Sad news to report my friends. Yep, no LCD Soundsystem for me I'm afraid. I suddenly came down with the flu for the third time in two weeks and was too I'll to go. Just in case you don't know, that means I was very Ill. One time I went skiing for 12 hours with a fever of 101.

Caitlin was sad...but she quickly forgave and went about helping me feel better. OH! I guess the only good part was that I got to see my first horror movie of the Halloween season on my couch! I watched Slither. It was awesome...equal parts gore, comedy and terror. A perfect storm!

Location:No LCD For Me

Can I Get a Jr. Whopper and a Side of Mulcock Please?

It's Halloween! It's Halloween! Hooray! I found a new reason to love this holiday! Dressing up Max! We came as the perfect American meal to our ward halloween party - a burger, fries and a coke! Well, maybe we ordered a Jr. Whopper.


Most delicious family ever. You totally want a side of Mulcock in your mouth right now.


Did you know max is obsessed with straws? Yep.


Basically this posts a string of precious pictures of the burger and his friends.


More straw.


Noah, the concerned little giraffe.


Violet, a pretty princess. Future wife? Maybe.


This was my favorite costume of the night...Nacho Libre. Beck, you owned it! Way to capitalize on baby fat dude.





William the dragon and a precious little ninja turtle.


Super buddies. Maybe max was jealous of Williams wings...





So much partying...what's a baby boy to do?


We should have been this, but the bishop and Em D were perfect wit max as ketchup and mustard. Max was a little scared of having too much condiments on him...

And that was church Halloween. We'll see if we break out the costume again...you never know. Plus these guys gave us their ketchup and mustard costume!

I Was So Deadje77

We like to party...we like, we like to party. Do I like electronic music? Yes. Yes I do. Does Caitlin like it as well? Sometimes...but definitely in concert. Was I excited to see Deadmau5 this year? So much so that I did it twice. Here's the story.

Last July, you may remember Caitlin deserted me for 10 days and went to Idaho? Hard to believe, I know...but she did. No baby boy in my life, no wife? What's a man to do? I'll tell you what he does. He gets a bunch of 16-year-old kids to go with him to a Deadmau5 concert at Soldier Field. And that is what I did.

Now I know that sounds creepy, and it is I guess. But one of the boys in my Young Men's program at church shares a love for house music like I do. He heard I was going to go and knowing that having a church leader attend with him would extremely heighten the chance that his parents would let him go downtown to a concert all night. So we joined teams...and then several of his high-school friend joined along.

It was a freakin' amazing show. I danced so hard I sweat through the knee section of my pants. It was a very young crowd - so young, in fact, that I got asked how old I was three times and my friend Mitchell got asked if I was his dad twice. TWICE! A little offensive, but I also thought, "yeah, I'm cool even at the ripe old age of 31 (now 32)."

So when I heard that Deadmau5 was coming back, I wanted to go and do it right by bringing my woman with me. I knew Caitlin would have a good time at the concert and I love dancing with her at shows. It was at the Congress theater last night and started at 8:30. Our young friend from church and another guy from church that has since graduated from high school came along for the craziness. We really, really like this venue. Very open, roomy and the sound was wonderful.

The first DJ was Skrillex, who is much more dubstep and I found to be extremely awesome. I was really diggin' this guy. He knew how to hype his audience and get the dance explosions out of them, which I don't think is as easy since dubstep is more about unpredictability and style...not dancing. That guy played until about 9:45 and by the end I looked at the clock and couldn't believe how exhausted I was. A girl next to us said the night before the concert ended at 2am...that seemed impossible to dance another 4 hours.

But then Booka Shade came on. They were great and I was already familiar with several of their albums. They play electronic drums and stuff, so there is a little more going on on stage to watch. The time flew as they played an hour or so until 11. They finished with one of my favorite BS songs - Tribulations, which was a crowd pleaser in every way. Thousands of people, a sea of jumping up and down, hands in the air.

By then I was very excited and ready to go the long haul. We had to wait until about 11:40 for them to set up Deadmau5's cube and set. Its quite the light show (see videos below). He came out and the concert was full on until 1:30. Seriously, nearly five straight hours of dancing before our backs gave out and we had to go to the back and sit down for the last song. I'd say its cause we are old, but I think we went harder than almost anyone in that audience. If you don't know the music, click on either of the two videos below from last night's concert to get a glimpse of what an exciting and fun experience it is to go to this show:

This is Deadmau5's most popular song "Ghosts 'n Stuff", and certainly an amazing crowd pleaser. Watch for him dressing up in a ghost costume during the song. Nice touch.

My favorite song of the night? "The Reward is Cheese" I love this song live. He also played more of my favorites like Strobe, Some Chords, I Remember, You Need a Ladder, and Complications.

We got home around 2:45. A friend of ours took Max for the evening and he was only a little annoyed when we pulled him out of his pack 'n play at 2:30 in the morning and drove him home. I love that baby. Our final take on the night was that our ears were beyond pleased, but our eyes were sometimes displeased. I know one would expect it at a club scene like this, but there were just too many whore-ish young girls and disgusting men at this concert, and their actions were often too obscene for the public. We had to really concentrate on staring only at the stage, which is hard to do for 5 hours. I wish we could have replaced the hookers with some hipsters - that would have made it a much better show. It didn't certainly make for some amazing people watching.

Next? LCD Soundsystem on Tuesday and Sleigh Bells on Wednesday. Then we need to take a break. I tired.

Chicago Riviera You Suck!!!

On Tuesday night Caitlin and I went to see band of horses. We have been enjoying BOH albums since their debut and thought it time we saw them live...besides, we have a very heavy electronic line up coming up this week, so it's healthy to throw a little rock in there from time to time.

First, the bad. The Chicago riviera theater...I left very unimpressed with this location as a venue. It's too crowded, has too many pillars and areas blocked off so you can't move around. They told us the first band went on at 8, so when we walked in at 8:15 and Band of Horses was already 4 songs into their lineup...we were pissed. This place actually has ushers...really? Ushers? They wouldn't let us go anywhere but the back. So we didn't get our first glimpse of the band until the second half off the set.

But we finally worked our way into a location where we could see and proceeded to let all that crap go so we could have a good time. The pros? Band of Horses is awesome. They sounded wonderful, they played lots of songs from older albums, and they brought the love. There is something so American about this band...I always leave listening to their album with a sense that this country, it's people, it's land and history is something to be cherished. Basically the opposite feeling you get when you go on Facebook or watch any political commercials right now. It's not that they fill their songs with "America is awesome" lyrics...they just reference and tell stories of places and people.

Another fun night out. Next is Deadmau5 on Saturday night!!!!!!! Back to shakin' some booty.

Sick A Shiz

Question: Why do I think being sick is automatically a free pass to eat like I'm pregnant? Maybe because I feel like I'm eating for two - me and the disease.

Seriously...in an ideal world I would have a bed set up with a big screen TV in the middle of a Five Guys and Caitlin would randomly just walk over and put burgers, fries and Mr Pibb in my mouth while I watch horror movies.

I am just now thinking that it's a little messed up that that is my fantasy.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Signs Of The Fall

Around this time the symbols of Fall start rearing their faces. For example, the trees on our neighborhood start turning yellow and orange and it's amazing. I start getting excited for halloween and more horror movies appear in the theaters. I start buying ridiculously priced flights.


It gets cold is another one, especially here in Chicago. Don't worry though, max is prepared with warm jackets and stuffs.


The biggest symbol of fall? I start to prepare for hibernation. I have to build up the fat reserves for the long winters sleep. So I start eating really bad. Like full calorie sodas, trips to five guys, and a steady diet of Taco Bell.

Only problem is I am not a bear. Dang.

Can I Get A What What?

Here's the rest of the party crew.


These guys came out of nowhere with Coolio's Gangstas Paradise.


Straight out the gate they were on fire, showing us all how to ack right in this thing.


This is about the part where Ben lost his mind and went full force, flashing his plastic gun and low riding boxers. Fool!!!


The there was a gang fight that ultimately lead to death.


Sorry Sarah, just another victim of the game I suppose.


Next, jai ho from the slumdog millionaire soundtrack. These guys lived in India for a year, so they had the threads and the knowhow.


In the end, their beginning to end choreographed dance routine one best dance skills of the night.





Seriously, again demonstrating how to lose yourself in the song.


Last minute add INS, these guys went with a classic song.


Can you guess? Jitterbug...wham.


Wake me up before you go go. Caitlin and I strongly considered this song as well.


Bet you didn't see Ace of Base coming, did you? Either did I...especially All That She Wants. But boom, there it was.


xtreme karaoke comes with it's moments of shame, there is no question about that. You just have to work it and own it.


Success!


Our winners from the 2009 competition decided to demonstrate that they can actually sing...which they can.


Ain'tNo Mountain High Enough. A classic that you don't mess with unless you got the chops. Only this couple has the collective chops to execute.


And the energy.


Lauren and Jason went about choosing their song in a unique way...sort the iTunes by the shortest song and choose that...which happened to be a Christmas song.


Baby it's Cold Outside. Have you paid attention to the lyrics on this song? Wow.


Seductive, sensual...just like these guys.


I was wondering when we would get some Neil Diamond. Right here.


Reaching out, touching me, touching you...the more violent version.


Odd, but powerful.


Then came DWo and LWo. These guys won the Best Effort award for their insane approach to an even more insane song by Karen Carpenter.


I cant even tell you the name of this song, but it involves aliens and announcers and apparently snuggies.


See what I mean?


Special.


But they owned it with pride, and laughter happened...so in a way, they were the most successful.


Sometimes kids get jealous of grownup fun and want in on the action.


To further the purpose of our party, we also celebrated a few birthdays.


This is not a symbol of the night though, cause nobody's performance blew that night. Thanks everyone for indulging me yet again in my ideas for fun.

Easily entertained

Every morning on the way to the train I pass by a particular store and I always think, "look at all those toys! Max would love those!".

Then I realize it's a pet store. So what if he likes thinks squeaky?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

C is for Put Them In My Belly

Before I just prematurely jump into the duet karaoke competition, let me set the scene. On thursday and Friday we did what I would say is a butt load of baking biotch. Cakes, cakes of the cup form, and cookies. Why? Well, there was the party duh. But additionally, DWo, LWo and BWo were coming to visit and would arrive late Friday night.


These guys made it from Minneapolis...and the first thing they desired above all other things was to make Mulcock famous sugar Halloween cookies! That coincided well with my desires.


This year we decided to throw some green into the mix, even though we had already been chastised by the fam for breaking away from the traditional orange into white and yellow. I think it was a good choice.


But just to stay in line, we had our orange in bowl fulls.





Our work began to unfold as we talked and shared and discussed. Did you know Liz is pregnant with BWo? You should have. There was much to discuss regarding baby making, er, at least baby growth in the belly and it's subsequent delivery.


I know what I wanted in my belly...this green pumpkin. And maybe about ten more.


Yes people, this is tradition in it's finest form. Sugar.


The next day we spent much time looking for our karaoke costumes and getting some stuff for my iPad. By the time lunch rolled around, I was starving. We all were.


Not Max though...he just wanted to play. And smile. And do his thing in general.


We went to Pomegranate for some some key goodness.


Pregnant woman satisfied! A feat to boast! Mostly we just talked about how awesome that night was going to be.


Maybe Max desires to drink adult drinks like Diet Mountain Dew. Sorry buddy, not until you are two. Alright, I'll get to the party soon enough.