742 Evergreen Terrace

i’ve come to the conclusion that portland is just awesome. i know i talked it up in my last post, but i was only there for one night last time. this time i got to spend 3 full days and really experience the true portland life. things i love about portland: let’s start with the people. the people can be crazy, but it tends to be in a bizarre fun-loving way. so bryan & mary fit in just perfectly. reason the 2nd…everyone supports small local business/companies, because just about everyone owns their own small business, or at least works for one. you don’t find too many people that have a career that they stick with until retirement. most people in the area have multiple jobs that they truly seem to enjoy, and they’re all very hard working in a aspect that i’ve never really seen too much of before. reason the 3rd…portland surprisingly has some incredible food. everything from thai to cajun to italian (well just judging by the food i ate at the italian street fair - sausage & pizza. on a day to day basis i know most areas in new england really don’t have the best italian). lots of strange food too, that can’t really be lumped into any particular style, like this place that we ate at called silly’s.

i’ve gotten the impression that bryan is viewed as the indie rock scene’s savior of portland. portland has some incredible local musicians. and like their small business i don’t know if they aim to keep it local or if they just don’t know how to really promote (maybe a little of both). but either way bryan is doing just that…promoting the hell out of local venues, artists, and festivals. and he seems to be doing a damn good job of it so far. he’s already created a new website called hilly town, and it seems as if everyone involved in portland’s indie rock scene already knows the name bryan bruchman. not bad for less than 2 months time.

so the weekend consisted of lots & lots of walking, on top of lots & lots of drinking, eating incredible food, meeting some awesome people, attending free shows & festivals, dancing, walking through crazy thunderstorms, and driving up the coast a bit to head out on adam’s boat all day on sunday. a couple videos from that area can be viewed right on my youTube page. oh, and bryan gave me his ukulele, which i am eternally grateful for.

bryan (and his now good friend & neighbor, adam) were the reason why i got to see an excellent show here in boston a couple of weeks ago. they both introduced me to alina simone last time i was up there. mentioned that she’d be playing a show in portland (with adam), as well as at the middle east in cambridge. i caught alina simone with eugene mirman, who i had already contemplated seeing, but then when alina was in distress for an amp for the night and needed to use mine, my mind was made up. she got me on the guest list for the show & hooked me up with her latest album. turns out that alina and eugene (comedian & now actor from flight of the conchords) were great friends growing up here in massachusetts, and now find themselves sharing a stage once in awhile on tour. alina’s entire set was in russian, and having her family present at the show gave it a real intimate & cultural experience. and on top of eugene being incredibly hilarious alina decided to give him his belated birthday gift on stage, which turned into an improvised comedy bit in its own. i strongly urge anyone to do a search for eugene mirman on youTube, and watch every video of his that you possibly can. it won’t compare to seeing him live, but it’s the next best thing.

i’ve finally updated my flickr page, as well as the links off to the right on this page. so take a glance.

and now i’m off to see the faint…finally! oh, and last but not least…

so (i just realized that i start off just about every post with “so…”) i have to hand it to mary & bryan…they were right about me underestimating portland judging by my first visit a couple of summers ago. the surrounding areas in particular are beautiful, and have a real new england beachtown feel. excellent coffee, clean ocean (misty) air, mom & pop shops, and a healthy dose of hippies definitely makes for a great town in my book. probably one of the most interesting things about downtown portland is the variety of street performers from one block to the next. most street corners you’ll find your generic hippies spurting out lyrics about politics or their favorite organic soaps (if they actually choose to bathe), but on the next corner you’ll sometimes find a crazy metalhead whaling away on a fender, surrounded by kids with eyeliner, banging their heads.

getting to the real highlight of the weekend…bon iver. something told me that i would be highly impressed, and i couldn’t have been more right. first of all Space was the PERFECT venue to see bon iver at. it was without a doubt the most intimate sold out show i’ve ever been to. so yes, it is possible to see a sold out show without wanting to kick everyone around you for be obnoxious and rude…well, in maine it is at least. i could go on and on about what a great night it was, but i’m at a loss for words, and i’m having a super stressful week at work, so i’ll just recommend taking a look at the great photos that bryan took of both the bowerbirds (who were excellent as well) and bon iver on friday night.

i will hopefully be updating my flickr page in the near future. it’s been far too long since i’ve really done anything with that page, and now that i’m beginning to take some photos for the first time in awhile i should really get that going again.

and finally…some upcoming shows that i’ll be attending: http://www.last.fm/user/TommyTheLion/events

so i’m already looking forward to our next camping trip, which we decided will most likely be to the same area of new hampshire (warren/lincoln, up in the white mountains) toward the end of august, or beginning of september. we really only ended up spending about a day and a half up there last weekend, since we got held up on friday night, and didn’t get up there until almost 1:00 am. nonetheless it was definitely one of the greatest camping trips i’ve ever been on. i actually got a pretty decent night sleep on friday night (well from 4:00 am until about 6:30 anyway) ’cause it was actually really cool out. we all woke up somewhat early on saturday morning, ate some breakfast, drank some excellent coffee that justin made of course, played some wiffle ball, and then went down to the river for some water. on the way there we saw a moose just hanging out on the side of the road, which i thought was pretty incredible. it stood there for awhile before scampering off into the woods. when we got back to the campground we found another interesting wildlife discovery; a snake just wandering around the fire pit. somehow bugs still freak me out a bit (although not nearly as much as they used to) but somehow i don’t mind snakes. a chased it around for a bit trying to get a decent picture, but it blended it too well with the grass.

a little later in the day we headed over to cannon mountain (site of the first aerial tramway in north america) and took the gondola to the top, where we walked the trails for a good portion of the day. this was one of the biggest highlights of the entire weekend. great trails and unbelievable views, even though a good portion of the time we were up there we were above the clouds. after spending a few hours there we stopped at a liquor store to pick up supplies for a kickass punch made later in the night. then we went to the river by our campsite and found this awesome swimming hole, where we could jump off cliffs and get clean (which was desperately needed after the long day of hiking). when we finally got back to the campsite it was nearing sundown. surprisingly this is where another highlight of the weekend came into play; simply tossing around a baseball for awhile, which i hadn’t done i probably close to 15 years. it’s funny how such a simple activity can be so amusing for guys in their late 20s and early 30s. from there our neighbor (this really old dude, who was awesome and seemed to have been looking for a friend or 12 in our case) offered up his horseshoes for us to throw around. as we’re attempting to play horseshoes we hear him yell “fire in the hole!” and he starts shooting off some fireworks. by this point in the early evening all sorts of random crap starting going on, but it was all hilarious. Will and i broke out the guitars at one point in the night, and jammed for a good 2 hours. also turned out that one of the girls we went camping with is good friends with one of the first girls i met when i moved up here. she was in my training class at Staples, and even though she’s long gone from there now, we still keep in touch. justin and i met at least a handful of people that we went camping with who are really people, and we were invited to a party in fitchburg, ma in a few weeks. so i’m definitely looking forward to that, and seeing all of them again.

sunday morning was just the kicker for the weekend. it down-poured from the moment the sun came up until well after we left. and somehow my cheap tent stayed dry as a bone. packing up the car was another story though. we were drenched in a matter of seconds, and it took far longer to pack up the car on the way home than it done on the way there, since we had an extra person in the car, and really had to conserve space. turns out we were really lucky, and got out of warren just in time. an hour or two after we left the whole area flooded, and the roads leading out of town had to be shut down. the weather’s pretty much stayed that way all week here in Massachusetts as well. i’m hoping that by tomorrow things really clear up, ’cause i’m heading up to portland, maine straight from work to see bryan, and bon iver! i’m sooo looking forward to this show. i was really disappointed when i missed out on getting tickets to see him in boston this saturday night. so bryan really came through for me.

on a total side note, i’ve been at my job for almost a year now and i’m not really liking the job itself any more than i was on day one, but the people i work with continue to be awesome, and i just received my commission check from last period and saying that i’m ecstatic about it would be an understatement. somehow i pulled in double what i normally do. some of my customers deserve a huuuge thank you.

photos today…more photos & stories later in the week. all i’ll say for now is that i really underestimated new hampshire, and all that it has to offer (i sound like one of those commercials - “come experience the wonder of new hampshire” or something, but it’s true). the white mountains are much more than i expected from any east coast mountains. and this camping experience was definitely one to be remembered for many many reasons.

so ever since i shaved my moustache (which mind you, i had for 1 day) i’ve been getting requests for a moustache comeback on a daily basis at work. people i don’t think i’ve ever said more than two words to have been yelling from across the office “hey mickelsen, where’s the ’stache?!?!” we had a last-minute meeting called the day after i shaved it. all 20something of us pile into a room and someone goes “oh man…was this meeting called because mickelsen shaved his moustache?” it’s been ridiculous. and now a bunch of them are willing to put up $10 each to have me grow it back just for 1 week. i might just see how much i can milk it for before i really decide to grow it back. oh the power of a simple moustache, and the willingness to look like a complete jackass for other peoples’ amusement.

this is awesome, and i am so looking forward to their next album, as well as beck’s (which comes out tomorrow), and decibully’s.

and it’s kinda pathetic, but i’ve seriously been trying to learn how to dance like this…

it’s actually a lot harder than it looks. now if only i could get the hair down too, then i’d really be the man…the eurotrash tecktonic man, that is.

a few weeks ago i saw a show that i had been looking forward to since i bought the tickets for it about 3 or 4 months ago. the surprising part about it though was that the opening band (who i didn’t think i had ever heard of, but turns out i have) was actually way better than the band i went to see. so me, phong, and justin checked out the toadies on their reunion tour. i guess they’re also putting out a new album next month (one which i probably won’t be rushing out to get). they were pretty much what i expected; a nice reminder of my high school days, and pretty rockin’ for (i hate to say it, but) a bunch of old dudes. one of the opening bands was actually featured on a hidden track from guitar hero 3, and they’re simply called Lions. well they have a sound that doesn’t really appeal to me anymore, but nonetheless they put on one of the most musically impressive shows i’ve ever seen. and had more energy than any band i’ve seen in a REALLY long time. that’s all i can really say. i wouldn’t rush out to get their albums either, but i’ll be damn sure to check out those crazy austin-ians the next time they come around again.

4th of july this year was a blast. i was highly impressed with boston’s fireworks display. topped red bank (which is always good) and probably even disney’s, which of course i always remember being insane, simply because they constantly have insane amounts of money flowing in to put on quite a show. so they closed down a good portion of storrow drive so that people could lay/sit out in the road, wander around, etc… we walked a good mile before we found a spot we wanted, and without even knowing it the fireworks ended up being dead center of where we were positioned, right on the charles river. i’ll eventually have to upload the few videos that i took from the night. after spending a good 3 hours or so on storrow drive we walked down to newbury street and went to a few bars until they closed. so all in all a great night, and i’m thinking next year i’ll have to rent a kayak or rowboat, and be right out on the river to top this year.

saturday i got an unexpected surprise. bryan and mary moved up to portland, maine early last week, and on saturday morning they had a wedding in Franklin, MA. so afterwards they came by here, and we went out around somerville, brighton, and allston. mary picked out a great tibetan restaurant for us to go to in somerville. then we came back to my place, took some shots of jagermeister & vodka, and headed out. problem was that everyone around town was so partied out from the long 3 day (4 for some) weekend that by saturday night barely anyone was out. so that was a bit disappointing, but that never really bothers me too much. especially when i’m seeing friends that i haven’t seen in awhile. so it was nice just to catch up with them, and in another couple of weeks i’ll be seeing some more of my now fellow new england friends. i was supposed to see bon iver in boston in a couple of weeks, but tickets sold out before i was able to get my hands on one. well turns out that he’s playing in portland, right by bryan and mary. and bryan may even be interviewing him. so ya, we’ll be checking that show out, which i’m really looking forward to. actually now that i think about it i’ll be on the road quite a bit again in the near future. two weekends from now i’m going camping with a bunch of friends near mt. washington in new hampshire. the following weekend i’ll be in maine. weekend after that i’ll be in jersey for ryan’s wedding. and then another weekend in august i may be going to nyc. goodness. i wish public transportation was at least more affordable.

josh had been referring to me, phong, and himself as the weekend warriors these past couple of weekends, simply because we didn’t stop from early friday night until late sunday night. been playing a lot of tennis & basketball, and just walking around the city quite a bit during the day on weekends lately. and then at night we’re either going to shows or bars all around town. i’ve even ventured into a few bars in somerville for the first time last weekend, which was a nice change of pace.

last week i got to attend my first red sox game of the season with Will, who believe it or not has already gone to 16 sox games this season. 6 on the road and 10 at home. we had some excellent seats. well i should say that we had some pretty decent seats, but once again we just worked our way down closer and closer until we were two rows back behind the start of the rays’ dugout. it was an excellent game too. manny’s first home game since he hit his 500th home run in baltimore, which of course Will got to experience. but the highlights of the game included a few home runs, a standing ovation for manny, and a streaker, who against all odds made it all the way across from right field to left field, dodging security guard after security guard, and made his way up into the stands before getting caught.

the shows i’ve been going to lately have been getting better and better. sea wolf, the jealous girlfriends, and jeremy enigk were definitely the best of the recent shows i went to. me, phong, scalcs, mike d, and jacqueline also saw a band called ours at tt the bear’s who were a bit of a let down, but we had a great time, and the opening bands were surprisingly good.

after 3 nights of not being able to sleep because of this insane heat and humidity i finally broke down last night and bought an air conditioner. i don’t care what kind of crap justin and phong give me. it was a choice between drinking every night to fall asleep or getting my room down to a somewhat comfortable temperature so that i could sleep at night. i think i picked the healthier choice. and with this crazy heat i also finally had to call it quits with the beard, but not before i gave the moustache a shot for a couple of days. a couple of co-workers were practically begging for it since last year, so they were highly amused when i walked in sporting the 1970s disco stache today.

last saturday night was probably the best time i’ve had in awhile with friends. i used to hate going out with groups of people, but lately it just seems to make things more interesting. socializing with people i know, but never really hung out with too much. it was melissa’s birthday, so me, phong, josh, sarah, tara, melissa, and a few of her friends and family members from back home all went out around allston. we started the night off at big city, then went to one of my favorites, our house, and then josh’s favorite, joshua tree. oh, and then back to big city after everyone went home, where we met up with crazy sarah. i know i mentioned it before i really like this city in the warmer weather. most of the college kids leave town so you can actually move in bars and on the T, but there’s a comfortable number of people around. plus walking the city is just so much easier when you don’t have to worry about piling on 20 pounds of clothes to keep you warm.

i got some very disappointing news on my way home from work tonight. the grecian diner burned down just a few hours ago during rush hour traffic. this was literally the only “diner” in boston that i would step foot in, and now it’s gone. hopefully it’ll come back stronger than ever.

so…the cabin excursion. where to begin? well i guess first off phong was pretty bummed when we got there, because the cabin he owned for most of his life is now beginning to collapse. due to the extremely rough conditions this past winter the roof is caving in a bit, which in turn is pushing the walls outwards on the side of the cabin that faces the lake. the cabin was built on rough, mountainess terrain, so it’s on supports, or stilts if you will. well simply walking through it causes the entire cabin to shake more than usual. and if it falls down there’s a good chance it will tumble down into the lake. because of this most of the weekend was spent outdoors in varying temperatures. friday night it got really cold, and rained on and off, so me, phong, and his cousin paul risked it and slept in the cabin. saturday it warmed up a bit, a few more of his cousins and friends showed up…luckily all with tents, and they slept out in the 30something degree cold on saturday night. during the day i (officially) learned how to sail, chop wood, bring down a tree that could’ve possibly fallen on its own down onto phong’s new boat, and swatted numerous pesky black flies (the very flies that left me disfigured with horn-like bumps on my forehead this week).

getting to and from the cabin was probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire weekend. such unbelievable scenery, and i’ve never driven deeper into the middle of nowhere in my entire life. rhinelander, wisconsin (where i visited a couple of summers ago) almost felt like a sub-city in comparison to this area. we got off of 91 in vermont (which up there is only a two lane, windy road with almost no one on it) late friday afternoon. from there we took another narrow, semi-paved local road about 20 miles into the middle of nowhere. from there we took an extremely narrow dirt road about 30 miles even deeper into the woods until we were officially in no man’s land. no cell phone reception, no restaurants, real homes, or hospitals within an hour or so. pretty scary considering we partook in some very risky events the entire weekend, like chopping wood with an ax, pulling down half a tree, and sailing on a boat that capsized twice on paul on friday while he was completely alone. not to mention that lake probably thawed out no more than a month ago. so paul completely froze his ass off, and spent almost the entire rest of the day on friday in front of the fire he made.

other highlights included seeing the cabot cheese factory, listening to french radio stations from canada (since they were pretty much the only stations that came in), spying on loons, hummingbirds, & coyotes, oh…and since there was some pretty major damage to the cabin they didn’t want to turn on the gas (the only source of power available out there), which meant no water being pumped in from the lake, as expected; which in turn meant that trips to the bathroom would include stumbling in the blackest nights i’ve ever experienced, through the woods while listening to large creatures surround you while taking care of “business.” mhmmm…would probably sound like a nightmare to some people, but really the only part of the trip that bothered me, and almost everyone else (and was the main reason why we left a little earlier than expected) was the stupid black flies, which were unavoidable. sometimes the big gusts of wind would drive them away for a few minutes, but they always came back. standing right in front of the smoky fire didn’t even seem to deter them. they were so bad that some of phong’s cousins drove an hour into town on friday to pick up nets (similar to what beekeepers use) to put over their heads. very smart decision.

so that is all for now. to view the few videos i took last weekend check out my very rarely updated YouTube page. this weekend i’m looking forward to some civilization, and tons of excellent shows. going to a show on friday night, two shows on saturday (one during the day in harvard square, and jeremy enigk at night!), and then a show next monday and wednesday.

jeff and brooke’s wedding was a total blast. actually the entire weekend was, with the exception of the 7 hour drive from framingham to my parents house on friday night, and the rain that came just in time for the wedding on sunday. sunday morning it looked like the absolute perfect day down the shore. about 50 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and a very mild ocean breeze. so it’s too bad the only rain we got all weekend was centered right through the entire wedding ceremony, which was outside on the bay. and lbi storms are like no other. torrential downpours and crazy wind. the awning definitely helped a little, but at the very least it was a bit of a distraction. it didn’t seem to phase jeff, and definitely didn’t phase brooke. i’m not sure i’ve ever seen a happier bride in my life. so despite the rain it really was the perfect wedding, and i think everyone had a blast down there all weekend long.

speaking of beaches though…i am going to Aruba for a full week, woohoo!!! not until next february, so i’m reeeaaally trying not to think about it too much right now, but i do need to book my flight as soon as possible, being that rates are supposed to skyrocket really soon due to gas prices.

i’m so looking forward to this extended weekend. i’m taking a half a day on friday, and then me, phong, and a few other friends are going up to phong’s cabin in cabot, vermont for 3 1/2 days. i have a feeling i’ll be roughing it more so than any camping trip i’ve ever been on. the cabin has no electricity, and no real plumbing, so any water you need has to be pumped in from the lake manually. wouldn’t be so bad if it were a little warmer out, ’cause we could at least use the lake to bathe in, but the nights are still dipping down into the low 30s, so that lake will be frigid. should be very interesting. really looking forward to sailing on phong’s boat that he bought last summer, and i’m also looking forward to camping out a bit. there’s supposed to be quite a few people going, and i think there’s only three beds in the cabin, so i’m bringing my tent, and am just hoping not to be awoken in the middle of the night by a moose.

biggest music recommendation of the year so far: M83’s “Saturdays = Youth.” amazing album with an 80s, sometimes early 90s shoegaze/synth-pop feel.