3.31.2007

Time to let Bill Cosby do a picture page with you!

Hey kids! Remember those photos I keep promising? Well, here they are. Most of them are from Carrie, Nancy and Jeff who I let do all the heavy lifting. I just do the editing, you know?

So the weekend before St. Patrick's Day, my old, old friends Nancy and Michelle came to visit The 'Nati. Here are the highlights.

Then, the next weekend Melvin and Carrie came back into town for St. Patrick's Day. We were at the Hofbrauhaus once again. There was chicken dancing.

Jeff got a little creative with his camera angles...

And was rewarded.

Then it was out to the bars the next day, where Meggan got ready to throw a flag.

And Craig came out for one last drink.

Speaking of Craig, the next weekend was his going away party. There were many photographers in one room. Some might say too many.

Finally, here's a picture I actually took. Shawn, Josh and me at the Flatiron Lounge in New York. My plan is to spend the whole summer trying to recreate that drink our bartender made. No Shawn, not the gross one with the egg.

So there you go. I promise more album reviews soon.

3.28.2007

Cho Chang!

I promise many photos are coming very soon, but here's something to tide you over in the meantime.

The new Harry Potter book cover art was released today. There are usually a few cklues, so what can we guess from this picture?

Well, I'm thinking the dude on the left is Voldermort, but that's about it.

3.15.2007

Once again, offices are filled with hope

The NCAA tournament starts today! I can't even begin to tell you how excited that makes me. I'm taking tomorrow off to watch basketball ALL DAY LONG. It will be wonderful. Throw in a St. Patrick's Day on Saturday, the anniversary of my forth year in The 'Nati and a visit from Carrie and Melvin and the weekend ahead looks excellent.

I need to put up some photos from Michelle and Nancy's visit this past weekend, but I've been busy filling out brackets all week. So much to do so little time...

So what the biggest upset you're predicting in the tournament? I've got Oral Roberts beating Washington State. They have God on their side.

3.07.2007

Do you think your Boys Club will crumble just because of a loud-mouthed girl?

In the last few years I've become a fan of a lot of Canadian artists. No, I'm not talking about Alanis Morissette and Barenaked Ladies, I mean The Weakerthans, Sarah Harmer and Kathleen Edwards.

The problem with liking all these Canadians is trying to catch them on tour. The Weakerthans always seem to play show after show in Winnipeg with the odd trip down to Buffalo. I doubt they'll ever make it to The 'Nati. Of those three, the only person I've managed to catch in concert was Kathleen Edwards and that was before I even knew much about her.

I saw Kathleen in the summer of 2003 when she opened for Guster at the Taft Theatre. I'd heard her song "Hockey Skates" on Coffeehouse Rock, one of my cable TV music channels, but that was it. At the concert I learned she liked Maker's Mark bourbon, The Cracker Barrel and upon her first trip to Over-The-Rhine said, "I thought crack went out of style in 1992." I knew pretty quickly that this was a girl I could hang with.

So today's album is Failer, Kathleen Edwards' first album and also one of the albums Josh correctly predicted in the "F" albums contest. It's a great collection of melancholy tunes, but what keeps it from being too shoegazey is Edwards' sense of humor and angry edge. This is not a woman who goes around feeling sorry for herself. She might egg your car, though.

The end of the album gets a little slow for my taste, but I challenge anyone to find a better song about sleeping with an old married alcoholic man than "Westby."

"I don't think your wife would like my friends."

3.05.2007

It's the future, where's my jet pack?

If you care at all about the news and/or the people that cover it, you should check out this series from the show Frontline on PBS. You can watch the entire three part series online. I know it's long, but it's good for you.

Part one is a great refresher on the Valerie Plame case. Can't remember why a guy named Scooter is on trial? Apparently no one can.

Part two is about the pressure TV news has faced top actually be entertaining. Is "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline actually news? Does it matter?

Part three is about newspapers and web sites and where the two actually meet. Are papers a dying industry? If they are, then why do they make so much money?

Pick the section you like or watch all three. I got totally sucked in last night and spent hours contemplating the future of media. It sounds like something Josh would do.