What A Great, Completely Spontaneous Weekend With My Family

Not sure where to begin. We had planned on the Joe Jackson/Todd Rundgren concert, but the rest of it was completely improvised.

Friday evening, it began with dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, one of my favorite places downtown. Doug, Dorothy, Paul and I had dinner along with a couple of brewskis. Then it was off to meet Mary at the theatre for the concert.

The concert was pretty good, but the string quartet, Ethel was my favorite. They did a few tunes, then Joe Jackson sang and played the baby grand. After his set, Todd Rundgren took the stage with his guitar and did his set. Then Ethel returned and they played along with Joe and Todd to the Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps." (Thanks, Lyric Nazi!) Nice way to end the show.

Then it was on to find more drinks, of course. Went to Nicholson's, a great place for quality draft beer and a huge selection of scotch.

It was time to go home. Stumbling toward where we were parked, Paul noticed Todd Rundgren walking past us in the opposite direction. Of course, we turned around and followed (stalked) him to a noodle joint. ("We're walking, we're walking, we're stalking, we're stalking....) Upon walking into the restaurant, we couldn't find him and assumed (for some stupid reason he went into the kitchen). Yes, us four drunks stood there loudly discussing where he went. There was a short wall right next to us and Paul looks over, and there he was. Paul's hero for the last 25-30 years! We shook hands and said "Good Show", etc. and left the poor guy alone.

Time for a shot. Dorothy says she'll buy a round of Washington Apples, so we go into another place. She orders our four shots and the bartender brazenly pours five...one for himself. Hmmm, whatever, dude, did somebody tell you we'd buy you a drink? Nope, didn't think so. Why didn't you take that extra shot and top off the ones that were being paid for? Maybe because you're a rude asshole? Dorothy holds out a $20 to pay for the four shots. He looks at her and says, "That's not enough, it is $36." "What?" we reply, "How much is a shot?" "Nine dollars each," he says. I dig $20 out of my purse and hand it to him.

Holy shit, $9 a shot? He goes to get our $4 change and stupidly leaves his FREE shot sitting on the bar. Dorothy looks at me, grabs it, downs it and innocently places the shot glass back on the bar. He comes back and notices the shot missing and yells at her, "Did you just reach across the bar and drink my shot?" She looks at him and yells in disbelief that he could accuse her of such an act, "NO! I wouldn't do that!" We run out like a bunch of scared teenagers as my idiot brother, Doug, flips off the bartender.

This time we actually went back to their place and I showed them the latest video from Johnny Jackson-Stone.

Doug and Dorothy had suite tickets to the Cincinnati Reds game Saturday afternoon. Paul and I were just going to hang out at their house and crash. Paul had plans to see the Psychodots at The Southgate House in Newport and I was supposed to go to a graduation party Saturday night.

Saturday morning, Doug comes running down the stairs screaming, "Hey, two people just cancelled, do you want to go to the Reds game? We have the suite? Free food and beer..." Hell yeah I want to go hang out in the suite. Last Wednesday was the first time I had been to the Great American Ballpark, on five dollar tickets! Sure, I'll go and be treated like royalty.

Had a great time, ate lots of great food...Montgomery Inn pulled pork sandwiches, chicken breasts, coleslaw, veggies, fruit, nachos, cookies, brownies and all the beer or wine you can drink. On top of that, the Reds stopped their 8 game losing streak.

On the way back to their house, I convinced Doug and Dorothy that we should go see Garbage at the Madison Theatre in Covington. Surprisingly, they were up for it. Doug has always had this hatred toward women rock singers, but it turns out, he loves Shirley Manson. I mean, who wouldn't?

We got to the show an hour early because we weren't sure if there would still be tickets. Not a problem, other than there was no where to sit in this venue. Then we saw it! A little spot at the end of the bar that was raised about a foot from the floor. We asked permission to stand there and nobody had an opinion. Are we the first to discover this gem of a spot? Up higher than the other concerts goers, a wall to lean on, a wall a couple of feet in front of you to help wedge yourself in and, perhaps the best, just turn around and the bartenders will get you a drink. Didn't even have to stand in line!

As expected, Garbage rocked; I have seen them three or four times before and have never been dissapointed. Here is their set list: intro / Queer / Bad Boyfriend / Supervixen / Stupid Girl / Sex is Not the Enemy / Hammering in my Head / Grow Up / Vow / Bleed Like Me / I Think I'm Paranoid / Push It / Only Happy When it Rains / Why Do You Love Me // Encore: Metal Heart / Cherry Lips / Right Between the Eyes

The concert was a little on the short side, but they hit everything I wanted to hear. Especially Vow; that song has lot of little moments in my life attached to it. And, as always, Shirley rocked!

That's it, the review of one of the best weekends I've had in quite sometime. It was the closest thing to a little vacation that I've experienced. Thanks guys, for making this a memorable one!