Two Million Tongues Festival lineup posted!

Holy shit. This is gonna be awesome. At the Empty Bottle. $12 advance, $15 day of show.

Thursday November 3rd:
Tony Conrad
Hototogisu
Miminokoto
Mountains

Friday November 4th:
Jackie-O Motherfucker
Gary Higgins
Pearls & Brass
Jack Rose

Saturday November 5th:
Whitehouse
Josephine Foster
Andrew Ortman
Haptic

Sunday November 6th:
Charlie Nothing
Michael Chapman
No Neck Blues Band
Ed Askew

No gratuity

I've never understood tipping. Apparently this website talks a little about how it all started, but it still doesn't really satisfy me.

Today's Chicago Tribune has a story on tipping that's interesting. Apparently, I'm not the only one confused with the whole gratuity thing:

As many as one-third of Americans are unclear on what amounts to a fair tip, according to Michael Lynn, professor of consumer and marketing behavior at Cornell University.

In the Midwest, there is a 15 percent to 20 percent tip range versus a 20 percent standard on the East Coast, according to Lynn. Restaurant patrons in the South give the lowest tips on average, according to Lynn.

The story goes on to say, "Start with an average tip of 15 percent to 20 percent and let your conscience be your guide"...which is what I've been doing, so I must be doing something right, although I accidently gave a cab driver a $10 tip on an $8 ride a month ago. So you can't call me a cheap bastard. Well, maybe you can. But I still don't like the concept of tipping.

There also another related story on when to tip and when not to tip.

Jandek on Rita

Due to Hurricane Rita, Jandek will not be able to make it to Chicago after all.

Jandek on Chicago

The Wire Festival at the Empty Bottle starts tonight and ends Sunday. Some of the featured bands/artists include: The Red Krayola, Earth, Gang Gang Dance, Pita, Khatnate, Diverse, Four Tet, and much more. Acid Mothers Temple was another featured band that was to headline the second night (Thursday) and also play a free show tonight at the University of Chicago. But due to visa problems, they could not make it. So in their place for the festival is none other than...(drum roll)...JANDEK. He is, from what I hear, to open tomorrow night.

Busy Sunday

I started the day off rushing to Wrigleyville with the ladyfriend to try to buy scalped tickets to the Cardinals-Cubs game at Wrigley Field. We ended up getting these great seats at face value, which is almost underheard of. They might have been the best seats I've ever had at a baseball game, including the ladyfriend's dad's season tickets at Comiskey. I've always thought Wrigley Field looked like a dump from the outside, which it does. However, once inside, I understood why it's such a beloved stadium - it just oozes tradition. It looks small - much smaller than Comiskey - but the capacity is just around 1,000 less because of all the seats cramped next to and on top of each other.

There were lots of Cardinals fans there, and I had to support my team by wearing my new Cardinals cap. Unfortunatley, the Cubs won 7-4. But we're still in first place, bitches.

Drinking 16 oz's of Old Style and Bud Light on a near-empty stomach in the middle of a gorgeous afternoon will get you drunk and extremely tired. So, after the game when we left to go visit the ladyfriend's dad's high rise condo in the South Loop, I felt like I was going to pass out...so I had another beer. But I managed to stay awake and hang out on the balcony, on the 15th floor, and enjoy the magnificant view of the skyline from the south.

After having dinner at the condo and then being dropped off at home, my mind and body were ready for bed. But I was a trooper, and I hopped on my new bike to go to the Empty Bottle to catch Lau Nau and other Finnish psych/folk/experimentalists. I missed Chicago's Davenport but managed to catch Kuupuu, Tomutonttu, and Islaja. They were all pretty great, especially the beautiful voice of Merja Kokkonen of Islaja. The funniest moment came when the Islaja's bass player put a battery-operated marching-in-place drumming rabbit by a mic on the floor as the percussion. The show started promptly at 9:30 - I got there by 10:00, and I sorta hoped that everybody would play a short set because I was dead tired and I had to get up early this morning for work. Islaja ended their set at 12:30, and I knew I would really really really regret it if I stayed up longer. So very unfortunately, I left and missed Lau Nau. This day at work has been excruciatingly difficult - my body and mind feel weak, and it's gonna be a chore driving up the Dan Ryan Expressway. Well, shit. Writing this entry in this stupid-ass blog killed some 30 minutes, and now I have 5 minutes before I get off work. Later, bitches.

Not even close

Right now, this morning at work, I'm suffering from lack of sleep, but I'll take this exhaustion any day of the week if it means staying up late to see Circle as I did last night at the Empty Bottle. I've seen some great shows this year, but Circle takes the cake by far - it's not even close. My friend Chris said the same thing. I emailed some friends a few weeks ago about the show (and they still didn't show up!) and told them that I had a feeling that this could be one of the great shows of my life. I was slightly exaggerating, but after I let this feeling of euphoria settle down and look back on this at a later time, I think that could definitely be the case.

If they come (again) to your town or city, DO NOT MISS THEM. I would pay $50 to see them, much less the $12 I paid last night.