Mine was odd to say the least. There where highs and lows like any other weekend. But it was at it’s extremes at both ends. Let me try to explain. I flew from San Francisco to my hometown of Fishkill, NY to spend time with family and friends as well as see a couple concerts. Here’s how it all went down…

Friday - I flew in to NY the night before and hit the rack as soon as I got to the house I grew up in. So Friday consisted of me hanging out with my mother at the Dia:Beacon Art Gallery for a few hours. We caught up on the usual and talked politics and family stuff. Afterwards I caught a train to Manhattan to hook up with some good friends of mine. We ended up wandering around aimlessly in the city for a few hours and eventually saw the art-rock band, dredg, at the Highline Ballroom. Good show despite a few technical difficulties. Anyway, we went our separate ways and I caught a late train back to Beacon. Somehow ended up going to bed at 4am.

Saturday - So while Friday seemed to work out well, I figured Saturday would be perfect considering I was taking my younger brothers (Steve and Cully) to see dredg again and visit the abandoned amusement park Holy Land in Waterbury, CT. We got breakfast with my dad at the local I-84 diner and played a little Gears of War II before heading out to Waterbury in my mother’s SUV. Now according to the local weather forecast, it was supposed to be cloudy; however that was not the case. It down poured, all day. It would stop once in a while, but then it came back with a vengeance. But that didn’t taint our Holyland USA experience too much. We probably spent a good two hours wandering around the creepy Christian miniature Bethlehem. We left around sundown and made our way to Hartford for the show. So far so good. We ate at Subway and then parked the car behind the venue. The show started out a little on the weird side. The venue bouncers corralled us into a smaller part of the building where we were forced to listen to a local funk-punk band belt out Red Hot Chili Peppers cover songs. Once they opened the main stage doors, another local band started playing, this particular band sounded heavily influenced by Hum and Failure. It was quite dull. On a side note; the band was appropriately called Failure’s Art. Anywho, Judgement Day rocked the house despite a little peddle board malfunction. Telescreen displayed their unique brand of Cinematic Space Rock. dredg brought down the house as usual, but this time was different from the prior night. It seemed they were a little tighter and more entertaining. Oh and my younger brother even got his first flying drum stick from dredg that night. So after the show, we said our good byes to my friends and headed out to the car. This is where things go downhill. Our car got broken into. The passenger window was completely smashed in and they stole my GPS and Steve’s iPod Touch (no, we didn’t have them out in plain view). The dirty fucking thieves even raided every car on the street we parked on. Thankfully my friends stopped by to provide assistance and moral support (many thanks again) while I called the local PD and got my case number. We finally departed Hartford minus one window, but not without seeing a half naked crackhead lumber awkwardly across the I-84 on-ramp. Awesome.

Sunday - I got up around 10am, ate breakfast, bought an external hard drive for my mom and bros, caught a quick cup of coffee with my dad and helped Steve move a broken TV. Around 1pm we headed out to Hawthorne in Steve’s car to see my uncle and grandpa. About halfway into our journey, the car shuts off completely. Now the car won’t turn on, we’re on the side of the road and I have a flight to catch. I distinctly remember the look on Steve’s face once the car died. It was this “Well I just found out God hates me” look. Between his car broken down and the stolen iPod, I’m sure he’s seen better weekends. On the plus side, the tow service took the car to its place of origin; also we got picked up by my uncle who took us to his place where we hung out for a few hours talking politics and family stuff.  After saying my goodbyes to my family, my uncle drove me back to JFK that night. Once we got there, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I got my plane ticket and drank a glass of Merlot before boarding the plane. The flight was long and a little sad. So much had happened this week that it felt odd that it all happened in just 3 days. The loneliness subsided when I won a round of in-flight trivia (it helps to be a dinosaur nerd).

If you read that whole thing…you’re officially awesome in my book. Anyway, back to the music!

Bodies of Water – Water Here

Jens Lekman – The Opposite of Hallelujah

Andrew Bird – Lull

Sans Seraph – Eyes

(P.S. – Steve I still owe you $10 for that J-Day disc. Check’s in the mail!)

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