While my busy fall schedule usually dies down in mid-October, this year is turning into a non-stop barrage of events. The end of October will be particularly notable with five potential concerts all occurring within three weeks of one another. I am looking forward to a nice mix of 80's, 90's, and new-millennium-era bands.
First up is Sixpence None the Richer on October 18th at the Hollywood Casino in Toledo. While I do not know a lot of their songs, I definitely dig their Top 10 and could stand to see how they sound live. Their beautiful lead singer (Leigh Nash) helps a lot.
Next up is Sea Wolf on October 23rd at Frankies Inner City in downtown Toledo. I originally saw Alex Brown Church (aka Sea Wolf) and his backing band at Frankies when I saw Silversun Pickups for my first time at Frankies. This will be my third time seeing Sea Wolf since 2006. Alex is a phenomenally chill musician, and with the full band around this time, I am looking forward to a great show.
Third to be seen is Sponge on October 25th at Hollywood Casino. Sponge is classic 90's grunge, and while they are the least-known of the bands to be seen, I am most-looking forward to hearing "new" songs.
The big one is Candlebox on November 1st at Hollywood Casino (notice a pattern yet?). I am a huge fan of Candlebox, particularly because of their ever-popular hit "Far Behind." Their 2012 album "Love Stories and Other Musings" is a solid release with something rarely seen: grunge love songs. Tracks like "She Come Over Me" and "Come Home" may sound not have the mass-appeal of their earlier work, but I am looking forward to hearing live renditions of this great album.
Finally comes The Tragically Hip on November 2nd at The House of Blues in Cleveland. Undoubtedly Canada's biggest rock band of the past twenty-five years, this will be my first time seeing what is - to me anyway - a new band. While I was aware of the band, I did not get hooked on hits like "Bobcaygeon," "Gift Shop," or "Wheat Kings" until last year (there are literally dozens more songs that I love, but you get the picture). This is easily the biggest band for me to see out of the five, and it will be a great way to end three weeks of concerts.
B3 out.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Making Twenty-Twelve Kind Of Crappy
I knew last week's vacation was the calm before the storm, but my return to a busy workload was never supposed to be like this.
I have been swamped by a project at work, which has chewed into this weekend and given me plenty of headaches. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, although it does not arrive until the first week of October.
The timeline crunch caused by this project was made all the more severe by my getting sick in the middle of the week. I tend to get one or two colds per year and can usually power through them, but this past week I was sidelined away from work for two days and have not been able to recover quickly enough. Is today's headache from my congested head or the stress of work? It is most likely a bit of both, and this fact alone makes this past week one I cannot forget quick enough.
B3 out.
I have been swamped by a project at work, which has chewed into this weekend and given me plenty of headaches. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, although it does not arrive until the first week of October.
The timeline crunch caused by this project was made all the more severe by my getting sick in the middle of the week. I tend to get one or two colds per year and can usually power through them, but this past week I was sidelined away from work for two days and have not been able to recover quickly enough. Is today's headache from my congested head or the stress of work? It is most likely a bit of both, and this fact alone makes this past week one I cannot forget quick enough.
B3 out.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Making Twenty-Twelve Awesome Again
It has been a long time since I have had a proper, full-length vacation. I came into this vacation knowing that the rest of September and October will be extremely busy at work, so I knew I wanted to enjoy myself as much as possible.
For the past ten days, I have been enjoying a myriad of things keeping me busy, and all-in-all, I am coming out of my vacation very refreshed and ready for the fall. Here is how I made the last week and a half awesome:
Friday
My vacation started as well as anyone could ask: an easy Friday at work that ended early thanks to the holiday weekend. Leaving work at 4pm, I set off to relax for a while, but ended up taking a quick spin around the Fulton County Fair instead. The fair was the same as always: big, loud, and crowded. And still one of my favorites.
Saturday
I woke up bright and early to get a head-start on my final official bike ride of my Summer of Biking season. There are still a few more moderate bike rides in my future, but for the most part my 20-mile rides are at an end for the year. I will be hiking throughout fall, winter, and spring to stay active. The rest of Saturday was filled with video games.
Sunday
The Sunday usual: laundry at my parents'. Sunday night was a treat, however: Fuel played a free show at Hollywood Casino in Toledo. This was an excellent night for live music. About a thousand people crammed in front of the stage in The H Lounge for an acoustic show full of Fuel's greatest hits. Highlights included "Sunburn," "Shimmer," "Last Time," and of course "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)." This was the perfect quickie-concert: an hour of solid rock less than fifteen minutes from home.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
This was the big one. I departed mid-Monday afternoon for Kalahari Resort in Sandusky and spent the next three days enjoying warm water, humid air, and delicious food. I cannot express how amazing the entire trip turned out to be, despite a few rough patches. The first night was an onslaught of swimming, gaming, food, and friends. I met one of Kristin's friends, had some fantastic Sandusky pizza, and took in all of the Kalahari waterpark - something I was never able to do at CodeMash.
Tuesday was a day full of new slides (I'm genuinely proud of Laura and Kristin for getting on the bigger slides), including my new favorite, a four-person "bowl" ride that Colleen introduced to me.
The trip was rounded out with shopping at the Sandusky Mall and an early, peaceful drive home (thanks to Cedar Point being closed during the week). Oh yeah, and I ate too much. Way too much.
Thursday
By Thursday my vacation was feeling quite long, and I kept myself busy to extend the week even more. I spent all of Thursday on my laptop overhauling my personal website, BrandonBruno.com, to refocus the content and provide a clean new layout that will help highlight some upcoming features.
Friday
Cranking out a whole website in one day is not easy, so some of the tasks bled into Friday, but by Friday at noon I was live with the new site (minus a few additional tweaks that lasted into the weekend). Friday night was nostalgic as could be: I ventured to an Otsego High School football game that was full of (what else?) more food. The game was delayed by storms, so the night ended early.
Saturday
I did not intend to spend all day at the Black Swamp Arts Festival, but that is almost exactly what happened. The festival grew significantly from last year, with more crafts booths than anything else. It was nice to see downtown BG filled with so many good-spirited people, great music, and awesome weather.
I briefly stopped by the Haskins Village Festival as well, but sadly this was nearly a mistake. The festival was as small as one might expect, but there was little to do (or worth doing) when Black Swamp was five miles down the road.
Sunday
The final day of my vacation was marked by relaxation. While I certainly relaxed, I still managed to get a lot done. I began the day with an extensive walk through Side Cut to practice my photography, visited my parents, finished one of my major web projects for the year (more on that soon), watched some football, and planned the rest of my week. I have spent the last two weeks practicing a new weekly routine, and this week I begin a new schedule that will round out 2012 quite nicely.
All in all, this has been a very relaxing vacation - exactly what I needed going into the busy fall season.
B3 out.
For the past ten days, I have been enjoying a myriad of things keeping me busy, and all-in-all, I am coming out of my vacation very refreshed and ready for the fall. Here is how I made the last week and a half awesome:
Friday
My vacation started as well as anyone could ask: an easy Friday at work that ended early thanks to the holiday weekend. Leaving work at 4pm, I set off to relax for a while, but ended up taking a quick spin around the Fulton County Fair instead. The fair was the same as always: big, loud, and crowded. And still one of my favorites.
Saturday
I woke up bright and early to get a head-start on my final official bike ride of my Summer of Biking season. There are still a few more moderate bike rides in my future, but for the most part my 20-mile rides are at an end for the year. I will be hiking throughout fall, winter, and spring to stay active. The rest of Saturday was filled with video games.
Sunday
The Sunday usual: laundry at my parents'. Sunday night was a treat, however: Fuel played a free show at Hollywood Casino in Toledo. This was an excellent night for live music. About a thousand people crammed in front of the stage in The H Lounge for an acoustic show full of Fuel's greatest hits. Highlights included "Sunburn," "Shimmer," "Last Time," and of course "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)." This was the perfect quickie-concert: an hour of solid rock less than fifteen minutes from home.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
This was the big one. I departed mid-Monday afternoon for Kalahari Resort in Sandusky and spent the next three days enjoying warm water, humid air, and delicious food. I cannot express how amazing the entire trip turned out to be, despite a few rough patches. The first night was an onslaught of swimming, gaming, food, and friends. I met one of Kristin's friends, had some fantastic Sandusky pizza, and took in all of the Kalahari waterpark - something I was never able to do at CodeMash.
Tuesday was a day full of new slides (I'm genuinely proud of Laura and Kristin for getting on the bigger slides), including my new favorite, a four-person "bowl" ride that Colleen introduced to me.
The trip was rounded out with shopping at the Sandusky Mall and an early, peaceful drive home (thanks to Cedar Point being closed during the week). Oh yeah, and I ate too much. Way too much.
Thursday
By Thursday my vacation was feeling quite long, and I kept myself busy to extend the week even more. I spent all of Thursday on my laptop overhauling my personal website, BrandonBruno.com, to refocus the content and provide a clean new layout that will help highlight some upcoming features.
Friday
Cranking out a whole website in one day is not easy, so some of the tasks bled into Friday, but by Friday at noon I was live with the new site (minus a few additional tweaks that lasted into the weekend). Friday night was nostalgic as could be: I ventured to an Otsego High School football game that was full of (what else?) more food. The game was delayed by storms, so the night ended early.
Saturday
I did not intend to spend all day at the Black Swamp Arts Festival, but that is almost exactly what happened. The festival grew significantly from last year, with more crafts booths than anything else. It was nice to see downtown BG filled with so many good-spirited people, great music, and awesome weather.
I briefly stopped by the Haskins Village Festival as well, but sadly this was nearly a mistake. The festival was as small as one might expect, but there was little to do (or worth doing) when Black Swamp was five miles down the road.
Sunday
The final day of my vacation was marked by relaxation. While I certainly relaxed, I still managed to get a lot done. I began the day with an extensive walk through Side Cut to practice my photography, visited my parents, finished one of my major web projects for the year (more on that soon), watched some football, and planned the rest of my week. I have spent the last two weeks practicing a new weekly routine, and this week I begin a new schedule that will round out 2012 quite nicely.
All in all, this has been a very relaxing vacation - exactly what I needed going into the busy fall season.
B3 out.
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