the ethical omnivore: November so far...

Alright now that I got all of my Chicago trip blogged and updated I’m moving on to the recent events of my life. I was looking back at photos and November has been chock full of amazing things. I will try to get them all into one blog (even though my OCD wants them all outlined in separate little blogs specific to each event.)

First up…Faithsnakes, which is Joseph’s punk rock band, he plays drums, and they are pretty cool. Besides the fact that they play punk rock which I love, they surround themselves with pretty amazing people. Katy and I met up in Riverside for their show where we spent some frustrating moments searching for a T-Mobile and later had some even more frustrating moments with a woman on the T-Mobile Customer Support but it was ok because we found boba and made it to the show in perfect time. After they played we hung out in front of the place which was above a gay bar, which doesn’t really matter except for the fact that most of my entertainment came from the transvestite who decided he was going to sit outside of the bar and well act in a way that brought attention to himself. He may have looked like a woman but he sure didn’t act like he was in a skirt like a woman. He asked Katy about her moccasins and had a horrible time understanding her accent. It was hilarious. Then after the Faithsnakes show we headed over to another show, Omar and the Stringpoppers. They were an awesome rockabilly band and their fans were amazing in their 1950’s attire. We had a blast at this show. So many hilarious things happened that I can’t even begin to mention them. All I know is that I learned a whole lot that night and it was awesome.

I found out that Katy loves McDonalds.

This is Omar...or at least I assume that he's the Omar of Omar and the Stringpoppers.

This is Joseph, Katy and I after dancing to Sir Mix A Lot's I like Big Butts and Sisqo's the Thong Song. Don't ask me how that happens after a rockabilly show but it did and it was fantastic!

Dano yelled at Joseph...I won't mention why but I will say this, this girl is awesome. She's hilarious and one of those people that just makes you laugh.

Alright...next up IHOP with Corre, Tony and Katy. This was the morning after the show and Corre's idea. It turned out to be amazing because IHOP has awesome breakfast deals. I had no idea! It was one of those super simple outings that was more fun than it should be. I love it when that happens.

The slowest syrup pourer thingy ever.

Then I found out that if you drive to the very top of the parking structure where Katy "lives" you see tons and tons of hearses and leopard painted limos and all kinds of other creepy, scary, strange vehicles but then you get rewarded with a view of Burbank and the surrounding areas.

And then there was wine tasting. This was to commemorate the birthdays of Danny, Hyochin and Justin who celebrate their birthdays within about a week of one another and in that order. It started off with a party bus at Tim and Kasie’s in Corona that drove us to Temecula and our four wineries of choice. I learned a very valuable lesson that day…when tasting wine don’t taste the full glass. I got really sick after three wineries and didn’t make it to winery number four. I learned that day that wine is something that you should only drink one glass of…PERIOD! I never want to feel like that again. My advice, when wine tasting take one sip and pour the rest of the glass out!

Winery #1 - I did a sampling with a champagne, a white and two reds.

Birthday Boy Justin

Justin really knows his wines, he took courses on wine so he was our little expert and kept telling us to swirl and smell and all this other stuff.

There's birthday boy Danny crouching down, I don't think he could take a serious picture to save his life.

Birthday girl Hyochin and Joe at winery #3.

That's my bottle of Tatria. I actually bought a fancy bottle of wine. I guess I'll just hold on to it for some special occasion.

And here we are at last weekend. Hardcore, metal, whatever you wanna call it has never really been my thing. I don’t mind it, I can definitely pick out good from bad metal but it’s just not something that I especially seek out. That said, Katy asked me to go to a metal show with her and since I wasn’t going to have to pay and I love her, I agreed. Shows are always fun so I went out to Burbank on Saturday night to pick her up and look who I found.

Then after some debate over shows we headed out to Paramount to watch Ryan play with MODF for the last time. We got there just in time to see to watch Ryan and see the boys play. After MODF finished up we found out that there were like four other bands playing before Impending Doom. So Katy and I headed out with Kirk, Carrie and Jessica F. to get some Mexican food. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant that had Saturday night Karaoke! It was so loud that we really couldn't talk to each other at all. It was hilarious...I'm not too sure Katy thought so. But after some amazing food it was back to the show. Kirk, Carrie and Jessica dropped us off and headed back out to Corona and Katy and I waited for Impending Doom to play. We watched some of the other bands, hung out with Ryan and Rochelle, and met a few new people. (Well new to me anyhow.)

Then it was time for Impending Doom to play. I knew that I had no desire to watch them from the crowd. I had already seen two kids with busted eyes and I wanted no part of that. I'm way too old for that crap! haha. So Katy and I watched from a very crowded back stage area and I was amazed! Now I knew going in to this night that Impending Doom is a pretty heavy band to begin with but I have never seen a guy who can swing their head around like their bass player! Their drummer was awesome and of course Brook...that guy really impressed me. I have NEVER seen a crowd react to a band like that. I couldn't even see Brook at one point he had so many kids around him. Kids on stage everywhere, I thought Cory was gonna hit some kid with his guitar. Not on purpose but just because he had so little room to play. It was truly impressive and insane! They made quite the impression on me and I have to admit it was awesome to watch a band play like that for what they believe in and to watch kids respond the way they did. Jesus would be proud boys.

We headed out to Corona after that for some late night Denny's. It was here that I was lucky enough to sit next to Brandon, otherwise known as Btown. This guy...he's hilarious. We shared our love of coffee and I figured out why Katy and Tony love the dude so much. I think we're gonna end up being awesome friends. I can't wait to meet the woman he calls wifey, Alysa, and their baby, (who's still hanging out in Alysa's belly for now.)

So yeah, good weekend. Good people, great shows, new friends, junk food...you know all the makings of a perfect weekend!

Katy put ketchup on her chips...I'm pretty sure that's against the rules.