Smoking Popes

I tried something for the first time tonight. I went to a concert......by myself. I must admit, I was a little hesitant about it. Going to a concert by yourself doesn't sound like fun on paper (ironically, my ultimate job would be scouting bands where I would then be doing a lot of solo-concert going). But the Popes were playing up in Hollywood tonight and I had no choice but to go and see them. Although I did try to get someone to come with me, my effort was minimal. The Popes are a tough sell and difficult understand the appeal if you don't have a history with them. So I was there simply for the music and to critique the band.

I saw some things at this Smoking Popes show that I never saw at any of the Duvall shows (Duvall consisted of members of the Popes). I saw decent looking girls dancing. I saw guys hurrying to the bar to buy rounds of beers and cheersing their friends during certain songs. I saw Matt Carterer pounding a beer and cheersing the crowd. I saw Josh rock out harder than I have ever seen him before as well as doing a lot of solo improv.

I could not have been happier for those guys. Josh, Eli, and Matt each had the biggest smiles on their faces. I too had a huge smile on my face and even found myself laughing out loud at certain times out of pure happiness. I grew up on the Smoking Popes, but never had an opportunity to see them live and assumed I never would. I'm sure there were many times in which the Smoking Popes never thought they would get back together and tour. Somehow they regrouped and it was obvious to me they were enjoying every minute of it. It seems as though this goofy band made up of three brothers from Carpentersville, IL are finally content with their place in music and, more importantly, their place in life.

It is great to see a concert in which I not only know every song, but knew every lyric to every song and every solo to every song. I felt like I have been with the Popes through the good and through the bad, and this time, they got things right.

As I watched this great show, I felt like everyone that has been with the Popes along their journey was somehow enjoying the show with me. To think of the time TC got thrown in jail trying to see Duvall at the Metro or when Soham and others understandably walked out at one show. It's safe to say, we have all come a long way, as have the Popes.

And the future looks very bright. They played a new song that will be on their next album. They have a new drummer that is awesome. From what I can tell, it looks like the true Popes are back. Hopefully this time it will be for good.

New Year's Video

Sorry, no audio.

Justin Ruane in the House!

Ruane moved out to San Diego three weeks ago and was up in LA for the weekend a week ago. He is on a path well traveled; from the Chicago suburbs to southern California. He packed up his belongings and hit the road, not entirely sure where he was going to be working and living and not knowing who he was going to be spending his time with. I can definitely say.....I've been there. I hope it will work out as well for him as it has for me, and I think it probably will. He wants to get into production so he is looking for work as a Production Assistant which I am trying to help him out with. We went out with Monique and the Chicas on the Saturday night he was here. We went to this club called the Cabana Club. The place was impressive, mostly outdoors but had a bunch of different rooms with completely different shit going on in each one. It was 20 to get in and 10 a drink, but worth it.

Ruane contributed a great line on Saturday afternoon that I haven't heard in awhile, if ever. "Pizza: even when it's bad, it's still pretty good." It's so true, how many things can you say that about? In fact, Rachel Monson is the only human being I have ever met that dislikes pizza.

























































Although I am completely confident that Ruane will fall into a great situation out here in Southern California, he definitely has his work cut out for him. This morning Monique knocked on my door and said "Marc, I made you breakfast in bed." Eggs, bacon, Monique-specialty french toast with bananas, a nice tall glass of oj. Let's just put it this way, things aren't bad around here.

I asked her, "Moniezi, what your are plans for the day?" She responded, "Oh, nothing much, just trying to get my room cleaned up before the maids come tomorrow." Don't worry, it doesn't make sense to me either.

San Diego

I cruised down to San Diego a few months ago to visit Annie and Mary. Alison flew in from Chicago with Katie and Princess flew in from Phoenix. I expected wanting to put a bullet in my brain by the end of the night, but I actually had a really good time seeing the girls and meeting their friends. Annie and Mary had been up in LA a few weeks prior to try out for the show The Amazing Race on CBS. Supposedly, they thought Annie was great, but thought Mary was too boring so they didn't get picked. Annie is currently hosting some sort of TV show and I think she has gotten a little bit hotter but that needs to be confirmed, Mary is dating some dude that went to Harvard, Princess is still an evil fire-breathing demonic vulture that I cannot get myself to dislike for some reason, and Al is still number one sede. That's San Diego in a nutshell.

Surreal

For those of us that attended Steeple Run Elementary School, you might find this as surreal as I do. My mom just accepted a job as a kindergarten teacher there. The other kindergarten teacher is Mrs. Clark, she taught first grade back when we were in first grade 17 years ago. I was talking with Grimaldi this weekend about Steeple Run and he was telling all his roommates that it was the coolest elementary school because the playground burned to the ground three summers in a row.

Hats

So my new thing now is I make my own hats. Soham, does this statement mean anything to you? This is what you called me when you saw pics of me from Wales. I don't know, maybe I was a Eurotrash Hipster Doofus. TC, thanks for the shirt.



















Me in Wales...

Coincidence?

I recently purchased a subscription to Yahoo! Music Unlimited, which lets me download as much music as I want on to my computer. It's a lot like I-Tunes in the way you have to buy the songs if you want to put them on cds or mp3s, except there is a year service charge and each song is $.79. Yahoo provides a section for recommended artists of the bands that I have already downloaded, and after a while of downloading a shit-load of old 90's alternative one-hit wonders; I came across this artist.

http://www.julianahatfield.com/index.htm

Does anyone else find this fucked up.

Just a little reminder about some Pjam updates.

First the good, tonight Pjam is on Letterman at 10:30. Also, if you go to the Pearl Jam website there is a link to some CBS site because after Pearl Jam tapes their Letterman performance they will do a small set at some famous theatere in New York and you can watch it online.

Now the bad. As many of you know, Pearl Jam just released their new self-titled album, "Pearl Jam." As an avid Pearl Jam fan, and as Billy would say, "the only band I know," I rushed out to the store and purchased the C.D hours after its release. On my way home from work on Tuesday, I listned to the first half of the C.D and was very impressed. I went to bed that night dreaming of Eddy and looked forward to going to work a little bit early the next day so I could finish going through the C.D for the first time, I left about a half hour early. As I walked to my car, I noticed all of this crystal/prisim looking shit on my front passanger seat. I thought to myself, why the hell is there snow in my car. Then I realized that my window must be cracked. I assumed that some of the construction next to my car must have cracked my window. As I started coming to reality, I look in my car a little closer to notice that there was no longer a front passanger side window and it was spilled all over my front seat. Also, the whole front console of my car was completely ripped out and destroyed. Someone broke in to my car that night and stole my C.D player, all of associated wiring, and most importantly my brand new cherished Pearl Jam C.D.

I really have learned nothing from this experience other than the fact, that Pearl Jam is a hot commodity, I fucking hate crooks, and if you want to break in a car you will get away with it becaus the cops just take down some info for insurance purchases. So my bit of advice, cherish your new PJam C.D. if you have purchased it already, and don't park on the street where crooks are scoping you out. Fuck the Crooks.

-True Story

Can someone tell me how the fuck to use this spell check without loosing my post.

Sundino Has a New Friend in Phoenix

I guess we can chalk this one up as another professional athlete that Scabbies can brag about being friends with. The funny thing is, Scabbies actually does know him. We all do.

Flight of the Phoenix
McCareins family expands in NFL, Jay joins Cardinals
By Brad Engel
STAFF WRITER-Naperville Sun

Name: Jay McCareins
Position: Cornerback
Height: 5-11
Weight: 196
College: Princeton
High school: Naperville North
Career highlights
• Led the country with nine interceptions and made the 2005 Associated Press, Sports Network and Walter Camp All-American teams
• Scored four touchdowns in 2005 — on two interceptions, one kickoff return and a missed field goal
• Recorded 18 interceptions in four years with the Tigers

When Jay McCareins learned he was going to become a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night, he was driving a pair of wide receivers from his home in Naperville back to Midway Airport.
McCareins, his older brother Justin of the New York Jets and former Princeton teammate Clinton Wu had left his draft-day party for the airport when agent Cliff Brady delivered the good news. McCareins will report to Arizona on Thursday for a mini camp that takes place Friday through Sunday.
"I'm overjoyed," said McCareins on Monday, once again at the airport as he planned to board a plane back to college. "It was just a rough day overall. It's an up-and-down emotional thing, because I was getting continuous phone calls all day (Sunday). It (stinks) because you're like, 'I hope, I hope, I hope this could be the phone call,' and then it's not."
McCareins left the decision between Carolina and Arizona in good hands with Brady, because he knows the teams best. Brady, player-agent to Justin through contracts with the Tennessee Titans and Jets, now has Jay in camp with an up-and-coming team that did not draft any cornerbacks or safeties.
The Cardinals would not comment on signing McCareins, because it's not yet official on their end. McCareins was expecting to receive and sign the necessary paperwork Monday but told The Sun how it shook out anyway.
"Arizona called and they were saying, 'We're not drafting any secondary players but you would be one of our top free agents coming in, in the secondary. We have a young team, obviously, no one's proven themselves to be stars so whoever can play is gonna play,'" McCareins said.
"So I feel like it's a great opportunity."
McCareins led the nation with nine interceptions and made three Division I-AA All-American teams in 2005. He's a corner with big-play ability on special teams also. As a senior, he not only returned two interceptions for touchdowns but also returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and a missed field goal 100 yards for another one.
Brady said Pittsburgh became the third finalist for McCareins' services, but the Steelers wanted McCareins to come into camp as a safety and compete with a safety they drafted in the second round. Brady nearly agreed to terms with the Panthers, but they drafted a corner in Round 2 and were looking more for a nickel back and return specialist.
"His competition is gonna be two other free-agent defensive backs after the draft and then some guys who made the team last year as free agents," Brady said. "So you gotta like the fact that they keep some undrafted free agents on the team. The money was fairly equal, and Arizona was even kind enough to throw in a couple more grand and sweeten the pot."
New Orleans and Philadelphia also called on draft day, as did Chicago — which Brady thought liked McCareins the most — but the Bears took themselves out of the picture in a hurry by drafting defensive backs with their first two picks overall. (The Cardinals will host the Bears on Monday, Oct. 16).
While earnestly wanting to get selected during the first seven rounds this weekend, McCareins said whether drafted or not, he still has to enter training camp ready to perform in order to make the team.
"Obviously, I can't be upset I didn't get drafted," McCareins said. "My mom and dad didn't raise me to deal with what could have happened, but more with what I am doing."

Creating "Home"

On the wake of Pearl Jam releasing their latest album tomorrow and with plans in order to see the band in Vegas in July, here are lyrics to one of my favorite PJam songs. It probably isn't their best song, but is, in my opinion, one of their coolest. From what I have read, the lyrics speak to the times Eddie spent at Matt Lukin's house, a good friend of his who was also the bassist for Mudhoney, the band that basically started mainstream grunge music. In some ways, these lyrics remind me of the great times spent at JDs house throughout high school. JD has been faced with difficult issues related recently to a literal lack of home and over the years a "home" that probably felt, to him, anything but. But I think I speak for everyone when I say that his residence truly was our home away from home during those years, and I have always felt at home wherever he has lived; Naperville or Dekalb. I think it is a credit to him that he can create a "home" atmosphere in all the places he has lived; it was certainly not the easiest thing to do. At JDs everyone felt welcomed, comfortable, and could be themselves. "Now I know life's worth."

"Lukin"

Drive down the street can't find the keys to my own fucking home
I take a walk so I can curse my ass for being dumb
I make a right after the arches. . . stinking grease and bone
Stop at the supermarket. . . people stare like I'm a dog
I'm gone to Lukin's...
I gotta spot at Lukin's
Unlock the door at Lukin's. . . open the fridge
Now I know life's worth
I find the key but I return to find an open door
Some fucking freak who claims I fathered by rape, her own son
I find my wife. I call the cops. This day's work's never done.
The last I heard the freak was purchasing a fucking gun.