I'm spending the next four days in a car going to and from Mount Rushmore. I have a million and a half stops planned and somehow managed to schedule 16 hours of driving on day 1 and 2.5 hours of driving on day 2.

It's guaranteed to be a blast. Why aren't you coming with?

Posted by valry at 6:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

...thinks guys should not flirt with her if they have no interest in dating her.

...wants a 50D so so much. But doesn't know if she likes or dislikes that it's kind of dumbed down.

...shot a kick-ass "all white" party tonight at a fantastic restaurant:

Basically, my job is to take photos of the people there and take their names. Today I took a photo of a lovely couple and then asked the guy his name and how to spell it.
Man: Richard R-I-C-H-A-R-D
Val repeats and writes down.
Man: R-O-E-P-E-R
Val: E-P-E-R?
Man: Yes, that's Roeper
Val looks up. Oooooohhhhh.

Posted by valry at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

one.
Stupidest trip I've come up with yet? Here is my itinerary for labor day weekend:

View Larger Map

two.
You know a movie is spectacular when a monkey comes out at the end and kills the bad guy!!!!

three.
I am never ignoring Holiday Mathis again.

four.
I know these political candidates are trying to be "hip" and "with it" but personally I don't want a president who has the time to twitter.

five.
Odd day at work. Ask me about it.

six.
PS jeff is a nudist and we do it hardcore all the time

Posted by valry at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hurried out of Urbana at around 12:30 to make it to the burbs for JoeW and Meredith's "Belated Birthday/Engagement/Housewarming/Graduation Party in the Western Suburbs." The party started at 2:30 and I arrived in Wheaton at around 3. I was STILL the first one there. Come on people, how can I arrive a half hour late and still be the earliest one?

One of Meredith's friends arrived shortly after though, so I wasn't first by too much time. JoeJoe and Alina and Maureen came soon after too and we bummed around and ate Meredith's delicious bean salsa and watched the Sox game.

Then we headed downstairs to play mini golf, because their apartment looks right out over a mini golf course. Joe, Joe, and Maureen teamed up to play their way and the rest of the girls played the fun way. I swear we didn't cheat. I mean, we had TWO lawyers on our team which meant we obviously were playing by the rules.

It was a pretty straight-forward course, but there were water traps everywhere into toilet-cleaner blue fountains.

Our team obviously kicked ass :-)

We headed back up, watched the U.S. win the last Olympic volleyball game (seriously, how is it that all I ended up seeing was men's volleyball?) and ordered some delicious pizza. One had sausage and onion and the other Mushroom and spinach.

Everyone was pretty exhausted though so after watching some of the ending ceremonies and determining that a) I want to play drums with my feet and b) I want to ride in a circle and c) that the dude riding in the circle whose lights went out probably got shot, we ended up calling it an early night.

So happy Belated Birthday and Engagement and Housewarming and Graduation JoeW and Meredith!

Mini golf photos here!

Posted by valry at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Val is already off the wagon. Lindsay and James = Bad Idea Bears

***

Val: I am a funnel cake whore.
Sid: I think vulture is more like it.
Val: I prefer the term whore.

***

Sid: I have a dealer in Savoy, a dealer in Naperville, and a dealer in Danville.

***

You know it is time for a haircut when your hair keeps getting caught under your arms. You know it's really time for a haircut when you accidentally coat your hair in deodorant every morning because it gets in your way. Yeah. So I desperately found a salon with an opening for Saturday morning and chopped off five inches. It feels really good because I guarantee that those five inches had been dyed about 30 times. If you plucked out a hair you could noticeably tell that one end way about three times thicker than the other. I didn't get a picture of it, but you can kind of see it here:

After cutting my hair I stopped off to get some Portillos for lunch. I decided while there that Jeff likes Portillos enough to walk a couple miles for it, so maybe I should buy him one. So I got him a hot dog and it sat in my car for two and a half hours while I drove to his place.

So 2.5 hours later I arrive in Champaign and give Jeff his hot dog and he wipes everything off and eats it and am not jumped on by an actual dog :(. Later Jen will ask me why I am there. Well, there are plenty reasons:

1. It was Sarah's birthday!

2. There was a possibility of me going to Tennessee for work that weekend and that fell through. And then there was a possibility of going camping that weekend and that fell through. So I just felt like going somewhere.

3. There was a sweetcorn eating contest that day and you know I will drive anywhere for an eating contest.

OK the third one wasn't true. Well, it is kind of true, but I wouldn't just have driven down for this contest. It was just a happy coincidence.

I made Jeff go with me and we tries to find the stage which was at number 508 on the map. We got to 508 and there was nothing there. Turns out there were TWO 508s on the map. Crazy?

So the contest was the Busey Executive Sweetcorn Eating Contest and pitted seven of the bank employees against each other to see who could eat the most sweetcorn in three minutes. The contest was "sweet" but short, and they had 7 eaters and a tiny table so they were kind of eating in a circle so you could only see the three people in the front. So I didn't even see the dude who won eat. He won the trophy and, I'm sure, the admiration and respect of all the other bank employees. I think he ate 6 ears in 3 minutes.

Jeff had so much fun. Competitive eating is his new favorite sport.

After the contest we wandered the festival. And then headed to Wendy's where I had the worst strawberry shake ever and killed some time at Target waiting for Sid to become a better planner. Eventually he planned something and we met at Crane Alley for dinner. I did not drink any martinis while there since they are evil and since I had given up drinking. I did have a delicious bruschetta that had goat cheese, balsamic sauce, and huge chunks of roast garlic. Yum.

We headed over the fest again and everyone got their lemon shake-up fixes, then we headed over to watch Foghat perform. One of Sid's underlings I met later pointed out that he once bought CD that wasn't quite their greatest hits but was rather titled "Slow Ride and other hits" which pretty much sums up Foghat and shows why they waited until the very end to play Slow Ride. I'm pretty sure everyone would have left right away if they had played it first.

We actually left after a few songs and chose to bum around on the outskirts and chill with some funnel cake and listen from afar. I did not buy any tickets and therefore could not get any funnel cake for myself so I just decided to pick from everyone else's. Hence making me a funnel cake whore. Sid says it's more like a vulture. But I prefer the term whore.

Eventually Sid and Sarah called it a night, so I wished her a happy birthday and goodbye.

I joined the rest of the group and we eventually headed off to Jupiter's where we played games where you had to touch naked women and later not-so-attractive no-so-naked men. I didn't drink because I am not drinking and on the way back to the car Lindsay and James declared that I am not fun unless I drink. So when we all got back to the apartment Linz started pulling out all the alcohol determined to get me to drink something so I would be fun the rest of the night. Gee, thanks guys.

So I succumbed to peer pressure and had a Smirnoff black cherry thingy and tried to drink the mini bottle of pear vodka, but didn't make it through a third of it. Did I ever mention Val=lightweight? And then we went to bed, which made the point of me even drinking useless.

Last time I slept at Jeff's I was suddenly woken up in the middle of the night by a dog licking my face and then jumping on my head. Toby is no longer living there :( so I did not awake to that fate...although I was kind of worried that the same thing might happen. But replace the word "dog" with "James."

After a night of not getting molested in my sleep (I hope?) we awoke and went to breakfast at the Courier. Jeff was looking at my breakfast funny and I don't know why. The lady with the coffee came by and asked if I had regular or Cinnamon. Cinnamon? I didn't know that was an option. Not that I like cinnamon that much anyways.

When breakfast was all eaten I said goodbye and hopped in black pickle for the long drive to JoeW and Meredith's place...but that's another blog...

SWEETCORN FESTIVAL PHOTOS!!!

Posted by valry at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I know you're all dying to hear about my weekend, but I of course took too many photos and have to go through them all first. To keep you entertained while you wait...

I heard this song on my way home tonight. I actually have no idea what the real words are but ever since Nadia sent me this youtube video a while back, these are the lyrics I hear whenever I hear it:

Posted by valry at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. i am wasting a whole netflix order for a 10 minute dvd

2. Wait wait wait wait wait....there is olympic WALKING?
p.s. I am SO changing my name spelling.

3. This site makes me laugh entirely too much.

4. Lord help me...I bought my negative six-month old niecephew a toy (s)he can't play with until (s)he's twelve months...but how can you pass it up when you see a CHATTER TELEPHONE!!!

5. I have gotten damn good at packing.

6. After seeing this for days on Serious Eats and being bored tonight, I decided I needed to make some Butterscotch pudding. I kind of fucked up the caramel...twice...in making it, but it turned out pretty tasty!

p.s. I really fucked up the caramel three times but the third time not quite as much.

Posted by valry at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

one.
I stumbled across this blog post the other day. It's weird to find a random post where someone is basically commending your skills (I created and maintain that myspace page).

two.
I shot and edited this video. The lighting was way off, so it's kind of dark, but I think it's pretty decent for a first try!

And it makes you wanna go see Lulu right???? RIGHT???

Posted by valry at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. I am NOT going to Nashville this weekend for work. I am NOT going camping this weekend in Indiana. I AM going to Champaign this weekend though. :-)

2. This is funny.

3. Best action figure ever?

4. why do i not just order my sandwiches without lettuce instead of picking it all off?

5. I use movable type to create my blog. They just introduced a TON of new features if I upgrade that i could use to turn my blog into a whole social network. forget facebook, you can be on VALbook!!!

6. I've been looking a lot at wedding photographer sites lately to try to start getting inspiration. They just make me sad though because a) they make me wish I was a much better phtographer and knew how to, say, take good pics in low light and b) they make me really want to get married. Some photographers I have found that I want to be (and also that I want to be the bride in the weddings they've shot...):
Ben Chrisman
Leigh Miller

Posted by valry at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Warning: the following post proves that I am a) a lightweight b) kind of pathetic and c) not allowed to drink ever again. I've always been of the mindset that you don't need to drink in order to have fun. And I think I have proven time and again that I personally am really no fun when I drink anyways. So, that's it, no more drinking for Val. Except wine. Wine doesn't count of course...

***

So Saturday I awoke bright and early and Em (who we shall refer to in this post as Emily1) picked me up. Then we picked up Emily2 and we were on our way to Milwaukee for the night.

Em1's plan was for a party like a rockstar weekend with her chums from MSOE. Of course, my idea of a rockstar is probably more like this.

Our first stop was the Miller Brewery Tour. What's cool about the Miller Tour: it is free. What's not cool about the Miller Tour: they seem to think that saying "It's Miller Time" a lot is both catchy and witty. It is not.

First we watched a kind of lame video presentation and then we went to see the big assembly thing. Of course, it was a Saturday and so nothing was happening. Then we went and saw the huge warehouse of boxes of beer that were set to be sent. Then the tour guide made another "It's Miller Time" comment.

After that we went to get a free Miller Lite, and then I got 2 more free beers. I got a honey something and a sunset something.

We were supposed to see something called the caves, but those were closed.

After that we booked it over to the Lakefront Brewery for another tour. Unlike Miller this place charges for the tour, but it was more fun because it was a much smaller, less corporate-y experience (although by smaller the tour actually was a lot longer). Unfortunately we made it just in time to miss the 1:00 tour and had to hang around for the 2:00. Less than unfortunately that gave us time to get pizza and beer. Unfortunately for me that gave me time to drink beer.

After 2 glasses it was time to start the tour. We saw all the places where beer was made, got more samplings, and played Laverne & Shirley with the beer bottles and some work gloves.

So I still had some pumpkin beer left at the end of the tour. Everyone else was finished and I needed to finish drinking so I could turn in my non-plastic corn cup for a glass one to take home. So, of course, that meant chugging it. And, of course, that was a really really stupid idea on my part...

We went to check into the Pfister, which is probably the fanciest hotel in Milwaukee. Checking in we were a bit confusled because we were supposed to get a suite, but the lady at the desk said we had two rooms. It was finally cleared up that they had overbooked suites and gave us two rooms instead. That actually worked out MUCH better as we then had four beds and two bathrooms. Sweet. We immediately went to the rooms and tried on the robes :-)

After a bit of chillaxing we headed out for another beer at Wolski's.

Now. If you know me, you know that after I reach that point where I have had just a bit too much to drink (which is really not a lot) and I take just one more sip I am gone. Not gone as in drunk. Gone as in sick. Seriously, the reason I don't drink much is that because I tend not to get drunk, I just get sick.

So after getting another free beer at Wolski's I took one sip too many. So...when we left the bar shortly after and headed back to the hotel, this led to the embarrassing situation of me almost throwing up in the elevator, but managing to swallow it back (EWWWW) and then not being able to hold it any longer and throwing up in the hallway of the hotel immediately after getting off the elevator and then rushing back to the room...

Yeah. Val=lightweight.

I felt somewhat fine after and ate a beef sandwich and went down to the pool. But then I started feeling queasy, so i went back to the room to sleep. And I pretty much slept until Emily(1) and Emily(2) and a whole lot of strangers bombarded the room 3 or 4 hours later. And then I woke up and still was sick. And then I slept until they left for the bars later. And then I was still sick, but I'd thrown up everything I'd eaten and so my stomach hurt. So I ordered room service and got some yummy bruchetta and watched TV. And then I went to sleep again so I wouldn't throw up.

Seriously, that's how I roll. I think something is seriously wrong with me as I have spent a majority of the year sick. And I am never drinking again because when I drink I just get sick and then I am no fun because I don't even feel like going out.

Yeah. Val=pathetic.

So I pretty much slept until everyone came back at whatever time they came back. Because, you know, who can stay awake through a bunch of drunk people entering a room at once. Highlights of that one include the chick who passed out the floor and I could hear throwing up on herself. And someone whispering and the girl answering back in a loud yell. And someone saying "Don't step on the passed out chick" and then one person tripping on her and then another person tripping on her...twice.

Ah, the joys of being sober when everyone else is drunk is that you hear and see and remember everything that is going on and no one else does. :-)

Yeah, so that was basically my pathetic trip to Milwaukee. Eh, at least I got to order room service and at least kind of enjoy a nice hotel room.

In the morning we woke up to a disasterful room and checked out and went and got breakfast/lunch and made our way back to Illinois.

***

Later I went and met Joelina at their new suburban abode. It's a pretty sweet place. We went and got dinner at Key Wester, which is a pasta/fish restaurant that is actually owned by Portillo's. The decor outside kind of reminded me of a mini golf course/Vegas. And inside it was kind of like a Rainforest Cafe but no where near annoying. At one point JoeJoe whispered to me "There is a pirate above you." I looked up and low and behold there were a couple of life-sized pirates in the trees on the ceiling. I thanked Joe for warning me because surely they were about to attack.

I had a delicious sweet-potato crusted trout. Definitely yummy. Joe and Alina got yummy looking martinis. But alas, I am no longer drinking.

I learned that people look at you funny when you start a conversation with "So I was planning my wedding this morning..." I also learned that Joe and Alina very well may have a secret vortex to another dimension in their apartment...

MILWAUKEE PHOTOS HERE!

p.s. Let's see how long that no drinking thing lasts...

Posted by valry at 7:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. I didn't go to work today. Yay! But I forgot to turn off my alarm clock to not go off and was awoken at 6:45. Boo! And then I monitored my email all day and did work anyways. Boo!

2. I went to see Indiana Jones: The New One. I don't remember what it was called. I saw it at the 2-dolla with Josh. Although they now charge $3.50. So I guess I can't call it the 2-dolla. But the three-dolla fitycent doesn't have the same ring to it. It was good and corny in keeping with the made in the 80s theme. But the departure from religion to not-so-religion seemed odd. I dunno. And for the record, I don't think magnets are in general that selective about when they decide to be magnetic or not.

3. I think it is safe, 9 years later, to finally tell this memory of the 2-dolla. I went to see There's Something About Mary there with Mike (who I had a huge crush on) and Charlie (who from what I heard had a crush on me). Mike secretly held my hand the entire time. Of course, being that they were best friends he never would go out with me.

4. Do not eat popcorn after doing your nails.

5. Netflix was down for less than a week. People who bitch that "how can a multi-million dollar organization be run like that" (because I am SURE everyone who says that actually runs a multi-million dollar organization and therefore knows exactly how they should be run) and "I demand a free month of service" piss me off. Shit happens. Deal. I may just be saying this because I work in the world of IT (kind of at least) and sometimes things break and sometimes you really just have no idea why. I for one was happy that I didn't have eight hours of 24 delivered to my doorstep. I read The Bell Jar all night instead.

Posted by valry at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. "If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days." Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

2. I came across this picture while searching through my old laptop. I quite like it...well, other than the fact that my socks look kind of dumb. It's from the same photo shoot as the photos at the top of this website. I don't think it's ever been posted, so I choose to post it now.

3. I have been really antsy and aloof and unmotivated at work lately. I came to a realization today that may explain why: I am at about the point in this job where I quit my last job. In a few months, since I have no intentions of quitting this job any time soon, I will have been at this job longer than any job I have ever had. Unless I get fired for being antsy and aloof and unmotivated of course. It's an odd feeling. I hopefully will snap out of it very soon.

4. Dear chain coffee houses. Take a hint from the little guys and invest in a package of these thick stickers:

They probably cost 2cents a piece, but sticking one over the lip of the coffee saves me from spilling it all over myself as I walk down the street.

5. If only I lived in the LA area...

6. When Jeff tried to insult me by saying I could find something at valsmom.com I was reminded of this website I threw together a long long time ago. I had to dig through my old computer to find it, it doesn't all work. But it's kind of hilarious if I do say so myself.

7. Am I the only person in this world who couldn't care less about the Olympics? In case you are wondering though, this is what Michael Phelps eats for breakfast. I usually just have coffee.

8. I was watching a wedding show on TV last night. The guy had found the girl's blog and fell in love with her and pestered her through email until she agreed to meet him. They fell in love and then got married on a TV show. What are the chances of this happening to me?

Posted by valry at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

1. On Friday I discovered that Animal Planet one-upped themselves from the Puppy Bowl by presenting the Puppy Olympics.

2. I was excited to have one weekend that I didn't have anything going on. But then I did stuff.

3. Friday night I went over to MattyK's and we watched GoldenEye with BobbyK and KariK. I forgot that whenever you have more than one yK in a room you get trapped in a vortex of insanity.

4. Stupid movies with Hilary Duff should not make me cry. Neither should every episode of Made.

5. I totally fucked up and did something really stupid. I don't know what aspect of it makes me madder at myself. val=fucked up.

6. Dear Radio stop playing "All Over You" when I need an anthem.

7. Dear McDonalds, please don't turn off your milkshake machines all night because sometimes I need a chocolate shake at 1am.

8. The British sure know how to make good zombie movies. Especially when they have titles like "Boy Eats Girl" and involve a zombie going down on a guy. That ended badly for the guy.

9. Saturday I went to Stir Crazy with Nadia, Jenny, and Adam. I had a yummy stir fry of steak, flat rice noodles, onion, scallions, mushrooms, pineapple, peppers, garlic, and teriyaki sauce. Pineapple and beef do go together. Val has spoken.

10. Dude at the Gap went into a huge explnation about all the different colors this shirt came in. At the checkout he said "How am I not surprised she went with the pink!" I looked down at the pink shoes, pink shirt, and pink purse I currently was wearing and declared "I think everything I own is pink."

11. Sleeping in until 11am on a Sunday is nice.

12. Waking up to a message from work on a Sunday morning telling you that your website is fucked is not nice.

13. All I've watched of the regular Olympics so far is half a game of mens volleyball. Those Chinese dudes are fucking tall. I never knew actual volleyball was played bump set spike. I just thought they taught you that in gym class. They should mix it up a bit and surprise attack the opponent. I should be a sports coach.

Posted by valry at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sid sent me an email about something on 8-8-08 and how you should photograph your life on this day. Whatever made him think to send that to ME is completely beyond my imagination...yeah...so since I basically photograph my life every day I decided that for 8-8-08 I would take you into an exclusive behind the scenes look into my work day...

I decided to cash in on my free Potbelly breakfast sandwich:

I always wear my sneakers because they are comfy. I usually wear nicer pants. I lie. None of my pants are nice:

I stare at this computer (and this website) about 99% of the day:

I went to visit Ron, but he wasn't there. He has lots of Simpsons characters on his desk. Including the ghost of Flanders I made on April Fools:

I went to visit Eric at the ticket desk:

The signs I pass in the hallway on the way to my desk:

My new computer that I will be spending a lot more of my time staring at:

Posted by valry at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I finally just did it and signed up to take a photography class. Maybe I will finally learn what the heck I am doing and stop pretending.

I made a list of the people I know who are getting married still. The list includes 2 joshs, 2 jens, 2 robs, and 3 joes.

I made a list today of why I am never going to have a good relationship. There are three points. I can't share them.

I finally ordered books of my photos from Amsterdam and the hot dog eating contest. I ordered from blurb. I haven't printed any photos in a while. It's weird not to. I have a file I've been keeping for a year titled "pics to be printed" There are a few thousand in it.

I have 2 vcrs and they are both broken. To be fair, only one is broken and I just am too inept at using vcrs to figure out how the other one works.

I wrote a blog post this morning knowing full well that I could never ever post what it said. Despite thinking about what I wrote all day I tried to make a stpid mistake tonight.

I finally used my Mac at work today. I need to figure out how to use it. I didn't realize how dependant I am on right clicking.

My sister is throwing a tea party and she wants everyone to wear hats. I am planning on wearing a sweater dress...so maybe I will wear a winter hat with it.

Posted by valry at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

1. My sister is having a baby! Not till February or something. I already found a hat I am buying it. Is it bad that I hope she has a girl so that I will have a flower girl when I get married some day?

2. My photo is on Kystalist.

Posted by valry at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Superdawg.

Order up.

Shhh...we brought ketchup.

Food delivered.

Superdawgs.

Eating my dog.

One the Superdawg way, one the Val way.

Josh eats his dog.

Double fisting.

The aftermath.

Chocolate shake.

Maurie and Flaurie.

Posted by valry at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This is probably going to be the worst recap ever. My Lolla experience has become so jumbled in my head that all the bands pretty much have become one superband that i loved but don't remember why (other than the inevitable conclusion that "the guitar player was hot"). Here goes nothing...

Friday

After leaving work early, after having to go in on my day off, I met up with Em and we made our way to the Congress Hotel (right across from Grant Park) where the Champaign kids (Jeff and Lindsay) were checking in. Jeff introduced me and Emily to each other but neglected to introduce Kevin as his brother. After checking in we ditched our stuff and headed across the street to Lollapalooza.

We got our nifty wristbands that were made of cloth so that they didn't cut into you like paper/plastic ones do. Which was good because we'd have to wear them straight for three days. The drawback (as I found throughout the weekend) was that the tail of them was just long enough to dip into everything I ate and get in the way, well, after going to the bathroom... But enough about my hygiene...

Louis XIV
First up was Louis XIV. I told Jeff that I thought he was dead. Apparently not. I remember that I liked them. But that's about all. I don't think I could even see them well enough to tell you if they were hot. It was fucking crowded. And hot. It was hot. I was wearing jeans too because I hate shorts. This was like a million bands ago though. So I don't remember them much...

Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello was AWESOME! They were basically Gypsy polka punk. Picture that one. And then picture people being hired to dance and scream. Jeff got hit in the head with a banana at one point. That had nothing to do with the band though. I think it may have been a loose monkey. Not loose as in easy, loose as in out of its cage.

After the show we went and got Cokes, which were only $2 which is what you'd pay in Chicago outside of the concert so it was nice of them not to totally rip us off. Em got a fried Twinkie which was OK but not spectacular. I remember the Twinkie, it didn't have a hot guitarist.

Mates of State
We made our way over to Mates of State, which was pretty mellow and good. Like the descriptive phrases I use? We didn't stay long though.

Raconteurs
We didn't stay long for the Raconteurs either. I spent most of the time watching this little girl who was totally rocking out on her mom's shoulders. By rocking out I mean she was trying to eat her mom's hair clip. I thought she was going to choke.

Bloc Party
Bloc Party rocked and I remembered why: because they were British. I also liked their music, but of course I don't remember how it went. But I liked it before I knew they were British. While Em and Jeff sat I danced the whole time. I had warned Jeff the two rules of Val concert going before we started: 1. I can dance to anything. 2. I pretend to know the words to every song. He had bumped my two to three and added his own 2: I will pretend that I don't know you. So he pretended that he didn't know me while I danced to all their songs (including what turned out to be them just tuning their guitars).

CSS
CSS (which I don't think stand for Cascading Style Sheets) was pretty fun, but mostly because they taught you dances to go along with each song.

Radiohead
Radiohead was the big headliner this year. They were...OK...I think they were a little too mellow for me. I like mellow music, but not at the end of the day when you're adrenaline has been building all day and you just want to rock out. I felt like they spent entirely too much time on their light show and not enough time putting on a show. I can't recall them even addressing the audience. There were fireworks to go along with the show though. Actually they were for Soldier Field and not lolla, but they went along just fine.

After the Show
We ditched out a little early and went to go shower off the dirt. Then we walked around forever to find food. You'd think a diner with a giant lit up sign that says EAT would be open. You'd think. We ended up at Bar Louie. I got a delicious burger with bacon and egg and cheese. Rob (different Rob than the ones you know) commented on the fact that I left a huge salad on my plate when I took off all of the vegetables. I was happy that the bar offered free refills on Cokes because I didn't feel like drinking and bars always charge you extra.

I had a great moment of joy when I noticed that the Cubs mural in a Wrigleyville bar showed a score of visitors: 11, Cubs: 8. I was happy at their losing until the bartended pointed out blah blah blah, bases loaded, blah blah blah Sammy Sosa. I still think the crowd looked pretty dull and uninterested for it to be a pro-Cubs mural.

After finally eating we met back up with Em at her friends bar where I didn't drink my PBR and this Mexican and/or Asian guy kept putting his arm around me and telling me my hair was like a cats. We called it an "early" night.

Saturday

I decided to rock shorts for the first time in probably five years because it had been so damn hot the day before. Jeff wanted Cinnabon because apparently in the massive Champaign expansion that was one thing they neglected to add. So we went and got sugary rolls and sugary coffees for breakfast. We headed over to play with the bean, which is fun to do no matter how many times you do it. So after sugaring ourselves up and playing with big shiny things it was time to head on over to the concert...

Dr. Dog
I don't think we paid much attention to them. They were just kind of there. We saw part of them live and then part of them in the AT&T booth on TV. We got little motorized fans in the tent and proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend trying to kill (or at least injure) people with them.

Dierks Bentley
Before heading over to Dierks Bentley, Em and I got a sports bottle of wine to share. Really, how can you not get a sports bottle full of wine if it's available? We sipped our wine while listening. They were kind of country but really good. I need to find a word that is better than good. Maybe I should go to college for writing and get a Masters or something. Maybe then I'd know more words.

Steel Train
Steel Train rocked. And I swear not just because they were hot. They had a great sound and I can't wait to get some of their albums so I can remember what that sound was :-) (Seriously, this is the stupidest recap ever.) I swear I honestly loved them. And yes, they were hot too which did not hurt.

MGMT or Booka Shade
We saw one of these people next. Or both. Then I got chicken fingers. They were tasty.

Brand New
OK, so for some reason I don't remember them either. Jeff describes their sound as "ummm brand new was at the far south end, we were there with kevin." I'll go with that as a description.

Lupe Fiasco
Eh, wasn't that impressed.

Toadies
Again I don't really remember, but I think we mostly listed to them from afar as we staked out spots for Rage...Oh, there was a song they played that Jeff and Lindz insisted that I would know "from the radio." I did not know it.

Rage Against the Machine
Rage was awesome but dumb at the same time. The music was fun but then the front man spent half the set telling people to calm down and take five steps back and then busted out a spiel threatening to burn down Obama's house. I stayed with Jeff and Kevin for a bit longer than Em, Lindz, and Rob, but we bailed a little early. The first song they played though did mark the first song I recognized the entire concert.

After the Show
We ditched out a little early and went to go shower off the dirt. Then we walked around forever to find food. Jeff wanted to trek to the Portillo's because apparently in the massive Champaign expansion that was one thing they neglected to add. We got our hot dog fix then cabbed it back to the hotel bar and called it an "early" night.

Sunday

Jeff took off early to resolve some phone problems. The rest of us packed up and checked out of the hotel and grabbed some Dunkin Donuts before heading to Lolla...

Wild Sweet Orange
This was our first stop of the day. We chilled in the grass and compared scars. We found out that none of us were alone in the world: we all had a dark mark on us somewhere from stabbing ourselves (or getting stabbed) with pencils in our youth. Rob said he thought he was the only one and it's funny 'cause I always thought the same thing. Why does that damn pencil mark never go away? Oh, I liked this band too.

Dell Dome
The Dell Dome was not a band, it was a dome. You got to go in there and they made a custom button for you. I ripped out a page of the lolla schedule with Steel Train in the middle since I liked them the best thus far. Even if I don't remember what they sounded like.

Tally Hall
If I had made a button after Tally Hall, I probably would have made a button of them. They rocked and I DO remember what they sounded like. But too bad I wasn't a writing major because then maybe I could describe it. They are kind of like They Might Be Giants in that they are more humorous. They might be my new new favorite band.

Break Time
We spent some time chillaxing in the Lederhosen Beer Garden and watching people play Guitar Hero and Sing Star then took a break from the fest to walk down Michigan Ave.

Flogging Molly
Forget what I said (OK I didn't say here) about being happy that this was a festival that I'd relax at because I didn't really have any preconceived cares about who I saw. Because when the ONE band of the entire festival that I knew and loved was about to take stage and I wasn't there yet, I was kind of pissed. But once I got there and we met back up with Jeff I was fine. Flogging Molly was awesome as always and my list of songs I know was multiplied by ten or so.

Girl Talk
Girl Talk ended up being pretty AMAZING. It's a DJ who does crazy cool mashups. I quite enjoyed the sound because it wasn't all pretentious my taste in music is better than yours crap and (t)(s)he(y) used a bunch of random songs. It was awesome and everyone was dancing up a storm. Even the one-legged girl in the tree.

Mark Ronson
We sat around listening to Mark Ronson while we chilled. He did his song called Valerie (that's normally done with Amy Winehouse) that they had been playing all over Amsterdam. Or at least over and over in one bar in Amsterdam. There was a girl lying in the grass the entire time who wasn't moving. Jeff kept yelling "poke the dead chick...five dollars!" Although I swear he was yelling "hump the dead chick" but he denied it and called me sick.

Kanye West
No one really wanted to see Kanye, but rumors swelled all weekend that Obama was going to introduce him. Rumors were just rumors and we fled after one song.

Nine Inch Nails
We booked it to the other side of the park to catch Nine Inch Nails. After about ten minutes my first comment was "Doesn't this band...sing?" They were doing some weird experimental stuff where it was all odd music lights and such. After a while of this finally it turned into a Nine Inch Nails concert. Not that I know what Nine Inch Nails does but that seemed more them and less, umm, Peter Frampton or something. That part was pretty awesome. Oh, and the chicks in front of me kept inching further and further up, leaving their backpack further and further behind. I was tempted to steal it, for the sole fact that people who leave their bags in the middle of a concert deserve to have it stolen. But I'm not that kind of person.

So that was Lolla in a nutshell. OK, maybe not a nutshell. More like a more-than-slightly deformed world's largest watermelon shell. But I guess that's more of a rind than a shell. But let's go with that.

LOLLAPALOOZA PHOTOS HERE!!!

Posted by valry at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I haven't dyed my hair in a year.

Posted by valry at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

2. Super Secret Mission #2 (no clues for you on this one) (5)
I have pretty much decided that this will not be accomplished this year. Still not telling you what it is. Hopefully next year...

13. Coney Island for the Fourth of July (5)
It was AMAZING!

39. See two other musicals (3)
This was already crossed off...but I saw Spring Awakening too!

61. Watch all the seasons of 24 (3)
I finally started season 4!

62. See 5 Dario Argento films (2)
I watched Deep Red now 1.5 times and can't get into it because they keep switching to Italian that I can't understand. But I think that still counts, and that's maybe 3 or 4.

64. Watch all the Indiana Jones movies (I have honestly never seen a one of them) (2)
I watched the third...now I just have to watch the newest one...

93. Beat my taste-going record :) (probably not possible as I hope to be in NYC for much of it, but I can try!) (3)
I went 8 times, which ties my eight from last year...but I also went to taste of champaign and taste of Lincoln Ave....So I win.

105. Audition for American Idol (I crossed this off last year by applying to a reality show, but I get ec this year if I actually audition for AI) (2)
There are no auditions in Chicago, and this is not worth driving for...next year is my last chance though.

138. Learn to use my ipod and get all my music on it (0.5)
I...ummm...used my ipod this month.

143. See Takeru Kobayashi (2)
AMAZING...simply AMAZING.

July total: 10
June total: 3.5
May total: 13
April total: 0
March total: 1
February total: 5
January total: 13
Total Points: 45.5

Posted by valry at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)