Song of the Day - "Perfect Strangers Theme"

I have had a goal for the last ten years or so to turn this show into a Broadway musical. Since everything seems to be a fucking musical these days, I think my plan needs to come to fruition finally.

The setup is perfect. Vaguely Greek fish out of water/gay dude from Beverly Hills Cop, high flying Peter Pan pitchman. Lots of chicks with (presumably) feathered hair and pastels. The whitest description of Chicago ever portrayed in entertainment. And doesn't the tune make you want to take the world by the short hairs? "My life, my dreams, NOTHING'S GONNA STOP ME NOW!" How could it fail?

I'm going to Chi City next week for work. I may have to start doing some preliminary research while I'm there for my $10 million idea...

Winnipeg Day 2 & 3

Okay, so it's been a busy week since I returned from Winnipeg. I figure that I should at least finish what I started with a day two rundown of the trip, you know.

Most of day two in Winnipeg was spent dodging drunken Indian folk waiting at bus stops (again) and acquiring Canadian stuff. I bought a "Canada" Starbucks mug, a shit ton of Canadian goodies that you can't find here (Ketchup and All Dressed chips, a Cadbury Halloween assortment, Aero Bars) and ate some Boston's. Yes, I broke my trip rule and ate at a chain restaurant we have in the U.S. But at least I ordered a Molson "M"...which was like a boozier, skunkier version of Canadian. It was wonderful.

The whole draw of the trip was seeing Pearl Jam. And holy shit, they did not dissapoint. We ended up sitting 4th row, and at one point I was like ten feet from Eddie Vedder. I've been close at concerts to artists before, but never someone of the magnitude of Mister Vedder. I have a weird quirk where I don't really view celebrities or musicians as real people, they kind of exist as a cross between a demigod and a robot in my odd mind. So being that close to one of my favorite artists of all time blew my cranium up in ways I can't really put into words other than "fucking rad".

The set list was nowhere near as mind blowing as the two nights in Alpine Valley, but it was solid. I never much cared for the song 'Present Tense' but PJ was on some chhhuuuuuuch shit doing it live. It was my second favorite live moment by the band (numero uno was 'In My Tree' live at the PJ20 shows). And they closed with 'Indifference', which meant over the course of two weeks I pretty much got to see all of Ten and .vs done live.

Checkout time from the shit hole known as the Marlborough Hotel was probably the biggest buzzkill I have ever experienced. My friends driver side window was smashed in (probably by the awesomely named Winnipeg gang "Money Over Bitches"). Since the city is closed on Sundays, we had to drive 7 hours home with an open window. Not even the awesomeness of Tim Horton's could save the return.

Overall, the trip to the great white north was pretty so-so. Canada has it's own social problems (that I didn't ever expect to and never have come across up there) but at least Pearl Jam rocked. Maybe if they play Toronto or Thunder Bay or something next time, I'd be more pumped. Winnipeg is going to be on the "do not visit" list for the forseeable future though.

Song of the Day - 'Redemption' by Frank Turner

This song comes on like a transmission from some other time, when songwriters (well, besides maybe Craig Finn) could be vunreable, could be a fucked up mess. This is about as far away from pop music as you can get today, and that's a very good thing. Leave the party to clowns like LMFAO, let's hear some goddamn real talk for once.

Is the grass always greener on the other side when you are in a meandering relationship? Can we make our lives better than our parents? We all may think that it's better with someone new, that a college degree or a better car than mom and dad is a win. Usually that's not the case, and you want back with that old flame or you respect what your elders had that you don't.

The whole "England Keep My Bones" album is fantastic, but this is the cut that you will keep coming back to.

Song of the Day - R.E.M. - Leaving New York

R.E.M. was around so damn long it seemed people forgot about just how awesome they were. This makes my top five R.E.M songs list, and is one that most people slept on. I could have as easily have gone with 'At My Most Beautiful' or 'Bang and Blame' or 'Mine Smell Like Honey' as another great overlooked single.

Cheers to 31 years, for inventing (along with The Replacements, Husker Du, The Minutemen, et al) Alt Rock Nation. And for providing me with the cassingle for 'Shiny Happy People' when I was 10...

Winnipeg Day 1

The Great White North is riddled with homeless Indian punks...or that is what I took away from my first night in Winnipeg.

I left MPLS at 8 yesterday to head up to Winnipeg for a Pearl Jam show. The drive only took about seven hours, bit felt much longer because I was driving through the barren wasteland that in North Dakota. The only Ndak highlight was stopping at a gas station called Superpumper (which I will call the first porn I direct). At about 4PM we rolled into the land that 1989 forgot...Winnipeg.

Everything here looks like a suburb circa 1989. Tons of neon signage for gas stations, grocery stores and fast food places. Lots of sweatpants. It's sort of comforting in it's time warpedness. As we were about to go out and enjoy some Poutine for the evening, I got harassed for 35 cents by a homeless Indian in a Winnipeg Blue Bombers hat (the script kind that Rappers used to wear in the late 80s). I also watched a bunch of Indian punks in Tupac and Kimbo Slice hoodies loiter at a bus stop. It was sort of surreal. In MPLS, you can go a lifetime without seeing an Indian hip hop punk. Here, I saw 10 in five minutes.

Anyways, the Poutine was delicious. There were three news stories in thirty minutes about the Jets coming back, my credit card stopped working due to it crossing an international border, and I passed out after three beers at 11pm ( only to be awakened mid sleep by my neighbors headboard slamming on the wall). Very odd evening and I hope day 2 turns out a tad less odd.

Song of the Day - 'Here You Come Again' by Dolly Parton

This sounds like sunshine. It is like bouncing down a sidewalk on a summer day, bomb pop in hand, on the way to 7-Eleven to buy some baseball cards.

I would like to dedicate it to Tom Brady, because your supreme masculinity, flowing hair, dime piece wifey and football godhood make me fall for you. Like Debbie Gibson, I get lost. Lost in your eyes.

1994 MTV Rock N Jock Basketball

I cannot describe how giddy I was to find this on YouTube today.

You've got Rapaport, you've got Queen Latifah ballin' out of control. Shawn Kemp treating this game like it's the fucking actual All-Star game. The legendary Bellamy-Cortese rivalry. Kareem coaching. Mad buttcuts on the white dudes. The 25 point shot!Did I mention Rapaport?

I would kill for this to be released on DVD. This is the visual equivalent of Prozac, it's guaranteed to break you out of a funk.