Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter

First official photo of Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Pretty f'ing cool.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

A truly remarkable film. Everything about this film was totally beautiful. The acting was superb, especially from the two lead children. Krista watched this film yesterday afternoon and loved it so much she watched it again with me last night.

Sick

All was good until Saturday night when I noticed a little cough coming on...didn't think that much of it. When the early hours of Sunday rolled around I was feeling much crappier; a hacking cough and a definite fever. Late Sunday and Monday was the worst of it, just now starting to feel like a human being again....not to mention the boredom.

John Fishman

Just learned that when Trey Anastasio and John Fishman were roomates;
Fish had a journal... Trey looked at it when he was out. The lyrics
from Dog Faced Boy, Gumbo, and tube were from that journal( with a
little help from Tom Marshal).

Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2

This is the first photo released of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2. He kinda looks like the character from the Wrestler with all sorts of weird things attached to him. This guy is one freaky looking dude...may be the biggest comeback since Travolta.

Andrew Zimmern

I love food shows, I guess cause I love food. The show "Bizarre Foods"
hosted by Minneapolis chef Andrew Zimmern always seems to capture my
attention. He follows a similar format to my hero Anthony Bourdain but
in a much more subdued layman way. He definitely eats tons of crazy
things but I feel like he doesn't really care for most of them. The
majority of the strangeness is animal inards which he always says
tastes "Tinny" and "Minerally". The show is highly entertaining but I
am looking forward to Tony coming back on the air or at least writing
another one of his great books.

Citi Field Munchies

Last night I made my way back to Citi Field for my 3rd Visit(2nd game, one time for a meeting) and I must say that I still love it. The unfortunate thing is that there is a ton of good food to be had(Shake Shack/Blue Smoke etc) but in order to sample these delicacies you need to devote a solid hour of waiting in huge lines. As I don't have the patience for this kinda crap and really like to watch a ball game while at the stadium I opt for the usual overprices Hot Dog and Beer. Other than the specialties the rest of the food is the same ole' Bullshit.

The Subway

The NYC subway system is by far the easiest and quickest way to get around the city. There are a couple of things that definitely irk me on a daily basis. It seems as if the "Prime" spot on a subway car is leaning up against the doors..people are simply unwilling to give up this hot piece of real estate. Even during the busiest rush hour times people will completely block the doorways in order to keep their spots. Often times I will plow right through them to make a point, it is beyon frustrating. Another lousy thing is simply moving to the center of the car...often times there is plenty of room to be had but for some reason people are unwilling to budge.

The Crock-Pot

For years people have been telling me to get a crock pot. The food is so delicious, moist and tender! A couple of years ago I got one and all the food seems to come out pretty much the same. No matter what ingredients I put in there it all becomes essentially stew. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good stew..I just thought the crock Pot was capable of other things. Last night I decided to make Chicken Cacciatore...I was gonna make it the standard way but decided to use the crock. Guess what? It came out like chicken stew...it was really kind of gross.

"The Reader"

I watch a fair amount of films and "The Reader" ranks up there as one of my favorites. Winslet and Fiennes display some of the finest performances in recent history. There isn't much credit given to the actor who portrays the Fiennes character at a younger age(most of the film)...he was great.

As the plot thickens in this film we see characterizations that I don't ever recall seeing in the cinema. I found myself drawn to them, wanting to know more about them. It is a real tear jerker, so make sure you have a box of tissues handy.

NYC Prep

NYC Prep is a new reality show on the Bravo Network. I happen to catch the preview episode. This may truly be the most pathetic of all of these type of shows. There is something really sad about seeing these highschool kids living life in such a fake fog. There is one character who lives in the city while her parents live in the Hamptons...oy. The 'Housewive' series on Bravo is a well produced show about pathetic people, it's just more tolerable when they are not kids.

DMB

I have been a pretty solid DMB fan since the early 90's. I have a distinct memory of picking up, "Under the Table & Dreaming" way before anyone in my circle had heard of the band; a friend who was going to school near the place in Virginia the band was from. There was a couple of years that I had a lagging interest in the band....the past 10 years has brought me most in touch with the Band.

The death of Leroi Moore has brought the band together in a whole new way. 'Big Whiskey' is an INCREDIBLE album(probably their best thus far). It makes everybody remember Leroi while building upon a whole new foundation of musical exploration. It's just great, looking forward to seeing Dave at JB in mid July.

X-Treme Concerting

Seeing 3 concerts in a single week probably seems insane to some, but to Phish fans it is commonplace. After the 1s night I was pretty fried, but made it into work just fine. It helped knowing the next night there was no show to go to and I could crash early. Thursday came and we were equally psyched; when Friday rolled around we were excited to see the band a final time before the late summer shows but we were not thrilled about the weather. It had been raining for most of the day and the forecast was not pretty...armed with ponchos, parkas, and bellies full of cheap hippie food...we were ready.

The first set was a steady light rain and by the break it has stopped raining completely. Shortly into the 2nd set it started raining in sheets....it was truly X-treme concerting.

I: Wilson, Buried Alive, Kill Devil Falls, AC/DC Bag, I Didn't Know, My Friend My Friend, Ya Mar, Theme from the Bottom, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Split Open and Melt

II: Down With Disease, Twist -> Piper -> Backwards Down the Number Line > Free, Twenty Years Later*, 2001, Slave to the Traffic Light

E: A Day in the Life

notes: *debut performance

Jones Beach 6/4/09

I: Grind, The Divided Sky, Ocelot, The Squirming Coil, Punch You in the Eye, Dirt, NICU, Ghost, Run Like an Antelope

II: Water in the Sky, Birds of a Feather, Drowned, Meatstick, Time Turns Elastic, Waste, You Enjoy Myself
E: Rock and Roll

Last nights show was a heck of a lot of fun. It was kinda nice to have that day break between shows to rest up a bit...feeling pretty zonked today. Some really nice jams and got a chance to hear a couple of new tunes which were ok. Seems as if 2009 is going to be the year of the single song encore...guess the guys don't want to pay overtime for event staff...o well.

Random Thought

If Tattoo Artists use black in on Caucasian folk why don't they use white ink on African Americans?

Phish-Jones Beach

1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan*, Timber (Jerry), Cities, Driver, Reba, Possum, Farmhouse, If I Could

2: Mike's Song -> Simple -> Wolfman's Brother -> Weekapaug Groove, When the Circus Comes, Kill Devil Falls*, Harry Hood, Loving Cup

E: Suzy Greenburg

The first time seeing Phish in 5 years...I think they did a pretty good job. The 2nd set was pretty amazing. Karouda showed off his shit on the lights, better than ever. Great Show.

Phish is Back

After a 5 year Hiatus Phish is back. Couldn't make the 1st 4 shows(Hampton and Fenway) but starting tomorrow night I will be seeing a bunch. This week Neher and I will see the guys play 3 nights at Jones beach which is probably my favorite venue. In August we will see them at Darien Lake, hartford, and Saratoga. While they were on 'Break' I found myself trying to fill a void that Phish left in my world. I did so by going to every possible TAB show that I could muster, even seeing him perform a benefit for Tibet at Carnegie Hall. As much as I like TAb it just isn't as good as Phish. I look forward to another summer of my favorite music.