The traveller stops... for a second anyway.

I guess it's time for what has turned into the weekly (or less so) update. Life is just managing to bowl me over with everything that need to get done.

As if there's not enough already going on, we've opened up our home and welcomed a new addition to the family. Isn't she pretty? I think she's pretty awesome. She doesn't have a name yet, but we're open to suggestions.



A Tale of Two Shanes

As many of you know, this is Shane.


What some of you don't know is that he's named after this Shane.


This is Shane McGowen, the original lead singer of the Pogues, one of my all-time favorite bands.

He's also a notorious drunk. He was thrown out of the Pogues in the 90s for it. He then started his own band, Shane McGowen and the Popes. I had tickets to see them on my birthday several years ago. The Popes showed up. Shane didn't. He'd gone facedown on the bar next door.

Eventually the Pogues coaxed him back for reunion tours. But they only play short tours, consisting of multi-night engagements in the same cities. I strongly suspect this has to do with it making it easier to keep track of Shane, but this hasn't been confirmed.

I don't know how much time Shane McGowen has left, although he is the man who said, "The British press have been giving me six months to live for the past twenty years - they must be getting pissed off interviewing me by now." So who knows? I just know that I consider myself fortunate to have had tickets to see him last Monday in Chicago.

They played for two and a half hours, and played most of my favorites. Shane, as always, looked really rough, but actually not as rough as he has looked. He would sing two or three songs, though, and then go sit down, and he passed the singing duties of some of his longer songs off. He doesn't have the staying power anymore.


Here's some Pogues goodness if you have a moment...

Also on that trip to Chicago, we paid a visit to the aquarium... gift shop. We didn't actually make it into the aquarium, because well...

The day started with some killer margaritas for lunch.



Then we got to the aquarium, and as we waited in line for the aquarium, we saw that it was $30 to get in. $30 buys many beers (and it did). So we decided to just visit the gift shop instead.

While we were in the gift shop, I got an idea that, if we were to dress like we worked there, maybe we could sneak in. And who works at the aquarium? Fish and dolphins!



It didn't work though, so we moved on.

But greetings from the aquarium, anyway!


After we got back, it was time to do the Punk Fitness demo for The Hamtramck Blowout. It's funny, it's reaching the point where the annual events are repeatedly... ummm repeating themselves around here.

This year's blowout opened with a performance by Adult. Adult. is an amazing band, who doesn't perform a lot. When they do perform, they bring in MZZO, the world's greatest sound guy from Chicago. He tours with them (as well as with a ton of other bands). He's a good friend of ours; he went to school with The Fabulous Nicole.

So, we got the added bonus of seeing him in Chicago, and then again in Detroit in just a few days.

Rather than take a picture of Adult. on stage, here's MZZO at work. It's where the magic really happens...


Now, once again I am digging in. SXSW beckons, and I've started making arrangements for our second annual breast cancer benefit.

I thought about slowing down once, but I have some stuff to get done first.