south of north

soylent green's ok though.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:20:00 +0000

WTF?

Not even corn?

Not even water?!

the kool-aid.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:07:00 +0000

I feel like I live in a whole different country.

save ferris chicago music.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:49:00 +0000

I felt this is important enough to shake the dust off my blog.

epic fail.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Recently a friend loaned me his old camera, and I hadn't realized how much I've missed taking pictures at rock shows until then. The feeling, the enthusiasm, the energy were all back; I was actually getting excited about going out again.

About an hour before the show, the camera stopped working. I tried three different sets of freshly charged batteries. It just wouldn't turn on.

Naturally, the energy drained out of me immediately, as if someone unplugged a drain. I had to force myself to go, but I went only because I didn't want to spend the rest of the night moping and stewing.

So I'm left with this question/doubt: Am I addicted to photography? Or is it just what I need to make me want to get up in the morning again?

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:20:00 +0000

I've meant to post something new just to clear the last negative post from the top of the page.

Oreo's recovering nicely, despite new growths already appearing. He had a wonderful Independence Day in Michigan, where the fireworks were much less severe and he was much less stressed out.

By the way, speaking of fireworks, the fireworks display near Michiana Shores was probably the best display I've ever seen. Yes, Joey, it was even better than the ones on Leavitt and Augusta, not that those were particularly notable that I remember.

So I don't get to go out as much anymore, but it's okay because I'm spending more time with Oreo out on our back porch. My porch is awesome; it has a rare view of Chicago sunsets and another partial view of the Chicago skyline (five or six buildings worth). You should really come by for some grilling.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:16:00 +0000

Oreo has cancer.

time off.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:49:00 +0000

Today is my day off... in the month of November. I actually have a few moments to sit, do nothing, and breathe.

So... that's what I'm doing. In fact, writing that last sentence has made me realize that I have no idea what to do. I've lost the ability to handle free unstructured time or know what to do with it.

thank you.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:51:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who subjected themselves to our noise last night at Quenchers! Lots of you tried to save our feelings by telling us we were great. Really, it's okay, you can be honest! I assure you, we drowned out the memory of our playing the same way many of you did, with copious amounts of alcohol, and boy are we feeling it today.

Again, thanks to all who were there.

be warned.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:22:00 +0000

I can't get our band's songs out of my head. They're constantly playing back all day while I'm at work; they're that catchy. I have to admit, it makes the day suck less. I'm starting to think we may actually be good.

Hey, it could happen.

So be warned, future audience members: you too will find yourselves unable to resist humming our melodies to yourselves as you leave Quencher's on November 3rd. They'll be indelibly stamped into your noggins all next week, and you just may like it. Hey, at least you can escape. With time, the memory will fade, until the next show. We keep forcing them back into our heads week after week during insane four hour practices^*.

^*I reserve the right to embellish and/or exaggerate for dramatic effect.

^**What subliminal advertising? I don't see any.

drink up.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:28:00 +0000

The results are in: we sound much better after three beers.

mmm, yeahhh.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:11:00 +0000

I believe my workplace is where Mike Judge got the inspiration for Office Space.

bad bird.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:21:00 +0000

I just saw a man on a street corner scold a pigeon.

camping.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:54:00 +0000

I went camping with some people over the weekend. After all was said and done, the trip created more grief and anguish than it was worth; however I'm glad I went, because I learned a few things:

1) Friends don't treat each other like crap.
2) "Friends" who make me feel unwelcome among them are not my friends.
3) My dog actually does pretty well on a camp site, once he gets used to it. Unfortunately it took him half the stay to get used to it.

I knew two of these items already, but for some reason I need constant reminders.

meta.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:58:00 +0000

Nobody likes a post about the blog itself. We can only take so much navel gazing.

On that note, I'm surprised that people are actually still checking this site regularly, despite that it's been static for almost six months now. I received comments within twelve hours of posting, which must mean you people check here daily. You need lives.

Then, Blogger blew up on me; it seems it can't resolve my domain or the host's domain anymore. What's up Blogger? Having DNS problems?

So Joey, yes, I received your comments. Since they had nothing to do with the topic of the post, they were filtered as spam (ha ha!). You mentioned your solution right there in the comment, so I don't know why you were telling me. Just do it. It worked for me using the same conditions and settings I suspect you have, so it must be all those porn sites you visit. Go ahead and repost your comment; I promise I'll approve it this time.

While I'm at it, for all you super-paranoid types out there: you need to turn java and javascript on for my site to work properly. If you're using Noscript or some other java plugin for Firefox, then at the very least allow shekleton.com, haloscan.com, and rsscalendar.com. Trust me, they're safe.

In the spirit of meta, I open up the comment forum to any and all topics you wish. Go ahead, tell me exactly how your browser behaved when you visited my site. Tell me who IM'd you at that moment. Let me know how that hamburger tastes.

and another thing.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:12:00 +0000

I forgot an important milestone in my recap of the past five to six months.

I joined a band. This could be a good or bad thing depending on how it sounds - I've always said the day I perform music on stage is the day rock dies. I guess we'll find out November 3 at Quencher's on Western and Fullerton Avenues.

Like how I fit that plug in?

update.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:22:00 +0000

Where've I been? Here's an update.

In the past six months I've:

1) Moved a half-mile away into a crappy apartment in a crappy neighborhood.
2) Got a part-time (ha) job that takes up sixty hours a week.
3) Been robbed.
4) Gone to the emergency room at a cost of over one thousand dollars.

Seems, the only thing that stays the same is that I'm still poor. I guess that's just as well, since I don't have any time to spend money anyway.

I want my life back.

South of North is still south of North.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sat, 05 May 2007 17:51:00 +0000

I know what you've been thinking - Where've I been the past month?

In short, I got a new job that takes up all my free time, then spent the hours normally used for sleeping to move. It's been a hectic month or two, but now that the move is complete, life is finally settling down to a more relaxing pace. Don't worry, everyone; I haven't moved far. South of North (.com)^* is still south of North (Ave.).

^*As are southofnorth.net and shekleton.com. Thanks for playing.

podcast news.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:50:00 +0000

Due to really bad traffic and Dennis double-booking the show (I thought we'd agreed on the first Sunday of each month), there is no podcast today.

In fact, you know what? Screw it. There won't be any more podcasts either. Thanks for tuning in while it lasted.

I'm so sick of this city and some of the people in it, I don't know why I'm trying so hard to stay here.

screw it.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:25:00 +0000

Yesterday was the first studio session of a TV project two friends and I've been working on.

We put a lot of work into it, and I'd looked forward to it for a long time. To have that work and hope spat upon so nastily and even physically fills me with so much disgust and bitterness that I don't even know how to describe it. I and the friends I invited to help us were yelled at and verbally abused, and I was even physically accosted. Needless to say, the event itself and the memory of it is forever spoiled for me.

I understand the guy had a speech impediment and was frustrated with himself, but I'm sorry. That just doesn't justify jeopardizing something that we had invested so much of ourselves in. I've had my share of hardships too, and sometimes I admit I haven't handled them very well in the past, but I like to think I've learned something from them. When I lived in Haiti, did I yell at the Haitians because they couldn't understand me? No! Nothing justifies yelling at someone else, and absolutely nothing justifies physical assault! He really shouldn't be working in an environment where communication is essential and time is critical if he can't communicate, anyway.

What kind of place is CAN-TV that they think this is appropriate? This project was first and foremost supposed to be enjoyable stress relief. Instead, I came away from it more stressed, humiliated, angry and bitter. I never want to set foot in a CAN-TV studio nor do I have any desire to ever watch one of their programs again. Is this the purpose of public access, to drive the public away and make them feel unwelcome?

I'm seriously trying to put this behind me. I can't get past the feeling that this has soured not only my dream behind this project, but also my feelings toward Chicago's entertainment industry and even Chicago itself. You may say it's only one guy that did this, but really he's just the last in a long stream of people, the proverbial last straw. No hope, no goal, no dream is worth that.

disconnected.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:49:00 +0000

Due to lack of funding, my internet's been permanently disconnected. I'm currently writing this from a library; that and coffeeshops are my plan for accessing teh intarwebs^* for at least the next two weeks, or until I move and can afford it.

I haven't posted anything here lately anyway, and that just reflects my general inactivity in life. Without money, I can't really go anywhere or see many shows. Thus, nothing's happening, so there's nothing to blog about. Que ergo duh.

That may change very soon. I start a new job Monday - a permanent job, not a temp assignment this time. That'll allow me to get a new apartment and move, and after that I can better concentrate my free time on the new TV project (to be further revealed later), the radio show, the music scene, and ranting about stupid people in traffic.

I have to go now; it's 3pm and this library's become infested with loud annoying children. I may have to stick to coffeeshops - that rarely happens there. Plus, they have coffee.

* No, that wasn't a typo, Joey, despite how the usage may have been derived.

now wheelchair accessible.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:06:00 +0000

For years, telling people how to find this website was a huge challenge. Apparently my name is difficult to spell or something. I had to resort to telling everyone to search for "tom south north chicago idiot canada." For some reason it's the first result.^*

Well no longer. This afternoon I found out southofnorth.com and southofnorth.net recently expired, so I bought them both. Go ahead, click on those links. It brings you right back here. There's no escape.

Now I have to reprint all my business cards.

^*No it's not.

curiosity killed the cat.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 20:40:00 +0000

Here I sit, tired and hungover in the neighborhood cafe, trying to write but mostly staring out the window. Just like any other Sunday. Then I notice my table has a drawer in it. Of course I open it. What else would I do?

Inside is a napkin on which is scrawled:

Bad luck and extreme misfortune
will infest your pathetic soul
for all eternity.
- God

So I got that going for me.

not to miss.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:32:00 +0000

After Sunday's Radio Reboot, I'm calling the show "Is This Thing On?" from now on. So on to bigger and better things, right?

I'm expecting everyone on Earth to show up to the Mutiny (2428 N. Western Ave.) for what's been named "Sheklefest" by The Grackles. One of the bands had scheduling conflicts, but we still have a perfect three band night^* featuring The Titmice, The Grackles, and My Canadian Girlfriend, who, unlike my American girlfriend, exists. Apocalyptic fun that everyone will be talking about all spring begins promptly around 10pm. My roommate's girlfriend's best friend's cousin's dog told me you should go.

^*not to be confused with Three Dog Night, which was another band from the 60s and 70s who won't be on the bill.

grackles ate my corn.

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:19:00 +0000

I just thought I'd let both of you know, we're welcoming the Grackles to Radio Reboot Sunday afternoon 1-3 pm.

They're there to promote the Mutiny show on March 9, but maybe that's getting ahead of ourselves. They're bringing in all their latest material, an acoustic guitar, AND a new car. Okay, maybe there won't be any car, but I did hear they promised me a year's supply of Turtle Wax. That's like, what, 6 ounces?

But wait, there's more! You can join in on the fun at 88.3 fm if you happen to be on the south side of Chicago, or listen online at wxav.com. Heck, you can even send instant messages to WXAVstudio on AIM with, I don't know, requests or questions for the band or something.

As always, it'll be available as a podcast, like, Monday, or something.

Now how much would you pay?

rebellion (lies).

noreply@blogger.com (south of north) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:10:00 +0000

While watching SNL, I noticed Win Butler (Arcade Fire) wrote Haitian Creole on his guitar with tape: "Sak vide pa kanpe." ("That which is empty doesn't stand.") Yes, I know Regine Chassagne is from Haiti, thus the band has ties to the island and justification for this and the political references in Funeral. There's just one thing I can't get over - she doesn't look one bit Haitian. She looks like a white-bred New Yorker. Or Canadian. I'm calling shenanigans.

Edit (2/26): The actual Haitian proverb is "An empty sack cannot stand up," as found in the comments of this blog post. (Haitian Creole is a very inaccurate language, thus both translations would be technically correct. However, a native speaker would be more readily familiar with the proverb and its meaning.)