Give me two weeks.

For those who don't know, I'm moving to Hoover, AL (just outside Bham) at the end of July. I turned in my two week notice at work today. My last day should be July 10th, barring any unforseen circumstances. My plan as of now is to use the last 2 weeks of the month to organize my things and move periodically. We'll see how that goes. I am truly going to miss living in Tuscaloosa, but I have passed up too many opportunities in the last few years to let this one go. I am not sure where I'll end up working at this point. Sometimes you just have to take a chance.

Dax Riggs played at Bottletree 6/26/09. The entire set was just his voice and acoustic guitar. I enjoyed the set immensely and thought he did an incredible job of holding the (mostly drunk) crowd's attention without a full band. He played lots of covers, including (but not limited to) The Stones, Scott Walker, The Misfits, and Fred Neil.

The next day, my future roommate and I went to Atlanta to see the Red Sox play the Braves. It was my first live MLB experience and I had a great time. I've always enjoyed the game of baseball (If only I had taken better care of the baseball cards I collected as a kid) and I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to check out a Major League game, but I guess that is what happens when you don't have a team to align yourself with. When it comes to professional sports, I tend to follow single players more than I do the teams themselves. The Sox won 1-0, and it was an exciting game despite the low score. I thought Chipper Jones or David Ortiz might hit some homers, but the pitching was far too strong on both sides. We're already talking about going back to Turner Field in August when the Phillies are in town. Hopefully that will work out.

Marta:
The Game:


River/Beach weekend coming up....should be epic.

This Crooked Line

I took a day off work yesterday and went to see Elvis Costello play with his new backing band, The Sugarcanes, at the Ryman in Nashville, TN. This was my 3rd time seeing Elvis live, and just like the previous two shows, it was great. I had an unbelieveable seat (as pictured above) and the sound was perfect, which seems to be the standard for the Ryman. Elvis must be eschewing Rock 'N Roll time these days, because he took the stage at 7:37pm with an advertised start time of 7:30pm. I appreciated the gesture since I always arrive to shows early. The bluegrass/roots style of the new record translated incredibly well in the live setting. The set list was comprised of most of the tracks from Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane, rearranged versions of classics ("Blame It On Cain", "Brilliant Mistake", "Every Day I Write The Book", "Little Palaces", "Indoor Fireworks", "American Without Tears", "Alison", "What's So Funny..."), and covers of "Friend Of The Devil", "Femme Fatale", and "The Race Is On". I certainly never thought I'd hear Grateful Dead, Velvet Underground, and George Jones covers all in one set. The show ran close to three hours, and at the end I still wanted more. The drive back seemed like it would never end. I got in a good 2 and a half hour nap before arriving at work this morning. That kind of drive in one night probably sounds crazy to most people, but great shows are worth the effort.

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I've seen several other shows since I last updated, including The Avett Brothers, Wilco, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, and Bon Iver. Those were all enjoyable. I also went down to Foley/Gulf Shores to visit The Mann's, which is always a good time. It looks like I'll be back down twice in July. It's good to have things to look forward to. Perhaps the updates will be less sporadic in the coming weeks.

Oxford Town

I took another trip to Oxford, MS a couple of weekends ago. Josh and Jess Green accompanied me. The main purpose of the trip was to see Dinosaur Jr. play, but we got into some other things as well. Before we hit the road, we stopped by Oz Music in Tuscaloosa to support Record Store Day. I came away with the Sonic Youth/Jay Reatard Split 7", Tom Waits - Live 7", and Guided By Voices - Hold On Hope 12" EP.

After dropping off our scores at my apartment, we got going.

We stopped in Guin, AL to eat at a restaurant called the Frosty Front. I was starving and didn't look over their menu as well as I should have, which resulted in a quick decision for a mediocre order of chicken fingers. I should have gone for a patty melt or a Cajun chicken sandwich. Maybe I'll end up passing by it another time.


Once in Mississippi, we had to take the dreaded Natchez Trace Parkway. It's scenic, but has a tendency to get me lost. Luckily it did not defeat me....on the way there.

We arrived in Oxford and checked into our hotel room and chilled out for a few minutes while watching Alabama's A-Day broadcast on ESPNU. Ole Miss's scrimmage game was also that day, so this was a good way to avoid the crowded campus until that was over. We then headed out to find William Faulkner's home, aka Rowan Oak. That ended up taking much longer than expected, and we ended up arriving 10 or 15 minutes before they closed. Here are a few photos I snapped quickly while we were there:


(Faulkner's Typewriter)

(Notes for "A Fable" on the walls)

The house and the area surrounding it were really great to see, even while rushed. It looked like the perfect environment for writing. After circling the grounds, we drove over to Faulkner's grave site.

After that, we headed to The Square, and spotted J. Mascis hanging out by the venue.

(Phone booth party)

While shopping at Off Square Books (The used book companion to the mighty Square Books), we discovered that Lou Barlow had done an in store performance there earlier in the day. What a bummer. Had I known about it beforehand, I would have made it a point to be there on time. I tried not to think about it too much, and drowned my sorrows in a couple of bags full of books I didn't need to spend money on.

It was high time for food. We went to the Ajax Diner, which I hadn't given a shot in my two other trips to Oxford.

Cheese fries with brown gravy as an appetizer. It was obviously my kind of place. I had a burger with a side of excellent has brown casserole. We headed back to the hotel to rest a bit after this huge meal, and get ready for the show.

The venue, Proud Larry's, was smaller than I expected. We got a good spot up front and held onto it as best we could. Dead Confederate opened, and they held my attention for about 3 songs. One of the coolest things I spotted while inside Proud Larry's was a poster from a Warren Zevon show there in 1997. It would have been mind blowing to see him in such a small place. Dinosaur Jr. took the stage after a relatively long set change, and sounded great. Lou pointed out that J. normally plays out of three stacks (He was playing out of two and a combo amp at this show), and that when they go to Japan, he plays out of four. It still sounded louder than an average band to me. They played all the "hits", a handful of songs from Beyond, a new song, and encored with "In A Jar" and "Just Like Heaven." I snagged the setlist. Hopefully I can find a cheap frame to put it in.



After the show, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep, and got up relatively early the next morning to check out a bit of Ole Miss's campus and eat before heading back home. We ended up dining at a place called Sugar Brown's Southern Table. It was excellent, and literally every waitress in the place was cute as hell to boot.

(My choice for the day: Biscuits topped with smoked pork, scrambled eggs, and bean/tomato gravy. Very southwestern and very good.)

(Josh had burger topped with BBQ. I somewhat regret not ordering this. I believe Jess had a chicken salad sandwich, which didn't look anywhere near as gluttonous and beautiful as our meals, haha.)

We headed back home after our meal. Of course, the Natchez Trace got the best of me on the way home, and we ended up wasting a few minutes.

(This tower says "Punkin Water")

All in all, it was an awesome trip.

Taco Gean

Today, I ate lunch at Taco Gean for the first time. It is located on 13th Ave. in Tuscaloosa, across the street from The Red Shed and behind Crimson Cafe. Since it was my first trip, I went with the combo with the most variety: 3 soft tacos (One of which is not pictured, because I devoured it before I even thought about taking a picture, ha), each with a different meat, and topped with fresh onions, cilantro, jalapenos, and cheese . I tried Chicken Mole, Pork in Red Salsa, and Beef Barbacoa. Each taco was stuffed with meat...no skimping on portions here. I like that. The chicken and pork were both great, but had very similar sauces. The chicken actually had a sweet aftertaste, which was different, but enjoyable. The beef was delicious, and my favorite of the three. I should have paid more attention to the detailed ingredients on the menu and mixed it up a little more in regards to the pork and chicken, but I can take care of that next time. The more traditional style salsa was very hot, which was a great compliment to the smokier sauces on the pork and chicken.

Overall, I loved the food and the experience. There isn't an "atmosphere" per se, but the staff were so incredibly friendly that I didn't even think about it. I'd love to be able to get chips on the side in lieu of rice and beans, but that is just a minor gripe/personal preference. They also serve Mexican Coca Cola (and other various bottled soft drinks), which is a huge plus. According to the menu, all of the produce they serve comes from local farmers, and it certainly tastes that way. My combo was around $9 with a drink. While it is a little more than I'd normally like to spend on lunch, the freshness of the ingredients and quantity of food are worth throwing down an extra couple of dollars on. I'll definitely be going back, as it is a long overdue and welcome alternative to the average $6-$10 Mexican restaurant.

Wild Month.

I've neglected this blog as of late because of several events that I currently don't desire to write about.

I finally saw Neko Case over the weekend.

(The venue did not allow photography, so here's a generic live shot.)
She has one of the most powerful voices, male or female, that I've ever witnessed in a live setting. The set list was a bit too heavy on her new record, but I guess that was to be expected after it debuted at #3 on Billboard a few weeks ago. I'll definitely be seeing her again in the future.

Speaking of live music, here is my "schedule" for the rest of April:

Sat. 4/18 - Dinosaur Jr. @ Proud Larry's in Oxford, MS
(Leaving early for Oxford cuisine and Record Store Day, then staying overnight and hopefully visiting Rowan Oak on Sunday)
Wed. 4/22 - Wilco @ Sloss Furnace
Fri. 4/24 - Off With Their Heads @ a bar in Huntsville
Sat. 4/25 - The Avett Brothers @ Sloss Furnace
Sun. 4/26 - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band @ Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA

Singlewide

Check out this video promoting the new Dexateens record "Singlewide", which comes out May 12th. It features several notable Tuscaloosa citizens.

Incident #1

A customer came into my place of work yesterday to set up an advertisment for a classic car he had for sale. I typed up all of his information and gave him his total. As he was handing me the money, he told me that he was only selling the car because cancer had taken away most of the feeling in his fingers, and that he could no longer keep the car in good shape because of it. On his way out, he told me a joke, perhaps to cheer us both up.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about how hard it would be to deal with the fact that an uncontrollable force such as cancer stripped you of the ability to enjoy the things you are passionate about in life. The man seemed to have a handle on it. When he told me about his predicament, he wasn't looking for sympathy. He was simply venting about a particular frustration in the fashion that we would vent about having to take a late lunch, or standing in a long line at the grocery store. It was hard for me to process this at first. I hope that if something like that ever happened to me, I'd be able to have that kind of attitude.

Revolution Summer

I have so many decisions to make.

The Bars, Pt. 1

I just came across these incredible clips of Black Flag playing live on 12/20/84 @ Embassy Hotel, London Ontario. I am not sure of the order and highly doubt this is the full set, but it is well worth your viewing time. The audio is soundboard quality.























Hank fucks with a heckler...

I Don't Know Which Way To Run

I ended up going to see Lucero play again this weekend, this time in Jackson, MS. Crys and I left Tuscaloosa at 3pm on Saturday and arrived in Jackson about 3 hours later. The show didn't start until 9, so we had time for two very important things: BBQ and Records. On our way to eat, we saw an abandoned hotel:
It was fenced up, locked, and had obviously been that way for years, yet there were 5 or 6 cars parked behind the fence. Hmmm. Something sketch had to be going on back there.

We decided on T&A'S Barbeque after some web research. Their slogan is "Nobody Beats Our Meat." Excellent. We arrived and discovered that it was a walk up only type of place, which would have been nice on a sunny day, but it was cold and raining. We went ahead and gave it a shot and decided to eat in the car. It was great. Their sauce was pretty unique (unlike any I have tasted in Alabama...very thin, and an almost perfect mix of sweet and spicy), and the meat was very tender. I finished my sandwich in no time. They had good sweet tea, too. The woman working told us that another location would be open soon. Hopefully that one will be a full restaurant with seating. At any rate, I'd definitely eat there again. I completely forgot to take a picture of the building and their catering van, which featured the slogan and a painting of Betty Boop. Oh well.

Our next stop was Bebop Records. It was in a shopping center and we almost missed it, but luckily we turned one last corner and there it was. I ended up coming out with a Stevie Wonder Live LP on Tamla, The Jam - Setting Sons and Sound Affects LPs, an OOP Lou Rawls LP, VA - Stax Does The Beatles CD, and Elvis Presley - ST CD Remaster, all for around $45. I saw a really awesome Buzzcocks shirt, but couldn't justify dropping $18 on it. Maybe I can find one cheaper some other time. Check out this awesome Elvis Costello poster they have in the back:

After that, we headed over to The Ole Tavern. The show started around 10. The opening band was called Goodman County. They had a lot of energy, but the sound mix was terrible. They covered "Gimmie Danger" by The Stooges, which I thought was pretty cool...not a stellar version or anything, it just came out of nowhere.

Lucero finally hit the stage around 11:30. The set was great. I've seen them quite a few times, and while this wasn't the best of them all, it was up there. They played tons of requests as usual, including 3 of mine (Raising Hell, Across The River, Fistful Of Tears). Lots of bands claim to be all about their fans. Usually when I hear that claim, I just write it off as horseshit that is said only for good press. This isn't the case with Lucero. They talk it and walk it. Here are some photos I took:

(Crys got up and sang an impromptu cover of "Tiny Dancer." The alcohol made her mix up some of the lines, so I helped her out by yelling the correct ones at her. This was a totally hilarious moment that I'll never forget. The band was cracking up and everyone around the front of the stage high fived her afterward.)

The show ended around 1:30 am, so we hit the road immediately after. Once we hit Meridian, we stopped at Waffle House with Tory and Sophie (who had driven from Tuscaloosa and joined us at the show also). It must have been the only one in Meridian, because it was packed. Somehow we got out of there in about 45 minutes. Did I mention it was snowing for most of the drive back? I had never driven in that much snow before. It was an experience. Here's how things looked when I finally got home around 5:30-6:00 am:

Around 11am, after some much needed rest:

All in all, it was an extremely fun and memorable Saturday.