August 13, 2008

What's New? A Concert Review of "Scorpions."

The Dude on the Right got to see a lot of spiders at Charter One Pavilion in Chicago, but they weren't nearly as exciting as the band that the Scorpions was for this concert review.  Sure, the Scorpions' dudes, some of whom have been around for over forty years, and had their first concert in Chicago 29 years ago, might be a little older, and some people might question the legitimacy of their new CD, but for The Dude, who has never seen them before, he just felt that they rock.  If you want to see a band that rocks, and remember the song "Rock You Like a Hurricane," you will probably like seeing the Scorpions, well, rock.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2008

What's New? A Concert Review of The Swell Season.

It took The Dude on the Right about a week to get his concert review of "The Swell Season," you know the duo from the movie "Once," those duo being Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, posted, and as much as he would like to blame computer issues, he probably just needs to get back into the swing of things about writing concert reviews. He loved the movie "Once," and even though, at times, Glen didn't actually relate a story in a way anyone could understand, The Dude, well, he loved the concert.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: A "The Swell Season" Preview, Meeting Family, The Bachelorette, and Missing "Nessun Dorma" on "America's Got Talent."

The Dude on the Right could really use a nap before this podcast about, mainly, going to see "The Swell Season," especially since getting back home was past his normal bedtime, but that's not important because this podcast isn't a full review of the show, just a quick blip at his still liking the folks from the movie "Once." The Dude also talks about some BFF family stuff, he's still watching "The Bachelorette," and is bummed he missed the premier of "America's Got Talent" where some dude did a great version of "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot, complete with Jerry Springer interrupting it, because, well, it's on TV.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: RIP Jeff Healey, GWS Eddie Van Halen, Oops Jimmy Buffett, and Oprah.

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this weekend wrap-up podcast, and as it turns out, the podcast isn't about his weekend at all. Nope, this podcast is about music and Oprah.

On the music side The Dude comments about the passing of Jeff Healey, a fantastic guitarist who also happened to be blind. You might remember his hit "Angel Eyes," but if you love guitar, he is so much more. Continuing on the music side The Dude talks about Van Halen maybe not canceling their tour, just re-arranging a few dates, and laments that he probably won't be seeing Jimmy Buffett at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL, because, well, he's an idiot.

And what would a podcast be without him commenting on Oprah's latest conquest, namely "Oprah's Big Give" winning the ratings for Sunday night Primetime TV.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Hannah Montana, Baseball & Steroids, The Golden Globe Nominations, and Here Comes Santa!

The Dude on the Right is hoping during this podcast that a lot of baseball dudes get together and sue some of the major networks and radio shows for spouting that they did steroids even before the Mitchell Report came out, which then didn't list them. He was also hoping Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus would be adding some new shows near his niece so he could try to get her tickets as the perfect Christmas present.

The Dude was also disappointed that the Golden Globe nominations didn't include "Knocked Up" nor "Superbad" this year, and also wonders if Dewey Cox can out-funny McLovin? He also wants to lose weight next year, but what year doesn't The Dude on the Right not want to lose weight?

Posted by Rightdude at 6:52 PM | Comments (0)

December 9, 2007

Where's the Christmas Spirit, and Hoping to See Concerts.

By: The Dude on the Right
As I waited at the Dude-Pad for the ice storm that the weather folks kept predicting I kept looking out the window for the storm, then went to the hardware store because I needed a new humidifier as my trusty Radio Shack thermometer/hydrometer said I was breathing 27% humidity air, and began trying to get into the Christmas spirit by getting my Christmas tree up. But even with my little winter wonderland in my living room (thought not finished yet), and even with snow on the ground, I'm finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year because right now that spirit is coming in spurts, like it did in my last blog.  That's okay, I suppose, because I've always been a Christmas procrastinator, waiting until the last minute to buy presents, although today I also got my Sunday newspaper with a pre-printed "Holiday" note wishing me the best in the holiday season, complete with a self-addressed, but not stamped, envelope, and wondering if this will finally be the year I tip my newspaper driver girl, and if so, how much?

And with holiday tipping being a perplexing quandary, whether it be the newspaper delivery person, the mail person, the garbage people (and since we've got recycling and garbage pick-up do I have to tip the both of them?), I at least did see a movie over the weekend that I didn't like, that being "The Golden Compass," I did get some new movie previews done for the website, I'm halfway through the second DVD of special features for "Superbad" so that DVD review should be posted this week, I have some hopes that I'll be able to cover Jonathon Brandmeier and his Leisure Suits this week, as well as the teaming up of Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne, and I'll also finish my Christmas display to finally give me something to keep me in the spirit every time I walk by it, at least until after Christmas when I then have to dread taking down my Christmas crap, I mean spirit.

And I still wonder, where is my ice storm today?

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

What's New? A Concert Review of Shaw/Blades.

Even though a car crash delayed The Dude on the Right's arrival to the concert, and even though it took The Dude an hour to get his car out of valet after the show, he still had a fabulous time during the Shaw/Blades concert portion of his evening, and tells you so in his review. If you are a fan of acoustic guitar and harmonies, The Dude highly recommends you check the boys out, but in the meantime you should read The Dude's review.

Posted by Rightdude at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2007

149,999 Garth Brooks' Fans Probably Missed Fantastic.

By: The Dude on the Right
Well my getting back to seeing concerts has gotten off to a shaky start. First my going to see Jonathon Brandmeier was derailed by some bad tacos, then I lost my ticket for seeing Garth Brooks on a movie screen, but at least seeing Shaw/Blades last night went swimmingly great (other then the fiasco after the show thanks to the valet parking people), but if all goes well my review of Shaw/Blades should be posted tomorrow, along with an explanation of said fiasco.

Right now, though, as bummed as I was at missing Garth on the movie theater, this afternoon, after I got back home after seeing "No Country for Old Men," it’s probably better that I lost my ticket. Why? Because rather than just feeling that I set a lighter to a ten dollar bill, had I gone to the Garth Brooks’ movie show my concert review might have started something like "I used to be a huge fan of Garth Brooks, but now I’m just a pissed-off fan. Here’s why…"

"Why" would have been because from the news reports, and the message boards, during the final show in Kansas City that was broadcast at the theaters, after about an hour and a half Garth played "The Dance," the simulcast ended, and the folks in the movie theaters around the country were sent home, yet Garth Brooks was still playing songs in Kansas City, for what one news story said was about 45 minutes more, which, as a fan of music, a fan of concerts, and a fan of Garth, would actually have been the 45 minutes I would have wanted to see. He still did some songs we know, but it’s when he does non-Garth songs, and an impromptu "Happy Birthday," those are the things fans dream about seeing.

Looking back, on the memory of, oh, wait, I guess I got caught up in the moment of Garth, but there was nothing in the press release I read that said anything about "You will get to see most of the last Garth Brooks’ concert if you spend your ten bucks to see him on a movie screen, but if you want to see the entire show maybe you should make your way to Kansas City because there will probably be some scalpers selling tickets for the show." The only thing I can guess is the Garth Brooks’ machine was worried about people trying to bootleg the entire concert in the theaters, what with internet piracy and all, but if Garth puts out a DVD of the Kansas City shows, with everything he played (or at least some of the medleys), I would almost bet my townhouse that it will hit the internet before it’s actually released.

The press release also mentioned that more than 150,000 people would be seeing the show via the movie theater, and I don’t know if that number was accurate after the fact, nor how the $1.5 millionish gets divvied up, but the almost odd thing is that Garth fans have been so jonsen for anything live from Garth Brooks that they (the movie screen concert folks) don’t seem to care much that they missed the last 45ish minutes of the show (my calculation is that each person at the theater was gypped a little over three bucks), and they also missed what actually sounds like the coolest part of the concert. I only get this indifference from the message boards where I read postings from people who went to the movie theater shows being disappointed at not seeing the entire show, but they were just happy to see Garth live.

Me, I would have just been pissed.  And yes, happy to see Garth live.

Luckily for Garth I can’t return my already opened CD/DVD set of "The Ultimate Hits," and I pretty much set a torch to my ticket (by losing it) without seeing him on the big screen, but it does make me sad that folks who went to the movie theater only really saw two-thirds of Garth.

I didn’t mean for this blog to get this long, but even though I didn’t make it to my movie theater because of my own boneheadedness, a whole lot of people did and missed Garth going from "stiff" to an ending that sounded fantastic. If the 150,000 count of movie people is accurate, at least 149,999 people missed fantastic.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2007

November 2007 Might Get Me Back to Concerts.

By: The Dude on the Right
Maybe it was my excitement of getting a ticket to see Garth Brooks at my local movie theater, or maybe it's just because I need to finally get out of my "not reviewing concerts" funk, or maybe I just need to get the fuck out the dude-pad and quit watching TV, or maybe I need to get back with the concert going people, but as look back with regret at all of the concerts I've missed for the year, the end of October and most of November finally might get me off of my ass to review some concerts in Chicagoland.  There are a ton of shows I would like to see, oddly most not legendary (Neil Young and John Fogerty aside), but shows I know have the potential for something great like Kid Rock at the Aragon Brawlroom, I mean Aragon Ballroom, or Sammy Hagar at the "way-to-nice-although-George Thorogood-played there too" Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, IL.  If I can pull it off quick enough I would like to see "Augustana" at the House of Blues to close October, and as much as I love Marc Cohn, I've never seen Kelly Clarkson and always wanted to, and she's at the Chicago Theater next week.  A Saturday tosses a decision of shooting for radio dude Jonathon Brandmeier in a crazy Sundance Saloon v. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at a not so crazy Vic Theatre, and then, if I can't get a chance to see Garth Brooks live and in the flesh early in his 9 show stint in Kansas City, I'm sure Stu Gotz would like to see Tori Amos wiggling on her piano stool at the Auditorium Theatre.

And that's only half of November.

Continuing, as much as I would like to see Gary Allan opening up for Keith Urban at the Allstate Arena, I'm thinking I'll like the Shaw/Blades (that's Tommy Shaw from Styx and other bands, and Jack Blades from Night Ranger and other bands) show at Joe's on Weed Street a hell of a lot better if I can get there early enough to get a spot at the front of the stage for photo purposes.  Then there is Vanessa Carlton at the perfect Park West, and even though she has a new album out I would like to see her play "White Houses" (even though Steve Dahl in Chicago at WCKG couldn't seem to get a line in the song right when it came out), but the Thanksgiving holiday might throw a monkey wrench into my seeing  "The Swell Season," the group of musicians from the movie "Once" whom I've come to love lately.

As October comes to a close I'm guessing I'll miss "Hall & Oates" at The Vic due to a reunion weekend, but as December hits, on the 1st, a new dilemma comes:  Shoot for Billy Joel at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates or stake my spot at the reunion dinner.

The end of October, all of November, and the beginning of December have so many choices.  I suppose I just better get off of my ass and make some, choices that is.  And quit watching so much damn TV.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The Dude does Movies, Stu does Jewel, The Dude Walks, and Stu MySims.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!", don't believe the title about Stu Gotz doing Jewel, he only went to see Jewel in concert thanks to Mama Gotz. Stu, also, didn't enjoy the lovely weekend weather in Chicagoland, instead he forgot "Sweetest Day" and walkthrough'd his MySims game. The Dude on the Right, though, got out of his mourning the loss of the Cleveland Indians and into his afternoon by talking about the Chicago Bears win. The Dude also tells Stu about some movies he saw, and dreams of being on "Wheel of Fortune." The Dude's dreams don't reach that high sometimes.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:36 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2007

I've Got a Ticket for Garth Brooks!

By: The Dude on the Right
I can't believe it!  After all of these years I am going to see him in concert again!  No, it's not Bruce Springsteen (he wanted almost a hundred bucks for his concert tickets), nor Rick Springfield.  No, it's not Neil Diamond, nor is it Wayne Newton (thankfully he's finally off "Dancing With the Stars.")  And no, it's not even Roger Waters.

I'm going to see the one and only Garth Brooks, in concert, at the Kerasotes ShowPlace 16, in Naperville, IL.  And StubHub be damned, it's only costing me eleven bucks (damn Fandango fee)!

Yup, there it was, Friday morning, and as I was getting ready to see "The Comebacks" I remembered tickets for Garth were going on sale that morning.  So I fired up my computer, headed to the Garth Brooks website, clicked on the link to buy tickets, and they kept sending me to the Fathom Events' site which was obviously overloaded, and it was just like trying to get home opener tickets for the Chicago Cubs - I kept getting denied any access.  Then it occurred to me, and I headed to the Fandango website, and sure enough, with minutes I had it:  My receipt that I would have a ticket to see the man, the myth, the legend, the dude who won't tour until his kids are grown - Garth Brooks.

And it only cost me eleven bucks (ten bucks for the ticket, one buck for the Fandango folks)!

Okay, sure, I'll be in Naperville, IL., during a concert that is actually taking place in Kansas City, MO., but the ten dollar cost actually got my investigative interest up, namely what will it be like to attend a "concert" at my local gigaplex?  I know they don't serve beer at my local movie theater so I'm guessing there won't be an issue of the dude behind me dumping his beer down the back of my shirt.  I know you can't smoke, but I also wonder if the smell of some wacky-weed might permeate the air at times?   Will people be using their cell phones as "lighters" during some of the reflective songs?  Will I be able to use my iPhone to take a picture of the screen?

The other thing that I really wonder is if there is a "secondary" demand for tickets to see Garth Brooks at a movie theater.  After I figured out the Fandango option, and got my single ticket, I wondered if I should have bought the maximum allowed, maybe even "invested" money across these United States, to buy as many tickets for a Garth Brooks concert at a movie theater, and then simply tried to double my money.  Could I have used Craigslist, eBay, StubHub, or any other of the many places to post tickets for sale, and then made a little more money on the handling part of the "shipping and handling" of the transaction?  But no, I was too lazy, hell, I didn't even ask any of my friends who are Garth Brooks fans if they wanted to go, so if I can get my ass out the door, on November 14th, I'm going to see Garth Brooks on my movie screen.

And now all I can really think is "Can Garth Brooks actually put on a concert to excite a group of people watching him at a movie theater?"  If he can Garth might go down as the best entertainer, ever, otherwise I'll just be kind of pissed that I didn't stay at home and watch "Bionic Woman."

Now all I've got to do is figure out how to see him live, in Kansas City, MO.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:57 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

Garth Brooks Still Isn't Touring, but He Might be at Your Movie Theater (sort of).

By: The Dude on the Right
I can't believe I wasn't paying attention on this, but over the weekend Garth Brooks has so far lived up to his promise of not touring, yet did sell out nine shows in November in the musical mecca that is Kansas City, MO.  He's opening up the new Sprint Center in good ol' K.C., and had I been paying attention I almost might have tried to get a couple of tickets and make the 7 hour and 43 minute trip (according to Google Maps) to catch the show.  But, alas, I wasn't paying attention, and he pretty much has sold out all nine dates in like 5 minutes (okay, a little longer than that, but it was Hannah Montana quick).

Now none of that sounds that weird, I guess he already made a previous commitment to do a concert or nine there, but the interesting announcement was made a few days later, at the official opening of the Sprint Center, where Garth announced one of the shows would be simulcast to movie theaters across the United States.  Most likely it will be handled by Fathom Events, since this is already what they do, and they have a quick blurb on their website announcing it, but no specifics are set yet.  The thing is, other than not actually being at the live event, squinting to see Garth on stage from a million miles away where you find yourself, a lot of the times, just watching the giant video screens anyway, might it be almost just as cool to see him on your movie screen where if you take a picture with your camera phone you might just get a decent picture of Garth?  Okay, fine, I don't think so either, but if he still has that kind of demand for live concert tickets, it will be damn interesting to see the demand to see him on the big screen, and how will the ticket scalpers handle that?

And you thought getting tickets for a venue that holds 18,000+ difficult.

For a lot of you Garth fans, seeing him at your local gigaplex might be your only chance to "see" Garth Brooks, live in concert, at least until his kids are grown, unless, of course, he has so much fun in Kansas City that he decides to take his kids on what might be the most exciting "see the world" experience of their lives.  If not, well, hopefully you can still get free refills on that bucket o' popcorn when you see him on the big screen, if you can actually get a ticket.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2007

Garth Brooks Probably Isn't Touring, and I Missed Dreaming of Boobs.

By: The Dude on the Right
At first I was going to blog about going to see the Chicago Cubs play yesterday, how it was cool to see the flyovers because the Air & Water Show is in town, and how my friends and I were actually on TV during the broadcast. But partially since I haven’t been able to dub the video yet as proof we were on TV, but more because I sort of feel duped, or at least stupid, so I thought I would write a little about Garth Brooks.

You might be thinking something right now like "Garth Brooks?  Isn't he retired?" to which I would reply, "So I thought," but it started last night, when I finally got home from the Cubs' game and checked my Google homepage.  It has some links to RSS feeds I read, and one was from the Cleveland Plain Dealer mentioning Garth preparing a comeback, "a new three-disc album, and, quite possibly, a concert tour."  It mentioned a press conference at www.garthbrooks.com this morning.  So I go to the web site and sure enough, there is a header stating "You've heard the rumors, now get the answers.  Straight from Garth Brooks."

For whatever reason I totally bought into a blurb, in a blog, from a newspaper in Cleveland, OH, and quickly posted an entry at our sister-site, mostlyentertainment.com rumoring about a tour.  Then I went to bed with visions of Garth putting out an unprecedented release of new material, going back on tour, and dragging our staff member Trash to another concert and press conference where she can stare at his butt.

So, I woke up this morning, didn't get myself a gun, but I did do some more internet searching wondering about this wondrous announcement.  I checked Billboard, checked CMT, checked here and there and everywhere, but there didn't seem to be any "surprise" announcements.  And as my morning was progressing I had two options:  Sit around and wait for Garth's press conference, supposedly to be carried online, at 11:45AM my time, or go and see "Superbad."  Thank God I went to see "Superbad."

After laughing a lot in the theater I got back home, eager to see news of the press conference on the Garth Brooks web site.  Nothing, it still just showed the announcement of a press conference (figured they would at least have a replay link somewhere).  No headlines on Yahoo, nothing new on Google, then I went to the planetgarth.com site to see if they had anything, but there wasn't any new news on their homepage, either.  I remembered they had a forum area, surely something has to be listed there, and finally I found out that Garth Brooks squashed most of the visions that were dancing in my head the night before.

Now, although the Cleveland newspaper blog wasn't exactly wrong, from what I have found out Garth will be releasing a "box" set called "The Ultimate Hits" which will include 30 old songs you probably own, and four new songs, with the first single being "More Than a Memory."  The box will also include a DVD featuring 33 videos of the 34 songs in the box.  Garth said he doesn't plan on touring but will promoting the bejesus out of the thing, and from what most of the Planet Garth posted said, Garth is looking hot as ever, looking to have lost a good deal of weight.

With the news announcement, and being selfish I will put this out to Garth:

Dear Garth,
I know you are loving spending time with your daughters, and with Trisha, but if you ever wanted to tour, and give your girls an experience of their lifetime, you may not have a better time than now.  Right now your daughters are at that age when you still have a little bit of control, and if you took them on tour with you, especially with a double bill with Trisha, you could pull off that world tour that lets them see the world, in ways they could never imagine, all under the protective watch of their Dad.  They get to see the world, we get to see, again, one of the greatest concert performers of all time, your daughters get to spend your money buying lots of stuff around the world (oh, wait, scratch that last remark), and they get introduced to some of the safer ways to experience the world rather than finding out, in their late teens or early twenties, their ways to experience the world.  Yes, this is sort of selfish of me, because I would love to see you in concert again, but I'm just throwing it out there for you, because unlike the McGraw kids, your daughters are old enough to forever remember a tour with you.
Sincerely,
The Dude on the Right

P.S.  I'll still buy "The Ultimate Hits," because I'm a fan, but damn, I miss you man.

And so, letter to Garth aside, I feel bummed that I let myself get roped into the wind of internet rumor, about a tour, and 30 new songs.  I should have done a little bit more internet searching before going to bed last night so that visions of the girl with nice boobs behind me at the Cubs' game danced in my head rather than that vision of Garth touring, but then again, at a Garth concert, there are lots of girls with nice boobs.  Garth, please give me a three disc set of new material (I've got some songs if you want) and a new tour, rather than a box set of old stuff, and only four things that are new.  You know what, as I think about it, never mind - I don't have daughters and I don't have a wife - I guess I can't understand.  Wait a minute, that's a country song, and it's mine, unless, Garth, you want ...

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2006

What's New? A Concert Review of Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.

For this review of Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, The Dude on the Right, again, forgot some rules about seeing some concerts. He had a great time, looks forward to the band's next CD, but wishes he had worn more comfortable shoes, and realized he should have gotten there a few minutes earlier.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:47 PM | Comments (0)

October 5, 2006

What's New? A Concert Review of Roger Waters.

For this concert review of Roger Waters, here in 2006, The Dude on the Right blames himself for not seeing Roger earlier. He also wonders if Roger Waters gets in trouble for the Pig getting loose, wishes he could have tracked the Pig and put it up on Ebay, and doesn't mind Roger getting political. In the end, the music makes him forget about those things.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2006

A Roger Waters' Concert Review is Coming Soon, Thanks to The Mystery Dude.

By: The Dude on the Right
If all goes well as planned for this week, tomorrow comes another podcast, this time a solo me o, and over the weekend, a return to the concert scene with a review of Roger Waters as he makes his way to Illinois.  And I can't believe I even did a CD review yesterday, that being "Face the Promise" from Bob Seger.

My choice for seeing Roger Waters came about in a weird way because I was torn, and still am bummed at who I am missing. I've been looking to get back to concerts again after a brief return last year, and had my sights set on this upcoming weekend.  Two acts I love were playing, one of course being Roger Waters, the other being The Cathy Richardson Band, sadly on the same day.  Stu Gotz tried to help me get through my dilemma on who to see, based simply upon web traffic (Roger Waters), but I also had in my head the act I hadn't seen in a while and always enjoyed, and that was Cathy Richardson and her band.  But then an e-mail from staff member, The Mystery Dude, pretty much decided it would be Mr. Waters.  He had a quartet of tickets for the Roger Waters' show, and was looking forward to a little "reunion" of a group of us who went to college together, and thoroughly enjoy Roger Waters.  So my decision was pretty much made for me, and with one concert review, this will hopefully get my off my ass to get "The Concert Hall" section back up and humming again.

So my apologies to Cathy Richardson and her band, because had it not been for a "reunion" of some of my best friends, I would have probably headed your way.  In any case here's hoping seeing Roger Waters kicks me in the ass again to get back on the concert trail.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:47 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2005

No apologies, only excuses.

By: The Dude on the Right
I was going to write that I apologize for not updating my blog in about a week, but you know what, I don't apologize, I just have excuses. Excuse 1: In preparation for my trip to the old country, alright, just Ohio, I spent way too many hours trying to get a wireless internet adapter to work in my old laptop that would just keep crashing my laptop because my laptop is too old and this adapter doesn't work with lowly Windows ME. Sadly, all of that time was wasted anyway because my brother still has his wireless hub set at slow speed instead of fast speed anyway so my laptop card was fine anyway. Excuse 2: In preparation for my trip to the old country, alright, still just Ohio, I felt it necessary to upgrade my virus software on my laptop so when I check my e-mail I would be safe. Eventually I got it working, but it's really hard to do when you're too stubborn to realize that the wireless adapter in Excuse 1 was causing all of your problems and not the anti-virus installation. Excuse 3: The Dude on the Left and I went to see George Thorogood and The Destroyers on Wednesday night. The show was great, but by the time I got back, all I wanted to do was quickly see if some of the photos turned out and go to bed. Excuse 4: All packed up and ready to go, I headed back to the old country, yes, still just Ohio, on Thursday, getting in in time to go to bed. Excuse 5: After intending to start getting some work done while at the old country, fine, Ohio, I was still struggling with my laptop trying to connect to the home connection because I was too stubborn to ditch my new wireless adapter in favor of my old adapter, and then finally, I switched back to my old adapter when low-and-behold, all began working like it should have in the first place. I'm such a dope. Excuse 6: I intended to write a blog while I was in Ohio, I mean, the old country, when it occurred to me that I had left my blogging software passwords sitting on my desk in the new country, I mean Illinois, so the blogging update went out the window. And to top that off, there, in my computer in the new country, was stored my movie preview template, which I failed to upload, or is that download, I always get that backwards, but in any case, I never transferred it over to my laptop so I would have 90% of my movie preview work done, all I would need to do was finish the preview portion and I would be able to post a ton of them upon my return. Excuse 7: Traveling back to the new country from the old country, alright, from Ohio to Illinios, nearing the Ohio/Indiana border, I thought about writing a blog when I got home, but well, didn't, as doing laundry and just getting situated back at home got in the way. Excuse 8: The Dude on the Left had an extra ticket to the Cubs/Braves game Monday night, a game which sucked because the Cubs lost because they suck, and hopefully we can finally stick a fork in the Cubs' chances for the postseason because they are done. Getting back late, I really needed some sleep because I had some consulting to do today.

But now, I'm back! Yay!!! Next time I travel I hope to remember at least my blog password (that's a drawback of letting your computer remember your passwords for you I guess) to do some kind of update on the road, although, in all honesty, the weekend Jimmy Buffett is playing at Wrigley Field over Labor Day, I have a feeling I'll have a lot more excuses why I didn't get any updates during those few days, and I also have to admit, liquor will probably be involved with at least one, if not all of those excuses.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

Green Day Rocked, and My Pictures Came Out All Right

By: The Dude on the Right
This is a quick blog entry, but in case you cared, and you probably don't in the end, Green Day kicked ass, although I have to admit that I did feel a little awkward in the audience, well at least for the parents of the younger kids, when things got a little, hmm, risqué, but that explanation will wait for the review.  Anyway, sitting in the dude-mobile after the show, I scrolled through the photos on my new camera.  I figured I did pretty well for the first time out, although I probably should have used my shorter lens, and as much as I forgot all of my rules of going to the Allstate Arena, and was paranoid it would take me about an hour to get out of the parking lot because I was parked in front of a light pole, low and behold I forgot that teens know exactly how to get out of a parking lot, one in three will be nice enough to let you into the exit line, and Rosemont knows how to get those lots cleared of the troublemakers that might be Green Day fans.

The review will be coming in the next few days as Wimp finishes up his side and I tighten up my comments, and I have to sort of figure out how to really handle the photos I downloaded from my camera.  I did a quick shrinking of a couple of them for this blog entry, but there are quite a few good ones I just need to frame a little better and maybe sharpen the color balance.

It should be a busy weekend with "Deuce Bigalow:  European Gigolo" and other movies opening this weekend, finishing up the Green Day review, and updating a bunch of movie previews.  I was actually looking forward to Kelly Clarkson clearance but that doesn't look like it is going to happen as I write this.  Oh well, maybe next time.

That's it for this one!  I'm  The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:23 PM | Comments (0)

August 9, 2005

Green Day and Prayers

By: The Dude on the Right
I must say that I am both excited and a little nervous to cover Green Day at the Allstate Arena on August 10th. I'm excited because as much as I used to enjoy Green Day and their style of music, I am even more of a fan after seeing their performance on Live 8. I was watching the AOL feed of something going on somewhere else when they nicely put a note up that Green Day was getting ready to go on stage in Germany. I quickly switched to the feed from Germany to catch their performance, and they just totally kicked ass. When I started a couple of weeks ago to get back into covering concerts, I was more than pleased to see they were coming to town, and hopeful I would get clearance. The review should be posted Friday or Saturday. But why am I nervous? It's my first photo shoot with my new camera. I'm all digital, baby, and I've done my preliminary testing and playing with the damn thing, but nothing is like being in the heat of a concert photo shoot to see if things work out. The batteries are charged, the memory cards are empty and ready, I just hope I don't screw it up.

On a more heavy note, my prayers to the family of Peter Jennings who passed away from lung cancer the other day, and also to Dana Reeve and her family, as she announced today, after I heard on Howard Stern that it was going to be in The Enquirer, that she has been diagnosed with lung cancer. I'll also send a general prayer to all of those out there going through the same type of thing because in ways I won't give up here, I understand. The human body is a strange being. For some people they are able to smoke all of their lives and never have a problem, others get riddled with lung problems, and others who may never really have smoked, they still get afflicted with the challenge of cancer.

That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:23 PM | Comments (0)

August 3, 2005

Neil Diamond Rocks, Ain't No Surprise

By: The Dude on the Right
It was a hot August night a couple of nights ago, August 1st for that matter, and it marked the return of this Dude to the concert reviewing scene.  Oddly enough I picked up where I left off back in 2001, reviewing Neil Diamond at the United Center here in Chicago (okay, fine, technically I reviewed Neil in Cleveland back in 2001, but I took the pictures at the United Center).  This show was great, at least if you are a Neil Diamond fan.  I suppose if he's not really your cup of tea, you would wonder why in God's name anyone would go and see him, but his legions of fans span the age groups, and the fashion groups, and even though the dude is in his 60's, Neil Diamond rocks, ain't no surprise.

And so we are back on the concert scene.  Neil Diamond a couple of days ago, Green Day next week, and hopefully some Velvet Revolver, Kelly Clarkson, George Thorogood, Kenny Chesney, and Motley Crue before month's end.  As usual for us, we are back trying to cover just about any genre under the sun.

But back to getting back to the concert scene.  For me, it was exciting again.  I stopped covering concerts for a variety of reasons.  Some of them were good, some of them were bad, some of them were just lazy, but as I knelt there with my camera in hand, about 30 feet from the stage, I really wondered if I could still handle concert photos.  Hell, it's been almost four years since I shot a show, and since that time a photographer dude I know, Barry, had graduated from film to digital, complete with some giant lenses, and there I was, with my old film driven Minolta and my trusty Sigma 70 - 210mm f2.8 lens, looking kinda inadequate compared to my buddy and the other newspaper photo dudes.  Yet there I was, back again, and I have to tell you, as the lights went down and the band came on the stage, all of the photographer instincts came back.

I will admit that it wasn't my best concert photo shoot, and yes, as I scanned in my negatives into the scanner I instantly realized some digital editing would be needed (mostly a little sharpening), but for the most part, I am pleased with my work, although I would have liked to have gotten more pictures of the band and back-up singers because if you are in any way familiar with my photo taking at concerts, I try to include everyone in the band.

I'll end today's blog with a quick shout-out to Sherry for helping with the clearance for the show, and to Kathleen for clearing out the dude blocking the isle and just her help.  The plus for the day was when I got home and there was an e-mail in my inbox.  I had clearance for Green Day, and for a year in which myself and a couple of friends would like a do-over because it hasn't been the best of years for us so far, I got excited again, and realized that I just don't like going to see a concert, what I really love is covering a concert.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:45 PM | Comments (0)