Best Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday Photos

Mother Mom and Sister Emily came to New York for the weekend. They did lots of stuff (mostly walking) and I came along for plenty of it. Thursday night we had dinner at 24 Prince and then desserted at Rice to Riches (Mom's fourth visit and she finally made it to the infamous Nolita Rice Pudding establishment, a New York Dream of her's.)



Then we walked way downtown and snuck up to the famous roof of 2 Gold to admire the view (pictured) and lawn (not pictured).


Another theme of this post is "I am beginning to get my new camera to take the pictures that match the ideas in my head."





If this is what happens when I rest my camera on a ledge then maybe I'm about to dork it up and get a tripod that I carry around at all times and whip out whenever I'm going to snap your shot.



Friday night we dinnered on the Citrus (Did this spread of raw fish fill me up for the evening? Of course not)



Like I said . . . starting to get the pictures I want.



Then we saw "Light on the Piazza" which was pretty much a musical version of "Mr. F" set in Italy. But it was good. Then we waited for the train.



Ha! It was noisy!



Saturday, among other things, we walked around SoHo (maybe you remember Saturday, it was the really, really rainy day?). This is a picture from the Broken Kilometer on West Broadway. Why is Emily smiling like that? Because pictures are not allowed at the Broken Kilometer, so I am totally breaking the rules!



Oh, babies. What are you up to now?



Dinner Saturay night? Five Points!! Activity Saturday night? Good Night and Good Luck at the Sunshine.

Sunday. Sunday lunch: Wholefoods at Columbus Circle! Then Sunday night we watched Mean Girls!

I'm all about subway icicles that come down to the roof of the train. (that's a great way to test icicles, too.)



I slipped away from Mom and Emily later that night to visit Karisa's. On my way over to her apartment, I saw the number 50.



I got in on a little Speed-Scrabble action. I couldn't believe the rush that I got from spelling "bedevil" or "quote" in teeny tiny little 30 second windows for action.



Then Joe helped me learn more about making my camera do what I want it to as Karisa and Di fell deeper in love and discussed buying a Forester.



One thing I haven't written about are my New Year's Resolutions. I have a few, they may come up from time to time. Here's one: This New Year I resolve to try using the full-leg cross. And here's a photo of me trying it out . . . I don't know, I think it went pretty well. I could probably get it tighter. But who says you have to be perfect at your resolutions right away, right?



Still Life with Favorite Things.



And then the night was done and I waited and waited in the subway station.



Waiting . . .



Waiting . . .



Finally.



Coming Soon: MONDAY! More walking! And More Scrabble! (If you can believe it.)

Best Going Down in Flames

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die

Bluths vs. Olympics. Bluths vs. Friday Night. The saddest happiest two hours of the year?

Best Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memory

This is a true story . . .

One morning, back in Kindergarten (Go Panthers!), they gave me a picture of a man with a mustache talking with his arms out to color and told me that this was "The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior." I had never heard of the guy before but couldn't believe my ears. This man was a Reverend, a Doctor, a King, and a Junior? My young mind was boggled, they didn't tell me anything else about the guy, so I figured that maybe he was the king of Africa? I knew purple was a regal color, so I made his suit purple and added a gold sash. I think I probably also wondered if he was as important as Prince Charles, because Prince Charles was a pretty big deal back then.

Come on, I was five!

In other news . . . Imageshack (where I host my photos) is being difficult, so that's why you only get a little paragraph in the late afternoon instead of pictures of Mom and Emily's visit and "B-E-D-E-V-I-L."

Best Vow of Anger

Hand on my heart, if Ticketmaster were a person ("Hello, I am the Ticketmaster.") I could really cuss him out. Since when do $30 ticket cost $45?

Of course I've known about this problem since High School. So why complain.

Best Dates With the Night

My list of bands that I MUST see live that I haven't seen yet is short:

1) Blur
2) The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3) The Jesus and Mary Chain

But the list just got shorter:

1) Blur
2) The Jesus and Mary Chain

Because yesterday I found out the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were playing New York at the end of February and they (unexpectedly) went on sale at noon . . . so now I've got tickets to see them twice at the Bowery.

I was just going to link to the ticketweb for you folks but the shows are now sold out, which makes sense.

I am going to be squirmingly excited for these shows. Why? Because 1) I've tried to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs several times before and I've always been foiled for the silliest of reasons and 2) The Yeah Yeah Yeah's make rock that sounds like the rock that I like to like, they're like the archetype of what I want my music to sound like and Fever to Tell is one of my most-listened to records.

2005 was a year of catching shows by bands swallowed up in buzz, 2006 might turn into a year of shows by favorite acts as I've also got Bad Brains and Some Girls coming up and, who knows, maybe I'll check in on MF Doom and Belle and Sebastian?

P.S. What other bands were on my must see list?

4) Thee Headcoats (or any other Billy Childish project)--I got lucky and saw them at the Empty Bottle in 1998 and then got real lucky and saw Thee Headcoats' last ever show ever when I was living in London in 2000.

5) Einsturzende Neubauten--High School Brigham would never believe that he'd wind up seeing them twice, once in London and then in New York.

6) The Cramps--Saw them in DC in 2004, it nearly cost my Cramps fanship. But I'd probably give them another shot. I posted about it . . . somewhere.

7) Guitar Wolf--I almost didn't even dream to see these guys, but it happened at CBGBs last year. Beyond bananas. Dig through my February 2005 archive to remember it.

I suppose the Arcade Fire, the Streets, and Interpol would have wound up on the list had I not gotten to see them fairly shortly after they became favorites of mine.

P.P.S. Walked down MacDougal beside Julian Casablancas two days ago, he was being harassed by a vagrant. You could barely tell the two apart.

P.P.P.S. Yes, I realize that the Jesus and Mary Chain broke up years ago . . . but doesn't it just seem like they could get back together without it being a big deal?

Monkey Trouble?

I'm getting reports that some people can't see my photos from Monkey Town in the next post. Dear Reader, can you see the pictures of Monkey Town? I can, but I'm trying to figure out why some of you can't.

Best First Trip to Monkey Town

Last night Karisa and I headed out to Brooklyn to investigate Monkey Town.

















My conclusion? Crazy, but I'll be back.

Best Lyrically Performed Armed Robbery . . . of the Heart

Two nights ago I was walking home and passed a guy making a reservation at a restaurant for Feb 14 on his cell phone . . . that's right, Valentine's Day is coming, but how are you going to show the one you love that you love them? That you really, really love them?

Come on, could it be more obvious?

The Wu-Tang Clan @ Hammerstein Ballrooom, Feb.14

If you act quick you can probably sell your Cat Power or Tom Jones tickets to someone who hasn't heard the news yet.

Best "Oh Yeah"

Here's something I can say . . .

Satuday night (actually, it was getting close to 2 in the morning, I believe) I saw Jake Gyllenhaal walking his dog on my street. He (Jake) looked sad. Because celebrities are forced to do their dogwalking in the middle of the night to avoid throngs of adoring fans? Come on, you're not that famous.

Best Holiday for Nerds

Today Steve Jobs makes his MacWorld keynote address. Every year this is the day that the Apple products that the world will be talking about for the rest of the year are announced. The address begins at 9 am Pacific time (Noon here in New York) and a bit (hour or two?) after that the internet will explode with the news of what's headed at us and then the Apple website is updated with the full info on the new stuff.

If the news doesn't involve Intel-powered computers (particularly laptops) of some sort, nerds will be upset.

And no, I didn't have anything better to post about today. I shouldn't have double-posted yesterday.

UPDATE Intel-powered "MacBookPro" is a Yes. I'm guessing the name means that later on there will be a non-pro MacBook replacing the iBook.

Best Post-Christmas Break Surprise

So, yeah. Jenna was always saying that she really liked this boy in Arizona, but I didn't know she Liked him!



I guess this means we're not going out?

Much bigger (but not full-sized) version here.

You Bet I Look Good on the Dance Floor

Hey, who's that on page 116 of the February 2006 issue of Q Magazine?



Why, it's me at the Arctic Monkeys show back in November.



As far as I know, this would be my first appearance in a major British music publication. (Please let me if I'm wrong)

Best Ode to Oak Park and Environs

A while back I was listening to a song called "Sweet Spots" on the Fiery Furnaces album "EP" (most definitely not an ep) and I paid a little attention to the lyrics (which most would regard [as is usual with the Furnaces] to be a Joycean morass) and realized that this "Sweet Spots" song was a tribute to the candy factories that found near my dear old home of Oak Park (also the home of Matt and Eleanor Friedberger, the Fiery Furnaces, but I'm always telling you that).

Now I present to you the fruits of my final day of Christmas Vacation, a visual tour of "Sweet Spots." (This visual tour would probably be significantly better if I had listened to the song before heading out to take my pictures. Oh well.)

Well I stuffed my stuff into a sport sac and I took the Lake St. El.





Well I got off Cicero and I snuck in through one of the loading docks.
And I smiled as I sucked my gem I mean to take a room at the Brach’s.






Well I put things into the pockets of my parachute pants and I walked on up the street.
Now Galewood makes me nervous but the corn syrup cloud’s such a lure.
So I’m staying off to the side at this end of the M&M Mars tour.





Well I bought a bike but the chair broke right outside of Parky’s
Well the wait was making my eyes wet and sticking french fries down my throat.



But I had to press on cause sweeter stuff’s on the other side of the moat.
Well the cars were turning off Harlem so I had to stop and stare.
And I had to gulp for air oh my heart was racing I made my escape.
I’s red hot to get lemonheaded and live with Alexander the Grape.





Maybe download the song here and read this post over again?

Best Late Night at Lucas'

After yesterday's post you were probably thinking, "Brigham, surely you know at least one other person back at home?" Well, you got me. I do know one more person, Laura. But I never know if Laura is in the United States or not. Well, it turns out that the day before yesterday she was in the United States, but only just briefly. We went over to Lucas' so that Laura and Lucas could swap hippie stories from the Peace Corps.



As I'm not Lucas or Laura and didn't do Peace Corps I didn't have stories to swap . . . sure, I could interject every now and then with something to say about Latin America in general, but mostly they just wanted to talk about their hippie stuff. So I messed with the elephant, and stuff like that.



Only Aussie the Dog had less to contribute to the hippie talk swap.



But then the mood lightened and we started taking pictures!



And then Lucas was like, "Grrr! You better take a picture with me too Brigham . . ."



". . . or you're gonna get it!"



Not wanting to get it, Lucas and I took photos talking about our dreams and plans for the future.



Then Lucas said "Hey, that cloud looks just like Delaware!"



And I was like, "Naw, that cloud doesn't look anything like Delaware. It looks more like a ceiling fan!"



When I think of Lucas' house, I think of this picture. It has been at the Petersons' for at least as long as I've been spending late nights there. Perhaps even longer . . .

Best What Else I Did (So Far)

Wow, am I still on break? Guess so.

Some of you readers may be wondering, "Sure, Brigham has gone home to Chicago and done stuff with his family and by himself, but doesn't he have any friends left back home?" The answer? Yes. One. I have one friend left in Oak Park, and he is called Lucas. Lucas from 7th Grade Spanish Class.

Saturday I went with Lucas to Freddy's, an Italian grocery store (I don't care what the website says, I certainly wouldn't call the place a 'pizzeria') that also sells food (wait . . . that's not right) in Cicero. This is Lucas with the gnocchi. I absolutely cannot pronounce "gnocchi."



Me, I had whatever you call short round pasta where the edges are cut straight (not on a bias). And a stuffed rice ball. And a Sprite.



More Lucas!



Saturday us family took our second trip of the season to Las Fuentes, our preferred Mexican restaurant. My new camera has a 16:9 setting for photos, so here's one of those . . . problem is, to make it fit on this page horizontally means the picture has to be really short vertically which means that I won't be showing off too many 16:9 shots.



Lucas (remember him?) is an actor, and Monday night I went to see him perform with Barrel of Monkeys. The show was great, I recommend it. Too bad you probably don't live in Chicago, huh? Anyway, at the theater where the show was they had paintings of all the presidents in the hall. This was my favorite one. Not president, painting. My favorite painting. Not my favorite painting in the whole world, though. Just my favoirite painting in that hall. Of Presidents. Sheesh you guys are easy to confuse.



Something you should know. If you see me, and you ask me what time it is, I don't have to look at my cell phone to answer your question anymorem, because now I have a watch, which is what that thing on my wrist in this picture is.



Why isn't my house noisy now? Because Kristen, Cory, Blake, and Rachel went home this afternoon. But before they left I got a picture of Kristen posing with a copy of Scrapbook Answers because, hey look! That's her and Blake on the cover. They're models.


And she was worried I'd post a bad looking picture of her. Come on.

Also, something wild that happened this week during one of my nightly dinners: An ice cube in my glass sank. Or never floated in the first place. Science is tricky!

Best Crushing Blow to My Ego

My whole life I've secretly been very proud that I never ever had a cavity and that my mouth wasn't full of silver fillings like all the kids at school that apparently just couldn't remember to take care of their mouths.

Well, maybe it turns out that it's not that I had amazingly healthy teeth, I just had a lazy dentist and now I have a with-it dentist and my first filling (not silver). Oh well. I did make it to 28.

Best We Could Do?

I don't like having to start 2006 off with grumpy news, but we're going to have to take a look at some numbers right now:



As you can see, December had about 10 fewer hits than November did.

The month was cruising along pretty nicely until we all started to get crazy over Christmas and the Transit Strike and stopped reading briggie.blogspot.com so much. I'm still impressed that December put up as much of a fight as it did, but come on you guys, let's pull together and make January crazy successful! Here's the plan: I'll make content, you come and look at it. Deal? Shake on it? Good.