Johnny 13 cooked up some good ass grub Sunday night.
Thank you for that and for also offering to give me a lift up to the Shellac show
Even though you didn't go, the offer was still a kind gesture.

Johnny 13 wrote:Every fucking one was talking about H-GM, and I never laid eyes on him. Word on the street was that he is a great person. His fan club is diverse.

At this particular point in time you have no idea how much these words mean to me. Sorry for being a sap, but it's so very true. Thanks.

OK - I'll pick this thread to shed words on some of the serious lovage I (and my "family") had the honor to be a part of this past weekend:

(dammit - this is going to be long, and there are going to be edits/updates, so check back occasionally?)

Christopher_Dragon: It was very kind of you to play the role of 'social hub' this weekend, for myself and many others. Yes - your recognizability helped immensely. You and a few others in particular made this an incredible total vacation experience and not just "see bands/sleep/eat/see bands/eat/sleep/eat/see bands/eat/go home". Your enthusiasm and chattiness makes a brotha feel welcome - and that RAWKS.

rachael: You are even more magically intense in person than I could have imagined, even after watching you rip fuckers to shreds here from time to time. And you took many opportunities to make Kathy feel included, which helped the overall cause IMMENSELY (she was running on fumes toward the end there, and she doesn't necessarily receive nutrition/sustenance from rock-n-roll the way some of us do). Also, I remember the sight of you and Stacie (sp?) dancing to Calexico at the end there, and it looked like you were having a great blissful moment, and that will be etched in my mind forever.

Mandroid2.0: Was very cool to Gabblychat with you the night before leaving out (when I should have been packing and/or sleeping, but couldn't, like a kid the night before Christmas) I think you and the HiFi guys saw some pretty serious rambunctiousness out of me and my brother late Friday night, and you still talked to us on Sunday, which says a lot, I think (?) I hope your Tribal Wars stuff didn't die a total horrible death while you were away!

Linus Van Pelt: My heart seriously broke for you that you couldn't stay longer, but it was really cool to rap with you as we drove and "made the scene" at the afterparty. You also were a comfort to Kathy so that she didn't have to think "All these people are NUTS!"

burun: So glad to get to chattin' with you about all things DIDJITS. Also, you have the distinction of being someone whose multiple names I seem to be able to remember easily... you are also an awesome favorite Scrabble partner. You make great conversation flow, it seems.

"Killdozer Nick" (will edit this when I recall your screen name!: Lots of fun chatting up a storm with you also in the backyard. I would love to take you up on the offer to get me up to speed on all things (naturally) Killdozer. Ditto on flow.

Johnny 13: We were floored by your awesome hospitality. I'm flattered that you took us in as last-minute additions to your Sunday night shindig. And you know it's one thing to throw some meat on the grill and say to everyone 'come and get it', but you personally came around and made sure that we all got home-made, sweet-ass MILKSHAKES that were unbeatable. You might be one of the kindest human beings I've met in a long time (with some of the above running a close second) - either way, it was damn good to meet you, even if it was just at the end, there.

Redline: Seeing you in your famous shirt (!) took me instantly back to the Saturday morning show last year when you guys opened for Shellac at Martyr's. That was great, and it was super-fun talking to you and your lady for a bit there - you are a kick-ass enthusiastic dude.

DrAwkward (and your HiFi posse of choppy, yaledelay, and ???): You guys raged and LVP and I agreed that every song was your last (in a complimentary way, all the way!). Your first tune at the afterparty was no half-assed soundcheck song, that's for sure! I probably crossed the line a bit with a bunch of you that night with my magical spraying can of Schaefer's. (Shit, I think being in that basement show took me back to thinking I was hanging with a bunch of grungy teenagers or something) You repaid the favor by pouring a slightly larger amount of beer back on my head, so I hope I didn't totally irritate you, and I hope my goofy smile showed that once I've dished it out, I can totally take getting it back.

Stewie: Nice to meet you and make the beer-run to Tip-Top, and kick it at the afterparty,etc. Sorry if I was trying to ramble at length to you on Saturday (or was it Sunday?) morning when you were trying to meet up with another friend. Part of it was to tell you the story about my brother, but that will get it's own thread here soon, I think. (Look for "The Ballad Of Pockets")

tree: you reminded me of our recurring GeoSense wars, which was a lot of fun! Sorry if I was already WAY incoherent by the time we met late Friday night (Saturday morning!) at the afterparty.

hench: Very cool to meet you - a very sincere and friendly face everytime we crossed paths, and then at the end a "small world" moment when we realized that your ladyfriend also went to my high school and was also friends with one of the people that I had been hanging with the night before (along with my old high school chums).

kerble: shit man - sorry we only met for like 5 minutes - still, you sported a hell of a friendly grin when we were introduced, and that felt cool (I'm sure I sported one, also)

Itchy McGoo: You and I didn't really talk much, but we were often standing near in the same crowds, and you looked like a really happy camper (to support what you said earlier about having the glow of rock-n-roll - I believe it)

tipcat: Also, I may not remember specific conversation, if we had them, but you were one of the friendly faces that kept turning up, so you must be good peoples to know and hang with the other good peoples

madmanmunt: I should be shot for trying to sing such horrible drunken French at you, although you took it very well. But at least I was being truthful when I said "Je parle français comme une vache espagnole."

Sinclair: I am sorry that we never really met up again after Saturday afternoon! We were indeed there all day Sunday, and never saw you again. Your YouTube clips are already bringing me much joy, and not just for "instant-nostalgia" but also for being able to see some things I missed when I had to go get food or use the facilities or run to the car, etc. I'm glad you got the ticket you needed, and I hope it wasn't too much of a pain to get a ride Sat. Night and Sunday (but if you would have been stuck, I hope you would have known that you could have called me for help!)

Other cool folks who I may not have a whole proper "paragraph" for, but need mentioning, because at bare minimum (for some) I was in your presence and you seemed nice.

garble
adamawakes
toomanyhelicopters
tutku
Fantasmical Thorr
CottonSocks
honeyisfunny
Barbo
lambeth

Other Special mentions:

LKN: I don't even think you read here, but you were A M A Z I N G. I'll never forget rapping with you after the show about "Purple On Time" either... YOU GET IT. Enough said. I want you to come to play Saint Louis.

BEAR CLAW: You were great when I saw you in Milwaukee, even in the consrvative confines of the Todd Wehr hall, but you FUCKING KILLED in the afterparty basement show - that was more of my idea of a setting for a show like yours, and you did not dissapoint in the least.

JEFF TWEEDY: We didn't actually speak, but I'm fairly certain I saw a silent nod and smile on Sunday when you spotted me in my Bottle Rockets T-shirt.

BRADLEY R. WEISSENBERGER: I had this idea that I would randomly bump into you somehow/somewhere this weekend, but it did not happen. That might be one of me only real disappointments of the weekend. Just so you know that even though you are still technically an 'invisible robot friend' you make me laugh about the hardest of anybody here on a regular basis, so there's lotsa love for that, anyway.

To any and all that we came across this weekend, I really want to stress that you have an ally here in Saint Louis, so that if you're ever swinging through for any reason, please come look us up for crash-space, hanging-out, mayhem, geekery, or any and all of the above.

(FUCK - I hate hitting 'Submit' on this, because I am sure I left some important stuff out!)

- Carlin

Arson Smith wrote:Stewie: Nice to meet you and make the beer-run to Tip-Top, and kick it at the afterparty,etc. Sorry if I was trying to ramble at length to you on Saturday (or was it Sunday?) morning when you were trying to meet up with another friend. Part of it was to tell you the story about my brother, but that will get it's own thread here soon, I think. (Look for "The Ballad Of Pockets")

No worries Carlin! Hey, remember that person bringing in their baby into the TipTop liquor store at midnight? Like you said, "That's some serious dedication"

Great meeting you! If only the weekend was really a month...

stewie wrote:No worries Carlin! Hey, remember that person bringing in their baby into the TipTop liquor store at midnight? Like you said, "That's some serious dedication"

OH JEEZ FUCK YES - that was so AWESOME (literally awe-inducing, but not in any good way!)

Arson Smith wrote:Sinclair: I am sorry that we never really met up again after Saturday afternoon! We were indeed there all day Sunday, and never saw you again. Your YouTube clips are already bringing me much joy, and not just for "instant-nostalgia" but also for being able to see some things I missed when I had to go get food or use the facilities or run to the car, etc. I'm glad you got the ticket you needed, and I hope it wasn't too much of a pain to get a ride Sat. Night and Sunday (but if you would have been stuck, I hope you would have known that you could have called me for help!)

Fear not as the kind taxy drivers of the city of Chicago were willing to exchange my money for a ride
Hope your brother managed to stay out of trouble for the rest of the weekend.

I had a 6AM flight on Monday, and funny enough, the guy sitting one row in front of me was still wearing his T&G wrist band. Said he's still not ready to let go.
2 days after I don't think I'm ready to let go either. My wrist band came off Sunday night, but it was put to safekeeping, and will join his mates back home.

I have a group of green envy family members and friends back home. We've all been to several music fests, some even had a lineup that was more up my alley, but never had I felt so overwhemed and trully happy to be a part of a music event. It wasn't so much a festival as it was a celebration. Can't believe that on Thursday afternoon I was still contemplating weather or not I should go, and if it hadn't been for your timely PM, there's a good chance I would have chickened out.


Oh... and may I just say that the Didjits ROCKED!!! Seriously

In no particular order:

electrons! I enjoy the posts of most people here, but very few are "my kind of guy". You are my kind of guy. I had a great time kickin' it with you. Your lovely wife is a lovely woman!

kerble! What can I say, you lived up to the reputation. So many laughs, so much watching you dance to the Ex! You are also a fine lookin' man.

bumble! You bailed Faiz out, keeping us from missing out on your presence at the bar. Faiz has said here that he likes strong women. He certainly has one.

spacebar! Sorry I didn't get to see you after Thu. night. You are an enthusiastic person. Enthusiastic people are fantastic!

buzzsaw! So much great old married guy talk! I fixed a doorknob today and thought of you.

itchy mcgoo! You are a sassmaster and a good sport! There is a reason that I didn't wear snap-buttons on Saturday.

Johny13! You offered me food before even saying hi! Wtf. Such a generous man. I wish I could've attended your bbq.

Christopher_Dragon! Thank you so much for letting me crash Fri. night. You bailed my ass out. Your dog is great, so playful right before I left your place. You were very much an anchor of social activities. Special thanks to your flophouse gang for letting one more person crash.

burun! You are a good conversation! You are a rootbeer person! Rootbeer is awesome. I will work on getting a six-pack of Tommyknockers out to you.

rachael! A bourbon connoisseur who will still knock back Jim Beam! Excellent. You got me drunker than I already was, let's face it. I think you may have taught my friends about tampoons, too. So motherly!

tipcat! You gave me a ride home! I had no idea whether or not I had a ride, but thanks to you, I did.

H-GM! Whenever you Chicago people all hang out, everybody always post about you. I now see why. In my drunken state I believe I referred to you as "the only brother on the board". You laughed, thank the lord. Another handsome man you are.

Drawkward! Bonsai is back in my life thanks to you. Thank you for the bonus stuff as well. Your band was great, you guys were all fun people.

scott! Your administrative qualities are fantastic! You also reversed my beer debt and bought me one. So great! Thank you also for making a certain special T&G treat possible. Yeah, that one.

BadComrade! Thank you for the beer and the getting-the-guitar-to-late-at-night Agostino story. So good.

Redline! I met you for about 15 seconds, but your personality perfectly matched your online persona. This is so rare.

MTAR! Such kind words you had for me. Such a good beer you had for me. Such a great band you have. Your one of my favorites, I won't lie.

AlBStern! I didn't expect you meet you, but I did! So much good talk about AD. Unfortunately, Korean bbq was out of the budget. Next time.

brian! I think I have the right Brian, who doesn't post here much. We met in passing, but you remembered my name eight hours later. So nice. You are an incredibly comfortable conversationalist.

Arson Smith! Oh man, I know we met briefly, but I observed you a bit and you are quite a funny man. I wish I could have seen you again.

Matthew Taylor! The bungee stuff, so funny. I hope you are wrong about the Nuggets. I was a bit soused as well, and fortunately stopped short of telling Alexis that "you did a really good job with Hissing Prigs." Somebody else can explain why that's funny.

jimmyjames6! Your guitars are fantastic and you band so brutal! Excellent work.

piccoman! Your band is good! Unfortunately you went on a little late for me to catch much, but it was very good. Thank you so much for making the afterparty happen.

LVP! Such a nice little conversation right before you left. Thank you for giving me an insight into Michigan's politcal climate.

hench! Such a nice conversation about MST3K. Thank you very much.

mattw! I met you at the very end of my trip, but it was a good conversation! I wish I had met you sooner.

Special thanks to everybody who showed up at Small Bar on Thu night. I know that anybody could have started that thread and C_D picked the place, but it still made me feel like I put something together. *sniff*

More than anybody, I gotta give it up for my man oucheh. You took care of the plane tickets to K.C., you took care of a place to stay in K.C. and Chicago. Your friends were all great and you did your best to make me feel at home with a bunch of people that you've known since childhood. Tailgating on Elston (anybody else do this?) was so good, Friskies are a great drink. I literally could not have gone without you. What a guy. My wife still thinks you're hot.

I'm sure I have forgotten some people, and for that I apologize. You guys all helped make this one of the best weekends of my life.

Salut!

Tipcat - Once again, thank you for letting me crash at your place all weekend with such a short notice, and for making me blueberry pancakes n' stuff. I'm sorry that I did not get a chance to cook for you at all or present you with a portion of my bad horror movie collection, but there will be other weekends for that. Cheers, Dave!

Johnny13 - Your kindness, hospitality, and steak preparation skills warmed my heart. Thank you for the fabulous evening of friends and fire. You have a lovely home and family and I deeply hope that I have the honour to spend more time in your presence in the future.

To everyone else I met or saw once again this weekend, you are all magnificent people. I am honoured to know each and every one of you, and that sounds like total bullshit but it's very true, and I'm so glad that I gave in and started posting here rather than merely lurking.

Thank you for being the EA forum folk, and thank you for sweeping me into your fold.

The fold...




































...of kerble's mom's labia.

Too many....

Off hand:
Dragon- for giving me a huge hug before even saying hi.
Bradley for offering to buy me a beer. I was still hungover though.
Kerble- for being Kerble.
Bumble- for mouthing off to a dumbass in a car who was frontin' on K-dawg.
Tree for talking to me about East Lansing
Rachael for thinking she knew me.
Linus- For leaving early and putting me one person closer to seeing the awesome bands his dumbass walked out on.
Steve- for humouring all of us for a couple of songs.
The Russian and the other two Mikes for making the rock.
Dr.Awk, Yale, Choppy- See above and for being 100% in on the HiFi\Red Swan Lake Michigan Boat tour. Coming into port, summer 2007!
Bearclaw for the awesome Party!
...and...

Corey. Dude! You're the man! We all would be really lame without you!

Arson Smith wrote:

Redline: Seeing you in your famous shirt (!) took me instantly back to the Saturday morning show last year when you guys opened for Shellac at Martyr's. That was great, and it was super-fun talking to you and your lady for a bit there - you are a kick-ass enthusiastic dude.

Thanks for the love...

The shirt. With the roses on it...Ok...My wife packed it, and I thought it might get chilly, so I wore it Saturday...It's one of the few long sleeve shirts I have that don't need a tie. On the way to the show, I realized the last time I had worn it was when we played with Shellac. Ok, totally GAE, look at me again in my Western Shirt!

I pointed this out to Renee, and she said "No one will notice..."..EVERYBODY noticed, in fact. "Hey, I remember that shirt, you guys were great!" "Hey, aren't you in Couch Flambeau? I remember that shirt!"

That was funny as hell. Someone even told me "You were great today.."..

"We didn't play! What did I do?"

Back to the Hideout for a cocktail....