Kevin Garnett and the Celtics are doing preseason training at Salve this week! I've been in that gym! It's kind of exciting, even though I am not there. Really I just find it cool because it's KG and my college, screw the Celtics. It would be cool to run into them on campus or in town. I wonder how Sister Therese got them, or maybe the Celtics thought making nice with the nuns would be good for their game.

Celtics pull into new port

Last Saturday, I made a little trip to the giant corn maze in Shakopee for some fall festivities. Naomi, Jer and
my brother came along for the pig-racing, corn-mazing, pumpkin-slinging, food-stuffing day.


Following Brandon and Naomi through the corn stalks


Me framed by a corn leaf

( More photos )

I think I had a Twilight related dream last night. Although there were other factors involved too. I don't remember how it started but here's what I recall.

Dream:
I was home in Bemidji getting ready for a John Mayer concert in Cass Lake. It was a last minute concert because John played the night before in a town close by (Pine River? Pennington? It was something with a "P") but it sold-out, so he added a second night in Cass Lake. I was picked up by John Schwartz and his native friend (can't remember his name, maybe Carl, but he was TALL). Apparently in my dream John was playing the Edward part, but it wasn't romantic because he had a pink, sparkly pager and was waiting for Kelly to page him when she went into labor. On our way to the concert we stopped at a bar and "Carl" was trying to persuade someone to let him borrow a motorcycle for a joy ride. Yeah, it was a dive biker bar. Then my alarm went off.

Analysis:
I'm thinking my role was Alice then? The other factors at play are that John and Kelly really are expecting a baby any day now, and I think the sparkly pager was because I watched Grey's Anatomy last night.

Speaking of Grey's:
I think I'm kind of over that show. I actually felt bored with the premiere last night. I miss their old show opening with "Cosy in the Rocket" it was cute, lighthearted, sexy and appealing. It reflected the nature of the show that first season. And the new opening with just the white background with Grey's and the music cue is soooooo boring. This show has lost it's fun spark, and is too much about medicine now (IMO). I don't like blood.

I wanted to yell at Meredith too, and smack that army surgeon (although it was nice to see Christina get some love), and I just about turned off the tv when Christina got impaled. It gave me flashbacks to my own icicle-hospital incident. In fourth grade, I was knocking down icicles with my brother. He knocked down a big one which crashed on my head and cut my lip and needed 2 or 3 stitches at the ER. Don't mess with icicles yo!

And the timing of Grey's has never been set to match real-life, but all the snow and ice made me a little depressed.

I singalong with the commercials when I see them (freecreditreport.com baby!). I knew it was lip-synced and that it was done on purpose but still his voice.

"In fact, Baby-faced Everyman’s sweet folk rock voice...isn’t even his voice. Because, get this. Dude isn’t even American. Talk about identity theft!
Quoted from Sing it, FreeCreditReport.com guy!

Kind of an interesting little article to read.

I picked up copies of the Jenny Lewis's Acid Tongue and Jem's Down to Earth. There were some similarities which were not planned:
1.) Both are sophomore albums
2.) Both came in cardboard, not jewel cases (is this becoming more popular? I feel like every other cd I pick up is now cardboard)
3.) Both feature a song with the word Acid ("Acid Tongue" in the former, "Aciiid!" in the latter)
4.) Both artists start with "JE"

I was looking forward to Acid Tongue and it did not disappoint. Jenny always does something a little different with each recording and I think that makes her a strong artist. Acid Tongue is more rock then Rabbit Fur Coat, but it keeps some of the country and soul. Although, it doesn't start as strong as her first album. The majority of the album was cut live and without editing. Standout songs: Acid Tongue, The Next Messiah (a 9-minute, 3-song medley), See Fernando, Carpetbaggers (with Elvis Costello), and Jack Killed Mom. I also like Godspeed. It came with some photos, there was a cute one of Jenny and Zooey Deschanel (guest vocalist) which I've put on my bulletin board.

I went to a cobbler
To fix a hole in my shoe
He took one look at my face
And said, "I can fix that hole in you"

I beg your pardon
I'm not looking for a cure
Seen enough of my friends
In the depths of the godsick blues
( You know I am a liar... )
~ Jenny Lewis, "Acid Tongue"

Okay, I fully intended to go to bed without mentioning the tv premieres, but I couldn't do it.

Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother overlap from 7:30 - 8:00 so I skipped the second half of Gossip, but it looks like it was good. Both shows are available free on-line but it looks like Gossip goes up a week after airing, whereas HIMYM is up now. For future, I'll watch Gossip on tv and catch HIMYM online. I really love how Neil Patrick Harris plays the Barney character...this show cracks me up.

Monday is totally my Kristen Bell night now! Gossip then Heroes!

( Spoilers Now )

But He Looks Good On A Hipster Tee-Shirt!
Teacher: Huh, nice shirt, know who that is?
Kid wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt: Uh, the drummer of Foo Fighters?
Teacher: No, it’s Che Guevara. Do you know who he is?
Kid in shirt: Oh, didn’t he, like, fight Communism and Castro?
Teacher (under his breath): (sigh) Fucking public education.

St. Paul, One of the high schools
Overheard by Ironic, who wondered if this kid will be in his class later.

Overheard in Minneapolis

The soundtrack for the film is being hand-selected by Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor who’s made her mark on shows like “Gossip Girl,” “The O.C.” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Quoted from: Are pop-punks Paramore a good fit for "Twilight"?

Oh my gosh you guys! I love Alex's work. Seriously she is one of the only music supervisor that I know by name because she's so good. I want her job to be honest.

And to answer MTV's question: I'm not sure. My first thought is AMY LEE (Evanescence)!! I think Paramore's a good band for the target audience, and they're coming off that Grammy nomination for Best New Artist earlier this year. I liked "crushcrushcrush" and "Misery Business". They're a little more uptempo, punk-rock then what I imagined for the book. But their single "Hallelujah" is really good and heartfelt and if their Twilight song is like that then great!

( Hallelujah video )

Good to hear Stephenie got a Muse song. She should after all the free PR she gave by raving about them in her thank-you's each time. I'm extremely curious to see this soundtrack listing now. I've been wondering about the songs for awhile.

Even though it was rainy and cold, Julie and I trekked to Shakopee for the Renaissance Festival. It was their wine gala weekend with free wine tasting! The conditions were not ideal but I think it added to the ambiance, with the drizzle and the mud. We still had fun!

I sampled yummy wine (apple honey) and some interesting combinations (apple jalapeno pepper). We ate good food (beer cheese soup, potato skins) and watched the various characters milling about. Saw a little bit of the joust and watched a grape stomp.



( More photos (thankfully Julie didn't subject me to any rain-frizzed photos and I returned the favor) )

5/22/08: Posted. 6/20/08: Edited for new items and future dated

A list of some things to do this summer (ala Naomi):
* Continue Thurs "Lost" night but make it "bbq/hang outside/new food" night
* Attend a Twins game(s) (Maybe vs. Chicago July 28-31?) 2 games down!
* Drinks at Psycho Suzi's (continue collecting Tiki mugs) 2 tikis down!
* Solera Rooftop Movies (a few of my picks mentioned below)  2 movies down!

( past )
Want to join me for any?

Shoot, I didn't get half the things done this weekend that I wanted too. I was too unproductive today, spent all day reading! It was nice but now it's Sunday night. I resisted running out to buy Breaking Dawn so that I would at least go to bed at a decent time tonight.

Today I had an interesting experience with the RNC. I live in Saint Paul but work in downtown Minneapolis. I've been joking that I was going to spend the past 2 weeks hiding in my apartment from the State Fair-ers and the Republicans...and the U students returning to classes. Too many people, ugh!

The bad thing about working in a cubicle is that you can't see what's going on in the real world. Is it snowing? Did it rain? Is the street barricaded by police?

Around 4:45, our janitor came upstairs to tell us the streets around our building were barricaded and people weren't allowed onto it. We'd have to go out through the back and cut through the alley instead. He asked the police what was going on but they told him something cryptic like "It's confidential and a matter of public safety"...or about not creating a public panic.

The few of us still in the office scurried over to my boss's window (since he was gone). Sure enough, First Ave was police roped off from Washington up to 4th or 5th street. There were police cars, a fire truck, an ambulance and some dark colored SUVs (CIA? Secret Service?). We watched one guy carefully walk into the intersection right outside our building with some sort of tools, a bucket and what looked like a camera. It was hard to tell. He did a few things slowly and then walked back. They all conversed and then someone must have declared it a success or clear because they started shaking hands and getting on their radios and walkie talkies.

I'm not sure how long it had been going on. We didn't hear any sirens or any noise. But from the time we started watching it was all over in about 20 minutes.

We tried to figure out what the issue was. Was someone important going to drive by? Unlikely since the streets were roped off in box patterns. A car couldn't get through. Could it have been a bomb threat? That would be strange considering nothing important is near our building. The light rail is up a couple blocks. And then the Target Center another blocks beyond that. And McCain was even another few blocks up from there (at the Convention Center). Maybe it had something to do with Rage Against the Machine, since the concert doors were opening at 6:30.

Who knows! The news didn't say anything specific.

I finally read Twilight which I've been wanting to do for sometime but hadn't picked up a copy yet. I was able to borrow the book from Naomi and read it over the long weekend. I liked it so much, that I went and bought the next one in the series.

Since it's a young adult book it has a lot of teen angst, but it moved quickly enough that it didn't bother me too much. I can see why all the teen girls love it/Edward. I couldn't help but smile for much of the book.

I also couldn't help but picture the actors in their respective characters. I think Robert Pattinson was a good choice for Edward. And I absolutely love that Kristen Stewart is Bella. I have only seen a handful of her movies, but I thought she was very good. And she'll be a great Bella. I could see her playing Bella similar to her role in the tv movie Speak. In which she played a girl who stops speaking after an emotional trauma (more at Wikipedia). The movie is told from her perspective mostly in voice-over. It's good, I recommend seeing it.

Gym should be illegal. It's humiliating. ~ Quote from Speak

I'm really excited to see the movie in November! And to finish the series. I'm also going to have to get some Twilight icons now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This song came on, while I was reading. It's kind of fitting:

How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me.
Its like a book elegantly bound but in a language that you can't read, just yet.

Chorus:
You gotta spend some time, love. You gotta spend some time with me,
and I know that you'll find love, I will possess your heart.X2

There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective when we'll be lovers, lovers at last.

Chorus

You reject my advances and desperate plea. I won't let you let me down so easily. So easily

Chorus

I will possess your heart.
I will possess your heart.

~ Death Cab for Cutie, "I will possess your heart"

Saturday evening I went to Forest Lake for Natasha and Chad's going away party. It was a nice day at the lake with a bonfire and boat ride. You could feel fall coming, so it was kind of a goodbye to them and to summer.


Log chimney on the bonfire


Natasha and Chad on the boat ride (there were so many stars out!)


Toasting to Natasha and Chad with some bubbly that made us think of California

I will admit that I read different entertainment/celebrity/gossip blogs when I'm bored. Mostly I just do Google News and click around on different stories, there aren't really sites that I constantly check or anything.

So tonight MSN had something about Tila Tequila (who's dating some girl who's an ex-friend or ex-gf of Lindsay Lohan, blah blah). I clicked on a link in the story to read more about this supposed run-in with LiLo and Sam. It linked to a photo gallery which I glanced at, but then something caught my eye!

There's a photo with a guy in a green shirt in the background, upper right corner. I thought "that guy kind of looks like Paul Rogers", who's a friend of mine from college, and who's doing the acting thing in LA. I looked closer and it looks like the shirt says Boston on it. Paul's from Massachusetts and a huge Boston fan. So I sent him a Myspace comment to see if really is him.

Gossip Pic here

( And here's Paul: )