Apr 3, 2014

After covering meetings at Lakeside for the day, I was more than ready to get outside. I went over to the park and practiced putting a little before dropping my discs and going for a walk around the longest path to kill time before Ryan got there to play a round. I went home for a while before heading up to Philly for the show.

I got to the Troc shortly before Four Year Strong hit the stage. They had some technical problems getting started as they always seem to in Philly, but once it was resolved they kicked off a great set playing mostly older songs. Their set was fast and full of energy, which is what it was lacking last time I saw them. I was happy to see them back at what they do best, and the crowd was into it too.

Speaking of the crowd, this was the tamest crowd I've seen at a Bayside show as long as I can remember. Their set was fantastic, with four songs from the new album and all of them songs I wanted to hear. I'm sure it gets harder to decide which newer vs. older songs to play as their list of songs grows longer, but I really love seeing them play the new stuff. It's just so good.

Nov 8, 2013

There wasn't much sleeping in today, but I got a good amount of sleep before getting up to meet Ryan to play disc golf. We had a good game and a walk after that around the lake. It was a nice day, but I was ready to head home after getting Chinese food. I got some work done on photos while I was home and then it was about time to head to Haddonfield to drop of my disc with photos from the law firm. I met with Matt briefly and gave him his disc. He seemed nice enough, if a little odd and hurried. Hopefully we will be working together again.

After a brief stop at Total Wine, Kate and I headed into Philly and to the New Deck Tavern for the U Penn Alumni hockey team happy hour event. I met Whit, the head of the alumni association, in the small basement dining room of the restaurant where about 30 former hockey players were standing awkwardly close to the narrow entrance instead of sitting at tables with their beers. I shot some good group photos and some fisheye overviews of the tiny room. After I'd shot a bunch of candids and people posing with old friends I headed over to the ice rink to get ready for the Penn vs Princeton game.

It was cold in the rink, but I kept warm by walking around up and down the stairs as I was shooting. There were a lot more students there with cases of beer and 40s of Hurricane than I'd have expected at a school event. Shooting was a lot of fun with my 70-200 lens. With the large aperture I can get some great action shots. I still felt like I needed to use the flash to get good lighting though which bothered me a little considering the claims that the IS version of this lens works so much better in low light. And this wasn't even low light. I guess I should look over the instructional disc that came with it...

After shooting a little bit of the game I was done for the evening, and we headed to the parking garage in Chinatown for a couple of beers before going into the Trocadero a few minutes before Less Than Jake came on. They seemed less drunk than usual and played a great set of songs from their expansive discography. I danced and jumped through just about every song because the crowd was great and I had at least one Golden Monkey before entering. Except for a brief (not so brief) interlude where they brought two girls up for a chugging contest and then berated them for their poor performanced it was a solid show. It was a nice reminder of how good they can be since I sometimes expect a shit-show like the one at Hangar 84. Just a short long drive home and it was bedtime.

Oct 29, 2013

I worked as a French teacher at Lakeside today. We watched Shrek in French, and the kids kept asking why we were watching in that language... Yeah. The classes weren't too bad mostly, but a few got annoying. I was happy to be done. I went to play disc golf with Kate after I got changed. It was a really nice day and I had some good drives, but I wasn't putting very well. My game is always inconsistent. It was nice to be outside though.

Later I headed up to Philly to see Emery at the Troc Balcony. I sat in the car for a bit listening to a podcast while I waited. I saw Phil at the door since he still works there so we talked briefly and then I headed upstair to the small balcony stage. It seemed like a whole different room when it's filled with people waiting for a band to play. It turned out to be the perfect size room and the crowd was a lot of fun. Emery played The Weak's End from front to back, playing some of my favorite songs of theirs. It was so much fun hearing those songs and getting into with everyone. Not to mention it seems like on every tour they do there is no Philly/NJ date for some reason. No idea why. This show just made me want to see the play another tour with mixed songs as well as just see more bands at small shows.

Feb 17, 2012

I had a pretty good day at Memorial in an English class. I went to the gym with Ryan after work and went through our up and down workout.

Kate, Chuck, and I met up with Jeff and went to the Pour House near his house for some beers at a discounted rate. After a few we went to catch the train into Philly.

We got to the Troc as Less Than Jake was starting their second song. We missed a good opening song, but the rest of the set was fun. I'm not a big fan of the venue since it's so small and the crowd packs in. I enjoyed the show even though they played a few new songs that I wasn't into.

We took the train back to Jeff's and saw him off before we drove home. It was a fun night though it seemed to fly by.

Oct 15, 2011

Ah, Saturday. I went over to the Silver Run trail for an early run. I took the opposite direction on both trails than I normally do. Just doing this simple thing makes it seem new and gives the illusion that it's going by more quickly. I find that it's harder to run when I know too many landmarks that tell me how far I've gone.

I wanted to continue enjoying the weather so I took a walk when I got back home along the river to the library to get a new book. I found the one I was looking for and then walked home and read some outside.

Alex and I headed up to the train station later and took the rail into Philly. The walk to the Abbaye was much longer than I thought it was. Once we got there it was time to try some pumpkin beer and get a red bean burger. Alex was very happy with the food and the bar in general. Ryan helped us out greatly when Alex realized she didn't have her e-ticket for the show so she e-mailed it to him and he printed it out! What a guy.

After eating we wandered through the cold over to the Troc and got inside a little bit before Four Year Strong came on. When they did, I was immediately not a fan of the people in the crowd. It's not the same as it used to be at their shows. They also played newer songs and things I don't know well.

To their credit, when they played the good stuff they played it really well. It's hard to feel the same energy as their shows used to have when they played in the basement at the church and the crowd was great. I'm afraid I won't be seeing them again until they return to such a venue.

At least we had a short walk back to the train after the show and then a quick ride over the river and back to the car. It was a good night even though the show was not quite what I wanted.

Oct 6, 2011

I spent the day working at the Senior High in an English class. It's always enjoyable having the nice classes. AP English classes always seem to fit the bill. The day went by pretty quickly being able to actually converse with people in class.

I went over to the course for a run after work. After a couple of laps in the nice weather I met Ryan at the gym for pull up, pull downs, and other pulling exercises.

I got ready quickly after the gym so I could get Joanna and head up to the Troc in time to see Transit open the show. They were amazing. From the moment they walked out on stage and turned their little lamp on it was all energy and fun, despite there only being a small crowd of people gathered inside at the time. They played a bunch of newer stuff that I love.

I Am the Avalanche came out next to a steadily growing crowd and pumped up the energy to the next level. They have some big fans here and Vinnie was crazy pumped to be on stage and playing new songs. They were really good. The old and new songs went over really well and they were lots of fun.

Saves the Day was up next, playing one song right into the next, stopping to take a breath every once in a while (mostly just to tune.) They ripped through an awesome set of old and new tunes, pulling out some gems that they never play. That seems like par for the course anymore as far as Chris Conley is concerned, but so are fantastic shows! They were so good. Be jealous you missed them.

Bayside headlined the evening, opening slowly with "They Looked Like Strong Hands" until the chorus when the drum fill brought the crowd to a moshing explosing. They played so much stuff and lots of great new songs, making me happy. The crowd was nuts for almost every song, including my favorite segue of "Already Gone" right into "They're NOT Horses.."

They slowed it down a bit and played the crowd-favorite "Don't Call Me Peanut" (which makes me want to watch Dead Like Me again everytime.) I always hope they'll play the acoustic song off of the new CD. Maybe at his acoustic dates. The set picked back up with some more bruisers before the punctuation of "Devotion and Desire."

Such an amazing lineup of bands and great energy from the crowd. It was a wonderful evening of music and fun. And with plenty of time to sleep before work!

Sep 26, 2011

I subbed for an English teacher at the Senior High, where I found the most meticulously-detailed plans I've ever encountered. It was all written in a binder and in plastic sleeves with the work for each class in its respective section as well as seating charts, attendance, and an intricate description of the workings of the day. The classes were really good as well. I managed to finish my book. It was very interesting and well-written. It's called "Under the Banner of Heaven." Check it out.

I went to the gym early and did some laps outside on the track until Ryan got there and we went inside to do our leg/dead lift workout. This track is too small and it gets repetitive, seeming like I'm not going anywhere at all.

Alex and I headed up to the Troc, getting inside just before Switchfoot started. The song they opened with was really good, but after that it just became unexceptional. They weren't really bad just not interesting to me. We did meet up with Jess and Jen in the back of the crowd though.

We made our way to the front and then Anberlin came on playing a bunch of great songs. They played a lot from Cities and Never Take Friendship Personal. I was happy to hear "The Resistance" because it's been in my head for some reason.

They slowed it down in the middle of the set and played a few tunes acoustic-style. I think it went on a little too long actually. Some of those songs I'd much rather hear loud. They ended with the usual mix of "Feel Good Drag" then a brief walk off stage, coming back to play the dramatic "fin*."

The crowd was good and a lot more active than I expected considering the last time I saw them at the TLA. I'm glad I ended up going. Lots of water on the way home and then trying to get to sleep.

Feb 19, 2011

Alex was the chef in the morning and cooked me some eggs over easy. Not over hard. They were delicious and very filling. We took our time getting ready to leave, but then finally headed out.

We went to the 4th Street Cafe in Ocean City to see Michelet's photos that were on display there. She was there having lunch with her family too so we got to see her as well. Unfortunately, the photos were set up on the walls directly behind where people were sitting and eating, making it extremely awkward to view any of them. It was a very uncomfortable, cramped setting. I didn't get to enjoy many of the photos because of that.

We went down to the boardwalk after leaving the gallery, where the wind was pretty insane.

The boardwalk was pretty empty on the far end. We walked into the wind, stopping in a little shop and a fudge store so Alex could talk to people for a photo project she's working on.

We walked out to the jetty and the sand was blowing all over the place. It looked really awesome, but it was a bit obnoxious.

Alex took a bunch of pictures out on the jetty while I sat with Cait and took photos of her and tried out my neutral density filters in an attempt to get the sand blowing across the beach. It didn't work that well. I need to learn.

After a half hour or so of sitting on the rocks shooting photos and getting sand in our eyes and cameras we decided to climb off the rocks and head back to safety.

Since Alex had never been to Ocean City, we had to play ten cent skee ball. I'm not very good. I think I got into the 100 hole once. We got a bunch of dimes and played a lot of games though. Alex surreptitiously took photos of us playing with her remote... sneaky.

We went to Mack and Manco's for pizza of course so Alex could try it. Again, this is a face of approval. She liked it. The place was really busy actually. They do well in the winter. We headed home after eating and stopped for Shamrock Shakes when we got close to Glassboro. Delicious.

Shannon picked me uplater and we headed into Philly for the Thursday show. They played Full Collapse entirely once again. That makes three times for me. That's enough times. Maybe War All the Time next time? I could go to that show way more times. They were good, but I was disappointed that they didn't play anything after the full album. Not even Jet Black. Really?

I joined Shannon in the balcony for Underoath's set. I didn't really know any of their new stuff but they played some older songs that I knew. Regardless, they played really well. I was kind of surprised.

Great day. Lots of fun on the beach in the winter and at the show in Philly!

Feb 5, 2011

I went to my mom's house in the late morning for a lunch of tortellini with alfredo sauce. It was quite good and we had a good chat for a while.

After I got changed and ready to go I went to pick up Katie* and went to New Delhi for lunch. The buffet was awesome again, as I expected and we had a window seat for a view of the rainy, rainy day.

I got pistachio ice cream for dessert and it was great. Once again, glad it was a small serving because I could have eaten a lot more.

We went over to her friend's apartment to hang out for a while and have some drinks. They were friends from work so the people they didn't work with slowly split apart from them and we started a conversation that we could all be a part of.

We walked a little and then grabbed a cab to get to the Troc for a battle of the bands. There were some really good bands playing. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Some of the bands were instrumental, but they were equally good. Not a lot of people seemed to be getting into the music but I had fun by myself.

After the show we went to Sugar Mom's for a little while and then to National Mechanics. The latter was pretty fun because people were dancing and the DJ was good.

I walked around the city for a while, heading back to the car. It was a pretty nice night out to walk but it was farther than I thought. It was a fun night but I was ready to go home.