Happy Thanksgiving Gang

This year's thanksgiving was very pleasant. It was probably the most relaxed T-Day I've ever had! How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

Chi>Mad-town>HipHop>Trapeze>Scorpio Party>Chi

I've been on the go every day for the last 2 months. I've covered a ton of ground and I kind of saw this cold coming from around the corner. My eyes felt a little itchy and I started sneezing last Wednesday... and that's how it starts. I knew a cold was gonna come. I braced myself for the worse, but I still fought it long enough to go up to Madison.
My original intention was to help Natty Nation script out a business plan, but then Moona called and mentioned she'd pick up a ticket to Del The Funky Homosapien for Saturday night... and I was sold. While I was on my way up I made the general calls to friends. I didn't see a bunch of people I would have like to have, but the time I did get to spend with friends was quality.
Unfortunately, Moona didn't make it through the night. She was a trooper. We both had colds, but she wasn't about to let her sickness get in the way of her having a good time. Of course, OTC cold medicine and alcohol (vodka & sake) and sushi don't mix very well. She started looking a lil green behind the gills just before our group headed off to the B-more... she made it as far as the side of the theatre before losing her cookies. Even after that she decided to come inside the show... now that's dedication for ya! I felt for her, but I also had to say hello to a ton of friends at the B-more. I'd only taken a couple of pseudoephedrine HCL tablets and felt great until I found out that Justine sent Moona home in a cab.
Later that night, Yaniv & I headed over to the Great Dane where Brother Ali was throwin' down. It was probably one of the best nights of hip hop Madison had ever seen.
Eventually, I made it back to Yaniv's place and crashed. I woke up and headed over to see how Moona was holding up. Instead of going out for breakfast, I went with Yaniv to his Trapeze class. The class was held on State St. on the third floor of what I thought was an office building. Inside was a naturally brightly lit room with white 25' cielings from which 4 trapeze were suspended above a hard pine floor... no net. The class seemed pretty fun. I'm not very touchy feely, and the instruction came off as one of those "reach out with your feelings" kind of events. Definitely, the words that come to mind when using aparatus is form, followed by function (because of my gymnastics background)... however it seemed that technique took a back seat. Maybe because it was a beginners class, they wanted everyone to feel comfortable and excited about it and generally, you don't get that when your instructors are barking at you "Point your toes! Throw your head back! Keep your leg straight!" We'll see what the pictures look like.
By the time we got out of there, I was good an hungry. We had some food and drinks over at the State Bar & Grill and watched Green Bay stomp Minnesota through the first half. After that I finally made my way out to see Aaron & Laduma. As I wrote notes to what will soon be a working business plan we watched the Vikings win the second half, but not the game. Go Pack! By the time the night came. I met back up with Moona, Justine & Yaniv. We went to "The Portal" a new little club off of Willy St. and had some great hors d'eurves, drinks and even a little dance party. It was was a Scorpio themed party w/ a dress code (men wear black, women wear red). We danced. We talked. We drank. All in all I had a good time!
Monday morning Justine and I drove off back to Chicago. The cold has come back in full force and I even stayed home a day to recouperate. I'm down to my last couple of pseudophed tabs, which is fine because I'm on the tail end of the having this cold... I'm also about on the tail end of this stories. Happy birthday to all you Scorpios out there! I hope you have a great year!

Rope-a-Dope New Music Seminar @ Park West - Chicago

Very rarely is there a concert with the capable musicianship to create such a dyanamic range styles and genres. There are a number of different artists on the tour. Some of which I've worked with back in the day, like Charlie Hunter (of which I'm a huge fan). Now mix that with Lyrics Born, Skerik w/ Critters Buggin, Marco Benevento & Joe Russo, Sex Mob, DJs... some more funky crunchy spinners/scratchers.
All I can say is that my buddy Broncho working with the Duo and I spoke to him on their first day of the tour and he said its already pretty crazy. By the time I got to the show Charlie told me that he's probably either flying or driving solo for the rest of the tour... that crazy. I wasn't exactly sure what the problem was. I know a few of these guys (Broncho, Marco, & Joe) and I'm pretty sure I'd get along alright with them on the road.
Before the show started I met up with Suzi around the corner from the Park West for a drink. She was with a group of friends and coworkers, most of which were coming to the show. They'd been prepartyin' for a while by the time I made it downtown. So we didn't stay long before we walked across the street to the venue.
The cellist Matt Haimovitz kicked off the show. The crowd listened attentively as he turned it up and cranked out a Hendrix-ish sounding National Anthem.
Angela & Missy came in shortly after he left the stage and caught most of the show. I'm very glad I got them to come out as opposed to seeing The Roots or Fat Boy Slim (who were also playing that night). They had a great time! And then of course there are all of those people who I didn't expect to see, but was really happy I saw, like Nathan. He was on his way to Costa Rica... and I seriously looked into flying out on a whim to hang in San Jose. I guess that's me!
As the evening progressed, performers would interchange. One of the highlights for me was Lyrics Born with Benevento/Russo Duo playing Bad Dreams, but the night really belonged to the Duo. Marco & Joe went off!
After the show I might have found out why Charlie wanted to go solo. We had "The Party Bus" late night dance party on the tourbus where we pollished off the rest of the catering rider. The night didn't even end after that. We made our way to the Metro to check out Fat Boy Slim, but by the time we got there, the show was over, so we went downstairs where the girls danced... I wasn't feelin' it too much. I guess I'm just not a big fan of house.

Fast Forward to Present

In the past 2 weeks I:
got back from Venice, CA.
got a ticket to Rome, Italy for Xmas through the first week of January.
hung out with my brother in Chicago! He flew in to vote!
went to some killer Halloween Parties 2004-10-30!
saw the String Cheese Incident on Halloween in Madison (I had a blast) 2004-10-31.
found out that an old friend gave birth on Halloween 2004-10-31!
got macked 2004-10-31.
campaigned in Madison, WI in the cold and the rain 2004-11-01.
sprained my ankle 2004-11-01.
drank at the Weary Traveller 2004-11-01.
voted 2004-11-02.
drank some more at the Menona Terrace 2004-11-02.
saw Arthur Miller's "Finishing the Picture" with my family 2004-11-03.
saw Mike Farina DJ at the Metro 2004-11-05.
saw Particle & DJ Harry Play at the Park West 2004-11-06.
went back to work.
closed deals with Gander Mountain, Kum 'n Go, & FAO Schwarz!