It's been a while...

....but that's because we were busy feasting and stuffing our faces with various holiday goodies.  I ventured back to the land of Maineville, Ohio and celebrated Christmas with my family.  We drove down to Washington DC and visited some family and I finally got to see the only da Vinci in the Americas. While setting up the Christmas tree and listening to Handel's Messiah, the picturesque scene came to a screeching halt when this song came on my dads ipod (if you don't laugh, you have no heart).
Now I am back after a hellish Megabus ride, I am finally sinking into my couch and deciding if I want to make the venture across the street to get Ben & Jerry's, the only two men I can consistently count on in life.

Still counting votes for the FEST poll and I've been getting a few applications for FEST assistant positions- very excited to start the interview process.  But before that can happen we have New Years Eve and my birthday-  I plan on buying tickets to Bonnaroo or SXSW and treating myself to a large meal at Longman and Eagle. Big things are happening...

'til next time,

RL

PRAISES, IT IS DONE!

http://atrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1SKLhyNlA0Fjixm

THE FEST POLL IS FINALLY ALIVE AND RUNNING! MY BABY IS READY! 

I now know how Dr. Frankenstein felt when he made the monster!  Sans all of the lightning and giant castle.  After several hours in the DAB office preparing the launch and the FEST assistant applications, my eyes are falling in and out of focus and I think I need to make a second trip to Chipotle for the day (don't give me that look).

Editing the list was one of the harder things I've had to do in my time with DAB because everytime an artist was found too expensive or unavailable we'd have to strike their name with a fat red marker, not only for dramatic effect but for efficiency as well. Hopefully the artists chosen will be available and not decide to take some personal time or climb to the top of the charts, therefore inflating their price and making them impossibly expensive. It has happened before, but I'm hoping that all of the praying I have been doing at the altar of the concert gods (aka, Schubas) will deter any ill fortune.

Currently listening to one of the opening candidates, Yeasayer who are also going to be here for New Years Eve at Metro. Unfortunately I will be working this New Years Eve, but my birthday is 2 days later so I'm sure I'll make up for it then...

Heading home before it gets dark now...

RL

Curses...

Don't get me wrong. I love Chicago, I really do. I love him/her with all of my heart and never want to leave despite all of his/her faults like the slow buses and segway tours, however one thing I cannot forgive is the way it slapped me with this weather. I stepped onto the Midway CTA platform after a few beautiful sunny days in San Francisco and could barely breathe as the insides of my nose started to freeze from the cold.  I was tempted to barrel back through the crowd and go right back, but then I remembered that I had an eggplant in my fridge that was about to go bad and I make a killer eggplant parmesan.

So now I am sitting on my couch with my friend Max who also has a blog and we just finished watching the first episode of Walking Dead, which is one of the better season premiers I've seen in a long time.

I'm going through some emails with DePaul and trying to get this poll together for the artists, it's just taking a little longer than I thought because there are SO many desirable artists, yet a lot are still unsure of their spring status. Some that are definitely unavailable are Florence and the Machine, The xx, La Roux and Brandon Flowers. Literally bringing tears to my eyes.  However, FEST shall prevail with or without these amazing artists. (Is anyone else completely turned off by the new myspace layout?)
 Stay tuned for more updates!

RL

I've been neglecting you.

Rachel has been better in keeping up on this wonderful blog than I have, but those days of neglect are behind me now.

Winter break has been going well, although I feel it's going to be over as soon as I fully start enjoying it. And, even though it is winter break my work for DAB does not end. I'm still planning for concerts, both little and big, for next quarter and I am nothing short of excited out of my brains. But most of those details will be released later.

As for my life, I've been spending most of my time wasting away watching Disney movies and listening to music. Luckily, this is a bit of a music blog so I'll be kind and share one of my current favorites.

Wax Tailor has been on the top of my playlist for weeks now. His insane with a dash of evil mixing genius.
Enjoy.

Wax Tailor - Que Sera

-LP

Hey! I'm in San Francisco!

Salut les gens.

I am currently sitting on my sisters couch in the beautiful metropolis of San Francisco. I'm only here for a few days, so I can't talk long because we have lots of sisterly things to do.

Quick update on FEST- good news and bad news, lots of bands that are available are in our price range and will be going on the poll which (fingers crossed) comes out next week! YEAH TEAM!

I will be sure to send lots of lovely pictures from the city by the bay, but for right now we are heading to a poetry slam, how effing cool are we?

(currently listening to) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes 

'til next time!

RL

So sorry...

It has been FAR too long since the last post, and I apologize sincerely.  A string of events has prevented me from functioning as a real human being, so now that I am almost fully recovered I plan on posting as frequently as possible yet again.

Finals are finally over, so my head can stop thrashing itself violently against a wall.  And my roommate left for Kenya this weekend, she's doing a few weeks study abroad there and boy do I have BIG plans while she is gone.  Not only do I plan on detail-cleaning the apartment, but I am also getting a zipcar account so I can rent a carpet steam cleaner AND go to Olive Garden!   I know, I know, I'm excited for me too.  This winter break is full of good things to come, I might even get a little crazy and drink champagne in the bathtub (no, you stop!)

I came into the office today to get some stuff done for FEST. I think the poll is going to go out next week and I am SO excited-- just a few more names and prices need to get back to me and BAM, before you know it we will be printing out marketing getting ready for the big day in May.

Hm, listening to Pandora and a cover of This Charming Man just came on (I don't know wtf is up with this video, but it's kind of soothing). It's by the Stars, so I should like it.. I think I do.. but no one can do it better than the original.


Until next time,

RL

What ruins a great day...

Slow walkers.  I hate nothing more than getting up to a brisk pace with Michael Jackson's "Blame in on the Boogie" setting the tone and then snapping back to reality once I realize that the person or persons in front of me are..........walking.............this............slow.  Now, I will admit that I am a fast walker- I take pride in the fact that I look like I am incredibly important and need to get to an incredibly important meeting with incredibly important people, but don't you DARE rain on my parade by finding the patterns in the concrete you're walking on more urgent than the people behind you. You don't need to check out every store front window you come across when half of them have "Rent This Space" on them, you don't need to be pushing a stroller that could compete with a Boeing 747 in size and price and you don't need to swerve from left to right across the sidewalk making it incredibly awkward to bypass. The worst perpetrators are couples whose love is so important and so strong and syrupy that the physically can NOT seem to put one foot in front of the other. So unless you see the face of Jesus in the asphalt, keep moving.


... Ok. The vein on my head has subsided, I shall now begin to work on the following three papers:
1) Photography
2) Parisian Architecture
3) Catholic Architecture in Chicago

Annnnd I finally get to start doing some work with FEST-- applications for FEST assistants will go out soon enough and the poll will hopefully be ready in a few short weeks. HOT DAMN I can't wait for the poll to go out. I'm trusting that all of you will share it with your friends when it does, yeah?

Best,

RL

Dear Finals, I hate you.

So in the mist of finals papers, studying, ridiculous projects, and crazy crazy DAB planning I've decided to take a step back and rant to you wonderful people.

Exciting news, Winter planning is almost done and over with which means even better news...no school for 6 splendid weeks! (hoorah) But, that doesn't mean I've yet to escape the grasps of responsibility. Currently I'm preparing for the last music meeting of the quarter which is CRAZY. I"ve already been a coordinator for a quarter...good thing it feels like I've been here my whole life.

Anyways, in music news we have some awesome student bands interested in playing next quarter including:
Holdfast, The bob clymers, and Calvin Fredrickson.
They are all awesome but we're just working on picking one out for the winter time.

I'm also having lots o' fun listening to Matt & Kim radio on Pandora, and it reminded me of a fantastic band...that you should listen to....RIGHT NOW.
Say Hello to DR. DOG!
Like I said listen now.
Dr.Dog -- My old ways

kk,
BYEE
LP

Aaaaand we're back.

Ah  it is now Monday October, NO, November 8th and I am three days recovered from what could be defined as the worst hangover of my life.

It was because of this hangover that I missed what had been one of my most anticipated nights in music this year. On Friday two bands who make rare appearances on stage finally came out of hiding.  The first, Louis and the Hunt, hit the stage at Metro at 9pm. Coincidentally, he is the bass player of the second band that played at Subterranean (one of my favorite Chicago venues) later that night at 11pm or so. The second band, Scattered Trees, have put out a new album that I downloaded back in August and haven't stopped listening to since. The cherry on top is that they just uploaded a cover of John Lennon's Instant Karma which is available for purchase and holy sh*t it sounds awesome. If I hear one more sad cover of Imagine I think I might hurl my computer across the room (but then pet it gently and coo sweet nothings in its ears in hopes that my files haven't been corrupted or lost).
_________________________________________________________

More on the music/FEST planning front: Got more quotes from bands. WoOt!  Also throwing out some ideas like holding FEST on Wish Field instead of on the quad (very unlikely, but would be awesome) and getting 2 major acts instead of the old standby of 3 progressing acts.  Any suggestions?

Procrastination wins again.

Much like Rachel, homework seems like an unnecessary task right now. Seeing as I blocked myself from facebook in order to be productive I will take my need for distraction to this wonderful blog.

So after a weekend of debauchery and rebellion I've been forced to attend all of my classes and continue with planning for the possible concert. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say this much....KE$HA WILL... definitely not be coming this winter. hahaha, ewh come on now people. Well anyways, the plans are going very well and my wonderful middle agent, Austin Charnis, has been nothing short of wonderful.

I'm reppin' some old school tunes right now listening to the great Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash (RIP) LISTEN TO THEM!!! no pressure though.

Oh and for more fun and less old news, Kid Cudi is coming out with his new album Man on the Moon Part II on November 9th!!!! I'm personally stoked to listen to the full album. Give a listen to his first single Mr Rager. Soooo Goood.
Kid Cudi - Mr. Rager

<=== yum
Adios, I'm off to do some homework (possibly)

LP

It's already november...

As evidenced by the time stamp of this post. I am currently sitting on my couch reading about various Catholic icons found around Chicago. It's actually much more interesting than you could possibly imagine, but I am a little bored of having read the same page 100 times so I have decided to have a little dear diary time while eating ice cream.

Other than the everest-size of homework I have due in the next two weeks, some riveting events in my life that have taken place in the past few days:

1) Heard back from the middle agent regarding some bands that we're interested in playing at DePaul, turns out Arcade Fire are too important to play on college campuses.
2) I have been making a lot of progress on the project archive at Chicago Public Art Group
3) I got into a lit class that focuses on Jane Austen (since all of her books have been made into films, I think it should be pretty easy)... (just kidding)... (not)
4) After much frustration with the voter registrar in Illinois, it turns out that I am still registered to vote and the online database doesn't always work, which causes a lot of undeserved stress. However, I did get to vote and have been watching the Nytimes play-by-play relentlessly.

My current playlist has been the Wildbirds who are like a Strokes/old-school KOL hybrid with a splash of pop, as well as the Dodos, who combine african-style drumming and make-your-heart-flutter vocals.


Off to more icons...

(RL)
PS- my friend showed me this website full of cute pictures of animals, please enjoy....

Hot damn!

Holy crap! Mother of Pearl! Jesus, Mary and Joseph! 


Great day. Lots of good things happening on campus and off of campus. Currently at my internship at Chicago Public Art Group so posting this is probably a big no-no as far as the handbook goes, however I feel like it's giving them some publicity to all 3 of our followers (thanks followers!). 


Besides some more affordable and totally exciting bands being available for FEST (May 27), I have recently learned that I only need one more core class in order to graduate so that means I can fill my last quarter at DePaul with lots o' fun classes like another queer film course (if you haven't taken one of these, I highly recommend it) or another few history courses (no joke. big history nut here). AND the biggest and best news of all.  One of the best bands from across the pond has come out with a new single... which means a new album... which means a new tour. The last time I saw the Wombats was at Empty Bottle and I made several horrible choices that night, but still get butterflies when I think about that show because I had been waiting over 2 years to see them and sung every line to every song. Now I have been recycling the same Wombats music for about the past 3 years, so you can just imagine how earth shattering this new single is. (Incase you did click on the link to their myspace, it is the first song titled "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)).


Alright, the under nourished photo archive I have to work on is screaming my name.


Until next time,


RL

Third Post

Time to stop Rachel's stream of ranting


So it seems that Rachel has started off well with an  impressive two posts in less then 2 hours. I figured it's time to add a lil bit of my ranting on top of her own. For those of you who don't know I have plans in the making to bring a fantastic band to DP. If my personal preferences did not have to be shoved aside I'd have Kid Cudi and Miike Snow rocking it out in the MPR (oh and if money grew on the bamboo in the office). Alas, none of those prior statements are anywhere near true, but the possible choices are still pretty fan-frickin-tastic.

and if I had a choice this is what I'll be jammin to in February.
Matt & Kim - Yea Yeah

There are also amazing choices like:

A. The hipster adored, Sufjan Stevens

B. One of my old obsessions, Say Anything

C. Or the barely legal, Never Shout Never (Calm your hearts warped tour, pop punk lovers)

Welp fellas until next time that's all I got. Adios 

-LP

Second Post

Yeah... that's right. It's been all of an hour and I'm posting again. 

In the past hour I went through price listings for artists that were voted on for FEST. Some of them are very high (Taylor Swift is priced at $700,000 per performance, eff that s) and some are very low (Miike Snow is in the single thousands...).  So while I am sorting out the realistic bands from the non realistic, I want to let people know that so far half of the bands they voted for ARE available and within price range.  Unfortunately we can't move much further than this at the time until we hear back from several agents who will either provide us with a reasonable quote or laugh in our face for even asking about Arcade Fire. The current soundtrack has been a mix of Feist, Michael Jackson (RIP), Beyonce and Major Lazer (please see #2 on previous post if you are confused by this line up). (RL)

The First Post...

So here it is, the first post of the much anticipated blog RacketSoup.  By much anticipated I mean Liz and I couldn't wait to start it and by blog, I mean public place where we can rant and rave and all things in between. Please do not expect this blog to do any of the following:

1) Be grammatically correct
2) Appeal to/agree with any one genre of persons
3) Be consistently updated
4) Make sense

Our main goal is to shed light on what goes on during the event planning process for campuses (particularly DePaul's) because (surprise!) it's not as easy as it seems, but it is definitely a lot of fun. We are also going to be posting our favorite new and old music preferences, hoping to expose you to lots of new/old talent while giving ourselves an excuse to skip class/lectures and go see shows. Maybe if this blog gets big enough we will get guest-listed to shows at HOB or Chicago Theater and eventually become contributors to Spin Magazine which will eventually lead to a book deal which in turn will lead to a critically acclaimed movie based off of our lives and BAM, eternal fame and glory. Here's to wishing...

Here if your first listening assignment....
Donkeyboy: Sometimes

(RL)