I'm From Rolling Stone (I mean was...)

I've been reading about this show for awhile now and just caught the premiere on MTV. Jann Wenner and crew have finally gotten up to speed and are doing something that should be relevant for some of the magazine's younger audience. I only have one question: where was this shit ten years ago?? (and, will it lead to shittier stories for the mag, but I digress).

Whatever. I got published once a long time ago. I mean twice (scroll down for the "Steal This Movie" soundtrack review.) Unfortunately, my old "Local Music: Chicago" column was never archived. I have some hard copies if you're interested. You can see what my local live picks were for any weeked between June and June 1999 - 2000. Let me know.

By the way, how bad is the new RollingStone.com? It started to get worse for wear once Vivendi bought it from us, but that was mostly because of design. Now that Larry's left the editorial sucks now too. If I wanted a blog, I'd hit Perez Hilton. I'm sick of going to RS out of habit, only for them to link me somewhere else. Billboard is the new best music new site.

Sleep is not overrated

Sleep is not overrated. It's a fact. It has to be true. Even though I've gone through periods of my life where I've consciously tried to unsubscribe to this theory, to sieze the day, to convince myself I can be doing so many other things right now than sleep, where I've forced myself to motivate, get out of bed to meet friends, play basketball, enhance my mood, enlighten my mind, improve my overrall health and spirit because sleep is overrated and there's so much more to be doing. It's an easy theory to buy into. It's very American in a self improvement kind of way. But, fuck it. Let's be real. Sleep rules. It is not overrated, it is necessary and I freaking love it. I'm reminded of this now every weekend when Charlie goes down for a nap and I'm on the couch thinking now would be a great time to take a little catnap because no one will notice and I'll be revitalized, relaxed and happy and I love falling asleep on the couch even if it's just for five minutes because it's so peaceful and serene right at this moment. But, I can't because I need to seize the day, take the dog out, fire up some laundry, get some stuff ready for dinner, check fantasy basketball, make sure we have diapers, get the kid's bath ready. But, you know what, seizing the day for someone else is pretty cool. And, sleep still rules. When I get it.

P.S. I can't stop playing Randy Newman's "Memo to My Son." Man, I'm a sappy dude.

Big Time

I just returned from seeing Pearl Jam at the United Center. While I'm not a huge, die-hard fan of the band, I've admired them from afar for years. So, I begged Jessy to get tickets and she did. Thanks, Lee.

Anyways, at one point during the first half of the show I started thinking about Eddie Vedder and how I'd love to see him do more interviews. He notoroiusly avoids the press, and I understand that. But, I feel like we need to hear from a guy like this, especially in times like now. He needs to speak out more. We deserve it. And all of that reminded me of another recluse. And, I imagined myself bumping into this one somewhere on the street and proudly pumping my fist in his direction saying "you're still living the dream, for you it's not over!"

And, for him it isn't. And it should never be for any of us. Listen to "Living With War" now.

Brisket and Gravy, Brisket and Gravy

It's been far too long since I've posted something, so I've decided to dust off the keys and get to work. In actuality, I've found it hard to keep up with this "blogging" thing. I think about it almost daily, but when it gets down to it, by the end of almost every day I'm too wiped to post anything. That mixed with a big part of me thinking "who cares?!" what I have to say.

Anyway, I may feel better about that today because I'm on my third day of Thanksgiving "break." It's been pretty freaking awesome. No work. Pretty much no stress. No tension in my neck and back. Because there's been no work. And, so on. I pretty much feel better when there's no work.

So why's this entry called "Brisket and Gravy?" I've got so much time on my hands I decided to cook my first ever brisket. I promised some folks from work a long time ago that I could, but I never got around to it. So, without I having to go to "work" work, I got working on my brisket.

An hour and a half to go, and it be smelling good.

First Post

It's weird to blog. And, honestly, I'm not sure why I am doing it. I tend to think it will come in more handy and be more useful around the time I have kids. Figuring it will be a good way to keep folks updated as well as offer anyone a window to my world. Not to mention be a good place to post pics and some well deserved rants about whatever.

Alas, I don't have kids and not really expecting any anytime soon. I just got married, for chrissakes. So, instead, for now, this will mostly be an experiment. An experiment called "Buy the Sky."

Here I hope to answer some of your other soon to be frequently asked questions:

Why "Buy the Sky" you ask?
I had some alternate titles in mind, but for some reason this one kept creeping to the fore. In eighth grade I painted something I called "Buy the Sky." I always thought it was cool and wanted to use the name for something. So, why not this blog?

What was the painting you ask?
Glad you asked. We were just learning about Magritte and some surrealists. Our assigment was to paint something surreal, I guess. My advanced brain, pre-experimentation with anything other than a random cigarette and a pinch of Kodiak, painted "Buy the Sky." In many ways it was a direct ripoff of a Magritte. Clear blue sky with some white clouds. But mine had a broom coming through. A big industrial broom, like the kind janitors use in the building where eighth graders go to school. That broom wiped away part of the sky and created a clearing. In that clearing I painted the words "Buy the Sky."

Isn't that line "Buy the Sky" from an R.E.M song you ask?
Glad you asked. Why yes. Yes, it is. I believe it was around this time I started snooping into my brothers room to see what he was into. I had my record club thing going with Columbia House and all, but was curious what an older, more sophisticated college man might be listening to. I was tiring of my Supertramp and Genesis. And, the Simple Minds and hip stuff weren't doing it for me. I did have my Van Halen 5150, though. But, I digress. In my brother's room I found R.E.M.'s "Life's Rich Pageant" and fell in love with the song "Fall on Me." Somehow it had found it's way into my subconscious that day and it's way out the day Ms. Burkhardt introduced us to Magritte.

What were some other names for the blog you had you ask?
Glad you asked. Yes, I did have some others. Some that were tossed around were The Chinese Apple, Rubber Soulfood, You Like Blogging?, and the Rave On.