Concerts Are Better When They’re “Closer To Free”

This Saturday we went to a cookout at Craig and Jackie’s for Olivia’s birthday. We arrived about six. It was your normal cookout with beers and brats and had plenty of both. After we ate we got out the bocce ball set and I proceeded to mop up the yard with anyone who wanted to test my bocce skills. After my victorious bocce session we sat around the bonfire. One of my favorite things is an outdoor bonfire with some friends and some suds. Jocelyn and I ended up being the last ones around the fire with Craig. We decided around 2 that it we should wrap things up so we headed back to MKE.

Wednesday the Bodeans were holding a free concert on the roof of the Pabst to celebrate the launch of their new CD. A lot of people showed up, as you would expect for a free concert. I was able to get a great view from the alley by the Safe House. They only played an hour but seeing the Bodeans is always a treat, especially when they’re free.

Family and Food

This weekend we had the annual Murray family picnic. This annual picnic is only in its second year but is a must attend event due to the copious amounts of food. Jocelyn and I headed up to Sheboygan Saturday morning. We got to the park and immediately started digging into the vast variety of food. As usual there was a ton of food to sample, all delicious. The entire day was spent eating, drinking, listening to aunt and uncle stories, and playing yard games. We had a good time and when our stomachs were about to bust we headed back to MKE. We met up with the clan and headed to Rosie’s to celebrate my birthday as well as Delahunt’s. The shots were flying and I had more than my fair share. We headed to My Office for a night cap and some gyros to complete the night.

Baseball and Beats

The leg is getting better but I still have a long way to go. The bruising is absolutely disgusting. I have a bruise from my butt to my knee covering the rear 180 degrees of my leg. I can at least walk in a quazi normal fashion. But the leg wasn’t going to keep me from going to the Brewers game. The D’backs were in town so I got tickets from Craig for all three games. On Monday Jocelyn and I went early and I got to see my first batting practice. We talked to Craig for a bit before the game and got caught up on everything and I told him my back to back foul balls story. The game was a victory for the Brewers.

Tuesday’s game was a normal Brewers experience. Jocelyn and I tailgated pre-game and then watched the Brewers win. It was actually the best of the three games because the Brewers won and Craig got three hits, perfect.

Wednesday was a day game and I decided to take a half day. I hadn’t been to a day game during the week for a couple years so this was a good reason to go. Jocelyn was going to go but couldn’t get off work so I called Wians and Luedke. It was a perfect afternoon to catch some baseball and some rays. The game was pretty boring and the Brewers lost but the weather and time off made up for it.

Friday was yet another Brewers game. I didn’t even know I had tickets to until the night before. This night was a carbon copy of Tuesday except we sat in the beer pen and grilled marinated flank steak and potatoes.

Saturday was Evraets’s reception for his Mexican wedding in February. I was an integral part of making this reception fun because I volunteered to be the DJ. I have been working on my playlist for the last two weeks so that was set and ready to go. Early on Saturday I had to drive to Kenosha to pick up all the equipment that I needed to play some pumping music. So after I got the speakers and lights I headed back to Milwaukee to get ready. After we got ready we headed to Port Washington to set everything up. I set everything up and learned how to work the lights and the mixer. After that we went to meet up with the wedding party at a little supper club to have dinner before the reception. The entire wedding party wore their same outfits that they wore in Mexico so everyone was pretty overdressed for a Random Lake supper club. After dinner we went back to the hall and started things off. My list started with some 60s and then progressed in years as the night went on. The lights were going and the music was blasting. Throughout the night there was a good amount of people on the dance floor. I did learn that the job of a wedding DJ isn’t that easy. The crowd was very tough because they were mostly bar going beer drinkers so they camped by the bar all night and you couldn’t move them from the free tappers for anything. I also learned that there are a couple people who think that they know the magic song to get everyone dancing and whooping and hollering and they won’t leave you alone until you play the song. I also learned that every time you play the song they have to hear they are usually the only ones dancing. Also with the ability to create playlists on your laptop the job of the wedding DJ is much easier because you don’t have to switch CDs and can pretty much set it and forget it. Finally people love slow songs. Put on anything that people can dance cheek to cheek and the floor will fill up. The whole experience was a very very fun one. I think everyone had a good time and I got to experience something new. There were a lot of shots of tequila and some pretty sauced up people so I know at least they had fun. After some heavy hitting house requests I played the final slow songs and shut it down about 1. Everyone helped me break down the equipment and we headed home. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday we headed up to the Brady St. Artesian Festival. There were a bunch of tents with crafts and food. We ate some cheese and checked out the beaded jewelry. Nothing beats the people watching of Brady St.

This Couch Stinks (Literally and Figuratively)

Well this week was one of the worst on record. I cannot walk and had to work from home almost the entire week. I went to work on Thursday but sitting in my seat all day made my thigh swell up like a balloon. My pants were getting tight from the swelling and I started to worry a bit. The pain of sitting wasn’t too bad but the swelling kind of freaked me out so I worked from home on Friday. The pain I’m experiencing is worse than when I almost cut my fingers off. So if you must either tear your hamstring or cut your fingers off, take the fingers.

So after spending the entire week sweating on the couch I tried to go out with Craig and Feyer on Saturday. Craig and Feyer were fun but the whole experience was pretty miserable. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should’ve stayed home but I was getting stir crazy. I was only out for a couple hours but they sucked. This sucks.

Getting Faster… No Wait, I Can’t Walk

This week was pretty hectic around here. Bastille days has been going on so there has been no parking and an influx of people into our area. Thursday Jocelyn and I did the storming of the Bastille run. We walked down to the starting area and there were a bunch of people running. I wasn’t expecting to see as many people as I did. There were enough people to fill up three quarters of a city block sidewalk to sidewalk. The run was a fun run throughout downtown Milwaukee. There were no mile markers or even official times so it really was a fun run. There was one bar in the Third Ward that was acting like a water station and handing out beers. I was dying at this point and taking a beer, as funny as it would have been, would’ve have been the death of me. I knocked almost a minute off my time from my last 5k and ended up with a 21:05. I still have a little over a minute to shave off to get to my goal.

Thursday and Friday from about 3:00 until 5:00 I got to watch the Blue Angels practice for the coming weekends air show. I could watch these guys everyday all day and never get sick of them. They are absolutely amazing and a lot of crazy. I would love to explain what I saw but you really have to see them yourselves to appreciate them.

Friday after I got done watching the Blue Angels practice I had to head to Menomonee Falls with Jocelyn for the wedding rehearsal of this weekend’s wedding. We got to the church right on time and the rehearsal was the easiest I’ve ever been in. After that we went to a super nice shelter in Brookfield where Todd and Steph had a luau themed rehearsal cookout. All our friends were there and the luau was a great success. We drank some rum punch, played some softball and told college stories. We headed home after the park closed and got ready for the big day tomorrow.

We woke up bright and early ready to celebrate Todd and Steph’s big day. Jocelyn had to head out earlier than me because she had to get her hair done and all that good stuff. I caught a ride with Luedke. He also picked up Ham and Ben so we were a good looking car or tuxed up men. We went to Todd’s and got ready and ate some left over brats from the night before. Then the bus came and it was go time. We got to the church with almost no incident. The limo driver was clueless as to how to get to the church so we had to give her some direction. Pulling a Y turn in a limo bus on a country road is quite the heralding experience. We finally made it to the church just a couple minutes late. We then waited around for the girls, who were late, so we could get the show on the road. They finally arrived and it was wedding time. It was a Catholic wedding but there was no communion so the whole thing only took about 45 minutes. The wedding was very nice and easy on all the attendants. The A/C was pumping and there wasn’t a lot of standing or any kneeling. The whole thing almost went off without a hitch except for a little confusion on the holding of the rings. I wasn’t a big think and everyone got a laugh. So the wedding was over and two of our close friends are officially husband and wife. We didn’t take any pictures at the church, again nice. So we piled on the bus and started the celebration. We took the bus downtown to the Lakefront Bistro to snap some picture in the blazing sun and heat. The groomsmen were sweating up a storm but we were able to watch the Blue Angels again. They were doing their Saturday show as we were taking our pictures. We snapped some pictures by the lake, lost a couple pounds of sweat, and then hopped back on the bus to get downtown. This ride would usually take under five minutes but since the air show had just gotten out it was bumper to bumper downtown. It took us over half an hour to get downtown but we had tunes and some wine so we were good to go. Once we got to the reception at the downtown Hilton the fun kicked into high gear. We had some more drinks and ate dinner. I had the filet mignon and I might add it was delicious. The rest of the night was spent dancing away. Then, my awful luck continued. I pulled out one of my patented dance moves that I had done a million times before but this time my hamstring didn’t want to do it. I felt it tear and the pain was unbelievable. I think my hamstrings were still tight from the run on Thursday. I couldn’t walk and my night was over. I went into steaming mad depression mode because this kind of stuff has been happening to me too much lately. The fun and dancing came to an end and I hobbled to a cab and went home for the night while everyone else went out to have fun.

Sunday I was in extreme pain. I tried to leave the couch to go see the Blue Angels do their actual show. It took me fifteen minutes to go two blocks and the heat was killing me so I hobbled back to the couch where I stayed for the rest of the day. This sucks.