Jun
25
2011

Ghetto & Tramps @ Teakwoods

How Much Fun Can You Have On A Saturday Night?

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSaturday, June 25, 2011 - 11:54:30 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
Ridiculously fun night at Teakwoods tonight. We'd actually planned to eat there, which we had been quite frankly looking forward to all week, but since we'd effectively stuffed ourselves earlier in the afternoon meeting up with Aaron at Pete's Fish & Chips, neither of us seemed that hungry by the time 9 o'clock rolled around. I guess there is always next week. Yes, there is always next week!

Neither of us felt like drinking tonight either, but the whole part atmosphere changed that and it wasn't long before beers and Jack Daniel's were flowing. It was that sort of night.

Photobox ImageCurtis was out of town, and Mike Hill from Sledville sat in on drums, which was a welcomed, since we'd actually just expected an acoustic Ghetto set. As such, we were treated to a blistering full band electric set. The band was on fire, and the most impressive part of the whole thing is that they haven't played with Mike in 10 years. No rehearsals before the show or anything. Now that is impressive! And it was really good for me to get to see Mike with the band.

Photobox ImageIt was also an impressive crowd out tonight, which may have had to do with it being Sara's birthday. It was one of those nights (that you wished happened more often) when it seems like everyone you know is there. Tramps finished up with a fun set. There was no shortage of dancing in front of the stage. I guess you could say it was one of those rowdy Tramps nights. Scotty took a microphone to the face during Next Time when someone fell onto the stage. Which he recovered from nicely, considering the force to which the microphone hit him. It was also fun when Norm jumped up on stage for Galloping Hearts. Fun times!
Jun
22
2011

Adventures In Weird Sleeping Positions

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - 05:00:00 pm
(Posted Under: Genevelyn)
Genevelyn is at it again. She has been every night. As soon as the lights go up, she's up against the glass, providing no shortage of hilarity to me.

Tonight was particularly funny, with her propping herself up against the front corner of her terrarium.

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Animals are amazing. And often hilarious!
Jun
19
2011

That Can't Be A Comfortable Way To Sleep

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 11:39:53 pm
(Posted Under: Genevelyn)
Before the weekend we'd noticed Genevelyn seemed a little bit off. Her appetite had certainly dropped off, and on Friday her stool was too runny. We've had her two weeks today, and certainly on Friday the whole 15 day covered period was still in effect. It didn't take much to agree that she should see a vet.

When buying through Petco, anything illness or death that happens during the first 15 days they'll take care of. Or so we thought and expected. But what a fucking scam. When Katie inquired about it yesterday, she was informed that they buy the reptile back, monitor it and have it treated, and then sell it back to you. Talk about something that sounded convoluted as hell, not to mention scammy. We're too attached to our girl, we're not selling her back to anyone. And do I trust you to sell me the same lizard back? Hell no. And really, after today's experience, do I trust you to actually take care of her? Nope. It took barely any discussion yesterday to know we just wanted to foot the bill and have her checked out ourselves. The reptile hospital got us in today.

The verdict is that we were correct, she wasn't feeling well thanks to parasites. Apparently Bearded Dragons hide illness well, and we've only had her two weeks, but it was pretty easy for us to know that there was something up with her. I've got to say, our experience with the reptile vet was more impressive (to me) than anything I've seen with actual human health care since living here. No waiting for test results, no "we'll do some more tests", no following up with clinics. He took a fresh stool sample (Katie isn't sure she'll recover from witnessing that [wink] ), checked it out himself, came back with the prognosis and gave us medicine on the spot. Bam, everything done within a half an hour consultation. Brilliant, and like I said, completely different to the fuck around every time Katie has gone to the doctor lately. And of course, it all put's our feelings about Petco into perspective. If you sold us a dragon with parasites in the first place, I have no faith the you'd have gotten it treated if we purchased her back.

So she should be fine, she's got medication for the next days (feeding a 6 inch lizard medicine one a day is going to prove to be fun!), and we completely disinfected her terrarium today, and will be doing so again next weekend. After which she'll have another stool test, but should hopefully have a clean bill of health.

This weekend has been absolutely exhausting, but we gave everything of hers a complete disinfecting, which ate up the remainder of the afternoon. We did most of it outside, and we put her in a large box and brought her outside with us while we worked. She seemed to enjoy it, watching us both inquisitively. After about an hour she jumped out of her little Petco box and seemed to enjoy running around the larger box, seeing and hearing the outside world. Certainly she looked in much better spirits this afternoon.

Once we gave her terrarium a final rinse and was ready to go, we brought her back inside and decided to have a little play with her before she went back into her terrarium. It also seemed like a good opportunity to give her a spritzing. It's the first time I've really had any hands on time with her. When we first brought her home, we didn't want to stress her out too much before she got used to her new home. And had actually planned on playing with her this weekend, but didn't after she didn't seem well towards the end of the week. I held her while Katie gave her a spritzing. She was clearly thirsty after being outside in the desert heat (understandably, so were we) and lapped up the water in my hand while Katie sprayed her. She seemed a bit perturbed the first time we spritzed her when we first got her, but today she wasn't fussed a bit and really seemed to enjoy it. There is something incredibly cool about holding a 6 inch lizard and having it lap water off your fingers with it's tiny tongue.

Photobox ImageAfter that she went back into her terrarium, now lined with paper towels (until she's got the all clear) and devoid of anything but her food and water dish, since we're soaking her rock pretty well and want to ensure it's free of any disinfectant before we put it back in there. I'm not sure she's entirely thrilled by the lack of her rock and branch, but was incredibly active this afternoon, which was a vast improvement over the past few days. Frankly, with the basking lamp on, her home actually looks like the sterile, completely white set of a weird mid 90's music video (that Michael / Janet Jackson one comes to mind). I can understand why she wouldn't be happy about that. [wink]

Photobox ImageWe wondered what she'd do when it came to bed time, as she's really taken to sleeping on the highest part of her branch since we got that for her. Almost immediately after turning out her lights, she climbed up her food dish, with belly and arms against the glass and closed her eyes. God, it looked hilarious! I jokingly said "I will die laughing if she's still in that position in the morning", but that was two hours ago and she hasn't moved in that whole time, so by all accounts, this seems to be how she's going to sleep tonight! I can't even fathom how that could be comfortable!

Edit: it's a little after 7am the next morning, and she's still in the same position! [lol]
Jun
18
2011

The Maine @ The Marquee

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 11:29:40 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
This weekend we've had two high profile concerts. Last night, Poion and Motley Crue, and tonight The Maine. You'd think that the former would be the more obnoxious crowd. But you'd think wrong. Teenage girls are such a weird and annoying species of being, and being in the presence of a sea of them is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy. Thankfully it's something we hardly ever have to deal with, unless we're seeing The Maine. Which I think goes to how highly I think of that band. I will endure they're audience of Maybalene painted screaming teens to see them play. [smile]

We had brought our tickets on a day that offered a special package of early entry and a signed poster. We had no hope of getting there for the early entry, which was fine, however it might have meant avoiding standing in the line of obnoxious teenage girls.

Austin Gibbs opened, and for much of his set we stood in line waiting to pick up the posters. The one guy working the merch table for The Maine and Augustana had a tip jar. Here's a tip for you, oi more so the organizers - if you're playing a venue the size of the Marquee Theatre, pay a few people to work merch! Or let the Austin Gibbs merch guy (who looked very bored and lonely) help out with the other stuff. The upside is that we could hear Austin's set fine, and managed to walk in for the last song or two, so it wasn't a huge problem. Incidently, when we did get to the front of the merch line, we discovered that the band was in the process of signing the posters and we had to come back. Though, we wanted to get tee's, so it wasn't a complete loss.

We ended up sitting outside the Marquee for Augustana's set. We know nothing about them, but despite the roars of screaming girls approval we could here, a few songs in we weren't overly impressed and preferred to hang around outside. It did allow us to easily pick up the posters we were owed before their set ended. We did of course go in for a song or two, and checked out the song that Austin Gibbs and The Maine joined in on.

A bit more waiting until The Maine went on at around 10:15. Tonight's show was the final show of their current North American tour, as well as being a hometown show and so it was a pretty cool show for both of those reasons. And it's a continuing trend that each time we see these guys we see a better show. Comparatively this was a cooler show than what we saw at Arizona State University. Which I guess when it's a show that your fans have actually paid for tickets to, as opposed to a show in front of a bunch of drunk college kids that are most likely there because they have nothing better to do, or are there for the opening band. The enthusiasm and showmanship of this show was certainly much different than the ASU show.

It was kicked off with Don't Stop Now, and was quite Black & White heavy. It there was anything that resembled last night's concert, it was Garrett's insane rock n' roll out of control moves across the stage. How exactly he can throw himself all over the stage like that and actually play bass amazes me. I think he's always been Katie's favorite in the band, and I now understand why.

I always comment on how much this band has done in a small span of time, and we had to laugh when John announced they were going to do "an old song" and they broke into Can't Stop Won't Stop. Here I was thinking we were going to hear something off their first E.P! [wink] And then proudly announced later that the band is "4 years old". Yes, 4 whole years. And they have put out 3 EP's, 2 major label full length albums, a movie soundtrack, a book...and probably a whole bunch of things I can't think of. And of course, are going into the studio after this show to finish the next record. On a similar note, before their set we'd discussed whether or not we'd know all the songs or not this time around, and it was only a few songs in until we heard one we didn't know. Admittedly it could have been a cover, but if not, it goes to how quick these kids are pumping out material. And if it wasn't a cover, it certainly may hint towards a more alternate grungy direction on the next record.

The band pulled out a strange, kinda regae version of Everything I Ask For. It was a cool thing to witness, but one of those things that left you feeling conflicted, because you wanted to see that, but also kinda wanted to hear it the original way. The other bands came out for the Ryan Adams cover of Dance All Night. It looked like they were also going to do a cover of The Car's My Best Friends Girl before John shut it down and farewelled one of their crew members, and proceeded to get emotional about...well, everything. It being their last show of the tour, playing their home town.

The rock n' roll aspect of the show continued with an elongated of Girls Do What They Want complete with John jumping into the crowd and crowd surfing towards the end of it, and they closed out the night with Growing Up. It was somewhat surprising that an encore didn't follow. It certainly seemed like the type of night where one would.

A great show, and like I said, the most enjoyable one yet. Again the Marquee proved to be a great venue, getting a good view of the band without having to be anywhere near that sea of screaming teenage girls. I can't state how much I appreciate that! And hell, this time we found an industrial fan to stand by, and avoided the typical complaint about a show at The Marquee...the heat!
Now Playing: Jimmy Eat World - Littlething
Jun
17
2011

Poison & The Crue @ Ashley Furniture Homestore Pavillion

Best Concert...Ever!

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosFriday, June 17, 2011 - 11:30:22 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Live Shows)
Saying that today was anything but hectic would be as a gross overstatement. And as such, it was impossible to give any thought to the fact that tonight I was going to be seeing my two favorite bands growing up.

We barely got to eat before heading out to Ashely Furniture Homestore Pavilion. Try saw that three times fast. The corporate renaming of that venue continues to be the biggest joke in Phoenix, and seems completely pointless, since everyone still calls it Desert Sky Pavilion despite it actually being Cricket Wireless Pavilion before this most recent ridiculous corporate naming.

It was certainly impressive how west in the valley that place is. The drive itself made that hard not notice, and we couldn't help to laugh as we started to pass corn fields! Due to how busy we'd been, plus the long drive, New York Dolls were already playing. After getting in and finding our seat, they only had two or so songs left in their set. Which was kind of unfortunate, we would have liked to have gotten to see them.

When it came to our seats, we were both quite impressed. Once tickets were released, we sprung a bit (well, a lot, but within reason) more for good seats. Y'know, for Poison and Motley Crue on the same bill it seemed like it was worth it. It definitely was. Admitadly we weren't as close as for the show that Katie brought me the VIP tickets for 2 years ago, but these seats were nowhere near that cost, and we're awesome, aided by the fact that Desert Sky (I'm just going to call it that) is a really great outdoor venue. The view of the stage was great, and much better than we had for The Cure show where we virtually paid the same amount for the tickets.

Poison

Photobox ImageI have to admit I was pretty impressed once Poison's stage setup started to become revealed. The fact that the stage had Open Up And Say...Ahh backdrops was pretty damn cool to me. And once the band came out, complete with C.C with 80's (or at least early 90's) length hair, it was pretty damn cool. Y'know, as weird as that sounds, for a guy who never got to see them back in the day, I appreciate stuff like that.

Photobox ImageGreat set. Overall I certainly enjoyed the show more than the first time I saw them. Which has everything to do with the fact that they were somewhat stunted opening for Def Leppard in the past. Primarily on that tour they weren't able to have pyro. And y'know, as amazing as that show was, and it was, as was finally seeing Poison live, a Poison show just isn't the same with pyro. On this tour with The Crue things were different, there was plenty of pyro which further just made this such a great show to see.

Photobox ImageThe show itself was as fun as hell. And it being in Bret's home town undeniably added to the energy of the show. Funnily enough, on the drive to the show I'd suggested that it'd be cool if Bret played the State Fair again this year, to which Katie said she'd already looked at the lineups and that he wasn't. At the end of their set, Bret announced that he and his band actually was. Sweet!

Their setlist:


Look What The Cat Dragged In
Ride The Wind
We're An American Band
Guitar Solo
Fallen Angel
Unskinny Bop
Drum Solo
Every Rose Has It's Thorn
Talk Dirty To Me
Nothin' But A Good Time


After the set we went off to get a drink, a smoke and hit the merch area.. While waiting at the merch table we ran into Lance which was cool.

Motley Crue

Photobox ImageObviously, for me, the highlight was Poison. But holy shit, The Crue absolutely blew me away all the same. We were still in line at the merch table when we heard a massive explosion and Live Wire start up. Katie had said a few times leading up to this that I could go back and she'd get the t-shirts and met me back there, but I had no probably sticking the line out with her. Until about halfway through Live Wire, where she said it again, and I couldn't help myself but need to go back to the seat. Not having seen The Crue live before, it only took half a song before feeling that I needed to see what was happening.

Photobox ImageOn getting back to my seat, the stage had completely opened up, with no shortage of pyrotechnics going off. Despite the excitement of seeing Poison, it was near impossible not to get caught up in the same degree of excitement with Motley Crue on stage in front of me. Although there were many bands of the genre I was into at the time, Motley were easy second favorites, so I guess my excitement wasn't that surprising. Which also goes to the fact, that first Poison show I saw was a once in a lifetime experience (backstage tours etc.), and while I was into Def Leppard and it's cool that I got to see them, this was absolutely a dream lineup for me.

Photobox ImageJust like with Poison, seeing The Crue absolutely made up for not seeing them back in the day. Which is really saying something. This tour is Poison's 25th anniversary, and Motley Crue's 30th, but nothing about it was nostalgic. I've got to say that on both accounts, in my mind, it was a good as seeing the bands in their hey days, both sounded great and put on a hell of a stage show and theatrical performance.

Photobox ImageSong wise it was a great show. The only song I was less familiar with was Saints of Los Angeles. Otherwise it was the best of the best from Motley Crue through to Decade Of Decadence, which was perfect for me. It's one of those things that it's hard to pick out highlights, it was the best of the best. I can say I was very happy that they did Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), as it would probably be my favorite Crue song and while not their most recognized. Interestingly, they did that with as a medely with Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You" in the middle. That was pretty cool, and by all accounts completely unexpected. Smokin' In The Boys Room was also started and ended with Gary Glitters Rock N' Roll (Part Two). As far as set list highlights go, Primal Scream was another one for me, as I wouldn't have taken for granted with the breadth of their catalog that they would have pulled that one out. I was pleased that they did.

Their set list was as follows:


Wild Side
Saints of Los Angeles
Live Wire
Shout At The Devil
Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)
Primal Scream
Home Sweet Home
Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Looks That Kill
Dr. Feelgood
Too Young To Fall In Love
Ten Seconds to Love
Girls, Girls, Girls
Smokin' In The Boys Room
Kickstart My Heart


Notable theatrical highlights of the show beyond the huge explosions and pyro included:
  • Tommy running from the piano to the drums and back to the piano on Home Sweet Home
  • Nicky having a moment with the crowd, getting everyone to "sit down like your in church", proceeding to wax poetic on their 30 year career. We particularly enjoyed the Nicky's comment that "Mick Mars just won't die!". We'd Googled it not that long ago and discovered has 10 years on most of the others and is currently 60. So that part of Nicky's sermon, as it were, really spoke to us.
  • Tommy's roller coaster drum solo. He laid down some techno beats and I must say I appreciated the fact that he does something different than the usual hair band drum solo. And that the rest of the band allow him to do so. The fact that he then preyed on a victim from the audience ("this is my favorite part of the show") and took her on the drum roller coaster was fun. I think that really spoke to Katie too.

Photobox ImageTowards the end of the show I noticed buckets being brought out, and was convinced that Nikki was going to get set alight during Kickstart My Heart. I was further convinced when I noticed the dancers to the side of the stand with flame throwers in hand. And I swear I thought I saw someone spit gasoline on him. Though, I was wrong, as the buckets were fake blood which was poured over those in the front row at the end of Kickstart My Heart. I guess that goes to how worked up I was by the show, I was all ready to see Nikki go up in flames! [smile]

Surprisingly Kickstart was the final song, and there was no encore. I only say surprisingly because of how worked up everybody was. But they'd put on one hell of a show, playing for a good hour an a half, and certainly touched all the bases with their hits over the past 30 years, so in that was it wasn't that surprising. It was certainly obvious throughout the show, and absolutely at the end that they're all actually quite gracious to be able to pack arenas 30 years later.

And I'm glad that 30 years later I get to see them (and Poison) and get the full experience. Neither band's performance was approached like a nostelgic affair, nor were in anyway half assed. Although I wasn't able to see the bands live back when I was 10, I don't at all feel like I missed out, with both bands putting on a hell of a show, both musically and theoretically.

So we had ridiculous amounts of fun. Actually, walking through to car park I believe the term thrown around was "stoopid fun!". We actually both said we wished they were playing a second date in Phoenix, to do it again! For sure it's the best concert I've ever seen, and I really think that unless both bands tour again, will be the best one I'll ever see.
Jun
11
2011

Ghetto Cowgirl & The Persuaders @ Tempe Tavern

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSaturday, June 11, 2011 - 11:59:06 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
Well, it's been another cool rock n' roll weekend with The Persuaders. Last night was the Goat Head Saloon with Silverbell. Once again we were both exhausted and would have just waited for tonight, if it weren't for Silverbell. Once again we were blown away by them. I can't exactly pinpoint exact what it is with them, but there is something about them that is just amazing. We really can't wait for their record to come out.

The Persuaders were great. We were way up the back, but even from there we could see Lawrence, in his shades, completely rock starring it up. Since Katie was almost falling asleep, we split right after they finished.

Photobox ImageTonight was Tempe Tavern. A place we've been wanting to check out for quite a while, but it just hasn't happened until tonight. Very cool place, and it's nice to have a good music venue in Tempe. And personally I loved the stage lighting, which made it easy to get some really good shots. And to play around a lot with different settings. I've got to say, the ability to drop back from ISO 6400 to 1600 and not have blurred motion was much appreciated by me. The old building makes for a really cool aesthetic also, particularly the side wall on of the stage. Kinda reminded me of Scorpion Gulch actually.

Photobox ImageAnother nice lineup tonight, with Ghetto Cowgirl opening. They didn't even get through the first song before Norm was in the phone booth singing. Classic! When he saw the photo later he insisted that I post it to Facebook immediately. Like I wasn't going to do that anyway! [smile] Great Ghetto set as always, with the highlight being not one, but two new Ghetto songs. Well, "new" anyway. Both Paralyse and Break To Pieces. Is this a sign of things to come? While they've done Paralyse a few times of late, it's been years since I've heard them do Break To Pieces.

Photobox ImageThe Persuaders rocked again, and musically everything I always say about them applies. It was a fun show, with Thomas mocking Lawrence for mistakenly introducing them as "The Pistoleros" and later berating the hell out of Norman from stage. The whole "Planets" thing was enjoyable also.

It was definitely a fun night for me, being able to really play around with getting some cool photos. And hey, a really good photo of Phil! That's probably a first for me. These are some of the better ones.

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Jun
11
2011

Genevelyn Feeding

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 06:54:28 pm
(Posted Under: This Desert Life This Desert Life, Genevelyn)
We went out to the Arizona Reptile Center to take a look at picking up a branch for Genevelyn today. They were much better than those at Pet Smart and about the same cost. Plus, it does our part for shopping local, so everybody wins. It took her no time to take to the branch. It's pretty clear she loves it for getting closer to the basking lamp. She was also shedding today, and was a bit fussy this morning as a result. The branch has proved to be really good for getting rid of that excess skin.

We price checked crickets at the Arizona Reptile Center and found that they were more cost effective there, so we picked up her lunch also. And fed her when she got home. Always so much fun. Watch how adorable she is about 30 seconds in as she hams it up for the camera.


Jun
10
2011

Submission

The Bearded Dragon Wave

(Add / View Comments) (0)Friday, June 10, 2011 - 02:26:54 pm
(Posted Under: This Desert Life This Desert Life)
Who knew - as a sign of submission, Bearded Dragons wave there arm. When we got home last night, Genevelyn was sitting on her rock doing it. Talk about the cutest fucking thing you've ever seen!

Apparently it's a sign of submission when a larger or more dominant Bearded Dragon is around. She's our only one, so it's curious that she does it. But maybe I should take it as a sign that I need to shave. [wink]

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, it's both the coolest and cutest thing that you'll ever see. I'm sure I'll get video of her doing it at some point.
Jun
09
2011

Robin Wilson @ Teakwoods

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosThursday, June 9, 2011 - 11:52:19 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
Photobox ImageWell, tonight was loads of fun. I showed up at Teakwoods at about 6. With the price of gas it just made more sense, since Katie works right down the street. I opted for soda tonight, and was probably a good thing given how long I was there. If I'd been drinking tonight - well, I'm sure I would have been passed out long before midnight when we left.

It was a good opportunity to get some work done. I met up with Will for the first time tonight, who came over and introduced himself at about 7:30. Given that Robin's starting time had been pushed back from 8 'til 9 because of the NBA game, it was provided a good opportunity to chat, and quite frankly I was happy to put the laptop away and stop coding at that stage. I've met a whole bunch of really cool music out here through the music I'm into, and Will's another one. It's a cool thing.

Photobox ImageRobin hit the stage at about 9 and started strumming Teenager In Love in the final moments of the game. It didn't actually seem to me like the game was over, but there was no mistaking that Rob was ready to get the show on the road.

Y'know, if you've been listening to this guy as long as I have been, you can pretty much predict the set list. And so it was quite exciting that his first set had a lot of stuff he hadn't played before. Rad. The pinnacle of that for me, without a doubt was 18 And Life. Yes, you heard me right, the Skid Row song. If there was any song I would never expect Robin to do, it would be that! When he started, I was actually thinking it was Living On A Prayer (y'know, with "Ricky" and "Tommy" and the 80's being so long ago, it's an easy mistake to make) and almost fell off of my chair when I realized moments later that it was actually 18 And Life. Not to say that Living On A Prayer would have been much less of an unexpected cover from Robin. But certainly less enjoyable for me. Suffice to say, that was the highlight for me for sure. But there were a bunch of other not some common choices like Sorrow (Bad Religion), Slide Away (Oasis), I've Got A Message To You (Bee Gees), Am I Wrong? (Love Spit Love). Major props to Robin for changing things up. My Polaris made an appearance in the first set also. I'm glad to see that song hasn't faded away, it's a great song.

On the way down to Teakwoods this afternoon, Katie and I had been discussing our excitement over the new Ghetto Cowgirl stickers. If you haven't seen them, they're cool ass. So I couldn't not bring that up when Norm appeared and came over and said hi. I traded him a cigarette for two stickers. Seemed like a fair trade. [wink] We chatted about last night (Josh's birthday bash), and it seemed like we missed out on a really fun night. I had just showered and was ready to roll, when we fed Genevelyn some crickets. One got loose, and I spent the next half an hour chasing this freakin' cricket. After which I was hot, sweaty and it was too late to go out (on a school night). Norm thought the whole story sounded pretty rock 'n roll at least. Anyways, I suggested that they should get Velvet Elvis rolling again, and he'd said that he and Josh were talking about that last night. So that's some pretty bitchin' news!

The upside of the late start because of the basket ball game was that Robin's second set didn't start until 10 and Katie was off work and was able to catch all of it. That was a major coop that I'm thankful. The second set was a lot more of the typical stuff, but still a lot of fun. And of course, with some of my favorites including Friday I'm In Love, There She Goes and Bad Reputation and Insider. I've also got to say, despite the amount of shit we've given it of late, I really enjoy when Robin does Sunnyslope, which of course he finished out the night with.

So once again a really fun night with Robin doing his Love, Strength, Hope Foundation show. I'd be great if he could do these a little more often.
Jun
08
2011

Air Traffic

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - 04:51:47 pm
(Posted Under: This Desert Life This Desert Life)
Well, the hummingbird feeder is proving to be a smash. After about a month of having it installed we're up to two birds at a time feeding at it. Our porch is starting to get more air traffic than Sky Harbor!

I guess it is pretty hot out there!
Jun
08
2011

Lunch For Genevelyn

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - 04:30:18 pm
(Posted Under: No Category)
Here's some video of my girl going for some lunch. I'd fed her a bunch of crickets, this one was given a pardon for about an hour before she pounced.



The action is lightning fast. There's normally more stalking involved, which adds to the coolness of watching her go after her lunch. I'm sure I'll shoot a better video that portrays that in the future.
Jun
06
2011

Feeding Time

(Add / View Comments) (0)Monday, June 6, 2011 - 02:03:44 pm
(Posted Under: This Desert Life This Desert Life)
It was just lunch time for Genevelyn.

I've got to say, there is something gruesome about dropping live crickets into your bearded dragon tank for lunch, and watching her swiftly hunt them down with precision, like a miniature dinosaur.

And by "gruesome", I mean "so fucking totally awesome". [smile] I think I enjoy feeding time more than she does! [wink]
Jun
05
2011

Genevelyn

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSunday, June 5, 2011 - 06:36:50 pm
(Posted Under: This Desert Life This Desert Life)
Photobox ImageWell, what an exhausting weekend! One that has been devoted almost entirely to setting up a home for the newest and second most Australian addition to our family - Genevelyn. She's a baby Australian Bearded Dragon, for anyone keeping score. While we share the same heritage, unlike me she's most likely born and raised in Arizona (don't cha know!) though.

Looking into this new addition to our family has consumed much of our weekends over the past few months. No shortage of research and deliberation has gone into it, that's for sure. Effectively it all started because of Rango (and my wife's ability to get me excited about an idea) and wanting to get a Chinese Water Dragon. Though, in some ways it was hard to pick between one of those and an Aussie Bearded Dragon. But a very helpful chat with Chris Serafini solidified which direction we should go for now. Though, since then there hasn't been much action on the endeavor. Until last weekend when we stopped into the Arizona Reptile Center in Mesa in between all the Guitar Center ridiculousness of last weekend.

Petco's Reptile Rally this weekend certainly made our extremely long deliberation period (let it never be said that we rush into anything of this nature) worthwhile financially, bagging some incredible deals, and financially having us come in way under our initially spec'ed outlay cost. Y'know, weekend after weekend of looking but not coming home with a new pet started to become kinda frustrating. But obviously we were supposed to wait and take advantage of these deals.

Yesterday was an unprecedented early start, picking up the terrarium and a new book case to house it on. And then assembling the sed book case, and setting up the terrarium. The former went quite smoothly (sometimes I feel like my life is fleeting moments between assembling Ikea furniture [wink] ), the latter not so much after we found cracks in the tank very late in the setup process. While cleaning the tank to be exact. So after dealing with the getting to tank replaced too much of the day had been eaten up to actually get our dragon.

So we headed out today, picking up some more supplies (in particular a basking lamp stand) before heading over to pick out our dragon. It should be noted that I think I now know every Phoenix metro pet store (at least south of University) intimately by this point. Much shopping around was done, and saved us quite a great deal of money. The lamp stand alone was $10 cheaper at Pet Smart than it was at Petco. By mid afternoon we'd picked out Genevelyn and were finally set.

Photobox ImageOn getting home, Katie thought we'd had a fatality on the way home when she opened the box to find a seemingly lifeless body. I was in disbelief that that could have possibly happened in the short and non threatening ride home. And alas, I was right - she'd just gone to her happy place, which for a moment did look more morbid. She seemed surprising stressed out when we put her and her temporary home in the terrarium and she didn't seem to want to move at all. But five minutes after being left to her own devices she ventured out into her new home.

From the outset, she seemed most interested in her reflection in the glass. And then found a spot she liked and just stayed there. We went out and did some shopping, and after we got home, she really turned into the lizard we'd seen at the store, very alert and now venturing around her new home.

Photobox ImageBefore long she was up on her basking rock and sticking her tongue out at me. After a couple of hours we dropped in some crickets for dinner. Unlike her vegetables, which she has shown no interest in, it was on like Donkey Kong, hunting down all 6 crickets within 2 minutes, with impressive speed. All of this activity was really good to see, especially since initially she was didn't seem as she did in the store. She's a good girl.

Photobox ImageOver the next week or so we'll deck out her home a bit more, now that all the essentials are in place. I think we'll switch our her basking rock with a branch so she can decide how just how close to the lamp she wants to bask, and move the rock over to the cooler side of the terrarium. And we'll for sure add some cactii when Pet Smart have some on clearance again.

I'm really happy with the terrarium that we got, and particularly with the discounted price we scored ($50 off this weekend + another $30 Petco member discount), however the extra $20 we spent on the basking lamp stand could have been the best investment we made. Initially I was concerned to say the least without it, for the electric/fire risk, our own personal safety when near the terrarium, stress and wear on the cage lid, and being able to regulate the basking area temperature. In my mind it is an absolute requirement for the kit and should be included in it. Without a doubt that was an additional $20 purchase that put my mind to ease greatly.

It's also worthwhile noting that Genevelyn is a very intelligent and tech savy bearded dragon. Yes, she even has her own Facebook page.
Jun
04
2011

Rich Hopkins & The Luminaros

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSaturday, June 4, 2011 - 11:12:13 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
Well, it's been quite a day and I think it's safe to say that we were both absolutely exhausted tonight. If tonight had been anything but Rich Hopkins & The Luminarios I think we would have crapped out and not gone out. Hell, if the venue had been anywhere but Teakwoods the same is probably true. If a laid back environment was ever in order, it was tonight!

Photobox ImageUnlike the Sand Rubies, I'm not that familiar with the Luminarios. I was not disappointed. The dueling guitars solos, and that south of border influence in many of the songs completely work for me. Plus, and this is true whether it be the Sand Rubies or Luminarios, Rich always looks like he's having so much fun, it's hard not to entire the show just for that fact alone. I'm fairly convinced that he's another bar star.

And speaking of bar stars, Los Guys really brought it home. Katie and I had agreed that we were going to leave early, out of sheer tiredness. Once Los Guys started playing, all hope of that flew out the window. It was just one of those shows, fun as hell. Mark was taking requests for virtually the whole set, and as such broke out a lot of rarer songs from the catalog. So yeah, we stayed long past the initially agreed time, and had no problem doing so. A great night!

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