, even in different states, and I’m an honorary member. So on my way to get a burrito I ran into them once again a block from my house drinking and partying. My relaxing day went from sleeping to getting drunk again. I went home dropped off my bike and went down by the scholars. I spent the better part of four hours playing lawn darts, drinking beer, doing jello shots, and acting stupid. Most of the scholars were heading down to the last day of ‘fest to see Tim McGraw. I not being a country music fan took the scholars’ fearless leader Boyd and we went down to ‘fest to see Pat McCurdy. So once we got down there there was one little problem. McCurdy plays every day of Summerfest but the last one. So we just sat around and watched the water video show which was actually very cool and amazed the amazing Boyd. Finally it was late and I was too tired so we headed home. J and Boyd met the other scholars for a drink but I went home to lay down and actually rest a bit. The weekend was finally over. Little did I know I had three Brewers games to go to the next three days, but more on that later.

Big Gig I

Well the ‘fest is here again. This year we took our Big Gig cards and headed down to the grounds on the opening Thursday. J and I went down there fairly early so we could get in for free. We thought that we were going to have four hours of boredom while we waited for the Big Wu to start things off at eleven but we ran into some of my old college buddies, Steven Herman and Kyle Barton. I guess they always meet at the same spot at the Miller Oasis and I was just lucky enough to stumble across them. We had a couple beers and caught up with each other. It was good to see them again. Then around nine we decided to take a lap around the fest. Once we made it around the huge line of people waiting to get into Prince we were able to double back to our stage and see the ekoostik hookah. ek was, eh, and they played up until the fireworks. After the big bang we did the hippie bounce to the Wu and felt old until midnight and went home.

Friday the acts at ‘fest weren’t that good but more importantly I wasn’t able to get my wristband so I couldn’t get in for free. Instead of spending tons of cash at Summerfest I decided to meet J after work at the Wicked Hop and spend tons of cash there. We had a slew of different beers and some food. We sample beers there until eleven and then swayed home to get some sleep for Kondofest on Sat.

Saturday was the annual Kondofest party. I have to admit that overall you can see that the ol’ wreckin’ crew is getting older and a little more docile. Don’t get me wrong here, the day still had the usual yard nomads wandering around playing boce ball, 3 hours of volleyball, and some quarters. It also lacked the beer bong and casual chug off that in the past made barrels, plural, evaporate. It could be that in their old age people just prefer the mixers and that’s why only one barrel was enough for the crew. Either way, I still had a good time and got to head butt a girl in the face while putting my Swisher Sweet out on her cheek. That’s what she get for trying to D up the big dog on the blacktop. Once Kondofest was finished everyone headed downtown as usual. This year I split from the group because everyone and their mother were going to see O.A.R. and I wasn’t going to deal with the massive crowd. After stopping for some unneeded liquor at the store Marti, Graham and I went back to my place. While there we proceeded to drink Captain and Captains as well as Gin and Gin drinks. We played some Euchre listened to some tunes and got ready to go to the Metro. This unnecessary trip turned out to be a haze so I have to stop my story here. I know we met up with Delahunt and some other people from the party but that’s all I can tell you. I know there was a heated political discussion and a hefty charge on my credit card so it must’ve been fun.

Sunday, rest and relaxation. Monday since J had to work I went to ‘fest solo to see Dark Star Orchestra. They jammed as usual and nothing beats free! Part II soon!