Life After Connecticut College

What up everybody!

Things in New London have been busy as ever for the last couple weeks, but I thought that I'd take a break and check in to update you about what's been happening (plus, it's casual Friday, and my work ethic evaporates as soon as I put on a pair of jeans).

Two weeks ago, New London hosted the third annual I AM Festival, which in reality is a day-long concert down on the pier, not eight hours of self-affirmation as the name suggests (the I THINK I CAN Festival isn't until November). It was a pretty solid lineup of bands (Welcome to Florida was suspiciously absent, ahem....), and what was especially cool was that there was a stage on either end of the pier, meaning that while one band was getting set up on the main stage, another band was playing on the second stage and vice versa (Mitch and I tried to have our deck be the third stage, but the best act we could book was a Jim Croce impersonator named Elmer). It was a fun day that attracted a pretty decent crowd, so it was definitely a success!

Though we have this weekend off, WTF played several shows last week, including a gig opening for Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers up in Boston on Wednesday. I had an interesting conversation with Roger's guitar player afterward, but I was pretty distracted because he looked so much like a weather-beaten cowboy that I reckoned he was liable to lasso Wes at any second (Wes actually gets hogtied pretty frequently, so I guess it wouldn't have been that big a deal for him really).

On Friday we played at a New Hampshire Young Democrats rally in Manchester, featuring a Class of 2007 cameo by Adam Robbins (shout-out). It was an odd event because the majority of the program was just local politicians speaking about the upcoming elections. People were getting really pumped up, which seemed odd to me because everyone in the room was obviously already going to vote Democrat. I thought that they should have instead been out trying to get undecided voters to join their side, but Duncan said I was "missing the point" (does getting a 5 on the AP Government test six years ago mean nothing?). Anyway, immediately before we performed (we were headlining; I know, it's a pretty big deal), there was a roast of a 30-something-year-old guy who I guess used to be the mayor of Portsmouth. What ensued was a series of the stalest jokes and most convoluted stories I've ever heard ("...so the ombudsman says, 'Iowa caucus? I don't know how much a caucus is, but I don't owe anything, so I ain't payin' it!'"). Thankfully, the ceremony was closed out by the roastee's wife, who kept the jokes to a minimum and just shared a few nice words about her husband. During our actual set, Wes broke not one but two strings, and I even broke a bass string! This was a completely unprecedented and very irritating event, so much so that I suspect conservative-leaning saboteurs tampered with our equipment pre-show. You can break our strings, sirs, but you cannot break our resolve!

On Saturday we trekked down to New York to rock a slammin' show at the 169 Bar, which is as affordable as it is tropical (those are the two things I look for in a bar). There was a great turnout, including fellow '07ers Sophie Fitzgerald, Alyssa Tartaglione, and of course, the Bear to my B.J., Nate Borgelt (wow, that came out dirtier than I had intended). I would have stuck around and afterpartied with everyone, but I had a sore throat so bad that I needed to get hopped up on Sucrets just to be able to fall asleep.

My symptoms have lingered, so I've been in and out of a cherry lozenge daze ever since, but hopefully my head will clear up by 9pm tonight, when I'll be defending my title as Three-Time Camelympics Crossword Puzzle Champion (yes, it's on my resume). As you all probably know, I won the gold in Camelympics crossword all three years that I competed as a student. This year, I've been adopted by Branford as their team staff member, so it's time for me to stretch it to four golds! The word on the street is that I'll be facing off against fellow multi-medal champion Theresa Ammirati, a.k.a. Dean of Students, Dean of the Freshman Year, and Professor of English. That's a pretty impressive list of accomplishments, but true legends like myself know no four-letter word for "1996 Wahlberg thriller."

The weather forecast is predicting heavy rain for the whole weekend, so I think there's a lot of laying low and relaxing in store for me for the next few days. Hopefully I'll be back to 100% health by Monday. Happy Friday!

Much love,

C-Rei

Posted by Chris Reilly at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Well, we're movin' on up, to the east side. To our deluxe apartment in the sky. Movin' on up, to the east side..." Yep, I have left the godforsaken land known as Brighton/Allston. That's right, folks. No more B line, buses that are never on time, and obnoxious college kids. I have traded it in for the green and orange line, Italian food, and a gentlemen's club (get your mind out of the gutter, not THAT kind). I now call the North End home. I live with fellow camel Seth Solway and kickball teammate Kate, across the street from "the world famous Pizzeria Regina" and above the Gemini club, the gentlemen's club. We moved in September 1st, along with 90% of Boston, in the midst of an Italian feast on our block. It was a total nightmare! Alas, we still managed to get all our stuff into the apartment that day despite the chaos.

So, if you know nothing about Boston, let me explain the North End to you. It is the "little Italy" of Boston and everywhere you turn there are Italian restaurants, bakeries, pizza places, and Italian elderly that sit outside talking loudly. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up - Astoria, NY (Queens) - except that instead of Italians there were Greeks. The point is there is so much food around here. Good food, at that. And worse yet, not cheap. As such, I have an inkling that I will be gaining weight and becoming poor this year. Ah well, such is life. I just cannot say no to the hot pizza, delicious rice balls, and the cannolis. Oh, the cannolis! Be still, my stomach.

In other news, the reason it has taken me so long to write an entry is that I was on vacation for two weeks late July through early August. And then, of course, there was the move. Anyway, I was in Ecuador, where my mother is from and where her family still lives. I hadn't been since I was 15 but finally made the trip because my cousin was getting married and wanted me to be in the wedding. Since it's so expensive to travel there, my mother and I decided to make it a vacation and stayed a while. The wedding was a lot of fun and not too different from American weddings. However, they started things much later. The ceremony was at 9pm followed by the reception at 10pm and we didn't leave until 5:30am. Sheesh. Talk about a party! Besides, the wedding we went to Quito (the city capital) and rode the Teleferico, which is a little cabin on a wire that takes you up the mountain to 4050 meters. I'm usually not afraid of heights, but I was a bit horrified since the damn string looked like it would break. We also went to the middle of the world where they showed us some cool experiments that only happen at this particular location - latitude 0°0'0". You can balance an egg on a nail and watch the water go straight down the drain (it doesn't turn counter or clockwise), among other things. Perhaps the coolest part of the trip was a visit to Arashá, a tropical resort and spa. It's basically a resort in the middle of the tropical forest. It reminded me a lot of the time I stayed at a hostel in South Africa in the middle of the wild and right on the beach. It's so nice to get away from the city lights and noise. Thus, it was an all-around good trip.

Well, that's all for now. I have to go figure out what to make for dinner - I can't eat pizza everyday, you know? Happy Autumn!

Posted by Marissa Velarde at 06:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey gang! Well things are in full swing here on campus with the new academic year, and I must say I've reacclimated to working past 5:00 and wearing a tie much more easily than I had anticipated (the booze helps). There have also been plenty of happenings outside of work recently, including of course plenty of Welcome to Florida shows.

One recent WTF highlight was back on Aug. 23 (my dad's birthday), when we played a bar in Somerville, MA, called Razzy's, which just so happens to be only a block or two away from where the other three members of the band live (I choose to distance myself from them geographically not because I worry about band tensions becoming too high if we all live together but rather because Duncan hasn't quite nailed this whole "showering" thing yet). I believe that we were the third band ever to play this particular establishment, which some people might classify as a dive bar (although $7 pitchers and gold spray painted squiggles on the ceiling do have a certain understated elegance). Regardless of any concerns about the ambiance, we packed the place tighter than the owners had ever seen before (don't get excited, that only means like 75 people) and had a great time. We'd love to be back any time, Razzy's!

The following Friday was a very special occasion for both the band and for New London, as WTF was privileged enough to play the afterparty to a great fashion show by two local designers, Jessie English and Cristin Gallagher. Admittedly, my sens de mode is by no means as refined as Mitch's (ladies, you should see his shoe closet), but I thought all the clothes were outstanding! Plus, it was nice to be able to ogle gorgeous, statuesque women and have the people around you think that you're cultured instead of just creepy for once (my horn-rimmed glasses and skin-tight black turtleneck helped me blend in).

The next day we headed down to DC to play the last show ever at the Grog and Tankard (no, Wes didn't burn it down by accident while loading our gear out). We were honored to have them ask us to play this event, and it was definitely a lot of fun, though a little bit of a bummer since it's such a cool place. Hopefully they'll turn it into a strip club and we can keep performing there (you should see JZ work that pole).

This past Friday Mitch and I threw our best party to date (to be fair, I should probably say, "Mitch, the deck, and I..." since it really does most of the work). The occasion was me turning 24 (oldish), and the theme was a case race. It was a fierce competition, but in the end the team of Mitch, Wes, Duncan's sister, and my friend Johnny took first place. The birthday boy's team still managed to get on the podium with a bronze medal, however, so it was not a complete loss. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

On Saturday we headed up to Dover, NH, for our first show ever in that particular town (we're from the other side of the state), and fortunately a lot of our Boston friends came along to the show since we hardly know anyone in that area. It was a great show, except for the fact that we had to drive through hurricane winds and torrential rain to get there and back (HANNAH!!!!). We kept it slow and safe, though, so everything turned out fine.

Last night I had a rippin' jam sesh here in New London with a few guys I usually play with as well as some newly added vocalists. Check back in soon to see where things go from here!

That'll just about do it from this guy. JZ and I are currently undergoing some tense WTF negotiations in terms of a couple big gigs, so there could be good or bad news in the near future. Until then, keep it funky!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)