The Wait Is Over

Before I begin this post I must make a public apology to the two Tom Waits calls I was supposed to make during the concert. I am sorry. I tried to call, but way up in the nosebleeds, where I was sitting, there was no reception, not a single bar. So, Au$10 and Evan I'm sorry.

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If you've been reading the blog then you know that I attended the funtabulous affair that was the Tom Waits concert at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago on August 9th with my lil' bro, Brad. It was a momentous occasion. Even though I was way up in the nosebleeds shooing away pigeons I still absorbed every action and note that eminated from the stage. I was so far up that if I would have fallen I would have been a messy memory on the ground floor. I must say that Tom Waits is completely involved in all his songs. Even when not singing he'll dance up a freakshow.

The light show was spectacular. The lights really supported all the songs and helped set the mood for each song. They did very simple stuff too. All they had was a big sheet behind them with colored lights, and a few colored spotlights, but it all added so much. No smoke. No lasers. Just lights and the best lounge act ever.

My favorite moment of the concert was his performance of Singapore during his first encore. At the end of the song all the lights behind him went green, and a red spotlight shown on him. After the song had ended he raised his arms and blew into the mic reinacting a giant storm cloud. The lighting made him come across as a huge devil blowing forth his evil incantations into the crowd. Magnificant.

The other great moment was when he opened his second encore with Whistlin' Past The Graveyard and everyone in the auditorium clapped. We're talking a seating capacity of 18,500, and just about everyone there was clapping in time. Simply breathtaking. Plus his final song, Time was a heart-breaking memorable moment. Not a sound could be heard in the auditorium except Tom Waits.

Here is a set list of all the songs he played. I plan on making a "Tom Waits Chicago 2k6 CD" sometime in the near future. If you're interested in one let me know.

Chicago (IL) - Auditorium Theatre, August 9

Make It Rain
Hoist That Rag
Shore Leave
God's Away On Business
All The World Is Green
Falling Down
Tango Till They're Sore
Tom Traubert's Blues
Eyeball Kid
Down In The Hole
Don't Go Into That Barn
Shake It
Trampled Rose
What's He Building In There
Who's Been Talking / Till The Money Runs Out
Murder in the Red Barn
Lie To Me Baby
Get Behind The Mule

Day After Tomorrow
Singapore

Whistlin' Past The Graveyard
Time

I myself don't have any photos, but I found some from the show on the splendiferous site, Flickr. Here are a couple photos: the first one is about how it looked from where I was sitting. I still had a great time, and the acoustics were great in the auditorium even though It looked like I was a mile away from Tom Waits his presence made me feel closer.

Hot Bush On Bush Action!

Oh Mister President, I can see that your colors certainly DON'T run.

For those that didn't see it, like me because I don't have any TV at the moment, this is the Texas Governor Bush (circa 2000) Vs. Mr. President Bush (circa now) debate that Jon Stewart presented on The Daily Show.

Tom Waits For No Man

Well, gang in about an hour or so I'll be trekking up to Chicago to see the man, the myth, the voice, the Tom Waits. He'll be on stage at the Auditorium Theater around 8 PM and i'll be filling my pants come 8:15 PM. More posts tomorrow, or possibly tonight once I get home. That is if I can walk.

Smile For The Flash

Are you still one of those pathetic souls that don't own a USB flash drive? Awwww... that's sad. Well, buck up, amigo because over at TigerDirect you can pick up a Samsung 2 GB USB Flash Drive for only $20. You heard me only $20. Now you can be geek chic while whipping out your $20 Samsung 2 GB USB Flash Drive. Store party photos, viral videos, top-secret documents, fresh beats, hail a cab, or just raise the roof with your new $20 Samsung 2 GB USB Flash Drive.

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This offer expires on 8/31/06. Only one $20 Samsung 2 GB USB Flash Drive per household. Offer void in Mars, Atlantis, and 3kalbia. If you are unsastisfied with your $20 Samsung 2 GB USB Flash Drive please return unused portion for a full refund. May cause dizziness, instant sexual advances, pregnancy, and full-blown awesomeness.

Snakes On A Phone

Now you can have the one, the only, the badass motherfucker himself, Samuel L. Jackson call up your friends with a personalized reminder to see what is probably the best movie ever made, Snakes On A Plane. The SOAP webpage asks you a few questions about your friend and away you go! Raz your buddies, scare your parents, or just simply raise the roof with the Samuel L. Jackson Snakes On A Plane Reminder!

Props to Au$10 for finding this.

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Samuel L. Jackson Snakes On A Plane Reminder
OMG @ SLJ & SOAP! @ What We All Want

Arrrrrgh! I'm A Rocket Pirate. ZOOM!

Warren Ellis, writer of one of my favorite comics of all time, Transmetropolitan, has been talked into curating a webcomics site. The site is called Rocket Pirate, they are taking open submissions right now. Anyone can e-mail their submissions to warrenellis@gmail.com. Rocket Pirates will be a completely free site too.

Who Owns Mario And Luigi?

Guess who has a new Monopoly game? Nintendo, that's who! USAopoly has issued a Nintendo Collector's Edition of the famous anger-inducing board game. Now you can lock up your Mario in jail for speeding or by chance collect 200 coins in error from the bank.

I personally love Monopoly and can never find anyone to play with. However, I must admit that Monopoly is a game you start playing as you start drinking. I'll never forget the best Monopoly game I ever played. It was down in CoMo with Au$10, Crowdpleaser, and many other CoMo dwellers at that time. We were sober when it started and drunk when it finished. The game evolved into a match between girls and boys, and eventually the evil Crowdpleaser put on his crooked sinister hat and tried to mastermind the game. Eventually, he fell but all was good in the land of CoMo because we were all drunk. Best Monopoly game ever.

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Monopoly: Nintendo Collector's Edition

Tiki Bar TV Premiere

I stumbled upon this great videocast series called Tiki Bar TV. Each episode is about five or so minutes long, and involves a scenerio in which they need a drink.

There are about 18 episodes out now and I plan on catching up every E204 reader out there with an episode a week. Look forward to new TBTV episodes every Sunday until we are caught up.

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This week's episode: Margaritaville
This week's drink: Jimmy Buffet Margarita

Fuckin' A

Pandering to Savages has posted about The Big Lebwoski (The F***ing Short Version). It's a 2 minute and 14 second video clip that captures all the "fuck's" in The Big Lebowski.

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Earmuffs. @ Pandering to Savages

Keybumping 101

Apparently, there's a simple technique of bumping a "bumpkey" in a lock and it will unlock the lock. This holds true in the U.K. I'm not sure if this holds true for locks in the U.S. If anyone does let me know.

Below is a subtitled Nova video from over seas that explains practically everything about key bumping.





"If a criminal wants to break into your house or car they will do it. Locks are there to keep honest people honest, not to prevent criminals from being criminals." - natosaichek @ YouTube.com

Siskel And Asshole And The Movies

We all heard the rumors that Ebert is a fat asshole. Well here is video proof.

I Would Palm The Tire

Unfortunately, this poor gas-pumping soul didn't palm the tire. If he did he would have saved himself humility via viral video. Oh well. Sucks for him. Good for us. Enjoy!

Are You Saying I Can Dodge Bullets?

"I'm saying when you're ready you won't have to."

However, until that time head on over to Bullet Time Reaction, a flash game that pits your reaction time to gunshots, and dodge some bullets of your own.

I made it to level 8 with a top reaction time of 0.202 seconds.