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The Picture That Sums It All Up!

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Happy Wednesday before T-day!

1. The Chicago adventure continues. Yesterday, the Little Chicago Warrior (LCW) and I, hit up Millennium Park. Here are some photos. Try and find the one of the LCW that perfectly sums up what it must be like to date someone like me. It’s pretty classic.

Well, that’s just about all for today.

Mike!

Tickets and Lunch With Pops.

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | Site News, Uncategorized | No Comments

Happy Tuesday!

1. Still in Chicago. Still having a good time. Here are the highlights from yesterday!

*Got a ticket for having my car parked in the wrong spot during leaf sweeping. To be fair, there was a giant sign next to my car yesterday morning when I got my ticket around 930am. To be unfair, there was not a sign warning me not to park when I parked my car the night before around 830pm. So between 830pm on Sunday and 930am on Monday, a sign was put up next to my car telling me to move it. Now, that’s a great start to a day!

*Took the train downtown to meet up with my Pops for a quick lunch at Gino’s East. Amongst the topics discussed:

-We both agree that the Kennedy Assassination was a conspiracy.

-My mother, his wife is a little crazy.

-My nephew, his grandson is really cute.

-Abraham Lincoln was a wonderful writer, but in order to grasp the full impact of his speeches, historical context of the weeks leading up to each of his speeches is sorely needed.

-Frontline is a very fair show.

-Gardening is both a rewarding hobby and a great form of exercise.

*After lunch, I went to the Apple store to ask the Apple men a question about the Itouch that my father was too afraid to ask and made my way down Michigan Ave. for some picture taking.

*Then I met up with the Little Chicago Warrior for a little dinner fixin’. The steak was chewy. I suck.

2. Today, me and the LCW are heading down to Millennium Park to look at some bean and maybe get some museum time in.

See you tomorrow!

Mike

Hey There’s A Deer! I’m Gonna Shoot Me Some!

Monday, November 24th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Happy Monday!

1. I am in Chicago hanging out with the little Chicago warrior.  Whoopee!

The drive down from MPLS was, as always, horrendously boring. Here are the highlights:

* I saw a deer carcass shoved into the truck of a beat up Neon as I drove just west of Madison. Man, nothing says hillbilly like driving in your beat up Neon, seeing a deer, pulling over and grabbing your “trunk rifle”, shooting the deer and then shoving it in your trunk.

The only thing slightly more hillbilly than shoving a deer into the trunk of your mid size car would be if you were driving in your shitty Neon and saw a pond or as you might call it, a mighty good fishin’ nook with tons of them there swimmers in dar! Obviously, this pond would stir something in you awful fierce like and you’d just have to git’ to fishing!  But guess what?! You done left your fishin’ rod at home! Dag gummit! What you gonna go and do? I know! How bout’ ripping that thar stick from that tree and tying one yar’ fancy shoe laces to it? By golly and gee whiz, you done  and made yourself a fishing pole! Woot woot wooly doo! When you’re done just toss the fish in your trunk!

Mike

It’s Opening Night!

Friday, November 21st, 2008 | Plugs, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Happy Friday!

1. It opening night! Tonight! Yay! Last night’s final preview went fine, now it’s time to make this puppy official. In honor of Opening night, I am going to make pasta and get a haircut. I’m sure that sounds random, but that’s what all the great actors do before shows: get clipper cuts and carb load.   Opening nights are fun, especially for the holiday show, because it truly feels like my holiday season gets an official start.

2. Does anybody else have recount fever!?

3. I taught my roommate how to use an oven last night. He’s 28.

4. Replacing the brake light in my car has left me with a feeling of invincibility!

5. About 90% of the male population knows more about comic books than I do.

6. Thinking about writing a musical with Josh E. about the Titanic…from the iceberg’s perspective.  It seems like a brilliant idea. Hope it hasn’t already been done.

The Site Gets Even Cooler, A Movie Review and a Plug!

Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | Movie Reviews, Plugs, Site News | No Comments

Happy Thursday!

1. If you look at the top of my site, on the menu bar, you’ll notice a tab labeled, “pics”. In other words, I finally have a photo element to my site that I like.

Q: Mike, it sounds like you just learned how to add photos. I was watching NOVA the other day, and the episode was about brain damaged monkeys that were easily able to do the same thing? Why do you brag about such easy shit?

A: Shut up. This took forever to set up. It was ridiculous. I have shit “pinging” here and shit “pinging” there and shit “pinging” everywhere. It’s awesome. Anyhoo, take a gander. I have photos from the first two nights of TCIF 2008 up right now. I’ll be editing those and adding more photos over the next few days. Woo hoo!

2. Role Models is a really funny movie. Some critics have claimed that the movie dives too far into sentimentality for their tastes.  Fair enough. This movie does do this, but it’s about a pair of losers looking for direction in their lives and kids who are looking for…well, role models.  Sentimentality is an unavoidable side effect.  Whatever, I thought they actually handled that well. FOTIs.

3. Final preview for the BNW holiday show is tonight! Get your tickets for this show and the rest of the run, here!

Talk to ya’ tomorrow!

Mike

The Site Gets Cooler.

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 | Plugs, Site News | 6 Comments

Happy Wednesday!

1. Hey! Guess what? Now you can follow my Twitter updates from my website! Just scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see it in all its scrolling beauty. Thanks to Fringefamous.com for giving me the idea.

Q: Why put a new feature at the bottom of your page? Doesn’t that seem…like a stupid thing to do? Most people don’t scroll. They’re too busy, silly billy!

A: I wanted to put it at the top of my site, but when I did, horrible horrible things happened to my layout. So, it’s staying at the bottom for now where it seems happy until I can figure out how to fix things!

2. Is it difficult to replace a brake light? I know that replacing a headlight lamp is pretty easy, but does such ease of replacement span the length of the car?

3. I’ve had a few people ask about ordering tickets to the BNW’s holiday show. Just click here and the ticketing site will give you options for the final preview (tomorrow!) as well as for the run of the show! Neat!

Ok, that’s all. I’ll be sure to Twitter later on today? I guess?

Mike

Podcast and Oh My…

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Happy Tuesday!

1. New podcast is up! Enjoy!

2. I bought a new hat yesterday and by doing so, officially became an old man.
I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I will tell you this. This hat is the most comfortable thing I have ever worn. Ever. I feel like I should apologize to those I love for ever purchasing a hat like this because surely I will be an embarrassment to anyone I share public spaces with from here on out. What can I say? I have now officially reached the stage where I choose practicality over style.

Mike

Previews Recap and Goodbye Kerry Wood.

Monday, November 17th, 2008 | Plugs, Sports | 4 Comments

Happy Monday!

1. Preview week at the BNW is over. Well, that’s not entirely true. There’s one more left on Thursday, the day before opening, but the truth is by the time that preview goes up, 99% of the show is complete. So in a way, I hesitate to even call it a preview mainly because the chance of failure and misery is so very slim. Let’s refer to it as the “almost opening”.

As for this weekend, I wasn’t surprised by the audience reaction to my stuff as I was reminded yet again, that my humor is an acquired taste and one that doesn’t necessarily resonate with…people.  As for the show on the whole however,  I was caught off guard by what the audience liked and didn’t like. Normally, I have a pretty good gauge for that stuff, but for this run my “audience-tron 550″ was a little off.  So, stuff I thought was pretty solid is probably gone and stuff i wasn’t sure about hit HUGE.  After doing this for a while, it was kind of nice to be surprised.*

Each preview was met with wild enthusiasm and I’m pretty sure a statue is being erected for Lauren Anderson, who in her comic brilliance, essentially put the crowd into a comedy coma**(***), with everything she did. I would come to this show is all I’m saying.

2. Kerry Wood is no longer a Cub. Most people will look back at his career and see it as something of a tragedy. Hall of Fame talent, that got wrung through the injury grindhouse. And there certainly is that angle. There’s no denying it. But he will always be one of my favorite Cubs, because he never complained about his lot, kept the game in perspective and frankly turned himself into one hell of a closer.

I was always impressed by him.  Good luck!

*I believe firmly in the show over the individual and kind of hate myself for starting off this paragraph talking about myself, but what are you gonna do?  Sometimes, all the editing in the world still yields narcissism, despite best intentions. Give me a break.

**You might think I’m trying to garner favor with this, but let me assure you, if there’s one person who I know for sure doesn’t read this blog, it’s Lauren.

(***)Everyone in this show deserves a statue. Whew. Dodged a bullet! By lying.****

****Just kidding.

Mike

The Great Hall Of Comedy and A CD Review

Friday, November 14th, 2008 | Plugs, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Happy Friday!

1. First preview of All I want For Xmas Is 700 Billion Dollars is in the books, left to judgment of history as to where it belongs in the great hall of comedy.  There’s a great hall, didn’t you know that? Every comedy that’s ever been done ever, is judged by history, ranked and then sent to the great hall of comedy for inventory.

Anyway, preservation of that which makes us laugh aside, the first preview went pretty well. All the best of stuff hit exactly like we thought it would (can you imagine how annoying it would be if it didn’t?) and the newer material, when put in front of an audience stood up well and bent at the weak points.  Now, we clean up or remove the weak points and try again.

It’s a science really.

2. Have you guys heard of the band Parts and Labor? They’re pretty great.  I’m not sure how to describe them, but you should give them a listen if you like your rock loud and messy and layered. All of the songs on their latest album, Reciever,  might be best described as carefully busy, always building to a frenzied finish.  FOTIs. It’s been a while, huh?

Mike

Previews, Spam and Cookbooks!

Thursday, November 13th, 2008 | Plugs, book project | 10 Comments

Happy Thursday!

1. Well, tonight’s the first preview for All I Want For Christmas Is 700 Billion Dollars. Per usual I am filled with nerves but not really nervous. Might I suggest you check out this preview so that you can see this show in all its weird glory. Seriously, this show is really, really goofy. Check it out homies!

2. Recently, my website has been nailed with spam comments.  Well, maybe they’re real comments and I just don’t know what 8Whf49*! means. Maybe 8Whf49*! is this year’s LOL.  Peggy Larson, in my haste to delete all of these comments, I deleted one of your comments. Sorry.

3. Thanks to those of you who have chimed in about whether the cookbook will appear via website or actual booky book form. It’s a tough call. Others, please feel free to chime in.

Byee for now!

Mike