Obama!!!

Family Reunion 2008

Family reunion at Natural Gait in middle-of-nowhere Iowa. Had a good time with the fam, though. We went spelunking in Spook Cave. It was pretty spooky with the religious overtone and tourist propaganda. Our guide was a 12 year old.

Feist, Indiana and Booze

Saw Feist at Ravinia on Friday. Lovely music, wine & snacks, and -thanks to Shanda- first row lawn seats. (Take that, sold out lawn!)
btw, How many trains does it take to empty Ravinia Park?

Saturday, four of us drove down to Munster, Indiana for a brewery tour at Three Floyds: Smallish building off the beaten path, garden of hops in front, various hip and underground beer art decor, philosophical tour by a very tattooed brewmaster (one of the five employees). If you don't live in select Illinois and Indiana locations, you are missing out.
Enjoyed: Alpha King and Gumballhead.

After the tour we continued the drive, making a severe storm-induced stop at a rest area where we met a pirate who told us about the time a tornado rolled his trailer home with him and his newborn in it.

Then on to Indianapolis. Since the baseball game was rained out, we walked the downtown. Ditched a kitschy place called Alcatraz before settling on Rock Bottom.
Enjoyed: Sugar Creek Pale Ale

Finished the evening at fancy Westin.
Didn't enjoy: 2007 J. Christopher /Dr. Loosen Pinot Noir -- Greg said watered down pomegranate juice so that is mostly what I tasted
Did enjoy: 2008 Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout -- delicious motor oil with molasses
Campbell's Rutherglen Tokay from Rutherglen, Australia -- caramel-colored sugar

Sunday, walked to Easley Winery for free tasting. Mostly sweet, sugary, citrus.

Bonnaroo!

Thursday, June 12
After stopping for some supplies and last pee break with plumbing, we waited in a 12 mile line for 4 hours or so. Top temp gauged by the car was 122 degrees.
By 8:30pm the camp site was set up and we had beers in our hands. The rest of the evening was spent exploring the grounds, checking out crazy fire play by the Such n Such performers, seeing Vampire Weekend and Lez Zeppelin.

Friday, June 13
Woke up around 7am as the TN sun makes a tent very warm. Relaxed under makeshift canopy then on to a little Fiery Furnaces before Janeane Garofalo and Mike Birbiglia. Got a handy bag for playing Guitar Hero Aerosmith. Caught the end of Les Claypool, got some beers from the Broo'ers tent, enjoyed Willie Nelson. After grilling, drinking, and socializing with the neighbors, we were able to see the first half of My Morning Jacket before the rain and booze got to be a little much. Fortunately, we're good at setting up tents and we slept in dry sleeping bags.

Saturday, June 14
Still rainy in the a.m., but the sun made the afternoon warm and my skin a bit red. Listened to Against Me! while waiting in line to win a 2003 Bonnaroo shirt. Adored Mason Jennings, discovered Gogol Bordello, and got a little Cat Power. Samosas are my new favorite food. At the main stage B.B. King -- amazing at age 82. Followed by another excellent performer, Ben Folds, who I want to make out with. He played Bitches Ain't Shit for the last time, supposedly. Jack Johnson was timid and charming. Pearl Jam rocked out with so many great songs. Sigur Rós surprised me by being one of the best performances. From 2:45 to 5:30am, the Kanye West fiasco. Wasn't even wanting to see him that much anyway, and waiting for 2 hours to see horrible glow in the dark show as the sun was rising... not worth it.

Sunday, June 15
Woke up at 8am with 2 hours of sleep. Took the last sink-shower of the weekend. Ate veggie kabobs in the tent to stay out of the sun then tore down the campsite. We took in the view from the top of the ferris wheel: a sea of tents and cars, and people crowded into shaded areas. Had to stop by the Cinema tent where we saw the end of The Doorman with Q&A by the doorman himself. Lost interest in the next documentary, Know Your Mushrooms, so we napped under a tree during Jakob Dylan. Stood the heat for Yonder Mountain String Band (it was worth it), walked by O.A.R. on the way to see Broken Social Scene, then finally Death Cab for Cutie. By 9pm we were on our way to Nashville for hotel = shower and comfy bed.

Definitely a great time.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Spent the afternoon in Chinatown. Ate lunch at the New Three Happiness which was a letdown in it's lack of hole-in-the-wall authenticity. Dessert was a holiday fruit pie which, apparently, is the equivalent of a Chinese fruitcake. The pastry made me a little thirsty, so it was washed down with an avocado smoothie while watching a violent Chinese soap opera. I wonder what other unusual foods you can make into smoothies. Ooh, and they have pretty jewelry in Chinatown.

I miss you, water from the faucet.

Since Tuesday morning, there has been no water in my apartment. Thanks to a broken water main, I have not been able to shower, wash my hands, flush the toilet, wash dishes, or make real meals. I feel dirty, hungry, thirsty, and I have to pee. I'm forced to blog in order to distract myself. Modern conveniences, I'm sorry I took you for granted.

Milwaukee!

First stop: the beautiful lakeside (because we saw some port-a-potties and Greg had to pee).

After a driving tour of historic Milwaukee, we stopped for a bite to eat at a sub shop run by kind hooligans. The wrapper invited us to "Moo-la-palooza!" taking place in August 2006.

Next, we headed to Lakefront Brewery where we were given the best brewery tour ever. After downing three beers and filling up a fourth, the tour began. We learned about how beer is made according to Reinheitsgebot, examined a hops plant, walked through the brewing and bottling processes (I learned what a bung hole is), then drank some more beer. And we got lovely pint glasses.

Afterward, we decided to take in more culture at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Maybe it was because I had just been at a brewery, but I was very fascinated with the interactive barmaid.

The design of the building was cool, but also confusing, and the floor of the museum had apparently erupted in places, and there were seismometers measuring the movement of the floor, and the security guards were following us, and the barmaid showed up in another piece, and there was a suitcase that opened up to the basement. So I got a little freaked out and we left.

We finished the day by window shopping downtown and eating some Thai.

The only disappointment was that the cheese castle was closed. Guess we'll have to do that next time.