sunday 12.13.09

bela fleck holiday show! watching some of the best musicians in the world play some holiday and some non-holiday tunes at the orpheum with brendon, ryan, and shaina. this isn’t what the show looked like. but it’d be a bit rude to take a picture, now wouldn’t it? (and they don’t allow flash cameras.) show good, i bought my dad a cd. brendon and i got dinner pre-show at the afghan restaurant on state street. turns out i like afghan food – who woulda known?


-bkh

wednesday 11.18.09

cait! cait! cait and the girls playing at high noon! cait is the manager of the middleton barriques, and an exceptionally talented musician. taking in her happy hour show with tristan - my former fellow la crosse erbs & gerbs sandwich maker - and the old sauk barriques staff (+ kourt).


-bkh

wednesday 10.21.09

yonderfest! day 1. in my backyard. hanging out having some beers, boxed wine, straight whiskey, getting ready for the avett brothers show. people in town from chicago, rice lake, seattle, appleton, st. paul, stevens point, milwaukee… for the week(end). kara brought some birthday hats in honor of ryan’s recent and stacy’s upcoming birthdays. so many reasons to (over)celebrate.


-bkh

wednesday 08.05.09

'and i've written pages upon pages trying to rid you from my bones...'

‘heartless bastards’! jamming out the overture, getting the crowd all riled and rowdy for ‘the decemeberists’. well, i suppose the gigantic douche bags sitting behind nick and me (and ryan) did the riling for the crowd in balcony number one. regardless, the live music was an excellent excellent mid-week energizer. the decemberists again rocked with their ‘hazards of love’ album all the way through like a rock opera, and followed up with a second set and an encore. with every listen to a CD, or concert i attend, i'm always impressed by how much colin meloy's lyrics frighten yet delight me.

-bkh

wednesday 07.29.09

concerts on the square. playing a little backgammon, drinking a little wine, listening to a little music with william. eating some dried cherries. jenny mailed them to me on my birthday from corvalis. she said they were good with wine, but even better with friends. i have been saving and taking good care of them.


-bkh

friday 07.10.09

the family’s in town! mom dad and sister meg in madison for the weekend. started off the jam-packed weekend with a tailgate at the duck pond with jen, jason, and jen’s mom. watched the madison mallards take on the alexandria beetles or whatever. don’t ask me who won – i never know. we headed out a bit early to catch some music at la fete on the east side.


-bkh

thursday 07.02.09

heading to the terrace with ryan. leaving the ramp from the capital area, going to the campus area. meeting up with erin and her fam for some live music - jackie greene playing a free show on a perfect evening. a celebration before another vacation day. apparently most of madison had the same bright idea. though, the terrace is packed to capacity most pleasant evenings, regardless of vacation time. the beauty of the avid outdoorsy madison folk.


-bkh

saturday 06.20.09

'starting a war by avoiding a fight...'

rocking the garden! watching colin meloy watch calexico from the side of the stage. it's like 'where's waldo' for hipsters. kara miller, ash, and i scored front row spots for the festival. spent the saturday watching solid gold, yeasayer, calexico, and the decemberists rock the shit out of minneapolis. and i only had one beer spilled on me, and only got in one verbal brawl with an awful drunk gal. all around, a success.


-bkh

saturday 06.06.09

'why don't you kick yourself out - you're an immigrant too?'

unplugging the charging ipod for a jog. exploring the streets of the neighborhood. so far this summer i’ve found hoyt and quary parks within one block of my place (who knew?) this time around i found a playground park. swung on the swing to the delicious sounds of jack & meg white. after a bit a mom and son came to play. my new friend, felix, was very happy to make small chat about his name. then i had flashes of ‘little children’ and felt like the awkward twenty-five year old swinging on the swing at a playground, so i left. ehhhh…


-bkh

wednesday 04.29.09

having a drink with jason, jen, and reina at the brocah. stoli doli for me, beers for j&j, and h2o for reina. reina and i came from dinner with chris koza and pete sieve pre-performance at the frequency. the two of them were in town with jeff hanson for a wednesday night show. they met us and neil at a taste of india on the square for a dinner of painful proportions. post-dinner, pre-show was drinks and laughs with jen and jason before they parted their way for home, and reina and i parted our way for music.


-bkh

monday 04.13.09

'twisting off the top again cuz i can't find the words to tell a girl that she could be my world...'

driving back after a long easter weekend in the cities. taking out my favorite mix cd (my 'music you should know' mix for eric furhmann) and putting in jonathan delehanty's live cd. hanging out with him the previous night reminded me how talented he is, and how much i appreciate his music. i don't have any of his recorded stuff in cd format. only on ipod. so i enjoy the live cd he sent me back in the uw-l days - back in 2005?


-bkh

friday 04.10.09

making good time on my ride back to the cities. happy easter weekend. i left madison at a reasonable hour, after picking up the few cds i had on hold at the library. i sped down highway 12 and i-94 to 'in rainbows', 'we all belong' (until i got sleepy), 'troubadour', feed the animals' (definitely was not sleepy), and 'twin cinema' (read: 'bleeding heart show' on repeat, essentially). i made it to my favorite skyline around dusk. at the end of my road was ann, michelle, sarah, brenda, ashley, and shallon - all my gals from high school under one roof (!!!!) a night of wine and beer, their new friends in mpls, and good laughs good fun, ensued.


-bkh

friday 03.27.09

birthday party at the house for ryan's friend from home, margaret. her and her family and some friends were in madison to celebrate with a sparkle and feather boa themed bash (see green tinkerbell skirt) and 'splitlip rayfield' and 'railroad earth' show. her folks funded all the food for a cook-out at the place pre-show. it was a perfect spring mix of chilly and warm outside to have a fire in the backyard to enjoy, too. though as the food was set out in the dining room, people quickly migrated inside.


-bkh

monday 03.02.09

'and this old corduroy coat is not keeping me dry...'

the bro and i headed to milwaukee (his first time there!) for the joshua radin show at the pabst theater. after meeting marissa at alterra for tea and mochas, and marques at bravo for vino and italian, ryan and i made it just in time to see jesse harris and meiko open. the show was the main reason ryan made it to the great cheese state. and it certainly was a good reason. i wasn't a big joshua radin fan pre-show, but he put on a good (though heartfelt, it was slightly wimpy) show. i was really sold on him as an artist when i heard he was the only one to play at ellen and portia's wedding.


-bkh

saturday 02.14.09

run run run run run run run away OH OH OH OH AY AY AY AY...

lemon drops. oh lordy, lemon drops. roadtrips to la crosse always end (read: start) with lemon drops. met up with marissa, nina, jeidy, and alli for a 'houses in motion' show. alli cooked us ladies (and dave) dinner at her place, and fed us full of lemon drops. she was so kindly offering me, and the rest of the party-goers, another round. did i mention there were lemon drops?


-bkh

sunday 02.08.09

she got the money and i got the honey...

grammy watching party at the house. erin had been craving taco dip since before the super bowl, and the guys had been craving pbr since...forever. so the grammys seemed like the perfect occasion to combine the two. erin, nick, ryan, wilke, and i settled in front of the tv to take in m.i.a.'s disaster polka dot outfit, thom yorke's awkwardly endearing attempt at dancing, the jonas brothers closing in on stevie wonder, and definitely not katie perry's performance.

-bkh

friday 01.30.09

wine tasting at barriques on monroe with kourtney and brittany. wines of nicolas catena. i'm not completely sure what that means, but i certainly enjoyed his wines. the three of us ended up talking so much we only made it half way through the list. we headed to cafe montmartre for a 'daredevil christopher wright' show. the first time i saw them was at someone in madison's deck/backyard on a summer weekday night. i conveniently forget how vicious the mosquitoes were that night, and remember only how there is probably no more perfect of a summer night.


-bkh

saturday 01.17.09

heading out for a night on the town. turning off the light in my room for energy's sake. nick and i met erin & ryan, and others, at erin's apartment. the 'talking heads' (tribute band) was playing at the high noon, and the madison friends came out of the woodwork.


-bkh