Wedding Season

It's wedding season. I'm at an age where weekends from June-September are spent attending weddings. In a 5 week period I'll have attended 3 weddings. One of them my own. Funny I say that I'm attending a wedding because I do feel like I'm just a guest at my own wedding since the SO has basically planned everything and I'm merely an accessory to the whole ordeal. I don't mind being the nice handbag to the real deal. As long as I am a Hermes Birkin. 

This past weekend was the wedding of one of my long-time friends. I've known the guy since we were in Junior High. I remember him being the lanky blonde kid who would play handball during our lunch break. Now he's a radiologist at UCLA and is marrying another radiologist at UCLA. They make the perfect Aryan nation couple. All blonde, tall and smart. 

It's funny how successful some of my friends have become. We were such nerds growing up. Friday nights were spent playing GoldenEye or going to Rock N' Bowl at PV Bowl. I still remember the stupid stuff we did like lighting fireworks or playing tape on tape and getting scolded by the PVE cops. I still don't think we've truly grown up. Evidenced by a table of friends being scolded for irking another guest due to their obnoxious behavior. 

The wedding was held at La Venta Inn in my hometown of PV.

It's views like this that make me miss living in SoCal and especially PV.

The sun setting. Beautiful orange haze thanks to the smog. Cancer and beauty all rolled in 1!

That's pretty much all the pics I have on my phone because as the night wore on I couldn't be bothered with taking pictures as my main priority was "enjoying" the wedding.

Due to Apocalypto Storm  Hurricane Tropical Storm  rainshower Irene, my flight got cancelled on Sunday. As much as it sucked having to take an extra day off to fly back on Monday, I did enjoy the full weekend in LA instead of my usual 40 hour turnaround. 

With that much time on my hands you know what I had to do.

Appetizer....

Main course. Oh yeah. Love Las Fuentes in the Valley. I am truly going to miss Mexican food while in NYC. I actually go to La Salsa here in NYC because it's the closest thing to Mexican food I can get. Let me present you that comparison pictorially.

Mila Kunis = La Salsa. Very good and you know what you're gonna get. Can surprise you sometimes with something really good. Started off kinda boring but is growing to be a very good alternative. Especially when talking about Mila Kunis, it's quite the transformation she had from That 70's Show

 to now. It's like she told her plastic surgeon "Make me look like Angelina Jolie". And for the female readers, I admire the same transformation with Joseph Gordon Levitt. No pictures of him. You'll have to look that up.

Speaking of Angelina Jolie..

Angelina Jolie = Las Fuentes. The real deal. Lot of imitators but still leaves the young upstarts in the dust. Kinda crazy with all the kids running around*

*applies to both AJ and Las Fuentes.

Anyways, I have this weird thing where I have to eat at the airport or on the plane. Virgin America had a nice breakfast box so I bought it to find this Chernobyl fork.

I don't know what happened to it but it was incredibly hard to stab fruit with a dulled edge like that. It's like it was sheathed for protection.

Well, we are now down to 16 days till the Big Event. Nervous, random postings to ensue. Am I ready? Is this it? WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!!!

I need that stupid squirrel looking shocked video again.

How true

Cats are uhh....interesting

My next dining destination

I'm amazed that this place is able to stay in business. It's right on Park Avenue as well.

On another note I downloaded the Blogger mobile app. More periodic but shorter posts to occur.

Derp Fox

If you can watch this without laughing you have no soul.

Rorraparooza Day 2/3

....and we're back.

On the way back to Grant Park we walked through Millenium Park to check out the Bean.

The Bean. It's so shiny.

I don't really get this whole Bean thing. Why a Bean? I read the wikipedia article and there's no mention of the reason for the design. Maybe I should stop using wikipedia as my sole source for information. I'd be a horrible college student given the current availability of wiki articles. 

Lollapalooza actually consists of something like 7 different stages for bands to play on. Two main stages and several smaller side stages for up and coming artists. The Playstation one was host to a number of good bands like Cage the Elephant the Deftones. 

The main headliner for Saturday night was good ole Eminem. Oh and btw the other headliner on Friday night was Coldplay. I kept yelling "where's Chris Martin" and "When does Coldplay" start at the Muse concert and people kept giving me dirty looks. I think it was funny for the first 2 minutes. Too bad I did it for about 8.

The Recovery album being hyped. We didn't bother getting close to the stage.

I don't get the E being backwards. is Eminem going the Toys R' Us route?

This just reminds me of the scene from Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom.

Shot of Eminem from the big screen. He's starting to look like Elijah Wood. Well, after rocking out to the King of white rappers it was time for dinner. 

Fish and chips for the SO's sister. 

I wanted some sausages in my mouth. Oh yeah. Juicy sausages in my mouth. 

What time is it?

Guinness time!

I don't even remember what the SO got. I think there's a picture of it somewhere but I forgot to download it and I'm too lazy to go and re-download it so you get a picture of dessert. 

Some weird fig concoction. 

Full of food and tired from the day we crashed and got ourselves rested for Day 3. 

Once again, the early day lineup of Lollapalooza was just mediocre so it was sightseeing time. 

I read online about the Chicago architecture tour so we headed off on a 90 minute tour. This might get boring for those of you not into buildings. 

The Trump Tower. Even the tour guide was surprised it turned out pretty decent. She was telling us how people wanted to dislike it because of who it was associated with but couldn't. 

More buildings. 

A-Ha. A bridge. Just to spice up the tour. 

This place would look perfect in Amsterdam too. Bet it looks funnier when you're high as a kite. You know, like when you're really high up in the air.

The late 90s and 2000s saw a huge real estate boom in Chicago and a lot of old warehouses were converted into condos. 

You can immediately tell which buildings were conversions because they always tack on a balcony. Some of the balconies don't look very safe but whatever, at least they look nice. 

The Sears/Willis Tower in the background. Looks like Batman. 

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh Sears Tower!!!

Marina city. Looks like a giant corn on the cob. 

The Chicago skyline from afar. Definitely a beautiful site and a MUCH better downtown than LA. 

Yeah. I think some cities in the midwest have better downtowns than LA. We can boast that we have like 5 freeways all intersecting at downtown. The 60, 10, 110, 101, 5. Oh wait that's a horrible idea. 

Anyways, that was the Chicago weekend. In about two weeks I'm back in LA and then two weeks after that it's the wedding of the century for me. Mine. Wedding of the century because I'm hoping to only have one. *Crosses fingers*. 

Did you miss me?

I hope you did. It's been a crazy week at work and this blog is currently #4 on the priority list. 1-3 tangentially related to wedding stuff.

Anyways, to mark the return of the blog post, it's a full pictorial tour of my Lollapalooza weekend.

Since I'm lazy, here's the wiki info on "Lollapalooza".

Lollapalooza (/ˌlɒləpəˈluːzə/) is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedyperformances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. Lollapalooza has featured a diverse range of bands and has helped expose and popularize artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, The Latin (Manny and Gil), The Cure, Primus, The Killers, Rage Against the Machine, Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, Metallica, X Japan, Soundgarden, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Smashing Pumpkins, Muse,Alice in Chains, Tool, Hole, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Strokes, The Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue, and Green Day.

It's basically a big ass music festival and since 2005 it's been held at Grant Park in Chicago.

Side note: The word Lollapalooza, a shibboleth, was also used by the American Army to ferret out possible Japanese spies. Apparently the "L's" were too hard to pronounce and it sounded like Rorraparooza. I'm totally raffing out roud.

Anyways, I bounced out of work at 1pm to head out to Chicago to meet up with the SO and her sister. I've mentioned it before but the SO is a gigantic Muse fan. She's been to like umpteen concerts and keeps talking about Matt Bellamy. Apparently I'm still #1 but the margin between Matt and I keeps shrinking. That bastard.

It was the 20th anniversary of the festival so the nifty wristbands made sure to let us know.

The Rorraparooza, ahem, I mean Lollapalooza sign outside the main entrance.

The Chicago skyline. This was my 2nd visit to Chicago and we've been pretty lucky with the weather. This time around it was humid but highs topped out in the mid 80s and it was pretty spectacular until Sunday afternoon. Chicago in the summer is amazing and I love the city. It's too bad 90% of the time the weather sucks harder than a Dyson.

AMERICUHH*!!

*Courtesy of the Belgians and Brazilians.

Because we were primarily there to see Muse we made sure to line up early to get a good viewing spot. The roadies were doing the sound check while desperately hoping that some groupie comes up to them for some "backstage access".

The crowd was starting to get bigger as we approached showtime. It was a LOT of white people. Now I know what it feels like to be the white guy at UC Irvine. 

In case you were wondering what event this was. With the amount of weed wafting through the air I thought it was the Up in Smoke tour. 

We were were pretty close to the stage but if you wanted to check out the pores of the artists they had huge HD screens. 

And the show begins.....

Matt Bellamy admiring his work.

Clap Clap Clap Clap. Everyone in unison!!

Turn down your speakers on this one. We were so close to the speakers that it totally overwhelmed my phone's mic. 

I wasn't a big fan of Muse before this concert. To be honest I thought their music was just okay and I made fun of the SO for liking them so much. This concert totally changed things for me. I absolutely loved their music. I set my Pandora station to include Muse and I'm totally digging songs like City of Delusion. Anyways, it was an awesome concert and as the SO put it, "Best Muse concert ever". Since it was the only one I've seen I guess I have to agree. 

To cap the night we had some healthy food. Steak quesadillas, buffalo wings, nachos and beer. Why? That's how we roll. Fatties through and through. 

The day lineup for Lollapalooza wasn't spectacular so we combined a walking tour with lunch at Gibsons Steakhouse. 

You can imagine where most people stood when they took a picture. The best was an older gentleman who decided to look up and open his mouth real wide. Why would you want those juices?!?!

The Chicago Tribue building has these rocks from various famous sites. Basically the reporters from the Tribune stole historical pieces and brought them back to be incorporated into the building. Nice. 

Hey look Egyptian government. Here's a rock from your Great Pyramid. What are you going to do about it? Cry and whine? The Tribune is like the douchebag frat brother taunting the Tri-Lambs.

Finally arrived at Gibsons hungry and ready to chow down. But first...

A ginger beer and vodka cocktail. Delicious. 

Goose Island beer. 

Some sort of mint infused cocktail. I forgot what it was. It was sweet and vodka-y. 

Started off with some oysters. You know, to get the appetite going. 

Guess which fatty decided to get a filet mignon at 1pm. Yeah the SO. 

I, of course, was not going to be upstaged by the SO and the SO's sister's French Dip sandwich so I got a steak sandwich.  

5 minutes later...

After "lunch", which probably had enough nutritional value for two days, we were off to Grant Park to start the 2nd day of festivities....To be Lollapalooza'ed till midweek. 

What happened to our music?

The other night I happened to catch VH1's top 100 hip hop songs while running on the treadmill. I caught it from Top 15 to Top 1 and ended up running 20 minutes longer than usual. 

I'm a sucker for nostalgia. I love 80's and 90's pop culture and still think that stuff from that era beats out anything produced in the 2000s. My feelings about music is the same. The SO makes fun of me for listening to current pop but it's really just filler music for me. My favorites come from the 80's and 90's and VH1's list did not disappoint. 

15 Eminem - "Stan"

14 Tupac - "I Get Around"

13 Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M."

12 L.L. Cool J - "I Can't Live Without My Radio"

11 Jay-Z - "Hard Knock Life"

10 Kurtis Blow - "The Breaks"

09 Salt-N-Pepa - "Push It"

08 Snoop Doggy Dogg - "Gin and Juice"

07 Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"

06 N.W.A. - "Straight Outta Compton"

05 Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - "The Message"

04 Run-DMC ft/ Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"

03 Dr. Dre - "Nuthin But A 'G' Thang"

02 Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight"

01 Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"

What struck me most while watching this was the number of songs that actually had really relevant messages. Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life may use a sample from Annie but it's really a story about the hard knock life of the 'hood. When you get into N.W.A and Public Enemy, these songs were all about the hard life of poverty stricken neighborhoods and the oppression faced by African Americans. 

I'm aware that there are current songs that have messages and all but what's important to note is that these rap songs were mainstream popular, Billboard 100 singles. 

The SO went to LA Rising to see Muse and Rage Against the Machine so I went to Youtube to watch some RATM songs. I absolutely love RATM. I saw them in 1999 right before they broke up and I still consider them my favorite rap/rock band. RATM is all about left wing activism and sticking it to the man. 

Killing in the name of ends with the chant "F*!k you I won't do what you tell me" An angry outburst that signifies our refusal to follow the norms of society and promotes individual expressionism.   

You know what's popular right now? #1 on the Billboard 100 is Party Rock Anthem. The inspiring and deep lyrics of the song are such. 

Party rock is in the house tonight

Everybody just have a good timeAnd we gonna make you lose your mind

We just wanna see ya shake that 

In the club party rock, lookin' for your girl? She on my jock

Nonstop when we in the spot, booty movin' weight like she on the block

Where the drank? I gots to know, tight jeans, tattoo 'cause I'm rock 'n' roll

Half black, half white, domino, game the money, op-a-doe

I feel like this ties in with the continual discussion of the age of entitlement that has set in. To summarize, researchers and academics have characterized a growing sentiment by the millenials (those born between the 1980's and 1990's) that they deserve everything and don't need to work hard for it. Self-fulfillment is more important than anything else. This coincides very well with the onslaught of rap and pop songs that laud the glamorous party life artists lead. Pop champagne bitches! Hell, this even coincides with the glut of reality TV in the mid 2000's that catered towards showcasing the wealth and riches of celebrities. MTV Cribs. Real Housewives etc. 

Our generation has lost the ability to look into the problems that people face. Before, we used music and art to bring to light the ills and injustices of society. Nowadays the focus is on making it rich and getting the F out of the 'hood. But really, what am I to say. I'm a guy that was raised in a nice suburban community where people had pools and tennis courts in their backyard. I can only lament that as a generation we've lost the ability to translate the important messages in our society into meaningful prose that could move millions. 

Encapsulate your relationship in 2 minutes

Every Argument Every Couple Ever Has EVER. from Casey Donahue on Vimeo.