My Thursday with Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers

It was hard to keep focused yesterday at work, but thankfully, I didn’t have that much going on. You would think that after 20+ years of going to see Squeeze in its many different lineups, that seeing Glenn Tilbrook perform with his Fluffers wouldn’t have that kind of effect on me. But when it comes right down to it, he turns me into a tittering pre-teen every single time.

Glenn played at the House of Blues on the tiny Backyard Stage. What this meant for me was that I could go there right after work, plop down at the bar, and wait for my friends. And this is just what I did. I don’t usually go to bars and hang out by myself, but somehow, pre-show, this never bothers me. Lots of people go to shows early, and I often find the regulars and chat with them.

Katie Perry was the headliner on the main stage, and boy does she have a lot of fans! It seems that parents ignored the “21 and over” warning on the tickets for the most part, because I watched a lot of angry mothers argue with the poor ticket guy, demanding to see the manager. I wonder how many people actually got to see the show after they turned all of those people away? Anyhow, the only think I know about Katie Perry is that she apparently kissed a girl, and she liked it enough to make a hit song about the experience.

So there I sat at the bar, watching the action, trying to pace myself on the vanilla vodka and 7-Up. I listened to the sound check and although the entire band was at the bar too, I left them alone. Experience has taught me not to bother them before the show. My friends finally showed up at about 6:30, and I was already pretty well lit by all accounts. 1-L had managed to get us reservations in the main dining room, where we ate expensive salads and inhaled more vodka drinks. An excellent combination.

Around 7, a blues singer appeared on the stage, and was largely ignored. When the doors opened at 8 there were no teaming masses. There were a few usual suspects – Jackie, Rodney, Tom, and I should have been reassured that nobody would try to take my place in front of the stage, slightly to the right, where Glenn can see me as he sings.

Our friend Bill had gotten us tickets to the Founder Room – a very posh suite of rooms, actually, done up in an Asian theme. Elephants, Budas, and sequins cover everything. It is very comfortable and the drinks are more expensive up there. You can watch the main stage from the Founder Room, but not the stage we were set to see. I was already itching to mingle with the Fluffers, so I ordered my drink and beat it back downstairs.

I ran into Stephen Large (keyboard player extraordinaire) and chatted with him about Facebook, of all things. Then his wife Lucy (bass) joined us for a bit and we reminisced about the last time they were in town, and the wild night of excess we enjoyed at the Green Mill. Ah, it is nice to be remembered! Finally, Simon the drummer came by, and I sent him chasing after the disappointed 13-year old fans of Katie Perry. We talked about Lucy and Stephen’s trip to New Zealand a bit, and then they had to go to the paid meet and greet. But see? Why buy the whole cow when you can get the milk for free?


As the opening band came on (I don’t remember their names, but they were quite good) I spotted Glenn. (at the bar, natch.) I went over and said hello, had a quick hug and he promised to have some time after the show for chatting.

Near the end of the opening band’s set, Glenn and the Fluffers came on and sang … something. Luckily, I recorded this bit, so I’ll be posting what I can as soon as I figure out how to do that.

Terry Hemmert from WXRT is such a love. She’s been on the radio my entire life, and her Breakfast with the Beatles is one of the only radio shows I go out of my way to listen to. (The other being This American Life on NPR). She was as excited as I was to be there, and I believe her when she said she felt honored to introduce the Band. She said some nice words, which I also attempted to record, and then the first 45-minute set began:

Cash Machine
Through the Net
She Makes me
Slap & Tickle
Interest & Love
Product
Best of Times

Then Glenn announced that the next song would require a bit of help from the audience, since the vocals on the album were done by Johnny Depp, but Johnny wasn’t in attendance this evening. A couple of people volunteered themselves – albeit weakly – so some of my friends started pushing at me to join him on stage. So I did. My job was to say , “Too close to the sun,” whenever Glenn nodded his head. Easy enough job. This was my second duet with Glenn, actually. I got to play the part of Elvis Costello during “From a Whisper to a Scream” 10 years ago or so.

Anyway, being on stage with him is just tremendous. I kept forgetting to watch his head, because he was standing right next to me, doing that THING he does with the guitar, his fingers flying furiously over the frets. I can only speak in hyperbole when I talk about Glenn on the guitar. When the song was over, I got a thank you, a big hug, and a round of applause from the audience. Nobody took pictures, and that’s too bad.

So then the concert continued with
Black Sheep
Untouchable
And Tempted
And then Glenn announced intermission.

This gave me time to get another unneeded drink. I was feeling no pain, having a great time, and before I knew it, the Band was back on the stage. Set two consisted of:
Hostage
Is that Love
Still (my favorite song from the new album)
Relentless Pursuit
Beachland Ballroom
One for the Road
Parallel World
Up the Junction

During this set, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Stephen. He does things to a keyboard Mozart would never have dreamed of. I tried to get some shots of him, but he moves so quickly, pictures of him are just a blur.



The encore was Take Me I’m Yours. The opening band joined them on stage for this. They made such a big sound, and wow, was it fun! As it often does, Take Me I’m Yours morphed into Funkytown, and then Loving You. Stephen lays under the keyboards for this number, legs in the air, simulating being loved.

Then the show was over. 1-L, Bill, and Kelly made a quick exit, and Jackie and I headed for the merchandise table where we were greeted right away by the Fluffers. I had them all sign my CD – something I don’t do very often. I had a nice chat with Lucy before Glenn came over. I actually had a very nice sit-down chat with him. He told me about how he quit smoking through hypnosis (one visit, worked right away) and we talked about how difficult it is for him to remember names and places. (He claims to forget his wife’s name on occasion.) We talked about the on-line community he’s built, the Glenn List (Yahoo Group) and how unbelievably tired he was. That was my cue to leave.



In the meantime, Jackie was feeding the rest of the band some fancy self-made confections. I went over to say my goodbyes. There was mention of me going to see them in Cleveland tonight, but that was just the Vodka talking. I’d love to go visit my friend Paula in Cleveland, but since I have a guest staying with me, this isn’t really in the cards.

I took a cab home. It turns out that my cab driver was from Albania, and he talked at length about how Albanian is the first language on the planet, and how they taught the Greeks everything they know. Oddly, my Albanian cab driver spoke with a very pronounced Greek accent. When I mentioned it to him, he corrected me: “Greeks speak with an Albanian accent.” Ok, I stand corrected.

Somehow, I got him to stop talking long enough to get out of the cab and tiptoe inside. I have no recollection of cooking and eating an egg, but the signs are everywhere.

Touched, and Not Just In The Head

For all of you who forced me into acknowledging the inevitable, thank you!

Particularly:

Betster - For the Eddie Izzard DVD. And by the way, thank you for introducing me to him in the first place.
Bev - For the strudel, dinner, the "theater," a day of just being stupid, free and old.
GeeZee - For the milk frother that not only matches the French press, but works like a charm, the angel/devil duckies, and for putting up with me the night before.
Josh and Lauren - For my new favorite necklace. So beautiful, so generous!
Lilster - For David Sedaris' latest, and the George Harrison biography.
Mikey - For the entire ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT series. How do I love you? I'm still counting the ways.
Stenns - For the Very Serious Reading Material and the Coldplay CD.

And to all the friends and family who called, sent cards and condolences: Aunt Ruth, Barbara & Ev, Bari, Chantal, Günter, Jodie & Tony, Kallenberg, Karl & Steph, Little Guy, Sqwali, Marise, Rebbecca, and Romeo.

I am truly blessed to have all of you!

Beginning of Week II

The last few days have reminded me that 'busy' can exist without 'hectic'.

On Wednesday I did more touristy things, and surpise, surprise, it was another rainy day. I walked back into the First District and stopped at the St. Peter's Church, a baroque number that is as beautiful as many as I've seen around Europe. Lots of gold and marble. Then I wandered off into the shopping area where I bought postcards. I haven't addressed them or written them or anything, but be on the lookout: part of my plan for today is to work on that.

Then it was off to the Naschmarkt, which as the name suggests, is all about food. It is a 1.5 km stretch between the Linke and Rechteweinzeilen with vendors selling food of all kinds. Fresh vegetables and fruits, some of them really exotic, share center stage with the cut flowers. There are stores with health food products and several chinese groceries. Prevalent are the Turkish stands selling cherry tomatoes and peppers stuffed with feta cheese, olives, kebabs and other meat-on-a-stick type products. To get your attention, they yell, 'MY LADY' in as many languages as you can before you pass their stall.

There were stalls with alcoholic wares and sweets that I was tempted to try out, but it was so crowded despite the rain that the idea of opening my wallet seemed like a bad one.

I finally ended up in a cafe house for lunch, where I decadently ordered a Topefenstrudel (sweet cheese strudel) and a melange. And yes, that was my lunch. I mean, why should I suck down a big salad or something, when really all I want is a strudel?

Then I walked on over to the Museums Quarter and into the Leopold Museum for more art. On permanent display is the largest collection of works by Austrian artist Egon Schiele, an expressionist and cubist, plus other Austrians of the same period; Richard Gerstil, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka. The few Klimt items on display were not the huge Jugendstil informed paintings expected of him, with highly detailed, gilded dresses. He did some surprisingly realistic work, including portraits and landscapes.

The main exhibition hall featured work by Albin Egger-Lienz. The display takes up nearly an entire floor, and was for the most part so gruesome, I sort of ran through it. He did some very realistic work as a field painter during WWI, apparently on-site, of battles and fallen soldiers. Some of the portraits were clearly meant to show how war as anti-humanistic and and anti-heroic, but I couldn't deal with it.

Then I walked my way back home and cooked dinner for my host and his friend. Several bottles of Burgenländishe Sauvignon Blanc were ingested, life was good, if not somewhat fuzzy.

Thursday was a holiday here, and I used the time to hop a train and visit friends from grad school in Salzburg, Paul and Doris. They have two beautiful little ones and a new house in the middle of nowhere in a part of upper-Austria known as the Mühlviertel. We did some walking around in his little town, I saw where he worked, where he lived, and his local hangout. Then we toured around Linz, ventured up to the closed castle, tried to climb the Pestsäule and sampled some local beer. (Wieselburger).

The next day found us up early, courtesy of his two children. We drank some green tea and dashed off to the playground to play soccer. The boy, Niklas, is 4, and already has a pretty good idea of how the game is played. The little girl, Anna, 2, pretty much just wanted to dance around and sing, which she did. She was on my team, and an excellent morale builder.

After a wonderful lunch of ratatouille and a nice, long chat with Doris, I caught the train back to Vienna, where I was greeted by Romeo and his bicycle.

Whew! I could go on and on, and I will for sure, but not now. It is 9 am GMT+1, and it is time for me to get dressed and find a place to write out those postcards!

For those of you playing along, ordering a shit scratcher in Switzerland will get you some chicken.

Arme Schlampe

Wow. I can read about it in the papers and follow exchange rates, but I didn't really understand how weak the dollar is until today, when I paid $7 for a cup of coffee.

Now don't get me wrong, it was a fancy coffee and probably the best I have had in years (melange) but this is kind of silly.

No, it is completely ridiculous.

However, theater tickets on opening day at the Volkstheater were only $12 yesterday. We went to go see Eine Heikle Sache, Die Seele by Dimitré Dinev. (A Tricky Thing, the Soul) enjoyable, completely macabre, and very funny at the same time. It is a farce about a wake that plays heavy with existentialism and living in exile.

Today is an excellent museum day; it is cold and rainy. I went to see the Paul Klee exhibit at the Albertina, and had to skip a few activities I had planned because I spent three hours on just that part of the HUGE gallery. Raise your hands if you knew that Klee was so fascinating. In fact, I found myself breezing through the Oskar Kokoschka exhibit at the same place because I had had enough culture for one day. At this point I should probably mention that I had gone to the museum because of Kokoschka in the first place. (Kokoschka is Austrian, while Klee is just Swiss.)

I did learn one new word in dialect from a friend who ha drecently been to Bern. Apparently in Switzerland, it is not unusual to see "Mistkratzer" on the menu. This translates to "shit scratcher" Can you figure out what dish this refers to?

Speaking German again has resulted in broken gears in my head. I've forgotten a lot. However, after three days I'm already at the language crisis phase where I also can't remember how to express myself to say in English, either. This is a good sign. After a couple of days of this, I generally speak much more fluently.

I wish I'd thought to bring my camera software. It would be fun to actually post the pictures on the day they were taken rather than two weeks later.

You're so vain...

To the buddy who asked if I ever blogged about him:

I don't know. Have a look around and see if you recognize yourself. But if I haven't before, here you go. This is not only a blog about you: it is a blog TO you.

Howdy!

The most fun I've had since Italy.

Lauren celebrated her birthday today at the local Whirlyball court.

You don't know what Whirlyball is? I didn't either. But now I simply can't imagine my life without it*.

It is a game.
It is an awesome game.
It is a truly awesome game.
It is a truly awesome game played while driving bumper cars.

Are you catching my drift?

The game itself is a sort of polo, played with a whiffleball and scoops. The object of this truly awesome game played while driving bumper cars is to use your scoop to get the whiffleball in a net.

And let me tell you, it ain't easy. I had control of the ball several times, but never scored a point. I did some checking a la hockey and rammed into some people just for the thrill of it. Lots of other people got their thrills too - so don't feel sorry for them. I suspect the full-body whiplash will hit me in the morning.

I'd forgotten just how competitive I can be in playing games, and I forgot how much I enjoyed playing roller hockey: the one real contact sport I ever participated in. But one thing I won't be forgetting soon is that I want to play whirlyball very often.

There was a lot of laughing, a lot of cheering, and surprisingly, a lot of sweating.

It was probably THE party of the year, which kind of dooms the Halloween party I just decided to have. But who cares? Whirlyball is my new favorite thing.

I hope you enjoyed your birthday as much as I did, Lauren!

*I still ::heart:: Gary Fisher most of all. He is the way and the light. Amen.

Help Bet and Stennie kick Cancer's Ass!

Bet and Stennie, the hosts of the award-winning* Podcast, the Hucklebug, will be podcasting short segments every half hour from at 9 AM on Saturday August 11 until 9 AM EST August 12, to raise money for The American Cancer Society . This could very well be the 'athon that raises the very dollar needed to knock Cancer to its knees -- so don't miss out!

Want to participate in the ass kicking?
It's easy! You can help by performing these three easy steps:

1. Download the podcasts directly from Hucklebug.com, or use iTunes or My Yahoo to listen.
2. They entertain, you donate to the American Cancer Society.
3. Stop by the Hucklebug and let them know that you've made a donation.

What is the Hucklebug?
Are you kidding? The Hucklebug is the witty weekly Podcast that is sweeping the nation! Listen to the "ladies" discuss such riveting topics as sex lives of cartoon characters, sexy vs. ugly body parts, Alan Arkin, music, TV, movie reviews, politics and much m0re. Updated every Thursday, the weekly Podcast will make you laugh out loud. if you haven't caught an episode yet, what are you waiting for?

*Awarded "Best Podcast Ever" by FredtheBlog in 2006 and 2007

Like It's 1999

People, I am overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed in a very good way, that is.

For those of you not in the know, Friday was my birthday. I haven't much been in the mood to celebrate a birthday since I turned 30, and so I generally spend the day hoping nobody remembered, getting PISSED off when certain people did forget, (du weisst wer du bist, Ferkel!) and just not wanting to have a party or do much of anything.

This year was different, however, and I decided I would not only allow myself to celebrate it, I wanted to have an honest-to-god party. Since the much younger Josh's birthday is the day after mine, his wife Lauren and I decided that we'd celebrate it together. The party ended up being at a restaurant owned and run by earthy-crunchy stoners - which by the way, happens to be one of my favorite places in Chicago. The service is random, but the food is diverse, the prices are low, and the beer selection is bountiful.

We were a group of 17, which surprised me to no end. Pessimistic as I am, I just didn't expect a turnout that large. C&A came out from BFE, S&K - who have the tightest scheduling of anyone I have ever met - actually changed plans to be there. A new transplant from Brazil came to play, as well as people I hadn't seen in ages. I heard a lot of laughter, and drank well under the threshold of forgetting a single thing. So really, this evening was quite the success.

I also got an unprecedented amount of loot this year, not just from the party, but from people who lived too far away to be invited. Gifts always make me a tad bit uncomfortable (the receiving part, not the giving.) I went a bit speechless a couple of times. Sitting here with the loot though, I am having total recall of why I loved my birthday when I was a child. Check this out:

• Lauren and Josh gave me a substantially-charged Starbucks Card. Good for a laugh, given my quest of late to shun the makers of liquid crack. But make no mistake: I will cherish this card and I will use it!
• Chris and Amy bought me Mozartkugeln from their trip to Germany. Kitchy and silly, these little balls of goodness contain AUSTRIAN chocolate, pistachio and marzipan.
• GZ gave me a HUGE novel called Ausgebrant by one of his favorite authors. I've started reading it, and it rocks.
• Stenns sent me the key to many eloquent ways - or rather Effective and Appropriate ways to craft corporate communications.
• Mikey the Blogless also sent me a communications book, PLUS Little Miss Sunshine.
• Betster not only sent me the Holy Grail, but also the special 30th anniversary edition of SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK!
• The Little Fireman sent me a card of a fireman, in which he wrote, in legible print, "You are nice!!" (QVELL!)
• And from Dr. B I got a too-generous-to-be accepted gift certificate to Village Cycle.

I feel very fortunate and very spoiled. Thank you everyone!!

Out Photographed

Ok, so up until a few minutes ago, I was all pleased with the photos I'd taken of Chicago. I really like it here, and I think it is a great city.

But then I looked over here at Squalli's blog. Squalli, you see, has up and moved to New Zealand. She goes on excursions on the weekends and takes marvelous photos. This week's are sublime. I urge you to check them out.