Adam's Birthday Drinks @ Franklin Tap (2/27)

Adam's birthday is coming up so I met up with he and Margie for drinks after work on Friday to celebrate. Margie's co-workers are all really nice but they are also friggin' hysterical so we had a blast. Some I knew from our Hawaii trip, but most of them left early. Maybe because the Patron shots were a bit out of control! I swear those of us who stayed had a minimum of four. And everyone was passing around the camera so we ended up with tons of good pictures.

It still throws me to see the boys gussied up in their jackets and ties. SO different in their corporate atmosphere than mine. I think they look like they are straight out of St. Elmo's Fire (with Margie being Demi Moore, of course).

Doggie Destruction

Taylor's incision busted open a little bit so today I put the cone around her head before I left for work. She must have gone into the bathroom to look for goodies in the garbage and got her head stuck. Somehow she closed the door and got herself stuck in the bathroom! Since Taylor hates being confined, destruction ensued. I wonder how much this is gonna cost me.

The Billionaire's Vinegar

Just finished The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine. I was listening to the audiobook which is less than six hours, but I could barely stop. This story is CRAZY! So very, very interesting and you can't believe it all really happened. This is a must read and I will be telling all my friends about it.

From the publisher:

It was the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold.

In 1985, at a heated auction by Christie’s of London, a 1787 bottle of Château Lafite Bordeaux—one of a cache of bottles unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar and supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson—went for $156,000 to a member of the Forbes family. The discoverer of the bottle was pop-band manager turned wine collector Hardy Rodenstock, who had a knack for finding extremely old and exquisite wines. But rumors about the bottle soon arose. Why wouldn’t Rodenstock reveal the exact location where it had been found? Was it part of a smuggled Nazi hoard? Or did his reticence conceal an even darker secret?

It would take more than two decades for those questions to be answered and involve a gallery of intriguing players—among them Michael Broadbent, the bicycle-riding British auctioneer who speaks of wines as if they are women and staked his reputation on the record-setting sale; Serena Sutcliffe, Broadbent’s elegant archrival, whose palate is covered by a hefty insurance policy; and Bill Koch, the extravagant Florida tycoon bent on exposing the truth about Rodenstock.

Pursuing the story from Monticello to London to Zurich to Munich and beyond, Benjamin Wallace also offers a mesmerizing history of wine, complete with vivid accounts of subterranean European laboratories where old vintages are dated and of Jefferson’s colorful, wine-soaked days in France, where he literally drank up the culture.

Suspenseful, witty, and thrillingly strange, The Billionaire’s Vinegar is the vintage tale of what could be the most elaborate con since the Hitler diaries. It is also the debut of an exceptionally powerful new voice in narrative non-fiction.

See... how can you resist? I learned so much about wine history, wine auctions, wine value all through this mystery. This is one book that definitely should become a movie.

Cranford

Yes, it's Valentine's Day but I avoided going out like the plaque. I didn't want to go and be surrounded by couples and I didn't want to go out and "celebrate" with single people or do the anti-Valentine's thing. I enjoyed a quiet night at home but I needed to plan it in advance so that I had answers when people asked me what my plans were for Valentine's Day. When they asked, I answered them with "I'm planning a night on the couch watching a BBC miniseries." And that miniseries is Cranford.



I wasn't sure what to expect from Cranford. I know it was nominated for some Emmy's and it was based on novels by Elizabeth Gaskell (who is my new addiction, by the way). It was FUNNY! Really, really funny. I wasn't expecting that. And I wasn't sure how much romance there would be either. I wouldn't call this a romance by any means, but there was enough splashed throughout the five hours to be satisfied.

Such a Pretty Fat

Just finished Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster. Actually, the full title of the book is "Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest To Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pie is Not The Answer". How can you not love a book with a title like that? And this book has footnotes, too. Fun footnotes!

Jen Lancaster is hysterical! (For proof check out the video below.) I don't usually read memoirs but this one is so approachable - every women, chubby or not, will be able to relate to parts of this. Also, Jen live in Chicago and there are so many Chicago references which made it more enjoyable for me. I MUST get my hands on her other books, pronto.

Los Campesinos! @ Logan Square Auditorum (2/7)

Love the band, hate the venue. Logan Square Auditorium is like a grade school gym that happens to be on the 3rd floor. Didn't matter though because Los Campesinos! is a show I had been looking forward to for months. Actually, ever since I saw them in May, 2008 I couldn't wait to see them again.

Titus Andronicus opened and they were pretty good. I think I may download some of their more popular songs in case I get the chance to see them at a festival later in the year.

As soon as Titus Andronicus finished we moved closer to the stage. I think the age group got 10 years younger just by moving 15 feet closer. Everyone was well behaved though, but I am glad we were not right up in front as it seemed a bit rough up there. Unfortunately there were no good photo ops, all the tall guys were in front.

We could see them setting up and doing their own sound check and excitement was building. Los Campesinos! opened with "Ways to Make It Through the Wall". I have both of Los Campesions! albums and their songs are always on my playlists, so I was surprised that I didn't know about 1/3rd of the songs. But that's okay because there were a few that peaked my interest and now I have more new music to learn from them. But the show was great! The band had a TON of energy. They played lots of their fun songs and I got to sing and dance and jump around which was a blast. Other songs I remember were "Drop It Doe Eyes", "Knee Deep at ATP", "This Is How You Spell "Hahaha, We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-Romantics", "Miserabilia", "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed", and "Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1". Gareth said we were the largest indoor audience they have ever played to which was fun when we all sang along (example a: "Shout at the world, because the world doesn't love you!").


They ended with "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats", "You! Me! Dancing!", and "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks". The band started climbing up on the amps and stuff which was just fun anarchy. (Example b: "One blink for yes, two blinks for no, sweet dreams, sweet cheeks we leave alone.") Awesome, awesome, awesome. As soon as the show ended I thought, all right, when can we do that again? PLEASE play Pitchfork or Lollapalooza so I don't have to wait an entire year again...


After the concert we hung around to chat with the band. Would have loved a t-shirt but they were all so tiny. Instead I bought the LP of "Hold On Now, Youngster..." and got autographs from Gareth, Alex and Tom. Gareth was at the table dealing with all the fans, some of them really messed up. He has a grace about him and he was very friendly and patient with everyone. And he's funny too. They were staying a few days in Chicago and I asked him what he was gonna do... if he was going to explore the city or if he was going to sleep. He laughed and said that he was going first find a record shop and then a vegan restaurant. After that he would probably sleep the rest of the time. I can't imagine how exhausting it must be for them to travel like that and be so far from home. Anyways, I was really impressed by him. Alex was quit and Tom was friendly but I barely talked to him because for some reason I turned into a 12-year-old asking for their autographs and I think Tom is the cutest one which therefore means I can barely talk to him! Whatever... how silly. Next time I should offer to take them all out for a midnight snack.

"15 Step" by Radiohead at the Grammy's

Best Performance of the night! And this year's 51st Grammy Awards show actually had a lot of good performances. Interesting combos to say the least. Awards didn't go to who they should, but at least it was entertaining. As for Radiohead, their "In Rainbows" album didn't win record of the year but maybe it should have since it turned the music industry on it's ear!

U2 - "Get On Your Boots"

The new video has been released!