This past Thursday I saw Sarah Vowell and David Rakoff at the Circle Theatre.
The best quote from the evening came when David Rakoff said in an aside, “You can suck a mile of cock, but that doesn’t make you Oscar Wilde.” He was referring to how being gay doesn’t necessarily make someone creative. Perhaps a bit crafty, though?
Well, anyway, I had a very good time and I look forward to reading more of their work.
Last weekend I went with my friend Andy P. to see They Might Be Giants perform in St. Louis. He called me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to drive over there to see them, and, after taking my sweet time making a decision, I told him that I’d go. So, we made a day trip out of it.
On the way out there, I talked to my friend Kevin who lives in St. Louis because I wanted to know if he would be available to hang out. While talking to him, we learn that the TMBG concert was actually part of Mardi Gras. This, obviously, hadn’t occurred to me or Andy.
We made it to St. Louis across some treacherous bits of I-70 and parked my car in a downtown garage. Free shuttles were running between downtown and the Soulard district where festivities had been underway for some time.
The Soulard was pretty much trashed. The people were too. I remember seeing mostly eaten turkey legs rotting on the ground, garbage everywhere, piss, and lots and lots of really drunk people barely able to walk. Whatever had been happening prior to my arrival, I obviously missed out.
So, we finally found the stage where TMBG was to play. The band performing when we got there was called Wyld Stallyns, which I have no doubt is spelled correctly and is a total reference to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Unfortunately, the music they played didn’t really go with their somewhat cool name: Justin Timberlake, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, etc. Yeah.
During the performance, this piss drunk girl asked me if I liked to pee on my girlfriends, or boyfriends, for that matter. While she was asking me this bizarre question, I couldn’t help but appreciate her progressive, non-heterosexist attitude. Way to be! After I told her that I was not into watersports, she told me that she was just taking a survey.
Anyway, TMBG was awesome! It was fucking cold outside, but they managed to put on a really good show. They’re true professionals because, for a while, I was distracted from the weather.
After the show, Andy and I eventually made it back to my car. We regained sensation in our feet somewhere in Illinois. Anyway, we made it back at around 2:00 AM and called it a night, and added yet another notch to my bedpost of adventures.
Title: Crossroads
Uploaded By: Uh … Bob
Bob created a great panoramic view of the intersection of Washington and Meridian Streets in downtown.
Click on the image to get to the larger versions.
I went with Tony, Jason, Adam, and Bryan to see MOMIX tonight at Clowes Hall. It was a beautifully stunning performance that I’ll never forget. If they travel to your neck of the woods, you must check them out.
Photography wasn’t allowed, so all I can present to you today is the big head of mall hair that sat in front of me during the show.
“Whatever you call it, it’s a hair-don’t.” — Geometry Teacher, Hairspray (1988)
Jason over at X-Tra Rant posted a little modification to one of my photos on Flickr.
Hope everyone managed to get all the milk and bread they needed before the snow fell. 
Found this on Steph’s site.
Link: Etiquette Tips for the Gay Male Wedding
I don’t know where she found it, or if she made it herself, but I love it. I’m especially fond of number 7 on the list: “For good luck at the union of a drag queen, the bouquet is always thrown in the face of a hated rival.”
Ha!
Title: I’m a PC, I’m a Mac, I’m Linux, and I’m FreeBSD
Uploaded By: mattbarton77
Found this video on TUAW showing that a Windows Mobile device can do everything an iPhone can do, as demonstrated at the recent MacWorld Expo in San Francisco.
I must say that I’d still consider an iPhone when it officially become available, but I’m still pretty loyal to Symbian.
At work we had a crisis this past Thursday due to some unexpected, unplanned capacity issues.
As the problem wasn’t subsiding through the afternoon, we found ourselves huddled into a conference working to figure out quick solutions and alternatives to tackle the problem. What was to be a regular day at the office for me turned into a 12 hour day, with me not leaving until 9:30 that evening. I know my boss worked much later that night, but at home.
I came in the next morning, needing to continue working on the issue from the day before. I was asked to compile some web server analytics so that we could get some hard numbers to provide a vendor. It took several hours to complete, but I managed to get it done.
(I think dealing with IIS servers logs is a huge pain in the ass, by the way.)
Anyway, problem solving and working under pressure are integral qualities of my job, but dealing with a crisis, keeping my cool, and working through the problem is one of the things I just love doing. Being able to quickly reach a feeling of achievement and a “job well done” is just another form of instant gratification, if you think about it.
As much as I complain about my job, at times, I really do manage to have some fun.
Title: The Rapture
Uploaded By: mattbarton77
Had a great time with Andy P. the other night at Birdy’s to see The Rapture.
I think there’s too much hoopla about the ads running during the Super Bowl. Anyone who says that they watch the game to see the funny commercials is either lying — because they’re really out to get shit-faced drunk with the friends and the Super Bowl is as good excuse as any — or they have way too much time on their hands. I believe that reality is somewhere in between.
For me, I watched the commercials because I actually watched the game with Dad, so here’s my favorite commercial of the evening.
