Jesse Dayton

So in one of the small world instances that me and Caro are becoming famous for (at least among a select few friends), it just so happened that our Austin friend, Jesse Dayton, was playing in Aspen on the Saturday before Memorial Day. He's been touring with Mike Ness from Social Distortion. He was a little surprised to see Caroline and me, and we probably should have given him some heads up. Also, in a stroke of luck, we showed up without tickets, and our group of five got the last five before the box office sold out. Crazy! Jesse is a blast, so definitely check out his site to see if he's coming to a venue near you. 

Go! Go! Raleigh

My friend Dana is again publishing an amazing blog at gogoraleigh.com. He was out of the scene for a while, but is back this year with what I think should be recognized as one of the best, most comprehensive civic blogs I've ever read. Would someone give this guy a Webby?

Everything from the highest level city development plans, to sports (he's an admitted Carolina and general ACC basketball addict) to where the next chain restaurant is opening down to local music events, if there is anything you want to know about what's happening in Raleigh, it's here. Speaking of Raleigh, and the fantastic time we spent there with Caro's friends and our families, if you want to see change happen fast, look at that place. If you think they're only building high-rise luxury towers with downtown loft living in places like Manhattan, Atlanta and Los Angeles, well then think again. With an air of objectivity, the site feeds you some insight into the impact that development is having on economy, civic pride and local activism. Growth (and the sprawl that goes with it) isn't all it's cracked up to be, and this site will give you some perspective to follow the impact of development on a mid-sized city. My aunt, who also lives in Raleigh, tells me developer greed is taking over there at the expense of sustainable and environmentally sound growth. It's in these mid-size cities where you can really see how fast change and growth can happen. Interesting stuff.

Above the Sunset Strip

Waiting at the top of a hill above the Sunset Strip, after catching the Kansas vs. Villanova NCAA tournament game. Stopped by my buddy Greg's place to park at his apartment, and looking down the street, I was struck by both how dark it was, just a few dozen meters up the hill, and how much activity there was in a small postage stamp window of light down at the base of the hill. Greg and I tried Rainbow, but they wanted ten bucks just to come in to hang out with the heavy metal skanks, so we just opted for the pub at Red Rock instead. A fine, beer soaked evening out on the Strip.