Sorry it’s been so long since I posted, I’ve been busy with, well, read on.
I went to a little concert series with my homey Jon(drummer of To The Rescue), maybe you’ve heard of it.. I believe the kids today refer to it as WARPED TOUR. It had been 3 years since I went to Warped, and it rocked ridiculously hard. Yellowcard and New Found Glory were the big names, and their sets were insane. Jon is good friends with the tour manager of Matchbook Romance (they used to be in a band together), and so we were backstage for several bands – The Matches, Story of the Year, Matchbook Romance of course, Allister, and some other bands I can’t remember. Longineu Parsons (drummer of Yellowcard) went around to different bands and sang, mostly just screamed behind the lead singer. It was awesome and hilarious. LP rocks.
Yellowcard rocked reeeeally hard, and they said that we were the biggest crowd that they have ever played for. They got a HUGE circle pit going and I(along with everyone else) was getting my ass kicked in the mosh pit, so I moved a bit closer to the back and enjoyed it a lot more without having concern for major bodily harm. All the bands and people we met rocked hard. What a day, what a day. So that takes care of the rocking.
“Peet, what about the rolling? The rolling, Peet! What about the rolling!?“
Never fear, little Gee. The rolling is here. After having more and more problems with the Volvo (AKA the Blue Demon), it not starting, stalling out in reverse, and other things, it was retired and sold by myself on Craigslist. I found some old-skool Volvo lovers who test drove the ol’ girl and loved every minute of it. RIP Blue Demon. You were very good to us, got us into some trouble, and we will never forget you. So…
I got a new car. Like, a new new car. After shopping around and looking at the Subaru Forester, Scion xB (eeew!), and Ford Focus (EEEEW!), we found the beautiful Mazda 3. We went to the dealership and test drove one, and it blew the other cars I’d tried away. Oh, if you are in the market for a new car: Do not buy a Ford Focus unless you love trying a big piece of crap down the road because it is, indeed, a big piece of crap. I don’t mean normal everyday crap either, I’m talking about some seriously craptastic crap.
I’m paying for half of my new ride, so I plan on being poor for a while. Yaaay not. I think I’m gonna call the car “Trey” because it’s a Mazda 3. I had originally planned on it being a girl’s name, because it’s a pretty sexy looking car and come on, let’s face it, guys are not sexy. I think I’ve decided on Trey because the car is just a little bit too badass to be a sweet sounding girlie name. It’s not final. If you have ideas, lemme know. Aside from being an all-around improvement from my old car, there are several major factors of the new ride that I absolutely love. First off – CUPHOLDERS. I’ve never had cupholders before, my Volvo had none… I had a hell of a time trying to hold drinks in the car without spelling all over the place. So, cupholders, awesome. Secondly: Looks cool without spinners. I know the Volvo was sweet with the spinners and seat cover I put on it, but this car needs almost no modifications to be as pimp as the old car. And last, and most importantly: AN ENGINE! That’s right, kiddies – your boy Peet can *go* now. The Volvo engine was very flaky and loved to not start. That is no longer and problem, and I can actually break 40 mph now! I’ve made a new gallery page with the pictures I’ve taken of that bad boy.
“Peet, that’s plenty of rolling, but I need a bit more rocking.”
You got it. Jones has decided not to return to DU this year. He will definitely be missed. Now I need a new 6′3 black partner in crime to tear up the dance floor and break ladies’ hearts with! Well, Jon and I have made the best of a bad situation and have gotten Jonny B(guitarist of To The Rescue) as our new suitemate! That’s right – the greatest band ever is now the greatest suite ever. I am so pumped to go back to Denver and rock.
Listening to: Matchbook Romance – The Greatest Fall of All Time
It had just been too long since I went to Great America(or as some of you more reigonal Gees call it, Six Flags, although there are many Six Flags parks). Colin and I went downtown with Jeff, Dave, and a few of Jeff’s friends for the 4th of July for the Taste of Chicago and the fireworks on Navy Pier. Good times were had by all.. lots of good food, lots of walking, and lots of laughs. Overall a nice day. We were on the L train going into the city, and Colin looks at me and goes “Dude, let’s go to Great America this week” and without a moment’s hesitation I say “Hell yeah” and it’s on. We went to the park last Thursday – and our luck that day was awesome. I woke up, took a shower, and went downstairs to make some waffles. Just as I was starting to eat the first of four Eggos I made, Colin shows up at my front door, a few minutes early. He plays with Auggie (by the way, how ridiculously cute is she? she’s getting to be a big pup) for the few minutes it takes me to finish my waffles, and we hit the road. We rocked out to Yellowcard for the 25 minutes it took to get there, and there was no traffic which is always good. We were there at 10am, right when the park opened. We immediately walked to Raging Bull, one of the most popular rides in the park, and we were on it at 10:04. I’d say that was a good sign for the rest of the day. We went on every big ride that was open that day, and several of them twice, and the second time we always waited for the front row. I don’t know what could have made our day better than it was.
Napoleon Dynamite – I saw this with Carley on Wednesday night. Ed had sent me the trailer for it months ago, and it looked hilarious. It freaking WAS. One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t brilliant or *that* original, but when it ended Carley and I were talking and we realized that we were laughing at every scene in the whole movie. At the end, my face hurt from smiling so much. This movie was pointless, silly, random, and a joy to watch. The character of Napoleon was really odd and unique, he delivered lines with this totally detached feeling, often waiting 3-5 seconds before he says his line of dialogue. You could never tell exactly what he was going to say or how he would say it. It was great. This is not an amazing movie – it’s just pure funny.
Finally!!! I had been waiting for the sequel to Spiderman to come out since I saw the last frame of the first movie. No Spidey flick could ever beat the pure storytelling cuteness of the first one (Peter realizing and developing his powers is film gold), but this one really topped the first one in terms of story and character depth. We learn a great deal about characters that didn’t have much of a part in the first one and it really gives the movie substance. It was sad, exciting, hysterical, and engaging. I can’t wait for the next one.
The Terminal – Tom Hanks cannot lose. I don’t know anyone that wouldn’t cite him as one of their favorite actors of our generation. He is SO good. Such a good, charming dude… he seems like he’d be a great dad, just an overall nice guy. I’m glad that we have such an actor in our day and age. The Terminal was a delight. It was a little bit cliche in some parts, but it kept you smiling from beginning to end, rooting for our hero (Hanks, of course) to triumph over all obstacles put in his way. Really, really funny and cutesy. He absolutely *became* the character. Not a groundbreaking movie, but very very entertaining.