MURS on Monday and Obama too

MURS' album "MURS for President" comes out Tuesday, and the Living Legends mc will be playing a free show up in Boulder tomorrow, 9/29, at b.side lounge, 9 p.m. First come first in. They'll pack in about 200 people. After that, he's stopping by Independent Records on Colfax in Denver. 11:30 p.m. -ish to sign stuff. Check.it.out!



He's like Obama. Dropping back in Colorado once again after a stop during the DNC. Which by the way, if you hurry to Obama's campaign offices in Golden and Thornton, you can get free tickets for Obama's appearance tomorrow in Westminster.

McCainiacs vs. Bro-bamas

We watched the Obama-McCain debate w/ Drinking Liberally at the Skylark. It was a packed house, standing room only, and the first time I've watched a debate where people were cheering at the TV screen for things like health care and policy in Afghanistan. You can watch future debates at the Skylark if you missed this one. Get there 15-30 minutes ahead if you want a seat. And here, the Debate Watch Drinking Game from last night (DL adapted it from TheSeminal.com):

_ Every time John McCain mentions his POW experience, praise his courage and drink
_ Every time Obama says change drink
_ Every time John McCain tries to associate Barack Obama with an unsavory character, take a sip
_ Every time someone says bailout you have to finish your drink and pour another
_ Every time John McCain says "my friends," spit out your drink and shout "I am not your friend" at the television
_ Every time "eveil," "evil doers" or anything with evil is mentioned, drink a sip of French red wine
_ Every time John McCain threatens Iran, drink a savage car bomb or cherry bomb
_ Everytime Barack Obama ties John McCain to George W. Bush drink a sloe gin fizz and wish for better days
_ Every time John McCain displays how hopelessly out of touch he is drink an old bastard
_ Every time John McCain refers to the USSR or any other nonexistent formerly communist country get ready to ride the red tide
_ When Georgia is mentioned, drink a fuzzy navel
_ Every time John McCain mentions Sarah Palin, drink a white Russian. After all, if Sarah Palin is around there must be a Russian nearby somewhere
_ Every time John McCain smiles creepily drink
_ If anyone mentions a golden parachute, pound some goldschlager
_ Every time John McCain makes an appeal to states' rights, lean back and take a sip of that sweet Southern Comfort
_ When NATO membership is mentioned, clink glasses with everyone around you and attack anyone who refuses to clink
_ If John McCain doesn't show up, lock yourself inside and sip Jack Daniels all night

Chewie

Chewbacca Bukkake played the outdoor patio at the Meadowlark last night. Awesome venue at the corner of Cornstalks and Sunflowers on a great autumn night that felt like summer, and a fun, fun band. You've got the vocals of fashionista/bingo caller/front chickie Brandi Shigley, the best whistling this side of Larimer from Johnny Morehouse, a string bass, turntables and that's just for starters. Way more fun live than their MySpace page might suggest. Look for them again Oct. 29 at the Hi-Dive with Popwreck and Love Like Fire for $6.

6 barack obamas

Recommended reading (from delicatessen friend Andrew)

Christo & Jeanne-Claude

Notes on Christo and Jeanne-Claude:
_ Their greatest outdoor works have been temporary. Then people who come to see can say they were there, and it's a precious moment. But The Mastaba, which is a work in progress, will most likely be permanent because it will cost an estimated $500 million. Very rough estimate. But it's supposed to be about 500 feet tall and involve 400,000+ stacked oil barrels
_ C+J have people help them erect their grand outdoor art pieces. But the helpers aren't volunteers. They don't use the 'V' word. Because you can't get workmen's compensation for volunteers, for one thing. So all their helpers are paid and given a meal. For The Gates in Central Park, their team found hundreds online.
_ The deaths with The Umbrellas: freak accident. At least the one in California. There were 90 mph winds, and the umbrellas were tested for 60 mph, or about the highest winds that had been recorded there previously

Forecast

_ TONIGHT, 9/18: Christo and Jeanne-Claude (put hundreds of umbrellas up in Tokyo and California, and also hung a curtain across a highway in Rifle here in Colorado; next they want to hang 6 miles of fabric over the Arkansas River) give a free lecture tonight @ Denver Performing Arts Complex/Buell Theatre. 5:30 p.m. You need tickets though, and they're all gone, so good luck finding someone who can't go at the last minute. Lurk outside

_ 9/21: Left Hand Brewing Co. celebrates its 15th anniversary! $2 beers. Cash only. 1 p.m.-8 p.m. 1265 Boston Ave in Longmont.

_ 9/27: Brain Farm's snowboard movie featuring Travis Rice, "That's It. That's All," plays @ the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. 8 p.m. $10. It's a Saturday.

_ 10/29: David Sedaris speaks at CU, Macky Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. $42+. Buy tix thru Boulder Theater

Flobots :: outtakes

With four shows and numerous appearances at rallies during DNC week, Flobots were everywhere, and they were gracious in taking photos with fans and talking to interviewers. Random quotes from the week:

BRER RABBIT:
_ Before the Iraq Veterans Against the War protest march: "I'm not looking to be arrested at all. I've spent a good part of my life trying not to be arrested. When I turned 25, we celebrated that I wasn't arrested. Just because the statistics for African-Americans..."
_ Only time he's been tear-gased: After the Broncos won the Super Bowl, the first time
_ He turned 30 on the road, in Minnesota.
_ Flobots started out as a high school project with something like 8 MCs. The first album was a cassette tape called "Masters of the Universe," "Which I refused to be on," he says. "All the cats had a jam session. I missed it because I was doing something responsible like homework. They came up and they were like, we came up with the best name ever. FLOBOTS! I said, That's the dumbest thing I ever heard of in my life! I refused to be involved because I was bitter."

Jesse talks with a bud:



_ They've gone in to Northglenn high School to work with kids on music. Also Denver Children's Home.
_ Their ascent: KTCL-FM started playing "Handlebars." It made the local rotation. Then in a contest, that song was one of the ones up for people's vote. Nerf at KTCL said the phones rang off the hook asking about the song. He'd never seen a reaction to a local song like that before. It was the same story around the country as stations would play it. "It's the people that made the difference in us blowing up," says guitarist Andy.

JONNY 5:
_ There's a Langston Hughes poem, "Let America be America Again." It says
"Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be."
We're not going to wait for America to be America again. We're going to build a different kind of country...
_ On his vision for a different America: Imagine if the U.S. were seen as a resource around global peacemaking. We've invested a lot of resources toward war. What if we invested in a department of peace. It sounds weird but ...