I don't take good pictures cuz i have the kind of beauty that moves

And no I'm not talking about myself I already know that I'm not a pretty man. That's ok, I've come to grips with that... no long flowing locks of hair blowing perfectly in the wind, no chisled ab's, and no 6' height. Of all things not being >6' tall is something that SG brings up on a semi regular basis. It's not like we are walking around and she will point out someone that is 6' tall and say:

"Gee if you were that tall you would look hot"

She does think I am midget, Ewoke if you will, Yub nub pitcha yuuuuuuuub nub. I'm none of these things I'm just sadly four inches short of being 6' and I've noticed that if you are under 6' it's hard to intimidate someone. That's why I like knives (Guns for show, knives for a pro) and while I have never actually pulled one on a stranger because I'm just not a big person and the chance that I might just end up cutting myself seems that much more likely. There was this one time when I was unemployed and I was attempting to cut some chicken with a not so sharp knife. Well one thing led to another and I just happened to have my finger in the way when the knife slide off of the chicken and onto my finger. All I could do at that point was wash my finger under cold water, then wrap it in a band aid, some gauz, tissues and a paper towel and get back to cooking, cause dinner don't make itself and SG is a mighty terrible freightening force when she gets hungry. I have no idea where I was going with that, though I will mention that even to this day the cut will sometimes ache when it gets damp out.

The subject of the post is not even remotely of my own choosing it's a lyric of an Ani Difranco song that I heard on Thursday night that was burned into the retina of my whiskey soaked brain. Thursday SG and I had the chance to see Ani Difranco at the LC downtown and the show was fantastic. Ani Difranco has the sort of stage pressence that can only come from one who is a born entertainer. When she is up on stage you get the idea that performing in front of all these people is nothing different than sitting on her back porch sipping a beer, and the way that she interacts with the crowd feels as normal as if she was having a conversation with you at a coffee shop. It's personal, it's a real feeling and above all the music is excellent.

Her opening act was a energetic 40 something bald guy named Hamel who spun us stories ficitious and potentially real many times with a political point but other times just to tell a story. The whole thing was done with just him up on a stage standing there with nothing else to buffer him from a waking crowd but a well loved guitar. Of the set he played there was one song called "Inquiring Minds" told from I think the perspective of a grown son asking his father if he had done certain things throughout his life. Actually after listening to it off of his site it was actually much much better live as recorded he seems way to calm. Live Hamell had this raw energetic style that made his songs feel less practiced and more impromptive. The other song that I remember was one called "Values" which was done from the perspective of a young son asking a father questions on why he has to do certain things like picking up his toys when the President of the United States can do whatever he wants. Very very good song.

After Hamell finished his set Ani Difranco came on and played till about 10:30pm. Though it sounds like it was a short show you have to realize that she had no background singers, no lead guitarist, no drummer and no keyboardist. If there was singing to be done it had to come from her voice and if there was music to be played it had to come from her guitar and her only other accompiament Todd the bassist. I can't point out any one song that I thought was better than another last night. It may in part be due to the fact that I just don't pay attention to song titles anymore and so am incapable of even remembering titles of songs that I like. The other part is that I don't actually own that many Ani Difranco CD's and of the ones I have neither one was the latest. It really wasn't about that though, I just wanted to see and hear her as from I had heard and now have seen her shows are excellent. Sure she played "Little Plastic Castles" as an encore song but I actually liked some of the other songs she did that I hadn't ever heard.

The evening all and all turned out to be a really nice evening even with all the thunderstorm warnings, pouring rain at the beginning and me being all grumpy with my grumpy turd face on and my I hate work aura exuding. The rain stopped as soon as Hamell started and didn't start again, the LC has a White Castle stand which I gladly got a mini crave sack (as a large one would make me feel like I was compensating for my lack of stature), 32oz of some watery refreshing bud light and once the show started I was no longer grumpy. BEHOLD the power of music ..... and white castles and booze. The LC itself has both an outdoor and and indoor venue and while I've not been to the indoor one I will have to say that the outdoor venue is really pretty nice. It's kind of like the mini me of a gigantic outdoor concert venue. It has an area where people can stand and get up close to the stage, a "box area" which is nothing more than plastic tables and chairs followed by a grassy area where you can bring blankets and sit down. They have outdoor drink stands a White Castle food stand and bathrooms that are not porta johns. I highly recommend it, it's just the right size and would be a really really great place to enjoy a concert outside if the weather permitted, be warned though LC is a rain or shine place so if it rains you'd best go or be willing to lose the hard earned cash on the tickets as there will be no refunds.