Rooftop Jams '03: A Mixtape Of All The Queen Songs I Was Really In To In The Summer Of 2003

What a place that New York City is. Those streets made me feel brand new. Those lights did inspire me. Despite the fact that I got in 12 hours later than I was supposed to (thanks Midwest Airlines!), I managed to get over my continuing airline travel curse and have a super swell time. Most of the time it feels good hangin’ with the laid back country folk, but every once in awhile, I like to mix it up and feel the hustle and bustle of the big city. All teams played hard and majorly contributed to what I’m calling a tremendous victory, not only for us travelers, but for the city of New York and all of the people there that were blessed enough to have been touched by our "presence." Why did I put presence in quotes? The answer is because Paul Rudd is my hero. If you are lost right now, go out and rent Role Models and watch it. Hurry up or you’re going to miss more references. Anyway, back to the people that were touched, even though you didn’t say thank you, we know you are grateful. You are welcome.

Look at Ant's Nose Neighbor. It was a conversation piece. Sample dialogue: Have you seen my friend with the mustache?

The trip provided much entertainment from top to bottom, but there are a few things that stick out and might be worth sharing. Obviously, I must think my life is fantastically entertaining or I wouldn’t keep an entire blog dedicated to, as my boy SSWY put it, spinning epic tales of grand adventure. Some people may think they aren't worth sharing. Maybe you don't want to read. That's the beauty of free will, you control what you do. Sometimes I want to be from Vermont and have an emerging maple syrup conglomerate and, at least in my own mind, that can be true. The point is, you can read this or close the window, the choice is yours. Do you think I care if anyone reads this? Ok, you got me, I really, really do. What can I say? I have low self esteem. Can you tell that I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night? I’ve been listening to Come on Elieen by Kevin Rowland and Dexy’s Midnight Runners on repeat for the entire work day; that should give you some kind of indication of the shape I’m in. At four and half minutes per play, I’d say that today I’ve heard it roughly 87 times and counting. With that, I’ll segue in to spinning some epic mini-tales of grand adventure.

Addy, DC, Ant, and I after Friday's show

I previously mentioned that I was most excited about makin’ sweet plays on the Great Lawn. We did put on a quite a clinic for those watching. Hitting the cut-off man, gunning down imaginary runners, and throwing wicked breaking pitches were all activities that made the Makin' Plays: The Great Lawn Story documentary. We couldn’t really make as many plays as we wanted due to time constraints, temperature constraints, and old washed up arm constraints, but we made the best of what’s around.

Couldn't have been too hot. I kept the sweater vest on

The Jimmy Fallon taping was cool to see live. The highlight of the show, aside from JLoveH talking about happy endings and us repping our favorite ballclub on national TV, was Addy and Ant getting their cameras confiscated for breaking the ‘no pictures in the studio’ rule. While Addy thought he could be pretty sneaky (or snakey) and snap a pic ninja style during the JLH interview, he was sadly mistaken. As soon as he took the pic and thought he was in the clear, I assured him that one of the thirty-seven security guys scanning the crowd with hawk-like prowess saw him. Sure enough, during the next break the iPhone was confiscated. Ant was a little less discrete when he attempted his photo. The show was over and people were leaving when an announcement reminded us to keep cell phones put away until we exited the studio. Ant thought that meant he could take out his actual camera and take a picture; this was not a correct assumption. When the security guys yelled out, ‘Swarm!!’ Ant just held the camera out so they could take it from him. They didn’t take it since the show was over, but they did stand there and watch as Addy and Ant deleted the pictures from their respective electronics.

Of course he's in a 3-point stance

The concerts were great, as always. Zac Brown opened both nights and surprised us with a little Rage Against the Machine cover. I think they could switch musical genres without skipping a beat. That boy has some anger he needs to let out and the crowd was going nuts, especially considering the headliner wasn’t going to be on stage for another hour. The baddest band in the land delivered some quality music and we all sweated through our clothes multiple times. Our crew was pretty close the 2nd night.

Dave and the boys doin' their thing

One of the random things we ended up doing was attending a comedy show at a supposed famous place where the likes of Murphy, Seinfeld, Rock, and Sandler used to play. We weren’t expecting much and only bought the tickets because A) they were $10 and B) there was a chance the dude that wears a trucker hat from 30 Rock would show up for a set. I just remembered, the bar across the street from the club happened to have $1 beers all night. That may have slightly influenced our decision. Random decision number one of the trip turned out to be a good one. We saw several good acts and one fantastic set by a finalist on Last Comic Standing, and our boy from 30 Rock showed up. The only bad thing (which makes it a better story) is that there was a two drink minimum and the prices were like that of a strip club (or Yankee game). Beer was the cheap item on the menu at $10 each; mixed drinks were going for $15. Long story short, Ant was double fisting, yadda yadda yadda, he was mildly upset when his bill arrived.

You could get a whole bunch of Mums

I'll wrap this up with a particularly strange event that happened during our grand adventures. One night after the show, we got back to the hotel around 12:30 to change and head back out, taking advantage of the 4 AM bar close time. When in Rome, right? We end up at some dive bar right around the corner. Ant strikes up a convo with a random kid, meanwhile I'm running out of gas at an incredible rate. Next thing I know, bar had closed, we all had 6-packs, and were sitting on the rooftop of the random kid's apartment listening to every song in Queen's catalog, while watching the sunrise. Also, the random kid was absolutely rocking out, by himself, to every single song. He was just off in his own little world strutting around the roof, while three strangers watched, dancing his face off to his iPod, from which he was exclusively playing Queen, for about two solid hours. Yes, he was extremely high and entertainment was had by all.

In case you can't read the fine print:

-That's definitely a dude

-It can't be

-It's not

-Who cares?

Big Citi Living

These next few days have the potential to be great. In a few hours I'm leavin' on a jet plane and, unlike LeBron James, I'm taking my talents to New York. On the agenda for this trip: 2 dmb shows at Citi Field, 1 baseball game at Yankee Stadium, 1 taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 30 Rock, and the making of an educational documentary film called Makin' Plays: The Great Lawn Story on Central Park's Great Lawn. I am not sure which event I'm more excited for. The same trio of characters as the 2009 Boston 4th of July extravaganza are partaking, with a special guest appearance by DC. We proved three wasn't a crowd last year. It was actually a freakin' blast of epic proportions. Adding one more to our crew can only help the situation, right? Of course. All you need is a great attitude and unlimited enthusiasm. I'm an idea man and I thrive on enthusiasm.

Remember when I said I wasn't sure about which event I was more excited for? I lied. Concerts and ballgames are fun and all, but I'm really pumped to be out on the Great Lawn makin' some sick plays. Flashing the leather on the Great Lawn is one of the best activities anyone could ever participate in. I've got my ball glove ready and there'll definitely be shades of JT Snow out there on the Great Lawn. I've also decided that I like saying/typing the words Great Lawn. I'm not sure why we even booked a hotel room. I'd be happy to camp out under the stars on the Great Lawn. The park can't be as scary as it is portrayed in Home Alone 2. That bird lady still gives me nightmares. I don't care if she ended up making friends with Kevin McCallister. She made Harry and Marv look like something right out of Disney.

Isn't it breath-taking?

Ant landed there this morning and has already sent me a Time's Square pic. Addy was supposed to be there with him this morning, taking the red-eye from PHX to ATL to JFK last night, which brings me to a little story about karma. Addy is notorious for cutting it close when traveling by air. He usually arrives 7 minutes prior to departure and somehow checks in, gets through security, and gets in a front row seat in 6.5 minutes. Also, his flights are never delayed for any reason, even this past Christmas his plane somehow landed in Bemidji during a blizzard white-out hell storm, while two years ago, my plane circled Bemidji with clear skies and flew back to MSP. After his most recent demonstration of this behavior, I expressed my concern for how long his good luck with air travel would last. Here are some texts I received from him today.

12:25 AM: Damn. Just missed my HOTlanta flight

12:41 AM: Actually my 80 min Phx delay did all the work for me

12:46 AM: Any chance to catch my ATL flight when I land 15 minutes after it takes off?

12:47 AM: Could make up some serious time on a 5 hour flight, right?

12:50 AM: My iPhone flight update app had it delayed hours ago. Delta.com still doesn't know.

1:57 AM: They're sending me home (in a cab I'm paying for). And coming back tomorrow. See you at 3 pm big apple. @#!* this.

1:51 PM: Wheels down in the city that only sleeps on Sundays!

See how quickly he got his enthusiasm back? That's why we need the Big Guy there. See you soon fellas!

Star Island: Sandy Beaches Where Dreams Are Made Of

Last weekend was the one year anniversary of the best weekend of my life (day 1, day 2, days 3-4). Although I knew this weekend would be a great one, it's difficult to avoid comparing all my future weekends to last year's Boston Excursion, which surpassed any possible expectations and was truly magical in nature. That being said, it's also hard to have a bad time on the 4th of July. Especially if you know of a little place called Assssssssspin, where the beer flows like wine and the women flock like the salmon of Capistrano. Wait... I mean if you know a little place called Star Island on the great Cass Lake. Myself, along with a few of my cohorts made the trip to 'sota for an old fashioned good time.

My boy Addy, was flying in to our old college town of Grand Forks on Friday and hitching a ride with SSWY, his lovely wife, and their two dogs. From the outside that looks like nice little family and friends trip. The two dogs in this nice little family and friends trip happen to be English Bulldogs. Duke and Dora used to look like this, but now they look more like this. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a tad. I'm just saying, they are bigger than they used to be, and Addy might have been a little cramped riding bitch with these two pups lounging in the backseat with him. I was driving up from OmaHuh on Friday and, being the adventurous type that I am, decided that I would go up slightly out of my way to GF to meet my friends, see the old town, eat some greatly missed cuisine, and convoy back to B-town with the crew. So instead of heading east at Fargo, I continued north with visions of grinders and cheese tostadas dancing in my head.

The dogs used to fit in the sink. Not so much anymore. Is there anyone sitting on that chair? I can't tell.

Once I arrived, I only had to fulfill a couple of SSWY's husband duties as he was working (run errands with the wife and take the dogs for a walk) before I could enjoy the simple greatness that is the Red Pepper. Unfortunately, we had to pick-up Addy at the airport before I could take full advantage of my fill-in husband duties (ho ho just kidding Lindsey!). As we said goodbye to the married kids, who were in a bigger hurry to get back home than us two swingin' bachelors, we pondered where this night was heading. After some quick BWWs, we headed to a favorite watering hole called Judy's to meet an acquaintance from Addy's schooling years. Soon, hours had passed by in what seemed like minutes, as we talked and laughed the night away with funny stories, past and present. All good things must come to an end, so we said our goodbyes and headed over to the Red Pepper. Yes, again. Addy hadn't even been there yet and I wasn't going to deny him of some delicious grinder goodness because I had previously eaten there six hours prior! Plus it was after midnight, so it wasn't like I had it twice in one day or anything (As if that even matters? Why do I feel like people are judging me like I broke some kind of law?). I like to eat turkey grinders with taco meat, doused in red and white sauce. Deal with it.

We made a safe journey home where I dropped Addy at his folks' place before returning to my folks' place. What a nice surprise I had waiting for me upon my arrival home. The bed I normally sleep in was occupied. So, there I was left with a pull-out, but not just any ordinary pull-out. It is a single pull-out, probably the only one ever made due to it's ridiculously small size. A seven year old kid might fit on this thing, maybe if he didn't have legs. By the time I actually tried to go to sleep, it was 5 AM and the sun was coming up on a beautiful Saturday morning.

The next day was a nice little Saturday even without a Home Depot visit. I'd say the highlights were spending some time on the lake, meeting some friends out, and dominating some pizza from Dave's. The pizza was by far the best part of the day. I'm saying that despite the hours I spent flying across Lake Bemidji on a jet-ski. Flying. The wind was really tossing my watercraft around out there. I'm just giving you an idea of how good the pizza is. If it can beat the greatest water sport activity ever invented, it's gotta be goooooood.

On America's birthday, I began the day eating a wonderfully prepared meal of brats, corn, beans, snicker salad, cheesy potatoes, and beer; not a bad way to start off the greatest day in American history. Addy and I were ready for Dad to take us out to Star Island. (Background story: Dad, in this scenario, is neither Addy's nor my dad. Dad is a friend of ours that acts a lot like our dads. He takes us fishing and hunting, drives us around if we've been drinking, plays darts with us, and takes us to Star Island. In lieu of this, we call him Dad and he calls both of us his sons.) Just like a good Dad always comes through, so did our Dad on this glorious day of American pride.

Many people from the Great White North know of the island that is called Star. I am proud to say I am one of them, and I frequent the beautiful place any chance I can. For those of you who don't know, let me paint a word picture. Imagine, for a second, a sandy beach tucked in a cove on an island. Imagine walking in knee to waist deep water, feeling nothing but sand between your toes, as the waves gently crash upon the shore. Imagine 100+ boats pulling up to the shoreline and anchoring for a day of sun soaking and partying with friends and strangers alike, as time crawls slowly by, hour after fun-filled hour. Imagine jet-skis, water-skis, beach games, music, and best of all - young girls in bikinis, stretching as far as down as the shore will allow. Imagine a place where smiles are infinite and dreams become reality. That is the place we spent our 4th of July, and it was simply amazing. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about being on the water that makes me realize how good life is and where my home truly is. I love that place.

What happens on Star Island, stays on Star Island. Except for swimmer's itch. That shit'll come back with you. -Addy D