we've come to the end of the road, dear readers. this will be my very last blog entry living at home with my parents. at the ripe age of twenty years old, i am moving out to make a life for myself in the glorious city of duluth.



ahhhh... she's a beauty. and she's mine. see that lift bridge? that's mine. that ship? mine too. even that gigantic lake belongs to me. it's all mine, babies. it's ALL mine. (i don't know what the hell that ferris wheel thing is, but that's mine too.)

i moved the majority of my things into my brand new house yesterday, and might i point a little irony. (you all know how much i enjoy irony.)
my room is the room with the closet.
this means that pelowski (and jason... sorry, man) will not have a closet.
let me reiterate: pelowski will not have a closet.
and! unbeknownst to her, she chose it herself.
priceless.

shoreview, mounds view, arden hills, blaine, lino lakes, circle pines, wherever it is that i live.... i knew thee well. good friends were made. much perkins was consumed. i had my first job here. i graduated from high school here. i will miss you, home of homes.

but fuck, dudes, tomorrow i'm going to be living in DULUTH.

* * *

while i'm at it, i do want to mention a few important birthdays that are rapidly approaching. chronologically, of course, because that's how i roll.

the first is tomorrow, may 31st -- connie. miss happy cat of death. miss "i really like knives.. and alias.. and angelina jolie." miss best friend out of shoreview, hands down. miss "i'm as fat as you are dumb." cheers to your twenties, baby.

the next birthday is also tomorrow, may 31st -- samantha. the one i can yak on and on about pop culture and celebrity gossip with. the one that i can drink gallons upon gallons of coffee with. the one who always tells it like it is. the one that drove my poor ass around EVERYWHERE this year and never once complained about it. the one who still says "wtf, mate?" loooong after it's gone out of style. just because you're turning twenty doesn't mean you have to grow up. welcome to Life After Your Teens City... population: you.

the third and final birthday needing acknowledgement this week is saturday, june 4th -- joel. joel joel joel. i love joel. (i still want to put his ludacris video up. maybe i still will...) anyhow, we will be celebrating joel's birthday in duluth on saturday, and i hope we will be able to remember it, because damn, it's going to be great.

that's all i have.

signing out for the last time from a place that isn't duluth,
clifford out.

that's not exactly the attitude joel & i had while in duluth earlier today.

i love rain, and joel loves rain. however, we were on a mission to convince people to hire us, and the rain was not helping us. we looked like some sort of grouchy wet animals, running around canal park underneath a tiny umbrella and arguing over who got to hold it. the puddles were getting deeper, his shrieking was getting louder, my curse words were getting more frequent & vulgar.... i'm pretty sure we frightened a nice married couple in front of famous dave's, who ended up following us to green mill and avoiding any sort of eye contact whatsoever.

joel did not think to bring a coat to duluth (stupid man) and therefore was running around in this chilly rain with a t-shirt. he whined and bitched, i yelled and swore. we were quite the pair.

my saving grace was the warm cup of coffee i got at jitters. that coffee place has done me well many a time, and hasn't let me down yet. (except just once.) jitters forever.

we accomplished our respective missions and are hoping to be employed asap, seeing as we are both moving into our new places in less than a week.

i'd also like to point out that joel has recorded an excellent clip of his own interpretation of ludacris' portion of "yeah!" by usher onto my video camera. however, he is abnormally fearful that he'll end up in the same ranks as the star wars kid, so he won't let me post it. maybe those who know him can convince him that he's being RIDICULOUS.

these last few days have reinforced my feelings for the city. i love duluth. i really really love duluth. i'm excited that i'm going to be calling duluth my HOME.

so,




here's to having the greatest summer ever. joel, jason, renee, family guy, 40s, live music all the fucking time, and duluth.

5 days to go.

bo bice should have won,
anne

yes, it's true, devoted readers. i am still in need of money. bad.
joel & i will be going to duluth tomorrow to attempt to find jobs to support our poor asses.

but more importantly...........
NEW VIDEOS HAVE BEEN POSTED.
check them out. have a laugh.

so i missed "desperate housewives" last night. the one episode of the season that would answer all the questions... and i missed it. i was going to tape it because i was at improv-a-gogo last night, but i got so excited about seeing five man job and ferrari mcspeedy that i forgot. it was a good time despite the lack of melodrama, however. i love butch roy, even without the pink mohawk that i've come to know and love. and pelowski will be known as "lollipop" from now on.

shameless plug.

that's really all i have. i just really wanted to use that picture.

oh HELL yes.

the speculation is over, my friends. i can say that i was right and that i was wrong. there were so many things we all saw coming, but it is so nice to have everything finally connected and to know the entire story.

i can say that it is daaaaarrrrkkk. there were a few surprisingly dark parts. i mean, i knew it was going to be hardcore, but dude. younglings.

and hayden christiansen does a million times better than in "episode II." he's still a little flat, but he's got that evil stare down. and damn, that kid gets angry.



that's the one.



man, that's scary.

there's one scene where ewan mcgregor's acting was better than anything i'd seen in a long time.



(that's not it. i just wanted a picture of him in my blog. eric buegler understands, amiright?)

so for those of you out there who were fearful that george lucas has lost his touch, i am here to reassure you -- the man did it right.

oh HELL yes.

best line: "not if anything to say about it, i have." -yoda.
ahahaha.

i spent tonight with amanda, and it was a good time. for the most part. the only bad thing was an unfortunate turn of events on "the inferno" tonight.


ick, landon. ick. that's all i have to say about that.

so tonight was fun. "the inferno," perkins (as usual), being hit on by a creepy old man at mcdonalds, wandering aimlessly through the construction in woodbury... same ol' same ol'. a good time overall.

it's been an interesting time at home so far. little of this, little of that, hoping for good grades (because i need them), wanting to get out of here and go to duluth for good. all my things are in a pile in the entryway, ready to be moved to shoreview for two weeks. i'm in limbo, dear readers, and it sucks.

i've got nothing else. i think it's bedtime.

this has probably been the most stressful week of my entire life. school, parents, goodbyes, packing, cleaning, out.

i had a great year. i had a wonderful year. there is a video montage coming of your memories and goodbyes. watch for it.

i'm just going to take a minute and say that JOEL STEPHEN MATHIAS is my own personal savior and i love that gay man more than anything in the world. even if he does smoke menthols.

thank you to everyone who made this year what it was.

flavor flav.

my final is officially over and i'm crossing things off my to-do list faster than i had anticipated, but i still have a lot to do. it's coming down to it, kids, and i hope you're doing well.

goodbyes are hard to say. if you are reading this, i want you to stop by sometime before you leave. i will not part for the summer without saying goodbye to you. so do it. you know where i am.

we are going to gooseberry this afternoon. good decision? yes. smart decision? probably not.

a chronological narrative.
all times are approximate.

7:45pm. the hostess at the brewhouse tells sam, jason, and i that our table is ready, 15 minutes after annie ragsdale had begun her set. we enter the restaurant and take a sharp left - directly into the back room, where we can neither see nor hear annie. we ask to be moved and order our meals. sam may or may not have been a tiny bit snarky to the waitress.

8:10pm. the three of us are re-seated smack dab under annie's nose. slightly awkward, but better than before. we play cards and enjoy annie's cute music.

8:45pm. teague alexy takes the tiny-ass stage. he's cute. his songs are very folksy and surprisingly good. he eventually calls his brother ian onstage, and the two proceed to kick my ass.

9:15pm. i reach for my cell phone to check the time and see that i've missed three calls from dan in a fairly short amount of time, so i step out of the brewhouse to call him. there were scheduling mishaps, he needed mark lindquist's number, it's not important. i push my way through the tiny restaurant to get back to my table. this is when i first realize what a terrible venue the brewhouse really is.

9:25pm. teague is finishing up, and it's time to smoke before jerree small goes on. i have my cigarette and make pleasant conversation with a nice man outside. i return to the brewhouse to see an older woman sitting in my seat next to jason, and sam is nowhere in sight. jason & i join kristen's table -- the second re-seating of the night.

9:45pm. i look at our old table and curse my luck.

9:50pm. kristen and renee leave to see noble haze at beaners. jason, sam, and i are enjoying jerree small. the waitress comes up to us and asks us to move. fine.

9:55pm. we've taken to standing in the very back of the venue against the gigantic pipe thing. it's an awkward position because it's right between the door and the back room we were previously seated in, so waitresses are running back and forth, people are entering and exiting the restaurant, and we can't see a damn thing. we grumble about how we are NEVER SEEING MUSIC AT THE GODDAMN BREWHOUSE AGAIN.

10:05pm. jason and i have been watching al sparhawk, who had entered the venue a few minutes earlier. we've been discussing his cultural impact on duluth, and his probable luck with free snickers bars.

10:20pm. sam is sick and wants to go home. we take sam home, promising to call her for the trampled by turtles show.

10:35pm. jason and i re-enter the fitgers complex (after having a hell of a time finding a parking space) and decide to head straight to the red star for some if thousands and portrait of a drowned man action. we reach the entrance and flash our gold sparkly wristbands.
"IDs, please," the bouncer says. i flash my wristband again in what could be construed as a slightly bitchy way. "i saw it," the bouncer snaps. "IDs."
"we're under 21," i say. "we're here for the shows."
"this is a 21+ venue, ma'am," the bouncer says, with a slight touch of sarcasm.
"are you SERIOUS?" i shout, angrily.
"well, most bars are 21+," he says, through hiding his annoyance.
"this is fucking ridiculous," i say, feeling no remorse about my curse word echoing through the halls of the fitgers complex. i grab jason's elbow, snatched up a ripsaw, and stand around the corner, trying to figure out what to do next. we are pissed. we are beyond pissed.

10:55pm. still furious, jason and i are headed to pizza luce. we decided to settle for no wait wait and sight like december before we see trampled by turtles, but neither of us are real happy about it. we enter pizza luce with no hassle (after i get some sort of pagan symbols drawn on my hands by that creepy guy with the gross hair). i'm actually enjoying no wait wait, and i am becoming slightly less angry at the stupid red star.

11:15pm. kristen and renee show up at luce. no wait wait is nearly done with their set, but not before al sparhawk goes running up onto the stage and sings along in the drummer's mic. he also plays a mean tambourine.

11:40pm. sight like december takes the stage. to accurately portray their portion of the evening, i have written an open letter to the band:

dear sight like december,
pick a genre. i'm not kidding. you have an alto saxophone. you have a fiddle (or perhaps it's a violin). and then you try to be emo part of the time. i'm officially telling you that it does not work. some of the stuff you played later in your set really kicked ass, but when you were trying to do the emo/borderline-hardcore music, you sucked. you sucked a lot. so either be an awful emo band, or be a pretty good pop-rock band. the choice is yours.
-an unintentional audience member
ps: your saxophone player is hot. i mean, REALLY hot.

12:35pm. trampled by turtles get onstage. everyone crowds up front. and then the dancing starts. and then the pushing. and the pot smoking. and the jumping and yelling and flailing and elbows and hair and beer and kicking and shouting and fist-pumping. it was hardcore. kristen and i see jaimeson from mpirg, drunker than half the people at luce, and wearing a nametag that says "natalie." he mentions something about his hands smelling like maple syrup and calls me "DEMOCRAT!" because he was unsure of my name. his sunglasses are awesome. and then i get hit in the mouth by someone's elbow.

1:55am. trampled by turtles announces that they have about four songs left. i am really really tired. i leave to sit by renee to cool down and see jerree small standing on the very same booth. i like when i see local artists jamming to other local artists. anyway, i regain my awesome spot atop the booth with renee. dan tells me he's leaving, and i jump at the chance to go home and go to bed. we bitch about 21+ and tim nelson fucking up.

2:10am. bed.

there was my weekend.

good luck this week, kids.

clifford out.

THE BAD NEWS:
couldn't get in to see crew jones or the black-eyed snakes. missed the majority of dave mehling. spontaneous combustion are still GREAT guys.


THE WORSE NEWS:
low is probably breaking up. they did not play tonight. here are the reasons, straight from al himself.


THE GOOD NEWS:
i still got to see al sparhawk play live, which is amazing.









THE BETTER NEWS:
i met al sparhawk.
i met al sparhawk.
I MET AL SPARHAWK.

that's better than having him call my sweatpants "fresh."

(this may be a bit repetitive, but i've got to keep everyone up to date, you know.)

clifford out.

this is all true. 1:03 AM 2 comments

well i have a lot of catching up to do here. it's been quite awhile, complete with two amazing concerts.

first up: heiruspecs.




that's right. me & twinkie. i also met felix. those pictures are coming soon. i'm way behind on pictures right now. but hot.

speaking of hot, i had quite the experience with glen eating this:




resulting in this:




ahahaha.
it was a great show. they played everything i wanted to hear (save "in regrets," but that would be a little too much to ask), and it was twinkie's birthday... so we got to hear him rap. god he's hardcore. it was pretty badass.

next up: atmosphere.

slug had himself a live band, and while he played snippets of the majority of his tunes, he played "always coming back home to you" in its entirety, which is my favorite atmosphere song. it was a badass show. i really liked grayskul, and i enjoyed p.o.s. much more than anyone else did. it was also really funny to see a lot of the kids who were in the heiruspecs crowd... sam and i felt it was necessary to tell each and every one of them that we saw them on wednesday. especially that weird nasty fro kid.

thirdly: homegrown.

here is the itinerary, as of now:

thursday:
-*10 pm: opening ceremonies at the brewhouse, featuring dj starfire and the lake superior cacophonic choir

friday:
-6:00 pm: dave mehling (beaners)
-7:15 pm: spontaneous combustion (norshor)
-9:30 pm: jamie ness (pizza luce)
-10:30 pm: LOW (pizza luce)
*-midnight: crew jones (taproom)
*-1:00 am: black eyed snakes (taproom)

saturday:
*-7:30 pm: annie ragsdale (brewhouse)
*-8:30 pm: teague alexy (brewhouse)
*-9:30 pm: jerree small (brewhouse)
-11:00 pm: if thousands (red star)
-midnight: portrait of a drowned man (red star)
-12:30 am (or shortly after): trampled by turtles (pizza luce)

-* denotes venues that are generally 21+, and i will probably rip someone's head off if it really is 21+. however, i've been reassured by both glen and jason that it's fine during homegrown. i'm trusting you.

that's going to be one hardcore weekend. i'm going to get ZERO studying done, and it's the weekend before finals, but it's going to be worth it.

and i heard today that low will be playing in WEBER MUSIC HALL on friday in the afternoon. holy god, two low shows in one day? i don't know if i'll be able to handle it.

and on another music festival note, KIM IF YOU ARE READING THIS, we're going to greenman this summer. it's been officially decided.

enough with that.

i want to bitch about the weather, but i've done enough of that. i just want to point out that it is the second day of may, and it's been snowing for a week.

all right. i think that's all for now. did i miss anything?