Anyone who's ever read Og's blog knows that traveling west off the I-80/94 into Illinois is hell on earth, right? I'm here to tell you that homie ain't lying. Christ on a crutch, man. Any plans you may have of going to Iowa in the near future? Scrap 'em now or get there through Michigan or Minnesota or whatever, because going that far out of the way will probably get you there sooner than I-80 will.

That nightmare, of course, meant that I caught only about two songs of our intrepid heroes' set, but what I heard -- "Life in the Fast Lane" and a U2 song my muddled brain can't remember at the moment -- done did us proud. As I told Lenny last night (Lenny being the sole original member left of BtL), he's finally got a group together that reigns him in and is serious about playing music and not just the whole rockstar aspect. Good stuff. The guys also made sure I had access to the VIP area since I didn't get a VIP bracelet which, love them.

Steely Dan, meanwhile, played none of their new stuff, only the best of the best: They started with "Bhodisattva" then right into "Time Out of Mind," my favoritist Steely Dan song EVER. I was in heaven. Michael McDonald was even good, though he did only his well-know stuff from the Doobies. Eh. And dude's got some white, white hair. But I got the cutest concert shirt; just hope it fits.

Got an e-mail from my pal Lenny about 20 minutes ago telling me that my favorite cover band is not only playing The New World Music Theatre/Tweeter Center/First Midwest Ampitheater Saturday night, but who're they opening up for*!?? That's right:

Steely Dan!


My head just exploded.

Woo woo! Have a plum one for me!

[Rock Scissor Paper image, yada yada yada]

or at least as clean as it's going to be with me doing all the cleaning by myself today for the imminent arrival of der Snidgen. You might recall, this is Bus demolition weekend, so some of the gang be representin' at the Speedway tomorrow night, followed by the afterparty at JB's granparents' cottage in the dunes. Pictures will be forthcoming*.

Some of y'all might remember that I was having some Southern-fried company this weekend, right? You know, to come up and catch my favorite local band do its thing? Well, I can safely report that a good time was had by all.

Actually no, scratch that: We had a pheNOMenal time. Holy shit, man.

Outside of their stories, I really don't have that much to add. I mean, Wad and I caught up on life in the four or so years we weren't talking, and I got to drink a ton, which I haven't done in a long while. Oh, and can I tell you Bite the Lime was ON FIRE? Too bad we didn't get to STAY for their whole set since a certain Wad got bored. (cough) And the one guy was even there, looking mighty fine -- the girls said so, even!

My only complaint? It seems that everyone took pictures of each others boobs and posted them, but no one took a picture of mine, and mine are the biggest. I feel strangely left out by that. (Of course, there was an abundance of shots of my big ol' ass and gargantuan head, but that's another story. My hair was fantastic, though.)

I too am going to set up a yahoo! album for everyone to see, but I'll close for now with how much fun I had and how much I'm glad everyone came out. Some real bonds were made that night. (Sniff, sniff!)

P.S. For Og's edification: Beer + 3 shots takillya + two weak margaritas + chicken burrito suiza + pancakes and meat = Glad I woke up alone Sunday morning. Whoa.

Just got off the phone with Tara, and we were discussing next weekend's festivities. Turns out her friend who's coming with has a minivan that we can all pile into, be drunk as skunks and no one will be the wiser because who the hell parties in a minivan, right!?!? And I was like, "You know, good point. I hadn't thought of that. Excellent." So Headcase, you now have to bring the minivan. We were also discussing dinner options, and Pepe's is right next door, so that would be the logical choice, but there are other things, too, for those who may not crave Mexican(s) as much as I do.

Can I just tell you how much I'm looking forward to a night out with good friends, good food and good tunes? I mean, with all the fucking drama of late, I seriously need to get my groove on.

To celebrate my 100th entry in the blogosphere, I give you a love note I received today. From overseas.

For being the 1,000th commenter over at Angry Pete's he decided to do this.

Good thing he's not, like, Oprah or something, with cameras and shit; I'd be all kinds of embarassed.

P.S. to Tony: Northwest Indiana doesn't want YOU to rot in hell. Phhhhhhhhhbbbbt!

Up until last summer, the core of my social life consisted largely of a local band called Wookie Luv. They did covers mostly, but not the USUAL covers local bands do. And yeah, it probably became an obsession with me, seeing them at least twice a month, but they're friends of mine, so it was always a good time, even if I did get tired of hearing the same set over and over and over. There's no not loving a band who dedicates "Sedated" by the Ramones to you every time you're there. There just isn't.

Well, WOOKIE LUV IS BACK! I found out today.

Ok, not for the long haul or anything, as far as I know, because they were burnt out, the lead guitarist and the lead singer got married and knocked up, etc. etc. But they're going to be playing alongside Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at McCool's in South Haven (woo! South Haven!) April 17th. Plus, they gots Spanky back on bass! Woo! He dedicates "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC to me. AND I'm going to interview Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers for a preview story! Woo!

Banner day, yo!