Where's Tina?
26 June 2005
My friend Tina is currently riding her bicycle all the way across the continent, from San Francisco to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I'm so proud of her. And to do my part (while I sit on my butt in an office chair), I've set up a dynamic map of the route over at her web site. It marks each point in the itinerary and automatically updates daily to show her progress. Check it out -- she's almost half way there already.
Thank you to Bryan Boyer, whose awesome IndyJunior software made Tina's dynamic route map possible.
Seriously, man, it's really important
25 June 2005
I saw The Mountain Goats for the first time Thursday night, and wow did they put on a spectacular show at the Bottom of the Hill. They even invited Mr. John Vanderslice and his guitar to the stage for a song or two.
And the audience? Chock full of hipsters. I must say, though, they were considerably more alive than other hipster audiences I've mentioned here. In fact, maybe some of them were a little too into it.
Shortly after the Goats got back on stage for an encore, I stepped out to the patio for some fresh air. A few songs later, the music stopped, and out walked John Darnielle and Peter Hughes themselves. Amped from an intense performance (or was it the crank?), John yelled to Peter, "Hey, did we bring both whiskies?" (Fans had been showering them with drinks all night.) After getting only a shrug from Peter in response, John turned around (probably weighing the physical and emotional cost of playing a second encore against the benefit of retrieving that whisky), only to be confronted by a hipster who'd appeared as if from thin air.
"Thanks, John! Thank you so much," said the hipster, who then gave John a nice long hug.
"Hey, you're welcome, man. Thanks for coming to the show."
"Wouldn't have missed it," replied the hipster. "Say, I have a question."
"Um. No, I can't really answer any questions right now."
"But, seriously, man, it's really important! You know that song with the line..."
"No, I said I can't answer any questions right now." John motioned to Peter, and they rushed back inside.
"But, but..."
The hipster sounded panicked. He looked around in desperation, searching for someone to answer his burning question. He locked in another hipster nearby.
"Hey, you know that song with the line about being in the living room watching the Watergate hearings?"
"Yeah, man, totally. I love that one!"
"What do you think he means when he says..."
Now, while I'm sure this conversation would prove to be wildly engaging, I'm afraid their voices trailed off as I followed John and Peter back inside for more rock and roll. And whisky.