Merry

Hey ya'all... resident harp player here....

Just thought I would make a quick post to tell you all a very Merry one.  New Years is generally a bigger deal for yours truely... so look for something good then.  Regardless....

When I was growing up.. back in the day... I was brought up with the whole Santa Claus thing... but the wrinkle was, my Pops letting me hang in the kitchen way past bedtime listening to a guy by the name of Bob Collins broadcasting out of WGN radio in Chi-Town.  A huge blues fan, and generally one of the best DJ's of all time.  Played everything from soup to nuts on the radio...  So as is tradition, even back in the day, at the end of Christmas, Dad and I would call it a night with Eddie C Cambell, playing Santa's messin wit tha kid.  So for the hell of it, I google Bob Collins... and the show they published out on the interweb;  The last show I listened to live with pops....  Unreal.  Get a taste here:  http://wgnradio.com/shows/collins_bob/audio/index.htm  No Eddie C on this night... but regardless... a blast from the past.

With that being said...  Merry Christmas to you all.... It's been a helluva ride... and I somehow think it's just begun.

Best to you and yours.... and remeber, if your reading this.... we are still part of this ride.  Be safe on this holiday, and toast those that have passed, those that are still here, and those that are strangely inbetween.  

All my best....

mouse

It's 3am do you know where your Harp Player is?

Jammin congas with Jon French. That's where.

Well here I am Bloggin again. I don't have mad Madden skillz like Fat Todd but I do have a very humble heart after the bomb ass stuff he said. That's all I can say about that... period.

Tonight's short blog is summed up quite quickly.... with the term humbled.

Last night the Shibs rocked the Alchemy. Small Small bar and we were told we were loud. I'm not going to go into it too much, not really worth it, but if you wanted to see Randy Shib fit in an elevator, you saw it last night.

So off to my point. Tonight I went to Heathers with Jillian and Andi (not Fat Todd, the Judo Champion (not making that up)). Johnny was working and he pours a drink... well a WICKED drink. We leave there and head down to the Waters Edge... this lil dive in Stoughton. Cool Front was playing there and Ironically, this was the first place I had ever jammed live 9 years ago now.... with this band. So, by law, I had to go.

While Jillian took Andi home, this very drunk guy comes up to me, asks if I'm Mike Jr. and proceeds to tell me words that I will never forget. After he confirmed that I'm a midget racer, he tells me that my pops told him that the night I won my first feature was the best day of his life. Now pops never said anything of the sort to me... only said that I was fucking crazy (anyone who reads the blog could have said that) for racing and I should just play some harmonica. Well I am pops... I'm playing some harp. And if your listening... I'm playin the blues for you.

In the end, I jammed some Santana again, Colin thanks for helping me learn the congas Err C-Boogie, and the night was good..... but the random stranger put a tear in my eye... and made me once again realize.. it's all perspective, we are still in the game, still part of the ride, and we should cherish that fact.

Till next time.....

Mouse

The life of Fat Todd...session 1

First and foremost...I want to say congrats to Mikey and Jillian on their engagement. Mike showed me the ring after the show at Lucky's Friday night...very very nice, unlike anything I've ever seen. After knowing Mike for some time now, I've come to realize that when he does something, he does it big. Want to get some booze...Mike gets 5 bottles...one for each of us. Car just got hit by a deer...Mike will fix it for you. Need a plunger...Mike hands you two. Want to get married...Mike designs a ring himself. You get the point. Anyways, after a tough 2 week stretch...I'm glad to see that everything ended up just swell for both Mike and Jillian. Hell yeah man.

So some good things are in the works for The SHIBS...full details are soon to follow...or as soon as I get the word that I can tell the public. We are getting sponsored by Dickies, our publicist Shirley is working on our next tour, and it looks like we are looking to branch out in different regions of the United States. I can't wait.

In other news...I played a video game for the first time in over a year (with the exception of a couple games of Wii bowling, tennis, and MarioKart). Colin and I cranked up my original Playstation last week and played a riveting game of NCAA Football '99. With the score tied up at 16 with just over a minute to play in the 4th quarter and Colin's extra point pending...turns out the extra point is still pending as the Playstation stalled on us...it was pretty old. We were bummed out. However, this past Saturday, we played a little game of Madden '06 on Playstation 2 to settle the score...and I won 46-35. I thought Colin would beat me since he owns Madden...but the win was as easy as a freshman chick at a frat party. Share that simile with your friends and family.

Some things to note...my college friends and I have our 6th Annual Holiday Sweater Party coming up on the Dec. 20th...I'll be sure to blog after that one. Also, it just happens to be the worlds' original sweater party as it all began in 2003. Seems like everyone and their mom has a sweater party of some sort now...but just so you all know...we started it...it's a scientific fact. Also, the Polar Plunge is coming up on Jan. 3rd. This will be my 3rd year jumping...and all for a good cause.

Well that's all I got right now...random thoughts are coming. I have a feeling this blog is going to turn into something we all don't want...random thoughts from Fat Todd...wow...change the title...song done. I love you.

What's that smell... oh yeah.... Another Blog from mouse

Hey y'all. Fat Todd says that he will just start bloggin about what-eva... but he hasn't yet. So here I am with a blog for tha masses.. well the 14 that are followin us.

Never the less... two gigs and some other notes here... Sorry if things are all disjoint.

This past Friday, we played at Luckys. Andy channeled Jason Mraz for the first time. It sounded much better than last practice.. where Andy channeled a rabid duckbill platapuss. Let's just not go there... but Fat Todd and everyone did a heck of a job. The gig was a usual Lucky's gig, with an awesome surprise, my friend Phil and his brother Stevie were in the house, drove up from Joliet, IL area. {old school time.. Asics brothers and Meatball.. ask if you want to know more} never the less, the music was tight, snow fell, no fights, lights fell on innocent people (after their friend fell over them), and people had a great time. I'm truely blessed to be jammin with the Shibs. Far too much fun.

For those that don't know, Friday (Dec 5th) was 2 years for my father winning his battle with ALS (by "winning" I mean dying from). He was far from my father for the last 7 years prior to his passing, he was my best friend. Drinkin buddies, music friend (never missed a concert, never wanted to stop hearing the tunes), and always willing to reach a hand out than to ask for a hand out... He is responsible for my drive, my dreams, and my musical ambition. He did everything he could to give me a good life growing up, and despite some very hard times (long story), I never went hungry as a child (even if it ment hot dogs and steak-ums). When we knew that things were not going to be good, his last request was to have a few, see some racing, and hear the blues. We did just that Sat night. Something that brings a tear to my eyes, he never had the honor of meeting the SHIBS. Their music is amazing, the writing is from the heart, but more than that, they are great people. But I digress...

On Sat night, I sat in with the first band I ever played live with... Cool Front. But I have bigger news...

After dealing with my singing of Tupleo Honey, the love of my life accepted my proposal for marriage. Brian Moll from Main Street Jewelers did the work taking my vision, adding his thoughts and comign up with a 100% custom ring. J-Bah and Cheryl were there, and the other guys would have been if they could. Needless to say, even without being there, they were part of it.... and she said maybe (and by maybe I mean yes). What a ride.....

Lastly, it's tough to type right now, as my hands are extremely swollen from playing congas last night. Thanks to the SHIBS, Mark Devorak (Sparky from Subatomic. ) I have made some small strides in jamming in the percussion world. Jon, has played with the best world wide in terms of drums, and is one of the best jazz style drummers on the planet. The end result was an amazing Evil Ways. We traded off licks in an appoximate 15 minute drum jam. Add to that the fact that Jon commented to someone in the crowd that jammin on tour has done great things for me musically... just made the night complete.

Can't wait for C-Boogs and I to pull something like that off....

Well I should get some sleep... I have to re-design the group policy at work tomorrow, a major snow storm is heading in, and my back is killing me. The last couple of days have been more than tough... Dad's anniversey, my good friend Tom passing from Heart Failure, my Grandmother passing from diabetes, and Jillians' uncle passing. In the end though, I have to say, I'm blessed beyond words. I have a woman that loves me for me (and if you have been reading the blog, that's an accomplishment), I'm part of the Shibs... a group of guys that I'm not only honored to jam with, because they are not only kick "f*ckin" ass musicians, but people that I can call friends, and I have a roof over my head and food in my stomache. It's all about perspective y'all.

Til Next Time...

Mouse