In April of 2008 I was lucky enough to see Ambulance LTD live at North Star Bar in Philly. Before the concert I was enjoying a few drinks with Megan, Michael and Liz. There were a few TV’s on and while we enjoyed our beverages a funny thing happened which I wrote about back in 2008:

While it looked like a dive from the outside, North Star is actually a pretty cool place. Megan and I got there at 7:30 pm and had ourselves a few pints. Michael and Liz joined us a little later for more drinks and discussion. We learned a few things- the most important being that while Judge Dredd is a silly loud mess of an action movie, if it’s muted on a plasma while there’s music being played from elsewhere the movie is quite enjoyable. Not only that, every patron in the bar will be mesmerized by Stallone and Schneider.

You can read the full post here: ELECTRONIC PURR

Going back to the bar in 2008, at one point we were sitting there watching the movie with the TV on mute and the closed captioning on. The scene with the ABC Warrior terrorizing the Judges occurs and when Armand Assante compliments the angry robot, he makes a grunt. But in the closed captioning it says “Electronic Purr”, which caused everyone in the bar who saw it to laugh.

Just a few weeks ago I’m sitting at my desk and see that Judge Dredd is on. I tune in to find it’s almost the scene with the ABC Warrior. I put on mute and low and behold the closed captioning starts. I wasn’t going to miss it this time.

It’s been a yearly tradition since graduation that Deirdre, Lauren, Alli, Amanda and I go to the first Penn State football game of the season. This year we weren’t able to make it so instead we planned a weekend for everyone to watch a game together. It ended up at my house for the Nebraska game on November 10th. We ended up with more people than I thought: Deirdre, Lauren, Alli, Amanda and myself of course, but also Justine, Dawn, Rachel, Colleen, Paula and Brad. There was much food and drink starting at 12pm and it continued until 1am. We started by watching the close game which ended up with Nebraska’s victory. After that we ventured outside to the park for some football… Brad was so excited he ended up wearing a cape.

Afterwards we relaxed by ordering some pizza and throwing on Beverly Hills Cop which some had never seen. Amanda was such a big fan of the 80′s music she kept dancing during Neutron Dance and anytime they played the theme to the movie. Long story short this ended up with all of us doing The Robot every time the Beverly Hills Cop theme played:

After the movie we played cards for a few hours while we made our way through the Housewarming Party playlist- which included the Beverly Hills Cop theme ironically.

I’ve found that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday thanks to food, family and football. We have a good tradition set where we have brunch at my cousin’s house and watch the first game of the day there. After that we head back to my parents to relax before going to the Sterling’s house for dinner and more football. Lots of food and three football games in one day? Not much can top it. Except Benj wearing an Optimus Prime mask while the game is on.

One afternoon I noticed Digitalism recommended a music video on Facebook for a song called “Rubicon” by Alan Braxe and Fred Falke. I had never heard of them but I decided to check it out, figuring if they liked it I may too. And once more the French have proved they are producing the best music right now. Some of it is modern and electronic while some is a throwback like this music video featuring a girl taking her drivers test in 90′s style to a great song.

After watching a few times I went and picked up their album “The Upper Cuts” by Alan Braxe and Friends. There’s nothing better than finding new music!

The Foo Fighters have always been one of my favorite bands but Dave Grohl remains one of my favorite people. He’s part of Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, and most recently, Them Crooked Vultures. He’s appeared in funny music videos for the Foo’s and Tenacious D plus some skits on SNL. He could’ve been a major movie star if he wasn’t already a rock star. Basically the man can do whatever he wants… and it was time I saw him in concert. When the Foo Fighters announced they were coming to the Wells Fargo Center I wasn’t going to miss it. Colleen and Krystle joined me for one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. The music was amazing, the stage presence was crazy, the crowd was energetic, the set design was awesome and the banter between songs was like a comedy sketch.

Grohl warned the audience the concert would go on as long it possible, with it clocking in at about 3 hours of straight Foo Fighters songs. It began like this:

After 2 and a half hours the band left the stage before what would be a fantastic encore. But to get them back out we had to cheer with them broadcasting live from backstage:

Here’s the setlist:

1. Bridge Burning
2. Rope
3. The Pretender
4. My Hero
5. Learn to Fly
6. White Limo
7. Arlandria
8. Breakout
9. Cold Day in the Sun
10. Stacked Actors
11. Walk
12. Monkey Wrench
13. Let It Die
14. These Days
15. This is a Call
16. In the Flesh (Pink Floyd cover)
17. All My Life

Encore:

1. Wheels (Dave Grohl acoustic)
2. Best of You (Dave Grohl acoustic)
3. Blackbird (The Beatles cover) (Dave Grohl acoustic – one verse only)
4. Times Like These (Dave Grohl solo acoustic into full band)
5. Dear Rosemary (with Bob Mould)
6. Breakdown (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers cover) (with Bob Mould)
7. Everlong

During the encore Grohl played a few acoustic songs in the middle of the stadium with a rising stage. This was to make sure everyone, even in the back, had the best seats at some point. Can’t beat a guy like Grohl.

While Penn State didn’t make it into the Big Ten Championship we thought we’d get together to watch. Steph and Mike organized a party at their place in KOP with me, Colleen and Squeak. We had pizza, card games, mixed drinks, home baked cookies and football.

And Monopoly. Some of us hadn’t played in years- myself included. I happened to be sitting in front of the yellows and greens, noticing Marvin Gardens. I had a strange thought and took a picture with a plan to photoshop something for Jim. The next day out came the Altoona throwback: Garvin Gardens.

Without a doubt it’s been the busiest year I’ve ever had which is probably why it’s somehow over already. But at least it’s rounded out by the holiday season including Hanukkah. As usual we gathered at Brandi’s for lighting the candles and some gift exchanges, mainly for the little ones.

But you’ll be glad to know Optimus was in attendance.