Friday, July 31, 2009

Lesson Learned...


Back in early April, I did as I have done many times for over a decade: I found info on a live show that I wanted to attend, I bought tickets way ahead of time (and on this occasion, also paid for a hotel room with room for me + 3), and then let all my concert-going friends know, so they would (hopefully) join me.

The tickets were for the All Points West Music & Arts Festival in Liberty State Park, across the harbor from New York City, and the hotel room was in a Doubletree Hotel, a one-mile walk from the park. We wouldn't have had to worry about parking or public transport (subway and/or ferry), and we'd have been spending each night in luxury! An advantage over my Woodstock '99 experience is that for this 3-day festival, each day begins at noon and ends at 11 pm sharp (no sleepover mayhem to worry about, and plenty of time each morning to enjoy breakfast, not to mention a shower), featuring each night's headliner: Beastie Boys, Tool and Coldplay.

Now, I have no interest in Tool, and I was planning on leaving before Coldplay's set on Sunday night to beat all the traffic, but the rest of the festival's line-up is
amazing. If I had been able to go, today was going to be unreal. Granted, Beastie Boys sadly wouldn't be able to play after all (Jay-Z stepped up graciously to replace them, which was cool, and is probably going to be fantastic), but I would still have been able to see Fleet Foxes, The National, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Carolina Liar.

On Day 2 (tomorrow), seeing one of my all-time favorite bands, My Bloody Valentine would have fulfilled a dream I've had since college. Plus, I would have been able to hear a lot of current bands live that I might normally not have any (or just a passing) interest in (Gogol Bordello, Arctic Monkeys, The Ting Tings). And on Day 3 (Sunday), I would have gotten to see minor 80's icons Echo & The Bunnymen, current favorite Ghostland Observatory, and (I hadn't even noticed until today), a band from one of Christopher's recent album reviews, Akron/Family. How cool would that have been?

Anyway, the point of this story is this: I will never again shell out money for concert tickets, no matter how excited I am, until I have travelling companions already lined up. Unfortunately for this ill-fated excursion, Brian didn't like enough of the line-up, Gavin has Depeche Mode tickets for tonight (and has been travelling nearly every weekend this summer to boot), Rob is renovating a house, and Jay is too busy with work. All very good reasons not to go.
And for the record, while I am disappointed, I would never be ridiculous enough to carry any ill-will toward my NLM bretheren. Thankfully in this case, I was fortunate enough to get my money back for the $360 hotel room (which was non-refundable, because it was booked so soon at a "locked-in" price). A girl who needed a last-minute room took it off of my hands (thanks Monica!) in an amazing "overnighted money-order" and "transfer the reservation name" operation. Sadly, as you can see by the photo, I was not able to recoup the $222 for the tickets. An expensive lesson, but one well-learned.

Hopefully, next year's line-up will have more appeal to (and better timing for) my Not Lame Minus cronies, and I'll be able to enjoy a 3-Day revel once again!



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Album Review - Blind Pilot : "3 Rounds and a Sound"

Blind Pilot reminds me of Page France who reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel who DON'T remind me of Blind Pilot. Funny how that works. '3 Rounds and a Sound' is a nice sounding, simple and agreeable indie-acoustic effort. The music, however seems slightly fettered by an unwillingness on the part of its creator to let it reach heights of expression that it so seems to want to. Where a melody could (and perhaps should) extend its motive, it often withdraws and resorts to heavy phrasal repetition. It's certainly worth a listen or two, and the recording sounds great, but there isn't a whole lot to entice much repeat listening. Obviously, simple music is often the best kind, but this is not simple music at heart, and it is not content to be simple; it has loftier ambitions that it can't quite reach. 5/10

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Jay & Luc @ The Gardner Ale House


Last night a handful of Oakmont Regional High alums made their way into enemy territory (Gardner High was our school's rival) to plan a 20th reunion (Class of '90), and listen to a couple of friends rock the house.

My sister Sarah & her husband Jon and I all arrived at The Gardner Ale House just before seven for dinner. We
grabbed Chair City Pale Ales (very good, though I've had better) and Sarah had a mohito, while we waited for our table. When it was ready, Jon and I went to eat dinner, while Sarah joined several of her classmates in the back room for a reunion planning session.

We started with the fried calamari, which was amazing, and switched to the Oak-aged Facelift IPA, which was
not. There must have been something in the oak, because it was the worst IPA I've ever had. Not bitter at all, and quite toothless (no bite). For the main course, Jon had a steak (which he enjoyed), and I got the Big Chair Cheeseburger. The burger was overcooked, the bun was stale, and the fries were limp and mediocre. I was very disappointed, especially because the place wasn't that busy, and it was a Friday night (Hello, 'best foot forward', maybe?). Next time I will opt for seafood for dinner, because the calamari had been perfect. Thankfully, Chuck, Luc (Kris Lucander, bass player extrordinaire), and Jay (Jason Sharron, drum wizard & accoustic guitar god) all came over at various times during the meal to distract me from the horrible food with their conversation.

A little before nine, Jay & Luc headed over to set up, and after we were done eating, Jon & I headed back into the bar area to wait for the music to start, and the reunion meeting to end, so we could hang out with Mitch and Sanford. Chuck and his wife Pamela managed to snag a table, and then old pal Jim Clark (major local sports guru) walked in. We shot the breeze for a bit over a beer (I switched back to Chair City Pale Ale for the rest of the night), and when it opened up, we grabbed the table in front of Chuck's in order to have a better vantage point for the music, and a place for the reunion planners to sit when they were done.
Jay & Luc played a rousing first set, featuring covers of Joe Jackson, John Mayer, The Eagles, and Jethro Tull, among others. Sarah came back from the reunion meeting, with Mitch, Sanford and Ralph in tow, and the drinks and rowdiness increased to appropriate "Friday Night Out" levels.

When the second set was in full swing, Pamela had the guys play a song for Chuck for their one year anniversary ("Happy Anniversary" sung over the "William Tell Overture"), and the duo co
vered tunes from The Beatles, Dave Matthews Band, Fleetwood Mac, and others. People took turns buying rounds as necessary, and over the course of the evening, I handed out wooden nickels to everyone in attendance for future revels. Plus, Brad Penny and the Red Sox beat Baltimore 3 to 1 (five-game skid ended!). When the guys were done for the evening (around 11:30), a female friend of theirs (Lee Villaire, who had sung on a few of their songs earlier in the evening) did a short solo set, which was a nice finale to some awesome music. All in all, it was a great night out, with kick-butt music played by old friends, decent local beer, and the fantastic opportunity to see a bunch of old chums all in one place...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Woodstock '99 Lookback: Part 2 of 4

Ah, Day Two: the first full day of music. Because my musical taste didn't line up with that of the girls (Scott & I had a lot of overlap, but they all preferred hard rock & mosh pits to peace & love), I spent the bulk of the three days alone (in a crowd of 200,000 - nice trick) at shows the others had no interest in seeing, but which had been some of my main reasons for attending.

After a leisurely morning, and a breakfast of pretzels, a big apple & water, I wanted to see G-Love (who replaced Sugar Ray last-minute) at the East Stage, but he didn't start 'til a half-hour later, so I headed off to the West Stage with the rest of the group (vodka & cranberry juice bottles in hand) to see Oleander, one of Scott's favorite bands. They were pretty decent, and it was an enjoyable set.

When I finally left the others to head over to G-Love, I got distracted by the music coming from the Emerging Artist Stage (in a converted airplane hangar). I found myself at the Bijou Phillips show, and was enjoying the music (and my booze buzz) so much, that I volunteered to get up on stage to dance with her. Thankfully, she chose three other dudes instead, for she had them strip down to their skivvies, and today was the one day I had on colored briefs (brick red, if you care) instead of boxers. So they hammed it up for her, she sang her ass off, and I danced in the crowd and got a bit pickled. Fun was had by all.

It was SO hot and humid mid-afternoon that I spent the next ninety minutes in the movie tent next door, watching "The Mask", catching my breath, guzzling water, and keeping still in one of the few (relatively) cool spots at the entire event. The film was as funny as I remembered, and it was good to get out of the press of humanity for a bit. After the movie, and stops to fill my empty bottle with water from the fountain, eat a couple of five-dollar hot dogs (meat goooood!), and buy a cool silver ring, I finally made my way to the East Stage, just in time to meet up with Scott & Lisa to see Live (who were very good), and then Sheryl Crow, who was fantastic. The three of us had seen her at The Orpheum in Boston back on May 5th with Semisonic, and she was just as good today as she was back then, but in a different way (more raw & powerful, and more playful too). We spent part of the time watching from the middle-back of the crowd, and the rest watching her on the big round screen off to the side, so we could breathe, and make it out quickly after her set. Plus we got tired of all the meatheads bellowing "Show us your tits!" at her between songs. Weak. Highlights included "Favorite Mistake", "Everyday is a Winding Road", and "Sweet Child O'Mine".


On the way back to the tents we stopped at the Emerging Artist Stage again, and caught a bit of then "It-Kid" Ben Lee. He sucked. Maybe it was the heat (mid-nineties and high humidity all day), maybe it was his music (probably a combo of both), but none of us really cared for his voice, and we headed off to our campsite slightly deflated. When we got back to the tents, we all compared notes for a bit, and the other five all headed back out into the mob to the East Stage to see The Offspring and then Korn perform. Personally, I was wiped out. So I drank a lot of water, had another apple, popped out my contact lenses, and read part of the book ("Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian) I had brought for any downtime I might have. After about a hundred pages, and George Clinton playing off in the distance on the West Stage, I was out like a light (circa 9:30 pm!). I wound up sleeping for twelve straight hours. What a first day!

"Bitch & Moan" Excuses #3 and #4 Spoiled: T-shirts were $30, and I didn't think that was a good deal, so I didn't buy one (in contrast, the silver ring with imbedded black salamanders all around it was worth the $25 to me). And sure, the hot dogs were five bucks each, but we had brought plenty of food with us (apples, pretzels, sports bars, etc...), and by planning ahead
yet again, we weren't "forced" to pay the high vendor prices unless we chose to.

Album Review - Akron/Family: "Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free"

Akron/Family's last album 'Love Is Simple' had some songs I really enjoyed, but it didn't hold together enough to keep me interested in the album as a whole. The musicianship left a little to be desired, and on several occasions threatened to collapse under the weight of its own earnest ambitions. With 'Set 'Em Wild...' they make a decided step forward in all elements of their presentation--tighter playing, more cohesive continuity--providing firmer support for their lofty ambitions, and (thankfully) shedding a little of the neo-hippy semi-improvisational approach (a la Feathers and Devandra Banhart) that flavored much of 'Love Is Simple.' It's still there a little bit, but a more controlled experimental, studio production aesthetic takes center stage on 'Set 'Em Wild...', Akron/Family's best album to date. 7/10

"Follower" Incentive!


Because we want this blog to be more than just a few guys rambling about the stuff in our lives, we have added several features over the last week or so.

In addition to our live music listings for the local bands we love and support (as well as direct links to their respective websites), we have added links to all kinds of places for outdoor summer fun. Drive-in theaters, farmers' markets and zoos & amusement parks from all across the country can be located with the click of the mouse in our "Summer Fun" section at the top of the page. Also, for the convenience of the bulk of our friends and 'followers', we have listed individual links for the nearby state parks of all six New England states. We hope to be the destination for people looking for fun things to do, with or without the NLM crew! ☺

Also, I personally have had an incentive/'thank you' program in the works for about a month now, and I just got delivery today. In order to show our appreciation, as well as nudge people into following our adventures in their free time, I decided to have a bunch of wooden nickels manufactured with the Not Lame Minus site and slogan on one side, and a "free beer/drink" image stamped on the back. The way this works is: anyone who join
s or who has already joined Not Lame Minus as a 'follower' will receive one of these wooden nickels. This wooden nickel can be kept as a souvenir, or it can be turned in at any time when the recipient is "out & about" with an NLM member, for a free beer or mixed drink (in the $5 range - no scorpion bowls or pony kegs!). Also, there will be a monthly wooden nickel awarded to the 'follower' who leaves the most comments (or most interesting one, in case of a tie or obvious one or two-word spamming). Finally, if you attend a live show by Air Traffic Controller, The Johnnies, Vanessa Kafka, Andre Obin, or Jason Sharron & Kris Lucander at the same time as an NLM crew member, you could be handed a wooden nickel on the spot, just for showing your support for such great local music!*

If you've already joined (or when you sign up), please send your mailing address to NotLameMinus@gmail.com and I will drop your wooden nickel in the mail on the very next day! We hope to build some buzz with these wooden nickels, and give you all a good reason (besides your deep and abiding love love for one, some, or all of us) to keep coming back to read what we choose to babble about! And once we have twenty followers, there will be a contest every once in awhile, with the chance to win cool prizes, such as cds by the bands we love, NLM t-shirts, extra wooden nickels, and other stuff. Thanks again to all who have so kindly followed us so far (don't be shy, leave comments!), and to those of you who join in the upcoming weeks...


* DISCLAIMER: The wooden nickel promo is the sole responsibility of "Not Lame Minus". No artists mentioned above are officially involved with this freebie, and should be kept out of any disputes, should they arise (which would be the very definition of LAME MINUS!). "Not Lame Minus" wooden nickels are for fun only, and should not be considered a legally binding contract under any circumstances.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Woodstock '99 Lookback: Part 1 of 4



Due to my upcoming long weekend at All Points West in a week, and the fact that it's the ten-year anniversary of Woodstock '99, I have decided to regale you all with true tales, untainted by media sensationalism & hearsay (and explaining why so many whiners were just lazy), from my experience at Griffiss Park in Rome, New York over the span of July 22nd through the 25th of that year.

On Thursday July 22nd, my friend Scott and I, along with four girls he was chummy with, all piled into a car, loaded with two tents and two coolers for three nights and three days of music and mayhem. After a long drive from Central Massachusetts, full of camaraderie and anticipation, we arrived at the giant parking lot, unloaded the car, and headed to the main gate to be admitted to the bacchanal. As we got closer to the gate, we noticed a large pile alongside the line of people waiting to get in. It was a tower of confiscated alcohol! Case upon case of beer, boxes of wine, and gallons & gallons of vodka, gin, rum, and other potent potables sat in a heap before us, stewing in the heat and humidity, while their former owners trudged dejectedly into the park. It was chest-high on me, and I am 6'3"! When our turn arrived at the entrance, I only felt a slight spark of trepidation. Before we'd loaded the car back home, Scott & I'd had a feeling we'd have to pass through a checkpoint just like this, so we'd bought some of our bottled water in Poland Spring six-packs (and not just gallon jugs). We'd carefully removed the middle two bottles of each of the four six-packs, drank the water, and refilled them with high-proof vodka, carefully rescrewing the tops on, and gingerly guiding them back into the plastic rings. Anyway, the security people asked us to open our coolers, took a cursory glance at our 'water' bottles, gallons of cranberry juice, and bags of apples, and waved us through. SUCCESS!! Not only did we have supplies for Cape Codders (vodka & cranberry juice for those of you who can't do the mixology) all weekend, but with the bottles, we also had portable carriers for them, as well as something to refill all weekend at the public water fountains.


We wandered around a bit, looking for good tent space, and using common sense, we found a spot on a small rise, close to (but not next to) two different porta-potty rows, and away from any well-travelled footpaths. We set up the tents (Scott & I, Lisa and another girl in the large one, and Missy & the last girl in the 2-person one), took our time unpacking, and eventually split up into pairs to wander around and explore for awhile. All the while, we could hear George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars in the middle of a phenomenal 4-hour "unofficial kick-off" set (it was George's birthday, and he wanted to celebrate in style). Also, before we headed off into the crowds, MTV wandered by our tent with a camera and mic, replied to our friendly hello, and then dashed off in another direction when they got close enough to realize we weren't their "desired demographic" (I was 30 at the time). We totally understood: I mean really, what "TRL"-watcher wants to listen to a pair of interesting guys, with actual personalities & life experience, yammer on about a (hello!) fun-for-all-ages event? We laughed it off and melted into the crowds, marveling at the wide variety of attendees from around the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world.

As the sun was setting, Scott and I came upon a group of hundreds of people outside the airplane hangar where P-Funk had finished their long set, and where emerging artists would be playing the rest of the weekend. Some of the event staff had wheeled out a couple hundred large cardboard boxes that turned out to be full of flying discs. Each box contained 199 yellow frisbees, and one blue one. People (including us) grabbed handfuls of them, and kept a continuous flight of them up in the air, quickly realizing that they were made of such hard plastic, that you had to snag them before they hit you in the head, shoulder, leg, arm or face, and left a mark. The darkening sky was full of an everchanging cloud of yellow plastic, streaked occasionally by the rare blue discs, and a lot of pent-up excitement and aggression were released in all that throwing and catching. Only a handful of idiots actually threw the frisbees
at people, and they were soon dissuaded from their non-harmonious behavior by the rest of the crowd. It was a blast, and I walked away with no bruises, and three of the prized blue flying saucers! I still have two of them to this day ☺

Basically, the first day was an evening to set up, chill, and explore. There was the fantastic unscheduled music, the Great Frisbee War to participate in, and the colorful cross-section of humanity for people-watching, to keep our minds off the heat, plus the excited conversations and anticipation of the potential events of the next three days.

Random exchange overheard while setting up camp, between a girl and a surfer dude at a nearby tent: "Hey, are you coming with us to go see George Clinton?" she asked. "Nah, babe," he drawled, "I'm gonna go sell this pot, so I'll have some green to eat later...".

"Bitch & Moan" Excuses # 1 and #2 Spoiled: We brought our own booze, so we didn't have to pay for $7 beers. We brought our own water, as well as refillable containers, so we didn't have to pay for $4 bottles of water.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Hey, Look!



I had business cards made up! Here you've got the website url, our mission, and the e-mail address in case you have suggestions or ideas, or just want to let us know something that has nothing to do with any specific post. And on the back of the card: BONUS! A tip calculator, for when you've wined & dined, and can't quite do that pesky math to show your servers how much you appreciate their work. ☺

I'll be handing these out wherever I go to people I know, and to the bands we feature (for up-to-the-minute live show listings). If you're a fan or follower, and you live far away and won't run in
to me for awhile, please send your mailing info to the e-mail address on the business card, NotLameMinus@gmail.com and I will send you one for your wallet or fridge!

That's also my cell number, if you'd like to reach me for whatever reason!




You have to love VistaPrint, and it's free promotional items!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Music Reviews

I am pleased to announce that old pal Christopher Cote, currently of "The Johnnies" fame (whose live dates we've featured from Day One), has agreed to occasionally do some writing for us here at Not Lame Minus!

I first met Chris at Barnes & Noble while I was running the music department of the giant Newington, NH store up near Portsmouth. After circling each other warily for a few weeks to figure each other out, we discovered that we had a lot in common (we both grew up in small town Massachusetts, we are both descended from fine Lebanese stock, we each have a love of music of many and varied types, we share a similar taste in women, etc...), and became fast friends. Many evenings in the first half of this decade were spent by our circle of friends watching him perform traditional Irish music at Biddy Mulligan's up in Dover, NH. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of classical, theater, folk and other types of music that constantly amazes me. And he's one of the nicest guys on the planet.

So join us in welcoming Chris to the NLM fold, and tune in from time to time as he educates and illuminates us with his intelligence, experience and humor. And don't forget to check our "
Upcoming Local Music Shows and Events" section for The Johnnies live performance dates, including this Saturday at the Lamprey River Tavern in Newmarket, NH!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

How have I missed this?!

So I recently suffered a flat tire on my new car. Being a new car (with an odd size tire), it took the tire place 3-5 business days to get the appropriate tire in stock. Anyway... it came in, and was installed today. So, not having driven my car much on the donut, I decided to go for a ride. I also wanted to see how close I could keep it to the 42.8mpg it was getting (42.6mpg when I parked tonight).

I decided to drive South on Route 1 for a bit. Taking a couple turns I'd never taken before, I ended up in Newbury/Newburyport (really not sure which). Well, with what I found, I was impressed. It seemed very much like a 'Portsmouth South.' People crowded the streets, ocean air blew between the buildings, and the shops and restaurants were lively! The only thing missing seemed to be a brewpub (personally I don't really care for Smuttynose anyway).

This town definitely required further investigation. After a few go-rounds, I found a parking spot and began surveying the streets. I couldn't believe the gem I'd found, just 30 or so minutes South of Portsmouth! Small niche boutiques bordered bigger brand name stores, and the restaurants followed suit! The town seemed even more pedestrian friendly than Portsmouth (oh come on! YOU try and cross the street in Market Square!). While the bar:shop ratio was less than Portsmouth, the waterfront park it boasted was more easily located and a shorter walk than Prescott.

During the same ride, I also finally discovered Plum Island. I'd always been hazy as to where this was actually located. It turns out, it's not far from Route 1A. The beaches here, combined with the proximity of Newburyport, gives an almost mainland Nantucket feel to the area. Though it's only 30 minutes or so from Portsmouth, I would give serious thought to spending a couple overnights in the area with a bike. I look forward to making more visits and exploring this great area more!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

July 5th Wind-Down


A few days ago, I sent out an e-vite for a small gathering down at the lake today, just in case people hadn't had enough Independence Day fun, and might be interested in sitting around in the sun.

I arrived at 2:30, and the two closest lakefronts to mine were both jumping! The next-door neighbors had seven or eight cars parked near the trees that mark our boundary, with a bunch of their young kids playing in the water, and one of the dads at the lot to the left of them was racing a huge motorboat full of teens around the lake in circles, with 4 kids
pulled behind it on a float hanging on for dear life. Since no one else had arrived yet, I sunscreened up, opened a bottle of Magic Hat #9, and read the latest National Geographic in the sun until Brian arrived around three.

Keith arrived soon after, and we spent a few hours talking about old island trips, and the potential one for this coming weekend (Martha's Vineyard, and a 4-man cabin at the island's campground). Old high school chum Spencer stopped by for an hour, and introduced us to his cool ladyfriend Susan, leaving with a promise to spend a day some other time. Later, Brian & Keith ran uptown for more beer and a pizza, and I floated around the lake for a half-hour, enjoying the sun in my face, the feel of the waves, and the view of Mount Wachusett off in the distance.

After we devoured the pizza, Keith took off, Brain & I hung out for another half hour or so, and then we drove up the hill, through the trees, and back to our separate 'real worlds'... It was an amazing sunny day after two weeks of rain.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

This Day in NLM History

Six years ago on Friday July 4th, 2003, I held what could technically be termed the first event that had all five NLM members in attendance: an overnight LakeFest!

I got up at 6 am, because I needed to pick up Jay at Alewife on the way to Westminster from Rollinsford, and when we got to the lake, my old college chum Bob was already trimming bushes, and had a hammock set up between two trees to sleep in that night. We unloaded the car, and then I set off for Templeton to get firewood from my sister, and then to Hubbardston to my youngest brother Jason's house to pick up his gas grill. When I got back, because my car hadn't been parked at the top of the road, there were five cars (Rob, Erik F., Lisa Chu & her friend Kathleen, Steve & Kristen from Medford, and Mike N.) driving up and down Gatehouse Road, unsure of where the dirt track down to the lakefront was. Weak! Brian and Keith each showed up around that time, too. Over the next hour or so, Keith's older and younger brothers (Pete, and Mark & his girlfriend) stopped by, along with Gavin, Kerry K. & Liz, Scott M., Matt B., Luke, and Bob's little bro Pat and a friend. It was an amazing turnout!

I had provided a Wachusett Country Ale keg, as well as 2½ cases of Rolling Rock, Corona and Coors Light (for the folks who don't care for good microbrews), and Steve & Kristen had brought a TON of meat for grilling: steaks, chicken, 3 kinds of sausage, and the traditional burgers & hot dogs. It was definitely smart to have grabbed my brother's grill, because the firepit wouldn't have had enough room for the constant cooking. There was also s'mores-making stuff, various types of fruit, and Stoli Raspberry and Drambuie (for Brian).

There was a lot of frisbee and swimming taking place (I spent over an hour in the water at one stretch, gratefully receiving fresh beers occasionally from people coming into the lake), a few people wrestled, and the Red Sox beat the Yankees in their four o'clock game. After dark, as people slowly headed home from their comfortable places around the fire, the ten people who'd decided to camp out overnight finally crashed around two am.

The following morning, people trickled away at their leisure, but Jay, Bob and I stuck around all day Saturday, because it was SO nice out (dry low 80's and sunny). Jay & I even skipped the Foo Fighters-Pete Yorn concert down at The FleetBoston Pavilion, because the level of contentment was so high (and the urge to pack everything up and drive to the Boston waterfront was so low). Also, two of my favorite Seacoast NH gals, Heather & Katherine, came down for a few hours mid-day, injecting a bit of energy into the sunny sit-around. It was a fantastic 2-days of perfect weather, awesome beer & food, and many friends, that we still tell tales of whenever we all get together...

Friday, July 3, 2009

Not Lame Minus Wiki!

In order to have a handy reference place for author biographies, past events, and other NLM business, I have set up a wiki at Wikispaces. We five shall work on it as we have time, in order to catalog things that may not have immediate interest, or took place before our "house" was built. Feel free to do this additional reading (call it 'extra credit' for any future contests - coming soon!) at your leisure!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Some various definitions of "Lame Minus"

Just in case anyone's confused about what exactly "Lame Minus" means, I figured I'd leave you with a few definitions provided by events of the last few weeks:


And for some (in my opinion) definitions of "NOT Lame Minus?"


I know it's link-heavy, but be sure to check them all out... Some serious, some humorous, I'm sure you'll enjoy them!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Without 'me', "awesome" is just "aweso"

Greetings faithful readers of the NLM madcap review.

Tis I, Sir Robert of Exeter, a.k.a. Rob, V, Mr. V or "that bald guy that kinda sorta looks like Ken".

It is my hope that in the coming months of summer (should it ever show up) and with Ken's relatively close proximity compared to his years of self-imposed exile on the cape, that I will be able to attend more NLM gatherings and events.

I already have a LakeFest under my belt, and am looking forward to several more in the days to come. I also fully intend to make it to at least one, if not many of The Johnnies performances I see creeping up the calendar.

I will endeavor to be the official NLM photojournalist on whatever events I can make it to.

For those that may not know me personally, you can look forward to snarkiness, sarcasm, and plenty of politically incorrect commentary.

In summation, let me just say... Rain rain go away, Summer is here and the boys want to play!

Let the games begin!