oscar de la libation!

hoooooooooo!

what a weekend. an actual weekend-based birthday happens only what, every 6 or 7 years or something? so with that, it seemed prudent to really rile things up this year 'round, esp. after last year's car chase thriller. the din at The Pour House was quite good though Lex emerged as the big winner on that one with their very reasonable yet expansive pizza. not so expansive was our 1st room at xo karaoke, which quickly got to sauna-like sweat levels, what with hot beats from fitty cent and gloria gaynor. a move to the larger room (with an ever-growing contingent) proved MUCH more comfortable. clearly, as in the referenced Lost In Translation theme for the night, private karaoke is worth it, and the way of the future. talks are already on for a return visit.
alas, dance cave was not to be, and the new renovated entrance was thoroughly baffling to my intoxicated mind. luckily, the boys at The Tap str-eeeeeeeeeetched last call in our favour. thanks to all the good folks who came out and put up with my boorishness!

the (6th?) annual Oscar Night of Wagering was fun as always, with the ever-competitive Lex taking the top and only prize. Consensus that there was WAY too much Beyoncé and Chris Rock was rather sterile. Great to see wins for Sideways and especially Charlie Kaufman and my hero Gondry. Bravo!

cmw's coming up this week, daily updates will be on hand!

back the crüe up!

hey it's not every day that mötley crüe's manager invites you to check out a show on their new tour absolutely gratis-surely this will be entertaining on *some* level, and surely it was.

having been told backstage pre-show that things would get rolling at 8:15 we scurried back up to our seats and got ready for 2 1/2 hours of so-called rock and roll destruction. the crowd wasn't nearly as 'remember the 80s?' as i thought it might, but that didn't mean there weren't ample doses of big hair and camaros parked outside. introduced by a 'little' clown, (whom we met later as 'mighty mike') the band hit a flaming stage with shout at the devil, and continued to rock well on for...40 minutes, when an intermission was announced (by an incredibly dated animated deal onscreen). the band returned-cue the cliché-on choppers of course and continued on with the hits. tommy led the next interlude, with an extended drum solo and a very weird flighted trip up to the rafters for some experimental craziness, which was mildly received. the band (including an noticeably close-to-death Mick Mars) returned for the final set, including a visit from our dear physician friend Dr Feelgood.

this show simply had no shortage of your typical rock gestures on hand, and though there were some added elements (dancers, a brutal 'tit-cam' sequence with tommy, requisite pyro-mania), one has to wonder how many will buy in for the just-announced return of the same show in the summer!

I'll uh, see you there.

curse you kaiser chiefs!

gah! it's sunday and I'm still sick, as this nasty thing inside me has adapted to my cacophony of life brand cold medication and found new regions of my body to torment! no (obvious) signs of dysentery yet though, so that's ok.

but yes, I blame the kaiser chiefs for all this as they dragged me out to the el mo to stand with a bunch of nme-prying/bbc6-adoring folk, and a relatively full house at that for a tuesday night, despite some ill-advised kids who set up chairs and a table(!) in front of the stage. Davy Dog showed them. uncut was alright and the dials finished strong after a decently uninteresting set. the chiefs? first impression was a low-rent hives crossed with the abrasiveness/hatability of the killers, but their completely infectious first couple of songs forced me to stick around, and then brave the rainy walk all the way home (thanks ttc!).

res on wednesday was almost all great, esp. soulwax, rjd2, and a very fascinating old man named murray hill. here's hoping the screening series becomes a truly monthly affair.

this'll likely cause me to pass on t&s/lindy tonight, which bugs me as I so enjoy their banter.