Notre Dame Games?

Welp, no more posts since Ted's off-color photos were posted. Thanks for killing the blog. I was wondering if anybody is planning on going up for an ND game or two. I can't make USC because of a wedding but the rest are fair game. Let me know what you guys are thinking and we can try to plan a gay old time!

toodles,
Jonathan

Skype brings Chris and Jonathan even closer together

Skype Brings Friends Together

Jonathan is in Chicago this weekend and somewhere during the evening we got a text from Sam containing a picture of Ted and him in Cleveland. We gave a phone call to them and the next thing I know we were downloading Skype and seeing enormous version of Ted and Sam on my TV. We watched Ted and music videos together. Inappropriate photos follow:

Kinda Awesome

Summer and Sunshine (coming soon to Chicago)

Gentlemen,

My attempts to spread the word on some good music has met mostly tepid responses. Jonathan did take advantage of the Ha Ha Tonka recommendation and had his socks rocked off in return. Regardless, I'm going to try to keep things a little broader in this post.

First off, I'll go on public record as saying that I am truly jealous of Axford and his "the National" encounter. Pretty sweet to get to meet the band and pump up your street cred with the Milwaukee natives. I'm still waiting to hear if they are as morose in person as in their music. I'm going to be in Milwaukee May 20-22 for Molly's brother's graduation from Med School. Hopefully, I will get to see the Axfords in between the graduation events.

Second, my travel plans are pretty much set for Greg's wedding. I've got the flight and hotel. Still need to work on ground transportation, but that will come together. Molly and I are spending Sunday and Monday night in Boston if anyone else is staying out there longer.

Third, Wicker Park Fest is July 23-24 and there are some good indie bands coming in, including Ha Ha Tonka (can't stop pushing them) and Blitzen Trapper. Anyone interested is welcome to stay with Molly and me that weekend (or any other weekend with some advanced notice).

Finally, as my previous posts have showed, I am back into music in a big way and I need to recommend this website that I recently discovered. It's not new (just new to me): www.daytrotter.com. Essentially, they record a live session (3-4 songs) with a band every day, and make it available for free on their website (listen or download). I've downloaded about ten sessions already. The back catalog includes the likes of the National, the Hold Steady, Old 97's, Andrew Bird, etc., etc. It is a great place to find live versions of bands you like or discover something new. It's become one of my favorite sites.

Enough from me - Hope all is well with all.

Chris

ps - Married life is good. I've got to replace my tires and get new brake pads (ouch), which makes me curse Henry Ford for inventing the automobile.

Live Music

Gentlemen,

Molly and I went to see Ha Ha Tonka last night at Subterranean (small venue in Wicker Park). It's the first concert that I've been since The National in Milwaukee last year. I've never been much of a concert goer, preferring to avoid hipsters in their skinny jeans drinking PBR full of irony; however, as part of my desire to get into more new music I decided it was worth a shot (and it was cheap).

About Ha Ha Tonka - I heard them on a SXSW sampler, liked them and then Amazon had a deal on their new album a couple weeks ago. I've been playing it like crazy and decided that it made sense to see them when they came through Chicago. As I've said before, I suck at describing music, but they are kind of like Kings of Leon meets Uncle Tupelo. They are from the Ozarks and it comes through in their music. You can download three free songs from Amazon, and check them out on Facebook.

The opening band, The Spring Standards, were a lot of fun as well - a lot of three part harmonies and energy.

Ha Ha Tonka is coming to a town near you:

April 21 @ The Mill in Iowa City, IA

April 22 @ Off Broadway in St Louis, MO

Keep on rockin'
Chris

I may have overstated the resemblance but still...

Thanks Chris, a short update and AV fun.

Thanks Chris! We had a great time too. You guys are awesome.

Pat, your post was a happy one, but I have a series of follow up questions regarding your lifestyle changes. Ill wait til the wedding.

So, a brief Iowa update: Amy and I are doing well. Amy is finishing up her second year of medschool, will be taking the boards this summer. After the summer, she begins the PHD portion of her MD-PHD program, which should take 3 years to complete. Then, 1 more year of med school. Then, 3 years of residency. Then...wait for it....DONE. Unless she gets a post doc. Or specializes. !

Im finishing up my first year of law school. Not a big fan of this semester's coursework, but im liking law school generally. This summer I will spend one month in Pittsburgh interning with a federal district court judge (and ND grad). Then, ill spend two months in Phoenix completing an antitrust fellowship for the ABA. Busy busy, but good.

Music: well, Chris had some good new suggestions. I will add to that Menomena - saw them a month ago in IC, they were really good live. Kind of like TV on the Radio. I LOVE their video Evil Bee, watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXr_4g0o9M.

One more AV contribution: ive been saving this one for a while. Took a picture of Jonathan at Chris and Molly's wedding with my phone. When I found it a couple months later (somehow I dont recall taking the photo) it scared the hell out of me. You look just like Vigo!!! Proof:

Iowa

While it might not be heaven, Iowa was a blast this past weekend. If you are ever in the area (I don't know why you would be), Sam, Amy and Lua are truly great hosts. Molly fell in love with Lua (I liked her too). If you don't know Lua, she's a black boxer (very rare).

My only regret was not seeing Skye Carrasco while she was performing in Iowa City:

Glee

For the last couple of years, I have been able to avoid Glee. Molly has always seemed interested in watching it, and we actually saw 1 episode on vacation last summer (so bad it was funny or I was drunk). Molly has occasionally brought up the subject of getting the first season on Netflix, but I've been able to keep that at bay.

Everything changed last night. After a wonderful trip to Iowa, we were looking to veg-out on the couch to some streaming Netflix. When searching through the available TV shows, Molly found "Glee: Season 1." I cursed Netflix (for the first time) as I was put through 1.5 hours of musical television torture.

Have any of your spouses subjected you to this show? How do you get through it? How has this show not been canceled?

News from South Carolina

Thanks for the tips, Chris. I have like 5 albums produced after 2005 so it's time to get with it. Maybe after a few weeks of getting up to date I'll buy some skinny jeans and become an expert at DDR (dance dance revolution) like all my little sister's male friends.

In solidarity with Chris, I'll share some news about what's going on in my life these days (don't worry, this wont get weepy) which I think passes the basic requirement of "what this blog was intended for".

The news is, we are moving back to Columbia this summer. Even though it's an hour closer to everyone except Anthony, this will probably have absolutely no effect on any of your lives. But it's a lot of fun for me and Catherine. I'm going to be with the same employer, but I'll be the only person heading up an outpost office in Sumter, SC. It's about a 45 minute commute from Columbia, but we'd rather live in the "big city" with friends from grad school, things to do on the weekends, and job opportunities for Catherine.

Other benefits to moving: gives Catherine the opportunity to move on from a career track in banking that wasn't really her cup of tea, moves both of us away from my in-laws (love them lots, but they're right around the corner), and we're still a two-hour drive from all parents and beach houses. I'm still practicing personal injury law, which I'd love to expand out from, but there are still interesting challenges to meet. The real fun and challenge will be taking an ownership interest (not literally) in how the office is doing and trying to expand our presence in that area of the state. Catherine wraps up her job this week, so we'll be kind of on a shoestring until she finds something in Columbia.

As of June 1, our new address will 306 South Bonham Rd Columbia SC 29205, but it probably doesn't matter since three weeks later we'll all have been married and no more wedding invitations to send to physical addresses. Pics for your review (we're not rich; we're renting): http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/306-S-Bonham-Rd-Columbia-SC-29205/11701238_zpid/ Sorry I'm not adept at hyperlinking.

In other news, I've dropped 20 lbs and have gone back to my high school pants size of 33. Catherine did this "boot camp" that put them all on a diet of no salt, sugar, or fat. I worked out on my own, not with the boot camp, but both of us did this diet. Sugar and fat are easy to avoid; pretty much all educated people try to do it to a large extent. Salt is ridiculously difficult to avoid and basically requires you to cook 3 meals a day - meals with no flavor. No (or minimal) processed foods or eating out because they invariably add tons of salt. The only consolation is that it's "real food" - meat, pasta, carbs, eggs, all the veggies you can scarf, etc. So anyways, seeing results is nice, and hitting the beach this summer will be even nicer.

In other other news, I'm back on the Jesus train. We got involved with the church (the same church we got married at), and one weekend on a backpacking trip with the mens' group the light switch turned back on. Don't worry I haven't gone overboard or nuts. Just letting you guys know, the guys who I habitually turned down the invitation to attend mass with. The downside: not so much feeling the Catholic thing. This church is Anglican, but all dogma aside, it makes it a lot easier to attend with contemporary music and clergy you enjoy listening to.

So that's my life lately in a nutshell (how did I get into this nutshell?). My next order of business this morning is to reserve a room at the Marriott in Peabody. Look forward to seeing most of you guys soon.

Lots of love,

Pat

New Music

Gentlemen,

Molly and I are heading to Iowa this weekend to see Sam and his lovely wife. Talking with Sam before our trip, I was realizing that I hadn't listened to any new music in a while. Actually, I've been stuck in a rut of only listening to music from groups I already know. I liked the Decemberists new album, but I was missing the excitement of a new band. Long story short, I needed some road trip music, checked out Spin to see the new indie/alternative music I should be listening to, found a free 32 song best of SXSW mix, downloaded a couple albums, found more free music on Amazon. I'm still missing the days of audiogalaxy, Kazaa, and whatever that bullshit program was that Ted used on his Mac (toy), but there are actually some good new bands out there. Two that stood out to me on the 32 best of SXSW:

Grouplove - check out "Colours" and download a free live concert here. It's funny, but they are actually coming to Chicago when I'm in Iowa.

Smith Westerns - from Chicago and all under 21 (jerks). Check out "Weekend"

I'm horrible at describing bands, so you'll just have to listen for yourself. If anyone else is listening to good stuff, let me know. I've downloaded 150 songs in the last week.

Can't wait to drink Scotch and listen to music with Old Sam this weekend.

Chris

ps - Trying to prove this blog can be more than an Axford fan club.

Gentlemen,

On April 24th, the Brewers are playing the Astros. More importantly, they are giving out John Axford bobbleheads to all of the fans. This is the chance of a lifetime to have one of our best friends in bobblehead form. Who would like to go to the game with me? Seriously.

- Jonathan