Day 100: So, I saw Ben Folds last night

Special note: I forgot to post this last night, so yeah. Now I am.

Ben folds rocks, and so does Old Chicago. I learned both of these truths last night and now believe them to be not only self-evident, but also very undeniable. Like the fact that everyone raised in the Catholic Church has at least at one point said, "You know, this bread tastes terrible," followed by guilt at disliking the flavor of Jesus.

And now to get into this comparison between Sir Elton and Ben Folds – the piano men:

• Elton: Legendary piano guy who rocks.
• Folds: Not quite there yet, and may never be...

• Elton: Played "Tiny Dancer," which no one can deny is awesome.
• Folds: Played "The Luckiest," which is kind of Alisia and my song...

• Elton: Can't hit the high notes in his songs.
• Folds: More falsettos than an Elliott Smith CD...

• Elton: Played some really cool piano solos.
• Folds: Made those piano solos look boring. Seriously, this guy attacked the piano so hard I think it should file charges...

• Elton: Something like 4,500 people in attendance including Ass-Grabbing Dancer; Alisia and I stand next to a trash can but get a good look at the man himself from about 100 feet away.
• Folds: Only about 1,300 people attend the show and Alisia and I scam tickets in the sixth row in front of the piano...we can see every detail of how he attacks the piano and it's incredible.

So what's my verdict? You see Elton John because he's Elton John; you see Ben Folds because he's fantastic, and you like his tunes. Both are worth it.

What about Old Chicago? Well if you clicked the link (or maybe have been to one) you know it's a restaurant with 110 beers. It rules. Lots of beer. So which one did I dive into? Which frosty mug of awesome did I try? None. It was late and Alisia was the one doing all the driving (as covered in my post about Phoenix – I think – I can't drive stick). I didn't think drinking a few beers and passing out would be nice, so I didn't. And it hurt a bit...

But anyway, it was a good night and I enjoyed it very much.

As for today? Well, Alisia and I took the evening for ourselves to, um...so moving on. I didn't accomplish a whole lot – which is becoming as much a catchphrase of mine as holla. Wait, I should add that I had to take my lip ring out today...I miss it a lot.

I'll see you kids tomorrow.

Day 88, 89, and 90: Elton and the kids

Friday: Bored. Boring. And nothing much else. That was the beginning of my day. Around 1 p.m. John and I joined Bill, Sean, and Sean's Father and Step-Mom at Sean Kelly's for lunch. That was a little entertaining.

Friday night was also the University of Montana School of Journalism's fabled Dean Stone Dinner. But, even though I love my alma mater, I didn't go because my lady friend snagged tickets to Elton John's $75,000 Return Show. Even though I like plenty of the Rocket Man's tracks ("I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" rocks), I wouldn't have gone had Alisia not offered to take me. Looking back, however, it rocked. I was really excited once the show started and he hit the opening chords of "Tiny Dancer" (Come on kids; admit that that scene in "Almost Famous" is one of the coolest of all time).

I particularly enjoyed him singing "Daniel," which always reminds me of one time I took my brother to the bus station and it played on the radio. It's pretty damn sad, but standing around hearing it live made me happy actually...except for one thing: Crappy Dancer.

After the show Alisia asked me not to really focus on him and talk about how cool the lights were, or my joke about how the guitarist changed guitars on every song ("No! The other Gibson!"). She thought Crappy Dancer should be left out for the most part – maybe she was feeling conceited and wanted me to say she looked really pretty at the show. But I hated Crappy Dancer, he was an old man with a bad mustache who kept dancing too close to us and grabbing his own ass...It sucked. I hated him. I hope he gets a hemorrhoid.

We met up with everyone at the Union after the show and I spoke with the Montana Kaimin's Mike Gerrity. If you haven't read the kids work, well, he's genius. Seriously. He's bound for a brilliant career kicking ass and taking names in print. On Friday though he had only one highlight: He asked me, "Hey, how the hell'd you snag a girl like Alisia?" I told him simply: I made her laugh. And his response was, "Well, if you fuck up I'm totally going for that." Guess that's a compliment...

We walked home after some late night breakfast. Trivia: The Union's "Emotional Fulfillment" shot is the bomb. You need to try it.

Saturday: Wow, to hell with Saturday. We grabbed brunch with some peeps and then dedicated most of the day to watching Scrubs on DVD. Alisia's new to the show, but I think she likes it...wait...[I ask her]...[She nods]...Okay, confirmed, Alisia likes Scrubs based on Dr. Cox, the character played by John C. McGinley – Capt. Badass.

We also went to the MT Freestyle Jam, but we didn't really feel the scene and left before the Reverend Slanky set ended, which was how we knew we didn't dig the night that much. We had some ice cream and checked out.

Sunday: SHOE SHOPPING! Last night I learned that my shoes had died without me noticing, which meant a lot of pain for my feet. I bought a pair of New Balance that featured the numbers "406." Holla. Wait...not enough joy...Double Holla!

So we didn't do much and we can all move on kids. Later.