Ramblings

Today is the first day in about five that I've felt right. I managed to go the entire winter without a serious illness, and then... just as the thermometer began to creep up, I got that virus that moves from throat to head to sinuses to nose... and it's not the most gracious guest.

But I think a weekend of doing little other than watching the Bulls' lose their first playoff game of 2006 helped out and I've rallied to get back in the game. We also spent Saturday and Sunday (well, Gina and Terri spent Saturday, I joined them Sunday) putting our backyard back together from the winter and augmenting our front yard with additional plants and landscaping. I was in charge of edging and mowing. Which I'm good at.

Of course, after putting a substantial amount of flora in the ground, the Chicago spring has failed us and we're looking at a frost tonight... which is great for plants I hear. They love being frozen and thawed. So I'm off to Home Depot to try to improvise a solution. I do love the Depot. As one of my friend's once said, you go in to buy some lightbulbs, and leave thinking you can build a fireplace.

To top it off, it's a busy week for Burn Rome Burn. Yesterday afternoon, Barret and I spent two hours at Fearless Radio guest hosting The New Music Binge. We were the featured guests on NMB a couple of months back, and the folks there were nice enough to invite us back to serve as guest DJs. We joined with Kris, Jen, and producer Jason (a fellow OPRF Class of '95er) to waste a couple of hours bullshitting, playing music, and plugging our upcoming shows.

Barret and I played a couple of new tunes with Barret on bodhran (did I spell that right?) and in spite of my vocal health (or lack thereof), I think they went pretty well. All in all, a great time. The five of us had good chemistry, laughed a lot, made fun of famous people, took some phone calls, and just generally had fun. It looks like Kris and Jen are going to be the new hosts of NMB on a full time basis (Rocco, the previous host, is focusing more on film than radio now) and I think they're going to do great. And Jason is a natural in the producer's booth. Good times.

Thursday, we play down in Joliet at Harrah's Casino as part of a Battle of the Bands. That's right. I will then proceed to lose our life's saving at a Texas Hold 'Em table. Just sayin'... Saturday, we're at Double Door as part of the Shoeshine Boy Productions' 6th Anniversary Party. Should be a great time. If anybody in Chicago is interested, I've got discount tickets for sale for $10. Buying the advance ticket from us not only gets you in the door for cheap, but it also entitles you to attend the FREE HOUR OF DRINKING from 8 pm to 9 pm. Free Jim Beam and Absolut drinks for the entire hour. And then we play at 9:00 followed by three other great bands. How can you beat that? With a stick I guess. 

Anyway... email joe@burnromeburn.com if you're interested in tix. So things are humming along... I'm also doing an interview this morning with The Daily Herald, a suburban paper, which will probably run on Friday as part of a preview of the party on Saturday.

Finally, I just found out that my best friend from high school, Ben, is a daddy. A Big Daddy. He and his wife April are the proud parents of Austin Richard and Aspen Rose and I couldn't be happier for them. Brother and sister were born a bit premature and are in the ICU as a precaution but are otherwise healthy and doing well. Here's to their continued health and well being. And the sanity of their parents, what with twin babies and two Pugs in the house.

Good morning and good luck.

jbg