Record Eagle: Five Things Every College Parent Should Know

Link to latest column ("Five Things Every College Parent Should Know"):

www.record-eagle.com/2005/nov/27beth.htm

Record Eagle: Canada--It's Not Even A Real Country Anyway

Link to latest column ("Canada: Not A Real Country"):

www.record-eagle.com/2005/nov/13twenty.htm

Guster Is For Lovers

"God bless Guster, band that I love..." After years of touring and underground cult status, Guster is finally starting to move into the limelight. Here is a band that turns out amazing albums like nobody's business (Lost & Gone Forever is one of the only CDs I own where every track is great) and yet inexplicably they haven't broken into the mainstream. WTF America? Get your act together.

Guster is also amazing live, which is why I got tickets for Kyle and I to go see them last week in Ann Arbor. (NOTE: I have always liked the Michigan Theater, as they have indie bands and art-house movies playing all the time. However, if they tell you a show is sold out, don't believe them! The box office told me Guster was sold out and I wouldn't be able to get tickets anywhere, yet 5 minutes later I had purchased 2 tickets off Ticketmaster--floor seats, 10th row.) This little trip also gave us a chance to catch up with Bail Money, who for all we knew could have developed a crack habit and started prostituting himself in the dorms. It had been that long. Fortunately, he was his happy-go-lucky Glee club self, and we were off to the races.

A couple things I learned about Ann Arbor:

1) Big 10 Burrito has fantastic food.
2) My gap of favoritism towards State over U of M has narrowed, be it ever so slightly.
3) If you are an out-of-town driver, and aren't familiar with the city, there is a 95% probability you will leave with bits of pedestrian in your grill. This is not a joke. The walkers and bikers have taken over the city, and they will not stop for you. Luckily for us, in the fight between Saturn and Schwinn, Saturn wins.

The concert was amazing, and overall it was a fun trip. If you haven't heard of Guster before--and I wouldn't admit that to anyone--you can listen here:
www.myspace.com/guster