Well, the batteries are recharged from the weekend, but I still didn’t feel like snapping any photos. So instead, here’s an oldie but goodie all the way from 2003. The car above was my buddy’s Ed’s. It was his birthday a few days ago and I thought I’d throw it up as the daily photo in tribute to his belated birthday.

This car was Ed’s baby. Seriously. He got it back in high school and was one of the last friends I knew that still was driving the car they drove in high school. It was retired a few years ago after the mechanical repair costs were going to cost more than the car itself. If you ever rode with Ed you were sure to get schooled in rap from the early 90’s, especially Tu Pac, and possbily some country music.

Ed and I took his baby to a 311 – The Roots concert in St. Louis. It was the best car for concert going because it was a convertible and with the top down and going about 65 mph two guys who were tone deaf could sing as loud as possibly and still sound good.

Happy belated birthday Ed.

By the end of the week, the intertubes is going to be so tired of wedding pictures.

Sterno, Benny, Roommate Steve, Shoo, TheEd

Benny was the life of the party. He feared nothing. He talked to everyone. I think he even made some money off the dollar dance.

Christy, Jen

I had never met Christy before the wedding. At the rehearsal dinner I offered to buy her two beers, she immediately proclaimed that she gave her approval of me and I could marry GTG. She drives a hard bargain.

Just a bunch of fudge packers.

A 130 pieces of individually wrapped fudge did not make it out to the wedding till it was too late. Sterno did not want to pack the fudge.

Dad & Mom

My mom was upset that there wasn’t a Mother-Groom dance. I made it up to her by dancing with her to Soulja Boy’s Superman song. She had no idea what she was doing.

Okay, almost a week later I feel like I’ve recovered enough brain cells from the bachelor party to recall what happened. First of all, above the guys, from left and back around the table: K, The Ed, SternO, David (lil Shoo), Josh, Roommate Steve, barely functioning Shoo, and Philly G.

The day started out by going on a tour of the Anheuser Brewery in St. Louis.  The place is like the Disney Land of beer. Seriously. Two, very good looking, from what the guys tell me,  guides take a group of 50 or so camera toting tourists around from building to building. On the tour, we passed the Clydesdale’s, some massive tanks that hold beach wood and beer, some historical sites, the bottling area, and then a multimedia video about Anheuser the company, which isn’t anything more than brainwash material with pretty people. At the end though, they make it worth your while and serve you free beer and pretzels.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Schlafly Bottle Works brewpub. We feasted on venison, bison, goat cheese, and beer bread; all foods of the manly food group. Oh, and drank more beer. After the feast, we took a tour of the brewery which was more like a pony ride at the state fair compared to AB. Our guide, not hot because he was a dude- or at least that’s what the guys tell me, was super knowledgeable. The one tidbit that I learned, and will remind myself each time I order a Bud, is that the rice, considered a cheap filler, in cheap beer (Natty Light, The Beast) is what causes splitting headaches after a long night of drinking. That’s not to say that you won’t feel like crap with a hangover if you just drink good beer. It just means no splitting headaches.

With that knowledge in hand, we headed to the liquor store for cheap booze to take back to the hotel. At the hotel we bonded over old drinking stories, watched the World Series, and ate the best TWO Papa John pizzas, eve-r.

Now this is the part of the story that gets fuzzy, but I will do my best to recall censor what happened.  We hoped a shuttle headed to a casino that we fully intended not to go to. Our decision as a group to which bar we would go to was decided by the hottest officer, as the guys tell me, on the street as she passed us by. “Officer, no.” I won’t even try to recall the name of the bar as to protect those that might have witnessed the dancing Shoo. But this unnamed bar contained a waitress doctor named Dr. Anita Hardon, which leads me to the next day, as I am totally not blogging about the rest of the night, when we’re recuperating at Steak N’ Shake in Collinsville and Josh is trying to recall the name of the good doctor in front of the, not so hot- I can verify this one, waitress.  Josh who is notorious for his projecting voice questions the rest of the group, “Dr. Ani… Dr. ANITA HARDON!”

Yes, the whole restaurant gave us the evil eye.

Guys, it was awesome weekend. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

After three days of rockin’… we were dead tired and exhausted. Ed and Amanda, thanks for your hospitality and a great weekend filled with awesome music. We kind of got to party again like we were sexiest bartending duo of Springfield again. Or at least a come back tour. And we may’ve had a bit too much fun…

Day 1 of Lollapalooza:

First of all, thanks to big chief Sterno for letting me stay at his crib last night and the private screening of the Simpson movie. Next time have the camera guy sit in the middle; still a great movie. Thanks again.

It’s one in the A M so I’m just going to jot down some of the particulars. Like you’d get complete sentences and correct grammar any other time. This should be fun to read in the morning.

Joined up with Ed around 1 this afternoon for Lollapalooza. This is sort of the chronological order of the bands we saw.

Bands…

Jack’s Mannequin – just a bunch of songs about girls that he once loved. I’ve only got one girl I love… and there is no d’ on that love. (insert gag moment here) Complete waste of a band, but it was the better one out of the few playing at that time slot.

M.I.A. – She started out strong, but then the set went to crap when she stopped in the middle of a song to demand the DJ to play it later. M.I.A. was the band that I was most curious about, but I’ll prefer now just to listen to the over produced studio tracks.

Slightly Stoopid – Whatever lingering smell of Sublime was still in the air – these guys puffed it down and owned it. It was the reggae induced rock beat that I hadn’t heard since “Santeria” was a hit. Music was so much better back in the day… like 96′.  The kids today have no idea.

Silversun Pickups – They played a smaller stage, but it was impossible to get a decent view with sun beating down and crowded mess of tattooed smelly people. I can confirm they what they sound like live is similiar to the cd.

The Rapture – We were actually on our way to see G Love & Special Sauce. Both Ed and I misinterpreted the band as the wrong one. It wasn’t till the closing of the show when they said that they were “Rapture from New York City” that we realized our mistake. They were fun. Definitely going to have to check them out later.

Daft Punk – If two guys didn’t have the cushiest jobs ever. They wore robot costumes, stood in a big giant pyramid, and one can assumed pressed the play button to start the show. What made up for it, as they were the closer tonight, was the huge display of choreographed lights and lcd screens. Of course I have video…

The closer.

Two AM, I am pooped from a long day of walking and rocking. Not going to say anything about the beating I took from Wii tennis…(cough -robbed) but it’s time for bed.