Bits&Pieces

I think they had the time of their lives

(All photos taken by Aidan Zielske, or with Aidan's camera.)

And so, Green Day has come and gone.

This year's show served as the Zielske family cultural event. Last year? Jesus Christ Superstar. And I suppose, considering the performances of both "East Jesus Nowhere" and "Jesus of Suburbia" at the show, well…there's a connection in there somewhere, right?

I will say this: the kids were ready to go. Aidan had the eyeliner:

 

And Cole had the sign:

 

Unbeknownst to Cole, however, signs aren't permitted at the Target Center when Green Day plays. They confiscated it from him at the door. Poor dude. He was bummed. Hopefully, the horrifically overpriced concert paraphernalia made up for it. (Aidan got a t-shirt; Cole, a baseball cap and wrist bands; me and Dan? Lighter wallets.)

But once the lights went down, all troubles were forgotten and both the kids just rocked it out for the next two and a half hours.

 

From the opening number, Song of the Century, to the closer Good Riddance (preceded by a sweet version of a song Billie Joe wrote for his wife that I believe he only plays when they play Minnesota because she's from here, Minnesota Girl), the show was tight, fun and exceptionally profanity laden.

They bring kids up on stage and have them play or sing, or simply fall back and feel the power of the music. (If you want to see a clip that one of my Facebook friends Alyssa sent me from Green Day's Chicago show featuring her neighbor kid, just to see one fun thing that happens on stage, watch this. But I'm warning you: you will hear an f-bomb.) But I have to say, Billie Joe, you adorable imp, you could swear at me or my kids any time.

Long story short: they put on a great show and I have zero buyer's remorse.

And,in the tradition of scrapbooking, I made a page to go into my "Things We Do" album.

 

Supplies: Adobe Indesign • one sheet of photo paper • one sheet of cardstock • Hootie and Avenir fonts • awww yeah

Just do it! (or don't): the guide to making the best unintentional iTunes mix ever

On Sunday, I had the burning need to listen to one of my all-time favorite mood enhancing songs ever in the history of my life (Thank you, Steve Perry, I will always remain true to you. And your hair. And your weird stage clothes. And your mom jeans.)

So you can deduce by now, the song was "Don't Stop Believin'" and I just typed in the word "don't" into the iTunes search field, and I'll be damned if a whole list of musical lovelies didn't pop up and I realized: you, my dear, have the makings for the most Awesome Mix Ever.

I'm still workshopping it. I'll let you know later this week how it's holding up. But it's fun. Pick a word. Pop it into the search field. Make a mix.

The best surprise on the mix? Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. Makes me want Dan to grow a mullet and pop open a pair of Schlitz Malt Liquors. (Sorry. Those high school flashbacks hit at the most inopportune moments, don't they?)

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In other fun news, a bunch of my former Simple colleagues and contributors have launched a shiny new site called Write. Click. Scrapbook. They are going to carry on the spirit of Simple, and offers lots of tips, ideas, layouts, giveaways—you name it—all in the name of Simple scrapbooking goodness.

perfect pop

Many of you remember this song. Maybe not. If yes, enjoy. If not, enjoy. It's a perfect little song.

Have a great weekend.

It's not true, I don't like EVERYTHING from New Zealand

I'm going to see Neil this coming weekend. Sunday, to be more precise. I know. You can HARDLY wait, right?

Last weekend at Jesus Christ Superstar I was having flashbacks to the Crowded House show (held in the same venue). The flashbacks were slighty hazy on account of all that wine I drank (at Crowded House, not at JCS... I generally don't get smashed on family outings to the theater to see our Lord and Saviour belt out the tunes), and I remembered how friggin' cool it was to walk right down to the front. I remember handing the usher my ticket, and how she smiled, and how I heard this gathering of angels singing, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh," and how each successive usher simply continued, well, ushering us to the very front. They all just smiled knowingly. She's in the front row. Look at her. It was like being part of a secret club, you know? I would imagine it's what sitting in first class on a plane must be like.

My point, however, is that at this coming show, it's general admission. There is no special ushering of the Zielskes down to the front. No. At this show, I'm going to have to fight my way to the mosh pit on my own. I will do what I must for closeness to Neil.

And speaking of closeness to Neil, my friend and fellow Neil devotee Krista, linked me up with a video of the dude who's opening for Neil and Co. on this brief but glorious American tour, Don McGlashan. I have a link to one of his songs on the YouTube sidebar, but I never know if anyone gives a wild hoot about the YouTube sidebar on this blog. So I'm going to post it here. Because if you like music, you need to check this Kiwi out.

As I'm trying to explain this guy to Dan, Dan accuses me of being one of those people who, if you like one thing, you're going to like EVERYTHING that has any relation to the original thing. He compared me to a dear friend of ours who, when he was into R.E.M. back in the day, was also into everything and anything else from Athens, G.A. Every single band that came out of that small southern town in the late 80s and early 90s. And as Dan pointed out to me, "Dumptruck just wasn't that good."

So here's me. Loving Neil. And loving Liam. And yes, I'm quite certain if his dog put out a CD, I would like that as well. That said, Don McGlashan is from New Zealand, and is apparently quite an NZ music icon himself, coming from a few different seminal NZ bands, but I swear to God, he could be from Nebraska, and I would still be absolutely mesmerized by his music.

So take that, Dan Zielske.

You can hear a few more tracks on his My Space page, and his album, Warm Hand, is available on iTunes. One song is a must hear: Toy Factory. It is one of the most haunting songs I've heard in a long time, and the story that goes with it is true and devastating. I know. Sounds like a real party album! But honestly, if you like music, check it out.

I'm heading to Utah tomorrow, will try and post from the road. Until then, please for to enjoy.

I cannot BELIEVE this is happening... AGAIN. Ugh. Seriously. I'm getting too friggin' old for this crap. And now EVERYONE has to hear about it, ad nauseam.

But if you want in on the fun, my favorite band ever in the history of the past couple of years are playing two shows in Chicago, in May. And this time, I WILL make meaningful eye contact with you, Neil Finn. Even if it means security will have words with me.

Chicago…here I come, baby.

You…you can be mean…and I…I'll drink all the time

This is my much needed Wednesday afternoon pick me up. Thank you, David. You beautiful, amazing man, you.

Not really into scrapbooking, but really into Fleetwood Mac right now

And I can't tell you exactly why. Actually, that's not true. This blog post will tell you part of the reason why. Duh. Let me start by saying I was never a Fleetwood Mac fan when they were in their prime. I was 12 when Rumours came out. And it wasn't until they released The Dance that their music finally clicked for me. And then, I just grew to love their whole story. A mix of heartbreak and musical chemistry and rock and roll.

Dan got me thinking about them the other day because he'd been listening to Tusk a lot at work, and was talking about how with some young, indie bands these days, it's not unusual for them to site the Mac as an influence. He said you could put a number of songs of Rumours onto any album today, and there'd be no reason why it wouldn't work. I tend to agree.

So aside from listening to said album non-stop for the past week, I found this clip. I'd never heard this song before. But I think it's brilliant. And sad. And their voices layer together in such a genius way. It's just beautiful.

What's on your Top 25 Most Played?

Every now and then, I like to look on what songs have made it onto my Top 25 Most Played list, on my iTunes. Have you ever done this? I'm assuming anyone who uses iTunes has this list automatically generated.

I realize as I look at this list, my daughter had a huge hand in the first few songs, because they were on a mix she used to listen to every night before she went to sleep. The rest of the songs make total sense for me: Another Lonely Day, by Ben Harper; Four Seasons in One Day, by Crowded House; and Here Comes the Flood, by Peter Gabriel. Classic heavy rotation tunes.

But what I'm really confused about is how number 13 got that high. Don't get me wrong, I once had something similar to this on my bedroom wall when I was 11 years old and I knew every single word to The 12th of Never, and I'm not even Mormon. But really, who's playing Puppy Love 86 times in my office? Is there something Dan's not telling me?

So, what's number one on your Top 25 Most Played? (And while you're at it, your number 13, too!)

And yes, if you say Puppy Love I will be sufficiently freaked out.

I know, I've said it before, but…

I really miss Steve Perry. Not the pants or the shirts. But the voice. And DEFINITELY the hair.

I'm what you'd call an unapologetic 80s corporate rock whore. And by "whore" I mean "Super Fan!"

Happy holidays. Don't you go stoppin' believin', y'all.

Two Hands of a Prayer

What I'm listening to this morning, as I'm finishing up my packing before I head out, from the album  Burn to Shine by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals.

Beautiful man. Beautiful song.