Friday
Robert Delong
Atlas Genius
Imagine Dragons
New Order
Killers
NIN
Saturday
Matt & Kim
The National
The Lumineers (barely)
The Postal Service
Sunday
The Mowgli’s
Two Door Cinema Club
Beach House
The Cure
Jul
18
The New Ride (by the numbers)
Jul
18
So I’ve had the new car, the Lincoln MKX, for a little over a month now and, yup, I’m happy with it.
The shopping process itself though was long and disappointing, though. Disappointing in seeing just how uninspired the auto industry is, at least in the SUV segment. Say what you will about the Aztek, at least it had some awesome features that were outside the box of what everyone else was doing. Today’s SUVs are all minimally sporty and have a homogenized level of utility. They really are fitting as the preferred transportation of suburbia because they perfectly mirror the comfortable, but completely unremarkable houses lining our neighborhoods. There are small ones and larger ones, basic ones and plusher ones, but they don’t really differ much. When I finally made a spreadsheet of around 17 different options, staring at all the similarities in their specs and features was daunting. Staring at their styling was also not helpful (oh, I see, this one has a little different slant to the window there…)
The test drives were probably the best part of the process, but there, too, there wasn’t much differentiation. They all had a great ride and nice bells and whistles. But occasionally there was something off enough to knock it down a peg. Eventually deciding to nix cars with three rows of seats and forego the possibility of hauling 4×8 sheets of material helped narrow things down considerably. After a few months it was clear there’d be no obvious winner standing apart from the rest, so it pretty much came down to choosing something with the best price to feature ratio. The certified pre-owned MKX certainly fit that bill. Anyway as much for my reference as anything, here’s how the new set of wheels stack up to the old.
| Misc features | |
|---|---|
| Aztek |
|
| MKX |
|
| Aztek | MKX | |
|---|---|---|
| HP | 185 | 305 |
| Torque | 210 | 280 |
| 0-60 | 9.2 | 6.5 |
| Weight | 3963 | 4485 |
| Turning R | 36.4 | 39.4 |
| Length | 182.1 | 186.7 |
| Height | 66.7 | 67.3 |
| Wheelbase | 108.3 | 111.2 |
| Headroom F | 40 | 40 |
| Headroom R | 39 | 39.3 |
| Legroom F | 40.5 | 40.7 |
| Legroom R | 38 | 39.6 |
| Cargo Norm | 45.4 | 32.2 |
| Cargo Max | 93.5 | 68.6 |
| MPG | 17/24 | 17/23 |
I was amused how you can barely even tell there’s an engine in here. Everything is encased to reduce the noise. I
Filed under General News
Jul
02
Ode to the ‘Tek
Jul
02
A month ago I said farewell to our faithful Aztek friend. After twelve years of trusted service it was finally time to move on. I took more than enough ribbing over owning that car. Yes, it had a quirky shape (or just downright ugly by most accounts). Fine, it didn’t have stellar power. Sure, it had a knack for catching the slightest breeze and turning it into a lane veering gust. And yes, maybe it marked the beginning of the end for one of America’s proudest auto brands. But in practice it was extremely useful, innovative, and trouble-free. It had cavernous cargo room, a great sound system, an awesome turning radius, technology that’s still hard to find (in the heads up display), and of course, A FREAKING TENT.
But eventually the maintenance items were starting to pile up (a nonfunctional fuel gauge, a couple badly worn bearings, a couple fan settings that didn’t work, etc), and the final motivation was when the air conditioning gave up as the heat of the summer approached. Knowing the time was coming, I spent months looking for a replacement, and eventually choose a low miles, certified 2011 Lincoln MKX to be the successor.
The Aztek was the first car I moved on from that wasn’t completely totaled when we parted ways (either by fire, or rollover, or deer). And for that it deserves a special tribute:
Filed under General News
May
10
Flying Pig 2013
May
10
Another Flying Pig Marathon weekend was upon us and D, Justin, and I gave it our best (Mark was sidelined by injury this year). D decided to return to some bit of sanity after last year’s Full and instead do the half marathon on Sunday. Justin and I choose to stick with a repeat of the 10k on Saturday. For whatever reason my training was lagging behind last year’s schedule. I only logged about 6 miles each in Jan and Feb, and 11 in March. I think I finally got worried enough to put in a healthy April, but I was still light on longer runs (with not one over 8.5k). But having run the distance once, I wasn’t nearly as anxious about it as last year.
We always get pretty pumped as the race weekend approaches, but this year had a deeper motivation as it followed just two weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing. That event was really felt in the running community. Runners find a meditative escape in the miles they toil away on the road. Even at its most adversarial, running is just your body versus your mind in an internal struggle. On the road the outside falls away – no job, no bills, no government, and certainly no terrorism. Then suddenly we’re all reminded that bubble of calm can be intruded upon in horrific ways. So to support the victims, the city of Boston, and to reclaim their peaceful sport, runners signed up in record numbers for the Pig.
The race went pretty well. Since my prep was a little off, my goal was just to be as close to last year’s result as possible. My start felt better this year (not too fast), and I handled the hills and bridges a bit better maybe, but it was still really tough. At one point downtown around mile 3 or 4 the headwind was ridiculous. Into the last mile I had just a little IT pain starting to flare up, but gladly it wasn’t bad. I ended up finishing just over 2 minutes over last year’s time. Not bad at all.
| Time | Pace (per Mile) | overall place | men’s place | division place (M 40-44) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:05:03 | 10:30 | 1,409 / 3,335 | 707 / 1,153 | 100 / 149 |
We stopped in The Holy Grail for a beer following the race and it was AMAZING. I think we have a new tradition!
D had a good run for the Half on the next day. She and her running buddies had fairly cool temps and pushed their way through a final leg in the rain to a time of 2:27:24. I don’t see myself getting up to that distance any time soon, but hopefully next year I’ll move into the Sunday races with the relay (a slight distance increase over the 10k).
Filed under Sports
Aug
17
Lollapalooza 2012
Aug
17
I’m finding it harder to spend a lot of time cooking up detailed posts on here, so I’ll reduce this year’s Lolla to a single mega post to cover the epic three days. For 2012, Justin, Mike, and D and I were joined by Dave and Xian, plus a seven and a half month along Grace!
Friday
Our first day was one of those days you could practically spend all your time at one stage. We got into the park after the first couple sets, but then grabbed a couple beers and a couple smiles and headed down to the main stage on the north where a large crowd was already building up.
Metric
Our first act of the day was Metric, a band I missed seeing in 2010 as they were still emerging. Now with the recent release of Synthetica and “Youth Without Youth”, they had lots of buzz and tons of new fans. The Canadian four-piece gave us an energetic show in the heat of the day and got the weekend rolling nicely.
After Metric, Donna and Justin left our primo spots, just a couple people from the front, to watch Die Antwoord on the next stage over. I really wish I could’ve gone, but I was determined to keep our position for Passion Pit coming up next. So, instead I listened to the distant throbbing bass of Fatty Boom Boom while baking in the sun.
Passion Pit
As Die Antwoord was finishing up, the crowd coming over to the main stage got even denser, but Donna amazingly managed to make her way back over. We’d seen Passion Pit a couple times before, but this was the first time in a festival setting, and the vibe really translated well. Michael Angelakos had recently cancelled some of their tour dates to regroup mentally, and we we’re thrilled to be able see him onstage seemingly to really enjoy himself.
Black Sabbath
It’s impossible to recall an odder choice for a Lollapalooza headliner than Black Sabbath. With three of the original members, seeing the band perform was a rare sight in itself, but at Lolla the resulting mixture of concert-goers it led to was truly odd. Unfortunately staying in place in front of the main stage, meant missing M83, but I hung there waiting with Mike anyway. Once Sabbath came out Mike was finally in his metal element. Seeing Ozzy on stage was nothing like the reality TV version of himself. Even if he was a bit stiff and stumbly on stage, and out of breath at times, damn if he didn’t lay it all out there.
Bassnectar
Roughly half way through the Sabbath set the novelty was wearing off on me, and I left to finish the evening with another band. I felt I’d be underwhelmed by the other headliner, The Black Keys, so I decided to checkout Bassnectar on my own. Or so I thought. Turns out everyone but Mike saw some portion of Bassnectar even though we never ran into each other. The light show was amazing and totally immersive even at a distance. It was an energizing yet chill way to cap off the night.
Saturday
Day 2 got rolling with some more strolling around the park including a stop at the Adidas tent.
Aloe Black
We started our first set only knowing the fun vibe of Aloe Black’s “I Need a Dollar”. Turned out the whole set was really great and danceable.
Next we checked out the PlayStation tent while listening to Neon Indian from a distance. And then things turned ugly. The sunny skies quickly turned dark and all the video screens in the park announced an evacuation.
After the heavy rains of 2011 (during Cage and Foo Fighters) it was really hard to believe they would shut things done. But there was a storm related tragedy at the Indiana State Fair since then which no doubt changed protocol. Bands stopped mid-set. Hundreds of volunteers corralled everyone toward the exists. As we passed the Chow Town food booths, we saw head chef Graham Elliot. He graciously posed for a picture, but then caringly told us to be safe and make our way out. He also said “come on back after things reopen and I’m giving free truffle popcorn to everyone”. That guy rocks!
It was raining as we left the park. By the time we got to the hotel lobby the sky was almost totally dark and there was a full torrent failing.
We enjoyed a midday happy hour back at our hotel room while watching social media for the latest status. Finally after two hours, the rain had passed and they announced the show would go on with a modified schedule.
FUN.
After having our parade rained on, the perfect choice to start things off again was Fun. They played the smaller grove stage and drew a ridiculously huge crowd. I listed to a few songs with Dave, Xian, and D, but since it was hard to see anything, I headed off early to secure a spot for Franz at the main stage. Just as I got out of the fray I heard everyone burst into “We Are Young”.
Franz Ferdinand
I guess Franz ended up being our big set of the day. They played a great set with lots of hits while the sun sank toward evening. The heavy guitar riffs seemed like good medicine for a frustrating afternoon.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
After Franz I figured my best headliner choice would be the Chili Peppers at the opposite end of the park. Unfortunately having a good spot for Franz meant being buried deeper in the crowd and slower to get over there. As I swung past Perry’s I danced to Calvin Harris’s “Feel So Close” which had spilled into a full on street party. By the time I was past Perry’s, the Chili Peppers were already playing and the path to the stage was a total log jam. It was wall to wall people either trying to get through or straining to see anything from where they were. I watched the video screens for a song or two then decided the energy wasn’t right and it was a lost cause.
Santigold
I decided to head back over to Perry’s (Harris had just ended a couple minutes earlier) to grab an early spot for Santigold. We caught her set at Lolla 2009, but it was packed and we didn’t have a great view. This time I was right at the rail, just very far to the side. Which was fine – my energy was fading and I didn’t need to be in dance central. Without any real expectations I had a great time. She had her trademark backup singers and choreo on stage with some new surprises. At one point they just starting pulling fans on stage. People right next to me hurtled over the barricade to join them. This was one time I opted to hang back and just take it in.
Sunday
The weather forecast for Sunday was all clear, so we partied up and headed out. We started with some shady time under trees at a side stage while Justin and D started bagging their annual recyclables.
We watched a hip-hop act named Overdoz on that side stage, but they were a bit of a mess. One of those times where you’re pretty sure the band is having more fun than the audience. But it was a relaxing start to the day anyway.
Gary Clark Jr.
Next Dave and I swung over to see the blues crunch of Gark Clark Jr. I had listened to a couple of his tracks beforehand, but live is where he really shines.
Of Monsters and Men
From there, it was back over to the grove stage to see OMAM, definitely one of the acts I was most looking forward to. “Little Talks”, and even “Dirty Paws”, had blown up pretty good prior to Lolla so they also drew a oversized crowd for that stage. I got stuck a fair distance from the stage and was unable to even meet up with Justin and D, none the less they were fantastic.
Florence + The Machine
Most of our group took up a comfortable position to watch Florence on the north main stage. I saw a little of her set from a distance, and it sounded great, but I was already en route to my next favorite of the day.
Miike Snow
These Swedish eletro guys had become a favorite of mine over their past couple releases. Even though I was alone for this set I had a great time getting down to their percolating synths and live drums amid the dense swirls of stage smoke. They played an extra long remix of “Animal” for 7+ minutes that was so fun.
Jack White
The last act on our agenda was headliner Jack White. Even though we all spent a lot of the weekend going in different directions, we gradually all regrouped before this set. We set up a couple blankets on a near hillside, and just relaxed as the sun set and the band started. Surprisingly I didn’t get any video of his act. It had been a very long weekend. Jack hit his own singles, some of The White Stripes favorites, and even a Raconteurs song or two. As you’d expect he closed with “Seven Nation Army”. Funny how I’ve heard that riff chanted by more people in the OSU Horseshoe than in Grant Park that night, but it was still an awesome finish.
Filed under Music
Jun
23
Epic tour of the Southwest
Jun
23
Together Dave and Christian, D and I spent 10 days vacationing out West. No recap here can do it justice, so I’ll keep this exceptionally short.
We started with three days in Vegas. Despite the ridiculous computer problems plaguing the MGM properties, there were amazing days at the pool, (less amazing for me) nights in the casino, a couple awesome meals, and a huge 1400 sq ft 2-bedroom suite complete with five TVs. From there we drove to the Grand Canyon (by way of bits of Route 66). We caught the canyon at dusk, spend the night there, and got up early to catch the sunrise the next day. After breakfast and more site-seeing we hit the road again.
We spent the next three days in Sedona enjoying some great meals, a 4×4 Jeep tour, some hiking and rock climbing, and another pool. After those three days, we took another roadtrip to Tucson along a very scenic (read: long) route. We all expected boring stretches of desert, but instead we saw so much variety in the Arizona landscape. There were mountains, and in the higher elevations, pine forests, areas scorched by forest fires in years past, and eventually the Saguaros.
We spend our last three days of vacation in Tucson staying at some multi-million dollar residence on the side of Tuscon’s highest mountain. Those three days continued with more of the same awesomeness: pools, amazing food, and hiking (with disc golf in the desert!).
Filed under Vacations
Jun
04
Nigelpalooza
Jun
04
In April we lost our friend Nigel to sudden complications from high blood pressure. He fought for nearly two weeks in the ICU, but the odd chain of events was to drastic to overcome. If I could’ve composed a few coherent thoughts to share at his memorial, they might’ve gone something like this.
I didn’t attend the same high school as Nige, nor the same college, and until the morning of his memorial I never realized it, but we never even (technically) lived in the same city. So how random, and lucky, is it that over the past 20 years I’d come to think of him as one of my best friends. I first met Nigel as one of D’s crazy group of friends in South Bend. She had gone to high school with him, and they’d run cross country together, but it was after graduation they really got better acquainted. I first connected with Nige because we shared the same interests – industrial and alternative music, video games, science fiction, etc – and I would later come to see we also enjoyed a similar outlook – one in which you don’t sweat the small stuff and you enjoy the present more than pin hopes on the future.
I don’t think there was such a thing as being an acquaintance of Nigel. Even though Nige lived in Indianapolis the last several years, he made over to quite a few Halloween parties. There in the fog and dim lighting, our local friends met him without a proper introduction, and exchanged just brief conversations over loud music. And even then, they could see the cool and caring person he was. Meet him, even for just a few minutes, and you’d feel like you’re already friends. Get to know him a little better, and you’d soon be treating him like a brother.
There are so many great memories from over the years – camping trips, concerts, or even just weekends hanging out in South Bend, Bloomington, Indianapolis, Columbus, or Cincinnati. If there was a camping trip being planned or a concert we wanted to see, he would try to be there. And if there was a mosh pit at that concert, well, you knew he’d be there (and if you were there too, you knew he’d be watching that you didn’t get pushed around too hard). He didn’t always have the money or the time to take off work, but if he could, he’d be there. And not just because he loved to do those things, but because he loved to do them with us.
It’s heartbreaking, not just to see Nige go so soon, but just at time when he seemed to finally get the right pieces in place. Nige leaves behind his fiancee, Sam, and their two month-old baby, Jonas. I can’t imagine how hard the years ahead will be on them, but I do know all the love Nigel gave in his days, is pouring back. Nigel was also raised without a father and he turned into one of the best people we’ve known. I have no doubt Jonas will follow in his Dad’s footsteps.
We held a great party in his honor in Indy, which I dubbed Nigelpalooza. More than any memorial this is definitely what he’d wanted – friends old and new, coming together to tell stories, drink some great beer, and listen to all his favorite music all night long (the playlist we made was over 11 hours!). I made this video to show at the event, and it gave everyone a chance to laugh a little, cry a little, and give thanks to our friend.
Filed under General News
May
29
River Run 5k 2012
May
29
Since we’ll miss this year’s Redlegs 5k, we decided to give the River Run 5k a go. It’s a nice course through Newport with a trek into Cinci on one bridge and then a return back into Kentucky on another. After making it through the Pig’s 10k and not dealing with any pain this year, I had hopes of running my best 5k in several years. But then there was the heat. It turned out to be a record setting day of heat pushing into the mid 90’s (in May!), and at race time in the morning it was already up to 80 with a blazing sun. It also turned out turned out that the course was a lot hillier than I expected. The temperature and terrain worked together to completely drain you in short order. But I pushed through and somehow managed a decent time. Although I’ve been clocking much better practice runs I finally beat a 10 minute pace in a race, and stripped 22 seconds off my best 5k of the past three years. I really look forward to my next run in kinder conditions – I should finally be able to smash that 30 min mark.
| Time | Pace (per Mile) | overall place | division place (M 15-99) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30:50 | 9:57 | 314 / 871 | 175 / 295 |
Filed under Sports
May
25
Jay and Silent Bob strike back, here
May
25
Keven Smith and his skinny onscreen counterpart, Jason Mewes, stopped in Covington on their podcasting tour. Since I once drove all the way to NYC to play poker with him a few years ago, driving downtown to hear them banter was a no-brainer. The theater was PACKED and it wasn’t nearly the same as sitting with him at a 8 person poker table, but it was a lovely and vulgar evening none the less.
Filed under General News
May
18
Colin Hay
May
18
Like most people in the 80s I dug Men At Work. I wasn’t a big fan, but I’m pretty sure I had Business As Usual on cassette, and I certainly wouldn’t change the station when they were on. But thanks to Zach Braff placing former frontman, Colin Hay in a couple episodes of Scrubs, I grew a deeper appreciation for his songwriting. Colin keeps up a pretty regular touring schedule, playing acoustic sets in small clubs. Finally last night I had a chance to catch one.
His opening act, also solo on acoustic guitar was Chris Trapper. He was a solid opener – of a similar style and laid-back mood. He played an entertaining collection of songs from light to melancholy, with some nice banter along the way. His last song however, really hit us off guard. It was a funeral sendoff, as sung from the recently deceased, with a bit of the feel of an Irish drinking song. The line “Don’t waste time praying, cus I’m never coming back. Just throw a party in my name” got us. Nige would’ve loved that.
Well, on to Colin then. Watching his set feels about like spending an evening hanging out at his house. The years of traveling and performing, especially solo, have really given him an ease with it all. He treats you to stories – maybe about a lost friend (sigh), or about a Beatle doing his dishes (poorly), or even just about Thursday nights (solid, they are). And they aren’t just a couple clever sentences segueing songs, but real unrushed sit-back-with-a-beer stories. At times the songs seem like transitions between stories. But his songs were of course the star. His voice filled the room with his unique, part Australian / part Scottish accent, and we were instantly transported 30 (!) years with “Who could it be Now” and “Overkill”.
Filed under Music
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Playing
- Starcraft 2
- Diablo 3
Watching
- Game of Thrones (HBO)
Reading
- The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman)