Show Taping Cancelled

Due to inclement weather, the taping tonight with Travis Liles has been cancelled. Travis had to drive in from the St. Louis metro area and decided our show (viewership: 3) wasn't worth the potential loss of life.

We were still considering doing a show, but opted to stay home and let the good folks at Insight go home after their early evening tapings rather than stick around until 9:30 or 10:00 watching us make fools of ourselves.

This means we won't have a new show in the can until Dec. 14. Sorry for those of you who are anxious for a new show (there really isn't anyone).

Don't worry, Travis will appear on the show at a future taping. Look for him to appear in January or February. Our bookings are so tight right now, that we have to reschedule him pretty far in advance.

Take care everyone. Stay home. Be comfy.

My Mandolin

At some point during my twenties, I really wanted to learn a musical instrument. It wasn't that I wanted to grab a guitar and join a band or anything. I just really wanted to learn music. I wanted to learn an instrument. I had never really had a chance to study music growing up, but I'd always sort of wanted to learn.

So about a year and a half ago, after a lot of thought and consideration, I bought a mandolin. I had never played an instrument before in my life. I could not read music, and I really came into it as an ignoramus. I mean, I've always loved music, but I've never really understood it, if that makes any sense.

Earlier this year, some friends of ours invited us to a holiday party this Christmastime. The only hitch was that I had to play a Christmas song on my mandolin. After many months of putting it off, I finally bought a book of Christmas songs for mandolin. It arrived a few days ago. To my surprise, I got the book out, opened it up and started playing tunes. It was a GREAT feeling. I've had the same three books for awhile, and I've found a ton of resources on the web, but I have a hard time knowing if I'm really making progress as a player or not. Opening that book and ripping into my very own version of Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne felt so good. It showed me that after a year and a half of practicing almost every day, I'm actually starting to be able to play.

And that's with no lessons. I never felt like I wanted to spend money on lessons, and I couldn't really locate anyone who could give lessons who actually played a mandolin. So, I just set out on my own. It's been a difficult journey, but a fun one. I know how to read standard notation, but I don't read it fast enough to play from it yet. So, I'm still playing from tablature. I use the standard notation (when available) to help guide my timing, but I'm still mostly a tablature player.

I expect I'll be playing the hell out of Christmas songs this year now that I finally can.

Endurance Athlete on the Show

This Thursday night, we're excited to have Travis Liles on the show. He's an endurance athlete, who just came off of his toughest run yet, the Tryptophan 50K .

Travis lives and works in St. Louis, but he's originally from Girard. I met Travis way back during my college days at Eastern. We became fast friends and even lived together for a semester. Travis is smart, funny, and an all around good guy. We're looking forward to the chance to sit down and learn a little about what it takes to become a person who wants to run 30 odd miles on a mountain bike trail in the middle of November.

Check out his blog, "Keep Moving Forward," to learn a little about Travis's background and where he's planning to take himself as an endurance athlete.

Holiday Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Aubrey and I decided that we were going to lay low this year for Thanksgiving. We went for a walk with our dogs in the morning, made a small meal that we ate in the afternoon, and then we watched old movies.

When we lived in Richmond, Virginia, we never came home at Thanksgiving, and that was our tradition--a little food and old movies. I love to get comfortable on the couch and watch an old Hitchcock movie or some much-talked-about classic that I've never had the opportunity to see before.

This year we watched Bus Stop, Roman Holiday, and Notorious. I hated Bus Stop, and so did Aubrey. Man that was a terrible movie. Roman Holiday and Notorious are both great movies.

Then over the weekend we did our Christmas decorating. We're more settled into our house this year, so it was a lot more fun and a lot less work than decorating last year. I think everything looks nice, and I had a really nice time getting everything set up. I also dropped a hammer on my head. It was good times.

Get Your Popcorn

Lately, ideas from the Just Two Guys camp have been exploding like fireworks at a redneck 4th of July party. We've got a whole slew of ideas for upcoming shows, and they are more ambitious than anything we've ever done before. Stay tuned for:

-a donut-eating competition, featuring three local media icons. We're not going to tell you who. You've got to watch.

-60s-inspired-go-go-dance segues randomly appearing throughout the show (a la this)

-more shows taped before a "live studio audience"

-a real live show from a location in the Springfield area, complete with a house band. Imagine a late night show coming to Springfield. Look out Dave, Jay, and Conan.

-more zany wardrobes.

On days like this . . .

. . . I don't want to do anything but lie in the grass with Aubrey and drink wine and talk about all the places we'd like to visit someday. Seriously, could this day be any nicer?

If I weren't a jaded adult about to enter his thirties, this day would probably make me feel like anything is possible. But I am a jaded adult, so I'll squeeze the little bit of joy I can out of the day by looking out my office window and thinking about all the cool things I could be doing if only this chain didn't connect me to the desk.


What does this day make you feel like doing?

What is your favorite board game?

In the tradition of the late Unspelled, who has departed the Central of Illinois for a windier home up North, I pose a question to you, the readers.

What is your favorite board game?

Not long ago, we had a game night at our house, and it was great fun. We played Cranium, which is a pretty great game for 6 or more people. It's got all you could want out of a board game for a group of people: trivia, charades, drawing, and spelling.

Another favorite of mine is Scrabble. I'm a word nerd, and Scrabble is a game I could play for hours on end.

I'm also a real sucker for Yahtzee. This was the game that Aubrey and I played throughout our power outage following Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Good times.

But I think my favorite board game of all time is Scotland Yard. If you've ever played Scotland Yard, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't played, it's impossible to explain and really capture the joys of this game. Basically, you can either play as a fugitive on the run from the police, or you can play as a member of the police. If you're a fugitive, you do everything you can to elude capture. If you're on the police, you team up to catch the fugitive. Sounds simple, right? Well, here's the catch. The fugitive must keep track of his/her moves in secret, and only reveal his/her location every 5 moves. The police must use these reveal turns to refine their strategy. It's an incredibly fun game. My recommendation would be to track this game down and buy it.

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

In an effort to finally get beyond all the muckracking, Judy Baar Topinka and Rod Blagojevich have finally started getting to the heart of the issues that are important to this gubernatorial race.

Topinka - who went through Lake Villa, Bloomington and Springfield on Sunday- fired barbs at Blagojevich who is a well-known Cubs fan.
She says he spends more time at the ballpark than he does at the Legislature.
While on a stop in Bloomington she said that maybe Blagojevich should run for manager of the Cubs. She said --quote --"They're a bunch of losers, too, and need some help."
Blagojevich doesn't appreciate the comment.
He says Topinka can call him names, but to leave the Cubs alone.

Wow, just when you think Illinois politics can't get any more hilarious, something like this comes along. When I heard NPR's coverage of this event this morning, I nearly blew grits (yes, I eat grits for breakfast) out my nose.

Get the Chill Out

I've been wanting to get Micah my Hot Buttered Rum recipe for awhile now, and I keep forgetting. So, tonight, I decided to post the recipe here for everyone to enjoy. Hot Buttered Rum is a great way to stay warm on a cold night. It's great for fall social gatherings or for sitting around watching a movie and snuggling under a blanket. For those of you who don't like rum in your Hot Buttered Rum, just leave it out. It's still warm and tasty.

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients
2 quarts apple cider
2 cups brown sugar
4 sticks cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup rum (dark rum, preferably)

Instructions
Simmer juice, sugar, and cinnamon together for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add butter and rum. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve hot, hot, hot.

This much will usually make about 8 servings. I usually double the recipe and start with a full gallon of cider.

Last Night's Show

Last night's show went pretty well. Micah and I both felt the Q & A was a bit off. We were both struggling to come up with answers, and when Micah turned one of my own questions around on me, I dropped the ball in a big way. I think it won't seem as weird on tv as it did in the studio. Those awkward lulls seem to last an eternity when you're sitting in front of a camera trying to keep a smile on while your teeth dry out.

Our interview with Steve Bridge went amazingly well. We were off-topic almost the entire time, but we riffed on some interesting topics, from a unique twist on Olympic luge to the famous Kermit Washington punch delivered to Rudy T to, once again, the Golden Girls. Steve is a smart wit, and his sense of humor played very well on the show. I'd have him back on any time. Look for the show to air Friday November 10. Also, we'll hopefully have it online as post-production gets finished up.

Here are some pictures from last night. We had a bit of an 80s thing going on:

Upcoming Shows

Hey everyone. We're gearing up for our Fall/Winter Taping Season, and we've got some really interesting shows planned. As you know, tonight we're taping an interview with Steve Bridge of Sportsradio 1450.

November 30th, we'll be taping an interview with a friend of mine, Travis Liles. Travis is an ultra-endurance athlete who will just be coming off of a 50 mile trail run. Travis has been moving into ultra-endurance running for the last couple of years, and he's just now breaking into the longer runs. Sometimes I question his sanity, but he's passionate about what he's doing, and I'm excited to share this with our viewers. Plus, he's hilarious and will interview quite well.

If you don't know much about ultra-endurance running, just read up on this guy: Dean Karnazes.

We're still in the early stages of booking our December taping. If all goes well, it has the potential to be our best show of all time. More details on this one as they become available.

Then in January, we're trying to book Springfield jam-based progressive rock band, The Station, for an interview and a short live performance. We've contacted their people, and they are agreeable. The only problem is figuring out when we can get them in the studio. Those guys have a busy schedule, so we're doing the best we can. This one should be exciting.

LMA Show of the Week: Assembly of Dust

I know it's been awhile since I've posted a Live Music Archive Show of the Week. Well, enough waiting. I don't know if anyone actually uses these posts, but it's fun for me to explore the Archive and find music that interests me. So, if you've ever listened to one of the LMA shows I've posted and enjoyed it, give me a holler and let me know.

Assembly of Dust is a New York-based jam band that has been described as "hick-funk," and often drawing comparisons to The Band, Paul Simon, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, I don't know if I'd agree with that term or not, but I know that they play a lot of folksy, groovy songs about discovery. Songs that take you back to a time or a place that you often yearn to recapture. Good straightforward rock and roll music.

AOD did two shows at the end of 2004 as a sort of New Year's Eve bash from Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Both shows are incredible, and different enough that I thought it would be worthwhile to link both of them. The first show was actually played on the 30th, and the second show was played on the 31st.

Assembly of Dust Live at Paradise Rock Club on 2004-12-30 Some highlights include Honey Creeper, Samuel Aging, Amplified Messiah, Mudspring Draw.

Assembly of Dust Live at Paradise Rock Club on 2004-12-31 Some highlights include the entire first set. Amazing.

UPDATE: Assembly of Dust is playing Martyrs' in Chicago Friday night, November 3. That's right. This Friday night. Just letting you know.

Lucy's Surgery

 
Some of you may remember my piece on Canine Vulvar Conformation. Well, last Friday we took Lucy to Coble Animal Hospital, where she had an episioplasty surgery to fix the problem. We got to bring her home on Friday evening, and she's been recovering since. She started eating again on Sunday, and now she's acting just like a normal dog. She has what looks like 20-30 stitches in a semicircle around where the conformation was, and the whole region looks much better. We're hopeful that her urinary tract infections and constant skin irritations will go away.

She has to wear a lampshade dog collar until she has the stitches removed, and it's funny to watch her strutting around the house with this huge cone on her head. She's afraid of everything, though, so any time the collar catches a doorway or scrapes the floor, she wigs out. She can't climb stairs without someone to walk up alongside her and tilt the shade back. Otherwise she clips every step. Poor, sad little girl.