Jan:

Got paid, there's a few parties on the horizon, all of my christmas gifts will be given soon, meetings, practices... so why has this been the Friday from hell? I'm pretty sure it's not the 13th. I didn't walk under any ladders on the way here. Sure i broke a mirror once, but that was 7 1/2 years ago! This has been the crappiest crappy crap crap day ever. I want out and on the road. Nowsville... i have to say it was fairly stimulating looking for new apartments on the web, but still, the stimulation remained anchored at "fairly" and didn't even begin to venture one iota towards "lightly." All i know is this night better make up for this wash of a day. Only we can make it happen.

Late.
posted by Jan at 3:40 PM ***

Jan:

When am i going to learn to resist eating at Sam's Grill? I figured since it was a Friday, i'd treat myself to breakfast proper... no offense to Pumpkin, but man cannot live on muffin alone... Hence, i opted for some eggs, toast, and browns. Bad idea. I have a feeling some terrible things are going down in my stomach, because i'm in some serious pain here. This does not prepare me well for the office christmas party tonight.

Speaking of which... yes, i am going to the christmas party tonight. Why not, right? Sure, i see enough of all of these people (especially you know who) during the day, but i just can't resist a rootin' tootin' rollicking good time. and it's the Friday of a nice big important weekend, so why not celebrate...

I'm going to be heading up to Milwaukee during a huge blizzard. CNN does not have good news for Chicago. Hanging up the phone.
posted by Jan at 1:31 PM ***

Jan:

This sucks. It's so over. It's just too busy here today. The second fiddle sings on and on... and it's murder on the mind.
posted by Jan at 11:16 AM ***

Robert:

Look around... leaves are brown... there's a ton of snow on the ground... i think that's how the song goes...

Well, my friends, i have decided on a realistic movie-related goal for the year 2001... Back in 1999, as mentioned before, a brave associate and i watched (and rated) a staggering 365 different movies... Some of them we had seen before, some we hadn't... I will never do such an outrageous thing again! ... However, after looking through the list, i have to admit that i did get a little nostalgic. All of those great movies jammed into one busy year. If you look close enough, you'll see that on one night, we went to one of those AMC theaters with 30 screens for an all day marathon! We even packed lunches. We got there at 10:30 AM and left at 2:00 AM. After we told this story to our pals, one of them let us know how happy he was with his own life. I like to make people feel good by driving home my insanity... Anyway, the movies we saw that day: Toy Story 2, The Green Mile, Dogma, Sleepy Hollow, Flawless, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.

So this year, i've decided to watch 100 movies that i HAVEN'T seen before and then write neat little reviews right here on the blog. Sounds pretty sane, wouldn't you agree? (By the way, my review of the movie Snatch, which i caught in LA, will be in the tour commentary that i'm dilligently working on.)

Ninth of all, i train up to milwaukee yet again tomorrow, for pleasure and business. I'll let you know how it all plays out.
posted by Robert at 8:48 AM ***

Oewihnc:

What a big fat bore of a day. Maybe i'm suffering from post-California winter depression or something, but we've really hit the dog days big time. The weird thing is, there's so much to be excited about, so much to look forward to, so much to do and see. Things are changing and some big news might rumble in soon. Who knows, really... I do know that it's supposed to snow up until Saturday... and i need to cheer up.
posted by Oewihnc at 3:51 PM ***

Oewihnc:

I spent a lot of time today writing, and now i'm exhausted. It's only 2, but i'm pretty much done with all of the worky work work that i have to do for the day, so i need to find some way to get energized. Maybe i need some gum. That always seems to help. The Michael Moore website has a pretty great picture of president #43.

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately. Since Crazylegs Mcgee joined another team, it's been downright placid, serene even. I could fall asleep right here on this keyboard... The eerie hush here provides for a crazy turn of events in my non-work related life... This includes an interesting switcheroo in living arrangements. Let's see how i can word this.

I presently have 2 roommates. One has decided to move crosscountry in January. So i lassoed the funniest man in Chicago, my old roommate, to fill the space. But now, my other roommate has disclosed that he plans to find a place by himself in February or March, stating that we could either find another roommate or just break the whole lease altogether and find different apartments. I'd rather jump ship and find a different apartment (Ours is nice and cozy, but it's a bit far away...), but i don't know how i feel about breaking a lease. I'm not even sure if that's possible. Do you happen to know 3 people that need a place to live in Chicago for about 6 months? Just asking.
posted by Oewihnc at 2:06 PM ***

Oewihnc:

I've been writing. Busy with work and m'memoir. Could there be a better place than here to write an essay, a story, a commentary! Too many distractions at home - the phone, the tv, the dvds. Here i can be alone with my thoughts, and although things keep buzzing annoyingly around my head, i always find time to get the real things done. So, in that sense, work is a blessing. I've never been so prolific, so fast with email turnaround, so ignorant of a ringing phone, so happy to be productive. These things can not/will not play second fiddle... So please be patient as i allow the second fiddle to do a quick solo or two....

Oh yeah, and if you were wondering, i constantly get mistaken for Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. It can get annoying at times.
posted by Oewihnc at 11:17 AM ***

Robert:

Hey gang. Just a quick note before we get rolling: The 365 movies i saw in 1999 (from best to worst) are listed here. And if you want to take my advice on any of these suggestions, please, for heaven sakes, see them in their original language! I'm sure Life is Beautiful is horrific with English overdubs... Which is why i should always list it as La Vita e Bella!
posted by Robert at 9:18 AM ***

Jackson:

Time to roll. Tonight before i pass out in a flurry of snow coma, jet lag, and malt liquor, i will do my best to start documenting. Could the weather outside be any more frightful?
posted by Jackson at 3:42 PM ***

Jackson:

Another yawner of a day. The snow is bringing me down. A bunch of other websites bringing me down. I was in such a good mood this morning. What happened? ... The end of 2000 is approaching, which means i have to think of some new obsessive project to begin 1/1/01 and end 12/31/01. In year nineteen hundred and nine, my friend and i decided to watch and rate 365 movies. We did it... but sometime around June, when i was over 40 days behind, I was really hating the whole idea. But it was sort of a bet and we are both pretty darn stubborn. This year i specifically decided not to do anything out of spite for that fiasco. But now with this blog firmly in place, the next year seems quite opportune for another round of some type of day-by-day project... Thanks for allowing me to think aloud. I'll keep working on it. zzzzzz.
posted by Jackson at 2:08 PM ***

Jackson:

It's snowing again... Oh, by the way, the PRICE IS RIGHT show that we were at will be airing on 1/26/01... And before you get too excited, out of 10 of us, not a one was called. I guess we didn't wow em in the interviews as much we thought. That whole story will be related at a later date...

After perusing all of the usual sites, I can see that nothing too exciting has happened whilst i was away. I guess that's a good thing, cause i don't like to miss anything... As for the election, I can't say i'm surprised at what will most certainly happen, so now we have to get in the business of trying harder to cope with the outcome. I have heard that Dr. Gore will not concede, but rather end all legal battles (conceding, without really saying it)... so i'm interested in what he's going to be saying to the public tonight. His speech writers must be pretty sick of trying to say the same old thing over and over, but in different words...

I love being on tour. I love playing music. I love seeing and meeting exciting people. I love you. There are many big decisions to be made in the upcoming week... one of which is: how many of 5 christmas parties will i attend this weekend?
posted by Jackson at 11:59 AM ***

Robert:

Welcome back... Your dreams were your ticket out... Welcome back... to that same old place that you laughed about...

I still have that sweet sweet tour taste lingering on my lips, and i'm pretty sure it's not just an unidentified substance from the San Diego microphone... mmm... nope that's tour, alright. It felt so great to be out there again, meeting some amazing people, playing such great shows, swimming in such heated pools of movie stars (seriously)... It hasn't really hit me yet that i'm back. It should, though. I mean, I left 70 degree weather to come and work in 3 degree weather and about 12 inches of blizzard still on the ground. I don't even care cause i'm still glowing. I hope to start writing a commentary tonight about the whole trip... and i'll wish i was back there.

ALSO, the night before we left, we had a chance to see the final cut of the BRAID "Killing a Camera" video, an 80 minute documentary on our last 4 shows, created by our friends at Bifocal Media. It really floored me. They did an incredible job and it is a fitting tribute and a beautiful ending to that special time of our lives. It should be out by the end of the year! Please direct all inquiries to the aforementioned Bifocal website... and now i play ketchup.
posted by Robert at 8:53 AM ***