I have too been playing with 52 cards.

Click on that picture for the photostream. i don't feel like putting up every pic.

There was a picnic. Food, beer, raffle tickets. More beer. No apple pie, though. Cigarettes. Amp. Shots. Beer. More cigarettes.

Amp is probably my favorite bar to get carried out of.

Yesterday, I did buy a second-hand book of insults at the book fair. It's from 1967 and it's ridiculous.

The best part is that the previous owner put little checkmarks next to what I can only assume are his favorite insults.

On "boozers":

He's been frequenting a new night-club. It has the nicest tables he's ever been under.

Forever for her is over for me.

Went to the White Stripes concert last night at the Fox. Jon got us some amazing seats. I'm still not sure how he did it, but I am forever grateful.

Some people got to bring in cameras and some didn't (sorry Miranda!). I certainly wish Miranda's camera had been allowed, because my pictures completely suck. It's a combination of the crazy stage lights and the cheapness of my Polaroid. I took a little video of the song "Little Ghost." It's grainy, but cute, if anyone wants it, just e-mail me. I also recorded Jack telling a little story about the lions in the lobby of the Fox Theater.

We sat in the pit directly behind that little kid cover band the Red Stripes! The little girl was wearing pigtails and a White Stripes shirt. I was certain it was her when I saw her singing along to one of the new songs. I shook their hands after the show, but I didn't take a picture.

Then we went to O'Connell's and played with a mask from Deals.

Pics:



Meg White. I'm convinced that she could get any man she wanted.



Meg again.



Her face is kinda-washed out. You'll have to just take my word for it that this picture is of Meg singing.



I'm sorry, but I love Jack's muscles. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone -- the girl behind me kept yelling, "I want to have your baby, Jack!"



Ben at O'Connell's, looking quite happy



I can't be blamed for the off-centeredness of this picture. Miranda took it.



Miranda without make-up.



Make your own caption.

Life's a show and we all play our parts

It seems as though I'm sadly lacking in the Showtunes Knowledge category. I got schooled last night by Blood Ray and the Gang at the Loading Zone. Everyone seemed to know all the words to songs from Sweet Charity, The Wiz, Hair, etc.

I haven't even seen Evita. And just recently I learned that Patti LuPone was famous way before she played Corky's mother on Life Goes On. And do you KNOW what Kiss of the Spider Woman is about!? Look it up on imdb.com. (Someone named Princess Consuela Banana Hammock has a comment titled "Awesome Book, Horrible Movie," which is kinda what Blood Ray said about it a couple nights ago...suspicious.)

Anyway, seeing songs from Wicked and Chicago was fun. But would it kill the people at the LZ to play a song from the Buffy musical?

And a special thanks to Clipgirl for playing "Thank Goodness" on the way home, and then leaving the car in the street, windows down, music blaring, which allowed to sing and dance all the way to my front door.

Oh you silly, stupid pastime of mine

I requested to have the day off from work, so it makes sense that today would be cloudy and dreary. I asked off about a month ago, thinking that Miranda and I were going to stay at Harrah's after the Loretta Lynn concert. How was I to know that every room would be booked and that Miranda wouldn't be able to get off work anyway?

Still, it's nice to have a day of laziness to recuperate after such an eventful weekend.

Went to the Cardinals game Friday night. We left after the seventh or eighth inning. It was hot as hell and we were losing pretty badly. We didn't even listen to the game on the radio on the way home to find out the cards would come back in the ninth to win the game. I know, I know....I'm not a sports fan, so I shouldn't care. I just don't like missing things.

Miranda and Jon's going away party was awesome. My rotel dip was a hit, once again. It really is satisfying to see an empty crock pot at the end of the night, even though it's usually crusty and smelly.

Mike, Ben and I ended up on the back porch taking endless pictures of the moon. Yeah.

There was one uninvited guest, though: a snake. Scary.

The Loretta Lynn concert was Sunday in the parking lot of Harrah's, and she was wearing a giant, fluffy dress and complaining about how hot it was outside. She might be senile, people. She forgot a verse of "Van Lear Rose" and often sang the wrong song. She repeatedly told the band to "take it down half a key." Later, she spelled it out for them: "Not a whole key, a half key. H-a-l-f-e. Half."

She sang really well though. It was funny to see all the old ladies singing along to "Fist City" and "The Pill."

I bought a Loretta Lynn keychain.

Here are some pics:



This is my friend Ben. He's shy and soft-spoken.



Me and Katie.



The Moon.



After we discovered that shaking the camera while taking a picture of the moon created weird effects, we amused ourselves for another 20 minutes. I fell asleep with all my clothes on that night.

Extraordinary Machine

I can't believe I was scooped by that bitch Blood Ray! (Some of us have jobs, you know) (just teasing)



Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine will be released by Sony on October 4, 2005.

I can't say it enough -- this is an amazing CD and everyone really needs to buy it. Seriously.

I suppose I'll have to find a new cause. Hmm, I wonder if Robyn's newest CD is going to be released in the states.....

Never Again.

I love my mom and my family dearly, but I seriously doubt that I will ever attend the Jour de Fete in Ste. Genevieve again. True, this year I had the unfortunate displeasure of walking around in 95 degree weather while dealing with some sort of head cold. Therefore, I really couldn't drink the appropriate number of beers needed when running into old high school acquaintances and teachers.

And at least 2 people asked me if I was married.

I did get a porkburger and some kettle corn, so that was a plus.

Oh, and my youngest nephew ate some of that powder candy (which is really just sugar), which led to this adorable photo op:



And some more pics:



My nephew Dylan and sister-in-law Kim



Baby Gabriel a.k.a. Babriel

Funnel Cakes and Lemon Shake-Ups

I don't have much to talk about today, but I thought I'd put up a little something before I head to Ste. Genevieve for the Jour de Fete.

Here are some recent pictures:



Shane and Danielle



Proof that Blood Ray and Clipgirl did indeed sing karaoke Wednesday night.



Fern and Kyla at AMP



Blood Ray and Clipgirl.

Teacher marks our height against the wall.

Cutest thing ever: The Red Stripes. It's a White Stripes cover band consisting of two school-age children, who are also brother and sister (or are they?). The girl was maybe eight or nine, and she played the drums about as well as Meg. The boy was around 13 (i'm guessing here -- i tried looking them up online, but they don't have a website).

I wish I had taken pictures. These kids were adorable. They even played a Jack White/Loretta Lynn duet. I squealed in delight when mini-Meg sang the 56-second-long "Passive Manipulation." I was a little suspicious, though, when she played it again about 20 minutes later. Did her stage dad force her to try it again? She did kinda mess it up a bit the first time.

They dedicated "We're Going to be Friends" to their mom.

I highly recommend seeing them, if they decide to return to St. Louis.

Word

From Fluxblog (about Rilo Kiley's "I Never") :

Jenny Lewis and her band totally sell this song with grace and feeling, and never go over the top or come off as young fogeys a la Texas. Seriously, the only thing that makes this fall into the increasingly nebulous indie genre is context. That's it. This is pop, this is country, this is soul. This is far more Shania than Chan, that's for sure. They should make a nice video for this and send it to CMT and cross their fingers. For real. Also, if this isn't being played at weddings in the future as an occasional substitute for "At Last," I'd be a little disappointed.

They also have the song available for download.