Dec 17, 2016

I woke up pretty early for a Saturday and scraped the ice off my car to go over to Ryan's. Since he has a second TV set up we played through Zelda and Super Metroid side by side. Metroid takes a lot longer than I remember and there is a lot of searching around with seemingly not much happening. We took a break for Moe's in the middle, and even after playing for about 6 hours when Ryan finished Zelda I still wasn't done. I'll finish later.

Becca and I headed to pick up Tracy and Christie and then met Chuck at Barnes and Noble before going into the city to get dinner at The Abbaye. We had some good beers and really good food as usual. There was an Evil Genius guava IPA that I really liked and the Brew Works Rude Elf that I forgot was candy delicious.

We headed to Prohibition Taproom for a couple more beers after that. Chuck and I got a cask beer from Yards called Hoppy Lil' Hudson that was really good. They were playing Jimmy Eat World on the stereo and we were teasing Christie about not knowing who it was even though we saw them last night.

It was a slightly icy and very foggy two-block walk to Union Transfer, but the church in the fog looked awesome. This reminds me I really need to go out in fog, rain, and other "bad" weather to get the interesting photos I desire.

We got inside in time to use the restroom before The Starting Line came on. The crowd was a little thin, but it was perfect for the room. No one was moving around at first, but I had had enough drinks to not care about pushing forward. Once things got started it was an amazing show and a great set. We all had a lot of fun. There were a couple of guys in the pit who were being assholes. Under Armour guy was just being annoying, but sweater guy was being a real dick so I went and got security (I wasn't even alone; some other guy was already telling them) and the guy got kicked out so that felt nice. We could enjoy the rest of the show in peace.

Dec 29, 2013

I went to the gym with Ryan in the morning. No better way to celebrate a 30th birthday than to workout with my best friend. Really. After the gym we went to Kate's to play Pandemic. We played a few games with varying degrees of success saving the world. I think I liked it better with just the two of us. Maybe it was the day.

Kate and I picked up Chuck and headed to the American Sardine Bar to get dinner and beers. I had Anchor's Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2013 and Deschutes' Black Butte Porter. Both very good. We had some delicious food and left with a growler of a white beer on nitro to drink when we got to the parking lot at Starland.

After sitting in the lot for a while drinking and listening to music we came inside to see a nice crowd including Winnie the Pooh! I haven't seen this guy in years! He used to come to all the pop punk and ska shows up in north Jersey at Birch Hill and Starland. It was nice nostalgia seeing him.

The Starting Line played great, but their set seemed a little short. Everything was a lot of fun though. They didn't break out any songs that were really unexpected, but they left out a few that I did expect.

Regardless, it was an awesome time. I know I've seen them at least twice before on my birthday so it's a nice tradition and a cool way to enter my thirties. I think. 

Jul 29, 2011

I decided to get a few things done that I had been waiting on in the morning so I took care of bank business, finally mailed the blink-182 tickets I sold on eBay a while ago, and then went to get a new tube for my bike tire at Randy's. While I was there I talked to Junior, the guy I always go to, about what kind of road bike I should get. He suggested one and let me test ride it out back and I was sold. I almost got it right then, but I wanted to ride it home and not put it in my car so I held off.

When I got home I was excited at the prospect of getting a new bike so I took my old one out for a ride around town. I did twelve miles easily and hoped that the ease would improve on a bike actually designed for the road.

Chuck and I got on the road to Philly a little later than planned, but people were still shuffling into the show when we got to the Electric Factory. We spoke to Tracy and Mandie for a minute and then I went up to the box office window to look for someone to buy my extra ticket. I missed one opportunity, one guy looked like he really didn't trust me for some reason, and then, just after Chuck said I wouldn't be able to sell it, a girl bought it from me. And then we went to JD McGillicuddy's for some drinks.

After careful review of the beers available, Chuck got a big bottle of Golden Monkey, prompting me to do the same. We each had two of those and were good for the evening. Fiona joined us at the bar for a small time as we finished our beers and fries before going into the show.

The Starting Line began shortly after we entered and got right into "Up and Go" and the party had begun. They played a great set. Unfortunately, this is the best shot I got of them, but I was having too much fun in the crowd.

See. This is not too long after Chuck slapped me in the face and I lost the ball to my lip ring. He doesn't remember doing that. I thought it was funny though. We danced pretty much the whole time TSL was on. They are always so good.

All Time Low played last and I was underwhelmed by their set. They didn't play poorly, it was just the songs they played off their new album I don't really like. They did play a handful that I knew and liked. I don't think I'll ever enjoy them like I did at the Starland show though. Too bad.

Chuck suggested going to the Abbaye for post-show feed and I couldn't say no. I got a vegan meatball sandwich of course. I have a hard time choosing anything else from the menu anymore. We had some good food and talked over our ice cold waters.

When I got home I was pretty wiped and ready for bed. It was a good night out though and I was ready to do it again tomorrow.

Jan 7, 2011

Shannon came up to have lunch with me at Saigon. They have good lunch specials; I think I'll be going there more often. We finally got a chance to talk and hang out. It seems like it's been a while. We went to Target after eating to look for some things and kill some time. I didn't find what I wanted and she had to go pack for her upcoming week in Florida.

Not long after coming home I left again to pick up Chuck and Tracy to go to Starland Ballroom. We got up there early and I couldn't sell my extra ticket so I went inside to see Such Gold, who I thought were really good. It didn't seem like anyone else shared my opinion. Hit the Lights were up next and I knew more of their songs than I expected to. They were pretty good as well.

The Starting Line came out to a packed, swaying crowd playing "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us." They played a bunch of older and newer songs, though it seemed a lot of people weren't getting into the new songs.

They were great and Kenny was having a good time. They played most of my favorite songs and closed with an encore of a new song and "This Ride." Great show.

We got bagels from Dunkin' Donuts and listened to Jonah most of the way home. The drive wasn't bad, but even though I was tired driving I couldn't sleep when I got home.

Dec 29, 2009

I went up to the train station in Trenton in the morning to pick up Joanna. I got there early, so I got a bagel and sat in the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts reading my book for a while until the train came in. We first went to America's Best so she could get her eye exam for contacts. Too many opportunities to break her glasses with the things we end up doing.

After she was set up with her lenses we went over to Tyler to play some golf. It was cold and pretty windy. I started to sympathize with Ryan for not wanting to play in this weather.

The wind didn't really affect us much at all, my discs just wouldn't do what I wanted. On a hole by the water it curved way to the right and then rolled slowly from one level to the next down a big hill and then hopped into the river. We looked for a while but to no avail.

It got a little warmer as we walked and played. When there was no wind it was fine. We finished all 27 holes with a few really nice shots and quite a few tree shots for me.

We went looking for something to eat after the course. I used my handy GPS but ended up at a few places we didn't really want to eat at but passed a Domino's so we stopped there. We got some bread bowls (it was much better than it looks in the photo). I also got to open my birthday gifts there in the car. Side note: it was so cold out! We were sitting in the car eating because Domino's has no seating and it was just damn cold. Ok, anyway, the first thing I opened was a Charlie Brown Christmas LP. Pretty sweet, I just need to set up my turntable again. Somehow Joanna felt this was "not a Christmas-y gift".... haha.. Next was a bag with a candle (all of my rooms should smell fantastic with all of these candles) and two books. One I had read but didn't own yet and the other was by the author of Trainspotting and looks good.

We didn't really have a plan to kill the next two or three hours until the show so we went to Philly, parked on South Street and walked around looking for dessert. The plan was to stop eating so much sweet stuff but it was my birthday so.... We tried a few places. Gianna's had closed the bakery for this week, the ice cream place was expensive and we couldn't find the Ihop. It wasn't looking good until I remembered the crepe place on Sixth. We walked swiftly back there and ordered a crepe with bananas and ice cream. It was delicious. If only it had Nutella... Chuck and Katie met us there and once we finished eating, we got the car and re-parked right in front of the TLA.

The Starting Line reunion show! I have missed their holiday show... even though it's only been one year that they didn't have it.

We got there in time to see Valencia open. They played really well. There were definitely a good amount of their fans there and they played a good amount of stuff from the newer cd that I like a lot.

The Starting Line came out playing the first few songs on all of their albums and then cut into some fan favorites. The place didn't seem sold out even though it has been for quite a while. The crowd was good though and that is always helpful.

Kenny seemed really excited to be playing like always and he involved the crowd as well. It was great to see them play again and sing along to songs I haven't seen played live in a while.

It was a long day of awesomeness and I was pretty tired once we got back home. Happy birthday to me!

Nov 9, 2009

It was another nice day out so I went for a run and then I went to play a game of disc golf. I didn't do enough but at least I was outside. I spent some more time working on some homework before class.

In Photo, we walked around looking at sculptures and art on campus that we can document in place of writing papers for class. I might consider doing it. I went to take my Logic midterm early so I could skip class later. I had to take it in Sean's other class while he was teaching but I don't think I did too bad.

I went back to class and met Joanna so we could head to Philly. We got to World Cafe Live for the Starting Line DVD release party. The live portion of the DVD was playing on the screen before the bands started. We got some sweet potato fries and then The Traded Series played a set. They were pretty good.

In between sets, the documentary portion of the DVD was played. It's well done and makes you feel really bad for the band since they were jerked around so much by their labels.

The Cheap Seats played next. They were a lot of fun, really melodic and poppy.

Person L played last. They were really good and played a good amount of new material.

Kenny came out with Mike Golla from The Starting Line and gave us our "little surprise" by playing an acoustic set of old songs. They played "Something Left to Give," "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us," "Ready," "The Night Life" and "Best of Me."

They played very well and everyone was thrilled to hear some old songs, especially some they don't play often. Kenny hinted that there would probably be a holiday show coming this year so I'm hoping for that!

It was a great night with a good surprise ending that we were hoping for.