Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about birthdays and concerts.

Hey! What's up? Plenty...it's been a busy week, so let's jump right in...

Last week, about 3am on Sunday morning, I frantically shot off a blog entry about a surprise party we planned for Jess the CWC. I had been struggling for weeks trying not to spoil the surprise, and it felt safe enough at that point knowing she wasn't gonna find out. Well, I'm proud to report that we pulled it off !!

Save for all the running around I did on Sunday morning (because stuff got hectic at work and my schedule changed, so I couldn't get anything done the night before), it pretty much went without a hitch. As people started arriving, we herded everyone into the garage and I kept the garage door opener in my pocket. As far as Jess knew, we were just going over for a little barbecue. So I picked her up from work, grabbed the pasta salad I made (making her think I brought it from home when really I was bringing it from Erica's), and as we walked up the driveway, instead of heading toward the front door, I reached into my pocket and opened the garage door.

SURPRISE!!

Jess started tearing up...it was so amazing. Everywhere she looked in the garage, at all these 30-some odd people, she saw someone different and totally unexpected, from every part of her life. She had absolutely no idea that this was gonna happen. I can't thank them all enough for making her 40th birthday such an awesome time...and an especially big thanks to Erica, Kenny and Emily for all the hard work they put in. It really was a great night...pics are up in Facebook (finally).



Thursday was Jess the CWC's real 40th birthday. Every Thursday throughout the summer there's a free concert series. It used to be called "Thursday At The Square" based on where it was located. This year, they've changed the location to a wharf by the Erie Canal...so what? Still free...and that's what matters. A lot of people go just to go and hang out and whatever, because the bands aren't usually the greatest (ya get what ya pay for, ya know?), which is usually why I don't go unless there's a band I really want to see. I don't mind crowds, but I just don't care to deal with them any more than I have to.

So, for something to do on her true 40th, we headed down with Emily to meet up with her sis, brother-in-law and a few others...to see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UypeE3zTwBs

Yup, George Clinton and his latest incarnation of Parliament Funkadelic . I listened to them a lot in my teens, because they influenced a lot of other music that was prevalent in the early '90's I was listening to back then...and he is, of course, The Godfather Of Funk.

That was a great time, fo' sho'. We went out after for a few beverages and got into some hijinks with random strangers we met, including this metal-head hardcore singer kid serenading middle-aged women. Crazy ass night.



Saturday was a tough call. My boy DMFM is getting married this summer, and has blessed me (along with a few other gentlemen) with the honor of standing up in his wedding. DMFM and I go way back to '94. Ups and downs, through thick and thin, we've always been there for each other. We're brothers...we're family like that.

Not thinking my entire schedule through, I didn't realize that his stag party was also the same night as not one, but two concerts I would've absolutely loved to see. I got a call from DMFM Friday night, telling me I should go to a concert rather than his stag. Very gracious. I love that kid with all my heart...see, we're both big music people. We can talk about bands and music and songs for hours (we've spent many a night and a lot of beers doing just that). For him to excuse me from something like a stag (which we both agreed: stags aren't my thing anyway and it's just a bunch of dudes sittin' around playin' cards, eatin' and drinkin')...his stag, because he knew what either of these shows meant to me, speaks volumes about our relationship. Dave, I love ya brother, and thanks.

So who did we go see? Well, one option that sold out real fast, was only the greatest Canadian rock band of our generation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBhDqir7UpA&feature=feedrec_grec_index

The Hip played the same place we saw George Clinton a few days earlier. That clip is awesome...having Dan Akroyd introduce you on Saturday Night Live is like having God Himself walk you into the smokers' lounge in heaven. And it's from 1995...the band still rocks and is coming out with a new album soon .

But like I said, that show sold out fast. Instead we decided to head north a little to Niagara Falls for a free show to see only the sexiest man alive, and the only man I feel comfortable with myself saying he's "sexy", Mr. Hawksley Workman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNPx14J3lEI

The Hard Rock Cafe in the Falls puts on a free concert series also, and Hawksley is a must-see live. He hasn't been here in a few years. Right before he went on, we moved up near the front of the gate and a girl walked over to the couple next to us and said "Hey! Great to see you! Here's your wristbands...see the big guy in the yellow shirt over there? He'll let you in."

Jess's jaw dropped. I stepped up..."HEY! Ummm, it's our birthdays this week! That's why we're here!" She asked if we were big Hawksley fans, and we said of course we were, and that we drove from Buffalo, and it's my fourth time seeing him, and this chick was sold. We traded her our stories of love for Hawksley for two wristbands, front and center in the VIP section. Did I have a great night?

The best part is he's put out a few albums in the last couple of years that I didn't get because they weren't available in the U.S. yet or I just didn't know about them (and don't worry, I'll have them soon ). So he opened up with a new song, an old song and a new song...the crowd kept shouting requests for older songs...and he basically must've torn up his setlist. He would say things like "We haven't played this in years, it'll sound terrible..." and "Wow, that's an old one" and things like that, because I believe he wanted to move on and play his older stuff. But being the showman that he is, he plays very well to the crowd. He really killed it on the older songs last night...including a bluesier version of one of my favorites, and the song that got me hooked on him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLAPPdypHv4

Not as fascinating as the live version of that song...which ironically I heard first maybe in 2002 or 2003 when he was opening for The Tragically Hip's lead singer Gord Downie, who was playing Thursday At The Square on his first solo tour. Here's a gem from his first solo album, Coke Machine Glow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1kJP78BjNY



My birthday today wasn't anything special. We drove around and hit a few stores, mainly looking for a new computer chair for my ManCave. My current chair is a nice fabric one that's being supported by PVC pipe, as it was a hand-me-down from an aunt and uncle and the chair has "been through some issues". I test-sat a few models, but nothing to my bum's liking yet that also in our price range.

We also had dinner at a restaurant I can't plug 'cuz the service was absolutely terrible. Hint: when I ask for extra cheese, whether it's my birthday or not, you nod your head and say "Extra cheese on the side? OK, you got it!" and not "Well, there's some cheese under your chips." Yeah, well in lieu of a tip, I'm sure there's some extra change in your couch cushions you can scrounge up. And when we ask you to wipe the table down because it feels gritty (as it was a facility that offers outdoor dining in a mall parking lot), don't brush it off as "the tables are unfinished marble". WIPE THE F*@#IN' TABLE DOWN! Follow simple tenements of customer service, and I'll rep your restaurant to anyone who'll listen. But if someone brings your establishment up, I'll be the first to tear it down.

VITAL STATS:

For those of you keeping score at home, Jess the CWC is now 40, and I am now 36.

I don't even know if they use WDC anymore, but this day always reminds me of what Hailey, Chicochica, Inhercat, Noe and others did as a surprise for me one year...I was so anti-birthday, and they created an on-site forum for my birthday complete with images and lotsa love. I was floored....it was so sweet and awesome. It's in my port somewhere...I'll have to dig that up.

I'm cracking. Don't eat at Bar Louie. Terrible service.

That's it for me tonight folks...I've got at least 150 thank-you's to make. Love ya all. Live every day like it's your birthday...and treat each other like it's theirs. Peace folks...36 is the new GTFO!! GOODNIGHT NOW!!