A*Star - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I'm a 34 year-old guy living in the far SW burbs of Chicago. I'm completely out of place here, and would prefer to live in the City. But, what my life seems to lack in excitement, it makes up for in good pragmatic stability.
Because I live outside the city I can afford to take a trip or two to San Francisco and Portland each year, several trips to Minneapolis, and can see indie rock shows and baseball games pretty much as often as I want to.
I have a career, here, as a tenured professor at the local community college, a cute vintage house, and a newish Jeep (named Joe). In other words, I'm just 3 kids shy of being a fucking soccer mom.
I love dogs, and I recently welcomed a new kitty into my life. I used to share my home with Madame Meow Meow. She was my fucking soul mate. She passed away on October 30th 2006. My heart is broken, and I miss her. She was a really good friend to me and I'm thankful I got to share my home and my life with her.
I can be pretty shy until you get to know me, which some people mistake for me being uptight or snobby--but pretty much nothing could be further from the truth. I'm down-to-earth, fun, goofy, witty, intelligent, and I make a great cocktail. For real--i will fuck you up, bitch. I also cuss like a sailer, and the similarities don't end there. . .
Get your own countdown at BlingyBlob.com

My Interests

Live MUSIC! LIVE Performance!! SO FAR this year I have seen:

March
Mohair
Razorlight
Pink
Timbaland
Justin Timberlake
The Prairie Cartel
The Presets
Matt Pond
Neko Case
Kathleen Turner in Virgina Woolf

April
David Sedaris
The Little Ones
The Walkmen
Kaiser Chiefs
Jai Alai Savant
Art Brut

Last year was an amazing year for me. I saw a ton of shows and met a lot of artists. I can't quite let it go, yet, so here's my list from 2006:

January:
Zoe Koetting
Imogen Heap
Villains of Verona
Assassins
Hard-Fi

February:
Saint Etienne
Venus Hum

March:
Stereolab (in Minneapolis)
Stereolab (in Chicago)
Warlocks
Sisters of Mercy
Richard Ashcroft
Coldplay
Neko Case
Martha Wainwright

April
Mobius Band
Stellastarr*
Editors
The Cribs
Death Cab for Cutie
Franz Ferdinand
Chris Pureka
Kris Delmhorst

May
Erasure
Zoe Koetting
Imogen Heap

June
Good Luck Joes
ABC
Madonna
Madonna (again)
The Black Keys
Radiohead
Au Reviore Simone
We are Scientists (in Chicago)
We are Scientists (in Minneapolis)
The Fiery Furnaces
Pit Bull Day Care
Revolting Cocks
Ministry

July:
Norfolk and Western (from Portland ::sigh::)
Devotchka
The Strays
The Adored
The Buzzcocks
Margaret Cho

August:
Scissors for Lefty
Dirty Pretty Things

September:
Matt Kearney
John Mayer
Sheryl Crow
Roger Waters

October:
Spinto Band
Art Brut
We are Scientists
Assassins
Duran Duran
Pet Shop Boys (in Chicago)
Pet Shop Boys (in Minneapolis)
Steve & Liam of Frisbi
The Beautiful South

November:
The Rapture
The Presets
Jameisha Trice
Bo & Logik
Kevin Federline
Kristeen Young
MORRISSEY

December:
Levi Weaver (Minneapolis)
Kid Beyond (Minneapolis)
Imogen Heap (Minneapolis)
Levi Weaver (Milwaukee)
Kid Beyond (Milwaukee)
Imogen Heap (Milwaukee)
Levi Weaver (Chicago)
Kid Beyond (Chicago)
Imogen Heap (Chicago)

DJ A*Star is spinnin' some hot tracks!

I'd like to meet:

Cute Boys and Sassy Chicks who can read and have friends I can claim as my own. Ok, anyone who "gets" me. If you like seeing live music, and especially indie rock, then we'll be fast friends.

I need some CUBS baseball buddies who'll go with me to some games this year. I have tickets to 6 games--one in each month of the season. If you want to go, chat me up, bitch. Let's do it!

And last, but not least, I want to meet my Daddy Bear Monkey Husband. If you're him, you need to hurry up and make my ass yours. I'm for really.

The current theme for my Top 24 is: If I invited some of my favorite people to a cock tail party, this is how I'd expect them to settle and mingle.

Music:

I could never complete this list:
Morrissey
The Smiths
Dionne Warwick
Buzzcocks
The Judybats
The The
U2
Boy George/The Twin
The Beautiful South
Echo and the Bunnymen
Elliott Smith
Kitchens of Distinction
Extra Fancy
Danielle Dax
The Sisters of Mercy
The Housemartins
Imperial Teen
Hey Willpower
Imogen Heap
Cibo Matto
Pizzicato 5
Shonen Knife
Spiritualized
Spacemen 3
Saint Etienne
Beasty Boys
Public Enemy
that dog
The Rentals
Ladytron
Electrocute
Dandy Warhols
The Hives
New York Dolls
Whale
Courtney Love
Blondie
Dealership
IQU
The Fitness
Throwing Muses
Kristin Hersh
The Pogues
Neko Case
Hard-Fi
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Creatures
The Sugarcubes
Bjork
Stereolab
Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock
Death Cab for Cutie
The Postal Service
Madonna
Missy Elliott
The Cars
Irene Cara
The Shins
The Ravonettes
Erasure
Depeche Mode
The Go-Betweens
Sheryl Crow
Franz Ferdinand
The Magnetic Fields
Travis
Coldplay
Loretta Lynn
Dolly Parton
Bethoven
The Go Go's
and the list goes on. . .

Movies:

I prefer indie films with thoughtful scripts and real actors to big budget studio pics with predictible plots and computer generated "actors."

A few recent favorites include:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Thumbsucker
Palindromes
Happiness
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Ok, you get that I like Todd Solondz, right?
Boys Don't Cry
Fargo
Monster
and the ultimate cult classic morality flick, Shanty Tramp

Television:

I watch altogether too much television. If it has a hot guy or a chick who kicks ass, or both, I'll watch it.

Books:

I'm not THAT bored!

Ok, that's a lie.

Or, it's a joke.

I don't remember.

I love books, but I don't read nearly enough for pleasure because I read so much for work.

A few of my favorite authors are:
David Sedaris
David Leavit
Douglas Coupland
Robert Rodi
Foucault
and the entire staff of the Portland Mercury

Heroes:

Margaret Cho because she's the ultimate shit-starter.

Madame Meow Meow because she puts up with my bullshit better than any man ever will. She deserves a fucking medal for all the shit she puts up with.

Ghandi because he lived his ethics and died as a result. I admire the compassion he showed for all beings--human and non-human, alike.

My Blog

Even refusing to make a decision is a decision of sorts. . .

I know, I know. . . I'm woefully late on my Birthday blog. . . and I owe you one for Arctic Monkeys. . . and for Morrissey. Bitch, please. I'm doing the best I can! haha. If you read my last blog, wh...
Posted by A*Star on Sun, 20 May 2007 12:44:00 PST

Make Your Own Flag!!! Bjork in Chicago!

So, Tom just fucked me. Where's my donut. I posted a really brilliant blog about the Bjork show last night, and when I tried to post it I got an error message. . . Here, Tom, here's 48 inch dildo to f...
Posted by A*Star on Sun, 13 May 2007 12:10:00 PST

Why can't his pants just fall right off?

Sorry, you had to be there for that last one. Trust me, it was funny. But, I'm not just online to spread my silly inside jokes. Well, ok, maybe a few. . . I finally made it out to buy the new Travis...
Posted by A*Star on Sat, 12 May 2007 11:04:00 PST

The Now

So, on the day before my 35th birthday, I'm feeling a little bit blue. This is the "official" end of Alester v5.5, and I feel like I'm back to the same spot I was when I started it. I gained ground, a...
Posted by A*Star on Fri, 04 May 2007 01:23:00 PST

Why Lovefoxxx gotta do me like this?

So, I was just made aware that CSS is playing Lollapalooza this year. It's not exactly insider information. But, I didn't know. Why? I mean, I'm usually up on what's going on musically. . . Simple. I ...
Posted by A*Star on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:31:00 PST

You're such a little guy, though-- very petite like a potatoe.

Yo, Marissa is NOT the only one who can find funny videos online and post them in her blogs. haha. I do have to give Lady Bunny mad props for intruducing me to this hott mess! glumbert.com -...
Posted by A*Star on Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:52:00 PST

Every day I wake up alone because I'm not like all the other boys.

I know you totally thought this was gonna be some uber emo blog. haha. No, it's just a song lyric by one of my very favorite bands--Travis. Ok, so this isn't so much "new," but I'm super excited...
Posted by A*Star on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:13:00 PST

Thank you very much, it's really nice to know, that you enjoyed the show. . .

I started this blog the other day, and didn't think I'd finish it this weekend. But, here I am all insomniacing, so I figured I may as well do it up. I can't make you all wait any longer. haha! So, th...
Posted by A*Star on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:08:00 PST

You Can't Make this Shit Up!

Ok, first of all, KUDOS to Marissa for getting this photo to me. I have a full on blog to do later, but it will have to wait a few days because I have a ton of work to get done this weekend and I'm g...
Posted by A*Star on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:41:00 PST

And just when I need a little light in my life. . .

The mid part of May is always really hard for me. I will turn 35 on May 5th, which is all light and magic. I'm thrilled to be 35, really. But it goes downhill from there. It's the end of the semester,...
Posted by A*Star on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:27:00 PST