The beginning of the end for the White Stallion

He was my ticket to freedom over a decade ago. A 16 year old with wheels - better watch out. With his shiny white coat and gold trim, he was easy to find at all hours of the night as I perennially forgot where I'd parked. He saw me through thick and thin as I drove and then lived halfway across the country.

Lately, we'd drifted apart as I moved to the very pedestrian and car unfriendly Boston/Cambridge area... Yet, this would have been the last few great years of a fruitful partnership. And I feel like I've been neglectful... As, sadly, this is the beginning of the end for the White Stallion...

Girl Talk

I saw Girl Talk on Monday and it had to be one of the best shows I'd been to. First off, this guy had more energy than anyone I've ever seen. He spent the whole show dancing around while mixing, climbing the on the table, crowd-surfing, basically energizing the crowd. The audience was invited up to the stage to be right up with him as dudes with converted leaf-blowers shot toilet paper all over the arena,

The show had sold out the day tickets went on sale I believe, and the place was packed. The only downside was the length - we could have all rocked out for hours more, but the show was about 1:40 in total. Lame. Will go again the second that he announces he's coming back.

Here's a vid from the show someone posted:

Portugal Travel Blog Up

I finally got my act together and finished the write-up from Portugal.

Memory Foam-Soled Slippers

Just got these. Possibly the best invention in human foot-ware in the last decade.

On to Sintra

After a night started with a cook your own meat on a hot rock (see pic below), we went out to the bars/clubs, ending with some delicious hamburgers stuffed with corn, carrots, and french fries - followed by more insanity in the apartment.

We somehow managed to make it out to a gem of a Portuguese town called Sintra which has a reputation for being a bit of a mythic place. It was shrouded in clouds as we checked out the National Palace, and then went on a maze of odd Midsummer's Night Dream-esque ruins/caves in the Quinta Regleiro, which was mad fun. We spent the whole day, and again find ourselves getting ready for another dinner, perhaps Fado tonight.

Landed In Portugal

We landed in Lisbon, Portugal yesterday after getting SIP out of the way early. After braving some torrential downpours while napping the day away for trans-continental flight recovery in our downtown apartment, we made it to a Portuguese dinner, and then off to bars for drinking and dancing. We came to around noon today, got a quick lunch, took the tram to the top of Lisbon, and made it to the Castle of San Jorge.

We finished a tough day of sight-seeing with liters of beer and a snack in downtown Lisbon. On to dinner tonight and more bars.

The Rolling Sloans @ Tommy Doyle's

On Thurs Oct 1, The Rolling Sloans played the first show of the 2009-2010 academic year at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Apparently, Tommy Doyle's used to be the original House of Blues, so we were playing in good company. The show was held as a fundraiser for Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development (SEID), to help Sloanies get out to the developing world to help out entrepreneurs there. The show was great, and both turnout and funds raised exceeded expectations.
The band on stage. I'm rocking the bass.

The crowd seems to be getting into it.

I hand off the bass and get on the vox for a bit.

I also managed to learn to play bass and sing at the same time.

The band post-show.