Welcome to Wisconsin

Today, I did the unthinkable and set my alarm on a Saturday to get up early! I had to be ready by 10am for my dad (ADV) to pick me up for our trip up to Milwaukee to see my aunt and cousin. The drive wasn’t that bad, even for me who hates being in the car for very long. I brought my gameboy with and played some Metroid Fusion. I just now realized I left the f’n thing in my Dad’s car though! I hope I can get in touch with him in time before he goes back, else I am fucked!

We made good time getting up there and I made good progress in my game. We sat around and talked for awhile, well actually it was more like we all sat around and listened to my dad talk. It is hard to get a word in usually when more than one person is in the room. My allergies started acting up pretty early because of the cat and dog, and I did not have any medicine so I was suffering. Luckily I didn’t have to suffer very long before we left to go get lunch. I forgot the name of the place we ate at, but it was the same place we went to the last time. I had a grilled cheese w/bacon and fries. It was alright. I got to talk to my cousin through most of the lunch. He is different every time I see him, which admittedly isn’t’ that often. After we exchanged gifts, my dad and I hit the road because I had some important record shopping to get to!

We went to Atomic Records. I was hoping they’d have the new reissue of the Big Boys – Wreck Collection (as it contains much bonus material) but I was SOL. I did manage to pick up a pretty good stack of new vinyl, and a couple new zines as well. No used or rare stuff however. The next stop was Farwell Music, which is a used store for the most part with some new. I found absolutely nothing there, a total bust! It was probably for the best though as I am low on the funds and I shouldn’t have dropped the green I did at the first store.

As we headed back to IL, we stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle. This place is the epitome of WI! I got two tubs of King of Clubs cheese, which is the best cheese of all, especially when you spread it on those El Ranchero chips. I also got some root beer and string cheese for the ride back as well and snacked on that, which actually ended up being my dinner. Also 2 doors down was Bobby Nelsons where I got a thing of their amazing Summer Sausage, which I will bust out along with the cheese tomorrow for the WWF PPV.

When I got home, I had about a half hour or so in which to relax and then clean up to head back out to go downtown to meet Thor and see Alanis. She played at the Chicago Theatre. I don’t’ recall for sure if I have ever been there. It was a beautiful old theatre and turned out to be a great place to see a show. I would go see more shows there because the venue had this going for it:

1. There is no smoking! I was so elated to be able to breathe when I got home I did not smell like an ashtray and require another shower before bed! They should make this a law!
2. They sold snacks! They had chips and candy bars! Why doesn’t every venue do this?!
3. The staff was all very polite. It was really a pleasant experience

The show itself was excellent. I am only familiar with a handful of Alanis’ songs, but I always thought she was OK. The sound was perfect, and she put on a great show and is quite talented. This was all enhanced by the great venue and the fact that it was FREE! Thor scored free tickets. I knew there was no parking anywhere to be had in that area for less than 15 bucks, so I parked a mile away right next to the L stop and took the L to the venue, which is right next to the L stop on State St. So it only cost me $3 instead of 15 which was great. I wanted to eat Potbellys before the show, as the one on State is right across the street, but they were not open. Apparently that one is only open during normal business hours for the Loop. What a letdown!

After the show, Thor and I hit the L and went our separate ways. The traffic back from the show was a hell of a lot better than the traffic getting there, so the trip home was smooth sailing, which I thought was going to be the end of a nice day but there was more waiting for me when I got home!

I got home to find an email from Brian of JFA. There is a reissue in the works of their early stuff, and he asked me to write a paragraph about early memories of the band to be included in the liner notes! I was honored to be asked, and I will be writing it tomorrow.

Oh – and it looks like my split 7″ is a go. Details to follow soon!