I haven’t felt much like writing lately. I just haven’t been in the mood for it. But I’ll try and get in the habit of writing more often. Part of the reason I haven’t been writing is because I’m too busy reading all the wonderful stuff you guys have put out there and have been unable to come up with anything original (other than peppering my comments across all over the place). So now I won’t be reading as often but hopefully writing more. Wait wait wait, don’t leave. I’ll still be reading, just not everyday like I have been. Ive grown a bit tired and my workload has recently gotten heavier. It seems my priorities have been mixed up for some time now. I need to do some thing to straighten them out. I just thought you deserved a fair warning. Do with it as you will.

I woke up early on Saturday and headed out to the kickball tournament. Our last to games of the season and record was set for us during each. The first game was our first win in the history of the team. Two full seasons without a win and we finally pulled through. The second game our team accomplished the first female infield grand slam in the history of the league. It was a proud day for us all.

After the tournament I headed over to my pops for a reception. It was a chance for everyone to get together and celebrate the recent wedding. The funny thing was that they just announced it as a party and many of the guests found out it was a wedding reception only after they had arrived.

Team Backwash, Bowles Grove Park, Denver

After the wedding reception I headed up to the Kittlekinnick cabin for the 11th annual chili cookoff. It was, as always, a total blast. It was much smaller this year than the previous few years which was both good and bad. There were only 15 chilies entered this year (compared to last years 20+ entries) and I arrived too late to be a judge. But I did get there on time to have a bowl of all the winners (vegetarian, traditional, and green). I ended up hanging around the camp fire and shooting the shit with people till about 2:00 AM when I finally headed home. I spent most of Sunday being lazy and recovery from a pretty hectic week.

11th Annual Chili Cookoff, Evergreen

Kath & Uncle Squigley, Chili Cookoff, Evergreen

Update: I just found out I won coach of the year in kickball! Whooopdy What?!?!

Just because I haven’t been writing as much lately doesn’t mean that I haven’t been doing as much. Or maybe the cause actually is the effect. I’ll never know. Or just don’t want to.

On Friday my pops got married. My uncle and his wife flew into town for the wedding. A bunch of us met down at the Jefferson County “Taj Mahal” to witness the event. I’ve been to more weddings than I can count in churches, one on top of a mountain, a few on ranches, and a handful more in halls and ballrooms. But this was my first wedding in a courtroom (actually it was the judges chambers), and it was truly nice. It just seemed really sincere, not some big production. Don’t get me wrong, I love my pageantry, but the whole thing just seemed more earnest. It was extremely short, really sweet and unusually intimate. By far the smallest I’ve attended. And besides the fact that it was my father marrying a wonderful woman, that was the best part of it. I really took pleasure in the fact that everybody there had known each other for decades and all knew how important this was to my pops. After the ceremony we all headed out to McCormicks for dinner. We got a secluded room and had a wonderful time telling jokes and old stories. Not to mention the seared Ahi Tuna was delish. All told, it was a fun evening.

Congratulations you two!

Ok, so. I Am The world Trade Center. Well, I’m not. But they are. Yeah, they know it’s an unusual name for a band. And yes, they had chosen the name long before the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists. This explains how they came up with such an unusual band name. Well, It’s not really a band either. It’s Amy Dykes and Dan Geller and a computer. I guess that might qualify as a band. I don’t know anymore. But I do know they make some incredible music. I’m not the biggest dance music fan but I love nearly everything IATWTC has made. That’s why I have put them up on KHUBS Radio today. They have a poppy, retro, electronic sound (which isn’t surprising considering they cover the like of bands such as New Order, The Human League, Berlin, and Blondie among others) that has that contemporary dance floor feel but isn’t kitschy. Most of all it’s fun. It almost forces you to dance. If your not dancing to this you’re a robot. Scratch that, even robots are dancing to IATWTC. I’ve talked about IATWTC a few times around here and got the pleasure to hang around and drink beers with Amy & Dan the last time they were in Denver. They are turbo smart, and 100 different kinds of great. Mostly the friendly and humble kind of great. They have been through the ringer lately though. The two have recently broken up and have gotten back together again (kind of), they’ve had label problems, controversy surrounding their name, and last month Amy was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease. You can send her a get well card to Amy Dykes PO BOX 829 Athens, GA 30603. I’m wishing you the speediest of recoveries Amy. Get well soon.

This episode of KHUBS radio contains the entire first I Am The World Trade Center album called “Out Of The Loop” which accounts for songs 1-14. Song 15 is the 15th song on the very hard to find Japanese release of Out Of The Loop and is one of my favorites. Song 16 is cover a The Promise Ring song that was released by Kindercore on a 7” from their singles club. Song 17 is actually the Brittle Stars song Four Words that has been remixed by I Am The World Trade Center. And don’t forget to buy their new album “The Cover Up”, it gets released June 29th. Enjoy.
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Just got back from another baseball game this afternoon. I love getting the afternoon off of work (paid) to go eat hot dogs and drink beer. No really, I loooove it. The tickets were free, given to me by the boss, so I grabbed my assistant and we had a ditch day. A cold, wet, ditch day. The weatherman on the jumbotron said it was 42 degrees. And I rained nearly the entire game (in fact it snowed last night, I can’t believe its mid-May and it still snowed! see those clouds on the horizon in the picture below?). But a ditch day is a ditch day no matter the weather. Oh, and incase you’re wondering, the Rockies won this time.

Rockies Vs. Pirates, Coors Field, Denver

I went to my first baseball game of the season last night. It was the Rockies vs. the Pirates. A guy at work gave me over $100 worth of free tickets. Four tickets, 18th row, right behind the visitors’ dugout. It was foul ball territory all night, and I still haven’t caught mine. I should put that on my big list: catch a ball a MLB game. I’ve come pretty close in the past, just a few seats away. But I haven’t got my fingers on one yet. It was dollar hotdog night too, which, in my opinion, actually is the cake. Watching baseball is the icing. It sucked though, cause I had all these free tickets but couldn’t find a soul to go with me. Granted, I did get the tickets a little late in the day, and I didn’t call everyone (I should have called my Dad). But I can’t believe I couldn’t find anyone to go with me. Amazing. I must be some really shitty company. So I went to the game on my own. But if you know me, you know this is not out of the ordinary for me and I rather enjoyed myself. I had plenty of elbowroom to eat all those hot dogs. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Rockies lost, 10-15 in extra innings.
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Art At Your Park at Eban G. Fine Park, Boulder

On Saturday Pandy and me headed up to boulder. We went to “Art In Your Park”. A friend of ours puts together an “art in your park” event in various parks around Colorado about once a month during the summer time. He has gotten a couple grants and a bunch of permits to help bring creative outlets and artistic awareness into the public. We pack up easels, water soluble non-toxic paints (cause little kids and dogs at parks tend to spill and drink a fair amount of paint), colored pencils, markers, crayons, painting boards, tons of good quality paper, cleaning supplies, a couple of signs, and all kinds of art supplies. We then haul it out to a local park. At the park, anyone who happens be wandering through and feels the need to get a little creative is free to do so. For free! Paint as many painting you want, of whatever you want. All creativity is welcomed, and it’s a great way to expose kids and their parents alike to art and painting. Most parks bring in lots of families with variety of income levels, race, and other demographics. It’s fun seeing everyone have a good time. Nobody has walked away from Art In your Park without a smile. Boulder was no exception and the day was a real success (the last art in the park I attended was a bit of a flop due to weather) and lasted for about six hours. And really, not much can top a whole day of lazing around a park, taking in the sun, and relaxing – paintbrush or not.

Kickball at DeKoevend Park, Littleton

Well we lost a kick ball again on Friday. We may just be the most losingist team in the history of all kickball. And now it seems the fun is starting to run out. Well, I’m still having a good time at it but more and more people are missing games and nobody on my team goes to the bar afterward. Granted, weather the past couple of weeks has effected my participation as well. At least everybody has a good time when they are on the field. Maybe next season I’ll try and recruit a little younger. The old marrieds can’t seem to hack it anymore.

After the game Pandy and me went out bar hopping (my brother was out of town at a bachelor party) We first stopped by the Irish Scag (I think it was scag, correct me if I’m wrong). Inside the bar are the scags. They’re little booths, or stalls, with little tables in them. After walking in the scagg and shutting the door behind you, you knock on this little (1 foot x 1 foot) door that opens up to the bar. Drinks are served to you through the little cubby hole. The scags started in Ireland as a way for preists and politicians to drink anonymously. After that we headed out to Dulcineas 100th monkey, after trying the hippie bar which was one-in-one-out. We had a good time listening to live reggae music and chatting. Each of us got free drinks and a few free dinners all from different drunk strangers who ran into us.

Over the past week or two KHUBS Radio has been playing Carissa’s Wierd’s first album, Ugly But Honest 1996-1999, in it’s entirety. This week I’ll be playing their second album You Should Be At Home Here. And you should, because Carissas Wierd once again soothes us with their incredible blend of voluble lyrics and heartbreaking music. This album has much the same sound as the first. Some say better. The violin and accordion are slightly more pronounced and the sound quality is a little better. Their subtle grandeur shows through in multiples during this entire album. The song titles alone are poetry (i.e. “The Color That Your Eyes Changed With The Color Of Your Hair” and “The Ghost Of A Dead Hummingbird Flying Around The Room”). This is music that grows on you like your favorite t-shirt, it gets softer and more pleasing with wear.

After emailing with Ben Bridwell (drummer) and Matthew Brooke (guitar, vocals) this week about what I’m doing here at KHUBS Radio I have also discovered that these guys are a couple of the most amiable and likable people on the planet. They’re self deprecating in the most endearing way possible. Go buy their record at SadRobot Records now. In the mean time. Enjoy.
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It has been really nice having my brother’s birthday on Monday because the parental units have been taking us out to dinner per the bro’s preference the past couple of nights.

On monday mom took us out to Little India out on 6th avenue (there’s Little India downtown too but I’ve eaten there and there is a difference). Now I’ve been hearing good things about this place for a while but I wasn’t expecting what I got. It was completely astounding. I loved it. I got the shrimp biryanis. But everything everyone got was good. The saags, the masalas and curries were all turbo-delish. The service was great but I did have a little trouble understanding them sometimes. But if you are in Denver I recommend you get your ass out there. Now.

On tuesday we went to and old stand-by. Sushi Heights (Colfax and York under the Free University). I used to go here all the time back in the day. However, I discovered last night that my brother and Pandy have turned into their place last night when our waitress not only recognized their faces but called them by name and joked about the being regulars. I have to admit I felt a tinge of jealousy. Sushi Heights is a perennial favorite and didn’t fail last night by serving us some of the best sushi in Denver and definitely the best in downtown. I tried a couple of new things last night. Tiger Eye is salmon stuffed squid and was really good. I also tried the white tuna for the first time (go now, it’s on special and isn’t very common in these land locked mountain states) which melted in my with pure deliciousness.

I can’t believe it snowed again on Friday. I seriously think it has to be the last time this year. God I hope so. I skipped kickball because of the snow. In fact a lot of people on my team skipped it and that forced us to forfeit the game for a loss. So we lose again. I’m actually starting to get used to it.

At around 10:30 on Wednesday I started to get restless and went around the corner and grabbed a beer. It was nice to go out cause I haven’t been out for about three weeks but it was actually pretty boring.

On Saturday I headed up to Boulder to a friends house who was throwing a party for my brothers birthday. The party was a total time. My friend’s house is in a rural section of north boulder so we could be as rowdy and loud as we wanted. Lots of people brought instruments along and most of the night we had an impromptu band playing in the out building. Everyone kept switching instruments and playing whatever they felt like, even if they didn’t know how to play it, now was the time to learn! There were congas and bongos and congas and other hand drums. There were those things that sound like coconuts. There was full drum kit (with hi-hat, cymbals, all kinds of tom drums and double kick bass). There were at least four guitars, some electric and some acoustic and one base. There were also a xylophone and a trombone. We all stayed up jamming and dancing and sometimes plugging our ears into the wee hours of the night.

On Sunday we slept in and then grabbed breakfast on the pearl street mall. The weather was beautiful and the company was as obnoxious and hilarious as usual. We did a fair amount of shopping too. My brother and me bought these really nice two string kites so we can ‘bond through kiting. I can’t wait for it to get windy. At least then you won’t have to listen to me bitch about the snow anymore.