post 646. u2 in boston, u2 in jersey.

my buddy jesse thayer and i go back to the late 90s, when we met while djs at 90.5 fm wber (the best in alternative music since 1985, etc etc). i travelled the country with him back in 2001, building stages for NSYNC and George Strait; and back then, we always thought it'd be cool to work for U2.

fast forward to the 360-degree tour, here in 2k9, and jesse's living the dream: he works one of the two bridges that links U2's main stage to the outer "b-stage." cool? oh, yes. so after my last shear madness show in albany, i high-tailed it out to boston to visit with eric and brandi (and benson, their great dane), and to get some pretty cool back stage access with jesse. good times. so good, in fact, that i took jesse up on his offer to see the world's greatest band a second time, a few days later at giants stadium in new jersey.

and let's just call a spade a spade: bono's laser-pen jacket-thing is pretty cool; almost as cool as the fact that U2 is playing "ultraviolet (light my way)."

post 645. lark fest.

post 644. a final round of summer drinks at bruce's.

post 643. a foggy morning in albany.

post 642. manos rehearses.

jon, brendon, brandon, and cody: manos (named after the unfortunate film "manos: the hands of fate") was rehearsing, and i offered to stop by so i could take pictures. learn a little more about a different kind of portrait. tight little band, and i've already offered to let them sleep on the couch when they roll their rock juggernaut through brooklyn.

post 641. sunset in albany.

post 640. an afternoon mini-golfing.

post 639. up steuben.

post 638. the uncas island gambit.

lake george is known as "the queen of the american lakes." well, paddle a canoe from bolton landing to the glen island ranger station to register for a camp site on one of the many state-run islands in "the narrows," and you'll be calling it something much cruder and more colourful.

kate and i have been trying to go camping all summer, and found an opportunity this past sunday. a tent, some sparse supplies, and the resolve to battle a curmudgeonly current took us to some beautiful sights; of all the camping i've ever done - admittedly not as much as, say, bear grylls of "man vs wild" or even lenny spenklebean of queens - it's the best i've ever experienced, and begs for a revisit.

the weather was perfect, kate's mexican blanket was warmer than a freshly dead tauntaun, and i'm already thinking sneaking in another visit once shear madness ends at the end of the month.