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Rebecca transfers some sequins to Gil with Anne, left. What do you get when you mix Yaz, Chippendales, a dash of garage rock, a workout video and S&M? Why it's Gil Mantera's Party Dream of course. The Youngstown, Ohio duo of brothers who gradually disrobe as their sets evolve, played Wednesday at Bottletree for Rebecca Davis's Sweet Sixteen (+20) birthday party. It was the perfect band for a 1987 flashback -- male eyeliner and synth-oriented beats that even the folks who were in grammer school during that time, couldn't help but shake it to. Rebecca's excellent concept party had her grand entrance in a wing chair in the back of a pickup truck, followed by two dudes in tuxes with "Pomp and Circumstance" playing. It was like a white kid's indie rock Quinceañera with some John Hughes elements thrown in for good measure. I don't know if my favorite stage antic was the spontaneous push ups by Ultimate Donny or Gil karate chopping one of the balloon

Poster I did for the show (click on image for non-jacked up version)

I'll admit I've never been a huge fan of superheroes, other than Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, or comics in general but friend and fellow co-worker Joe Crowe came across a real web gem I had share. Back in what I and fellow co-workers believe was the late 1950s and early 1960s, the original writers of Superman comics, who were not fans, but just writers, seemed to be really burnt out on their jobs and lives and it was reflected in many covers of the comic. Superman really was a dick and this excellent gallery collection, called Superdickery , shows the Man of Steel filled with venom and vengefulness, not toward Lex Luthor or any of his other supernatural enemies, but to poor Lois Lane and his adopted son, Jimmy Olsen. The commentary on Superdickery.com is just as funny as the far-out covers. What exactly is this craziness all about? Click here. Click on the covers I posted for a better view.

... to a place in time known simply as 1983 and feast on this video delicacy. I was having a e-mail discussion with my cousin Laura yesterday about leg warmers, bad eighties fashions that still haunt us and ventured back via YouTube to the era when MTV actually played videos that some of us watched over and over and again on Night Tracks and still over again on MTV. I'm not alone, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =cxOlKvvLXP8 Note that Michael Sembello's "Maniac" features everything needed to for a successful early '80s music video: * sparks * hanging naked lightbulbs * gratuitous butt shots * break dancing * strobe light action * shadowy figures on stark white backgrounds * people running for no apparent reason * dry ice * a body double with unconvincing wig * footage that is repeated * a torn sweatshirt top * exercise of some sort Trivia (from imbd.com ): * The song Maniac was written by Sembello and Dennis Matkosky for the 1980 horror film of the same tit

...that I signed the least on my apartment and how my life has changed. It has gone from a blank slate to home with the help of friends, family and especially the addition of my two excellent little striped cats.

I went to Brevard, N.C. this past week to see my parents and their dog child, Buster, who have been there all fall. The woods, lakes and streams were a nice break, but the lack of cell phone coverage and internet made me itch after a few days. I enjoy the disconnect at first and then it starts to scare me a little. More photos are here.

Rogue Wave at Bottletree -- Nov. 10 I bought Rogue Wave's second release "Surrounded By Vultures" last fall and haven't been able to stop listening the band since. Lead singer Zach Rogue's honest songwriting combined with excellent musicianship of the band is a breath of fresh air in a genre that is full of homogeneity. After the enduring the temper tantrum of Ryan Adams so recently at his show at the Alabama Theatre, it made me all the more appreciative of a band with enthusiasm who were more than willing do an encore and a long one at that. Interesting Rogue Wave facts: The band has gathered many fans since three of it's songs appeared on the now-cancelled, but very popular Gen Y show The O.C. Their songs also appeared on the TV shows Weeds , Friday Night Lights and Heroes . More information on the band is here. Zach Rogue's parents own a farm in the Birmingham area where they have retired (according to a Rogue Wave insider .) More photos from the Sa

It's hard to believe my sister's wedding has come and gone. The weekend that we prepared for for over a year went by so quickly. It was elegant, simple and beautiful. All the families got along well, many stories were told, tears shed and memorable toasts made. These moments were caught with the expert eye of Lindsay's best friend, an excellent Atlanta-based photographer named Angela Georges (also known for one of my favorite blogs "My Daily Struggle" ). She even caught my dad in his pajamas opening his bedroom door to tell all the "kids" to "keep it down!" on the night before the wedding during some late-night revelry. I will spare him the humiliation of posting that photo and other incriminating evidence caught digitally. To check out Angela's photography site click here . These photos are posted with her permission. Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Mark Lopez, married Oct. 27, 2007 at the Mentone Springs Hotel in Mentone, Alabama The wedding p

According to official Shelby County Humane Society papers, today Gus turns one year old. He celebrated tonight with a can of albacore tuna, a few new toys and bags of treats and a striped sister who helped him with both the food and the toys. Gus was the cat I had to have after seeing his picture on PetFinder. com. With giant ears and a sweet face, I knew he was the orange tabby for me. Getting Gus led me to the random luck of finding Maddy Lou and my cat family was complete. My life has been 100% better because of them. Happy Birthday sweet Guster T! Famous person Gus most resembles: Cher (long nose, seductive almond-shaped eyes and slightly glazed facial expression) Famous person(s) Gus most acts like: Crush -- the sea turtle from "Finding Nemo", Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Can I get a collective, "Duuuuude!" Gus likes: drinking from the bathroom sink faucets, flirting for cat treats with his extra-long tail a swishi

Sadly, the tabloid field day over the sudden and premature death of Donda West has seemed to obscure her amazing life and story. While her son Kanye's talent and rise to fame as a rap artist have been worthy accomplishments, it's the woman who raised a child alone and well, while pursuing her career, a PhD in English and teaching position at Chicago State University, that is the grand feat. Despite the ego and occasional brattitude, one aspect of Kanye West that I've always liked is his appreciation and respect for his mother and how she raised him. "Hey Mama" from 2005's Late Registration was proof of this. I'm just glad to know that Donda West knew how loved she was while she was alive. May her legacy in Kanye shine on.

- I'm embarrassed that I don't have any photos yet of the Oct. 27 nuptials, but I didn't take shoot anything the entire weekend. There was too much going on being sister of the bride. I didn't wear a dress, but did wear makeup so photographic evidence will follow at some point, hopefully sooner than later. Everyone looked nice, but Lindsay, in the dress my mother and aunt wore, was stunning. It was a wonderful weekend in Mentone, spent at the oldest hotel in the state. When it was all over, it felt sad like the last day of camp because it all seemed to go by too fast. To my sister and Mark, may there be many happy years to come.

- I had this cra zy idea that here in the deep South the prevalence of Calvin stickers on the cars and trucks of certain country fried folk would wane seeing as Calvin and Hobbes , the comic strip, has been retired for 12 years this coming December. Boy, was I wrong. Driving around Birmingham in the past few weeks I see that bootlegged Calvin is still really busy these days and making appearances on many a vehicle. His nice boy side does a lot of praying on his knees in from of giant crosses and also memorializes those who have died, but the bad boy is really naughty and sprays urine all over everything from the different American car manufacturers to Nascar pretty boy Jeff Gordon. Calvin's seems to be using the Jimmy Swaggart model of life these days now that he's been separated from his beloved stuffed tiger. I wonder who decided that Calvin would be a good spokesman for everything redneck? Why not Charlie Brown or Dilbert. Sadly Looney Tunes Tazmanian Devil and Tweety Bird

- It seems to me after seeing Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Monday night at The Alabama Theatre, that he has two types of fans -- those that live to taunt his delicate, stormy ego and those who would buy an album of him burping along to The Tijuana Brass Band. I am neither. I went with a friend who I've known since grammar school who recently moved to town, not so much to see him, but to spend time with her. I've heard about Adams great songwriting as well as his strange stage antics for years and knew that whatever he brought forth would probably be worth witnessing, but I was wrong. Unfortunately, from the first set, it seems that the group is trying to fill the tired void of the jam band. If I closed my eyes during the first set I was reminded of the endless Grateful Dead bootlegs my room mate listened to during my freshman year in college. I always wondered why it was necessary to have 50 tapes of the same guitar noodling over and over ad nauseam . This first set was it was

- Catherine Eva Fondren, better known as Cate, was born on Aug. 28. Her parents and brother were my next door neighbors in Crestwood and I digitally chronicled much of Ben's first year on this blog's first year. Cate is quiet and content and in that new baby phase that consists of sleeping, eating and pooping. Ben has become quite the talker these days, loves trains and is a sweet big brother. Parents Mary Catherine and Jason debated over baby number two's name for much of her pregnancy, and I must give myself a slight pat of the back for suggesting Cate -- one of the all-time best names ever. More mid-October photos are here .

- At Vulcan Park, Oct. 14

- ... especially when forced upon me by naughty cats

- Bo Butler and the Nice Boys played the reception and made the evening. It was anything, but a stuffy wedding. I really like the circle of friends, including the bride and her fellow belly dancers.

- It's weird how major life events all seem to happen at once sometime. Last weekend surrogate brother Jay Vance got married to his long time girlfriend, Aimee Thornton. The ceremony was about as short and sweet as they come, no Bible versus, no for richer for poorers and and I have to say I liked it. The weather, flowers, and setting at Birmingham's historical Avondale Park, was just right. Clare, and I have one sibling each and they are getting married within 20 days of one another. Life can be interestingly weird.

- It's always strange going back to Auburn, Ala., the town where I was raised. The house I grew up in has been been bought by a super rich Auburn University trustee who, ironically, was the bane of my father's existence during his last years as chair of the journalism department. Now the house we knew has been completely erased, replaced with a more modern-looking version and completely unrecognizable. Like my sister said, who was also in Auburn Saturday for a bridal luncheon held for her on our old street, "I felt nothing." True dat. - I went back for a good reason other than the luncheon. My first friend on Pinedale Drive, Cameron Leonard, got married Saturday at Auburn's oldest Episocal Church, St. Dunstan's, located downtown. After the reception we gathered at a mutual friends house for the fall Auburn tradition of watching football and our guys won, at the last minute at that and against the evil Florida Gators. I went down back downtown and watched th

(photo taken August 13. 2007 by Clare Vance at her grandmother's home) - Clare's grandmother, Clara Rust, died Monday, Sept. 24 at her home in Norcross, Ga. She was with her first-born Barbara, Clare's mother, and Clare in a house filled with with her favorite things -- a big kitchen, a beautiful backyard, Braves games on TV and plenty of beloved hound dogs. She was a fantastic mixture of opinated, yet kind and a wonderful woman who I have really loved knowing since she moved to Montevallo to live next door to Barbara in the late 1990s. - An excellent cook, known for her famous bread recipes, she was preceded in death by her husband Vincent Harold Rust, is survived by her four children Barbara, Dottie, David and Steve, 10 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and two favorite dogs, Molly Brown Rust and Minnie Pearl Vance. - At age 88, it's amazing to think of how much change Clara Rust saw in her life. - When she was born in 1918, Woodrow Wilson was president - - World

Today marked the last day on this sphere for a brilliantly talented and underrated actor, Alice Ghostley . Her trademark smile and goofy facial expressions are instantly familiar to most generations for a reason. She had a career spanning 50 years with an astounding 93 screen appearances. - Ghostley made her debut back in 1954 in the Broadway revue "New Faces of 1952" with another little-known actress named Eartha Kitt . - She is best know to those of us who grew up in the 1970s and '80s as Esmerelda the goofy and lovable witch from "Bewitched," Mrs. Murdock the shop teacher in "Grease," and Bernice Clifton in "Designing Women." - She also starred in "The Graduate" and was nominated for a tony in 1965 for her performance in “The Sign in Sidney Brustein ’s Window.” - Other major notable and somewhat random appearances: " CHiPs ," "Evening Shade," " Punky Brewster," "Good Times," "The G

- Friend and Teen Getaway singer Jim Fahy posted today on a Facebook this completely hilarious and totally random piece of information: - A guy named Chris Thrash from Alabama has obtained the 1980’s animatronic live act from Showbiz Pizza and reprogrammed it to perform recent hits including “Pop Lock it Drop It” and “Ms. New Booty,” among others. Hilarious. - Check it out here. - The second video for "Pop Lock and Drop It" is funnier and worth the painfully disturbing view. These robots always scared the hell out of me, still do, along with mannequins , ventriloquist dummies and Herbie Hancock's " Rockit " video. Still, like a slow motion car wreck, I have to look. - In the late '90s, I celebrated my friend Roy's birthday with him and our friends Peter and Bill at Showbiz one year and these critters were in full swing. I think we all agreed that it's the eyes that are so terrifying. This band is definitely playing in 1980s hell right now.

- Photo of Bjork at the Fox Theater, Sept. 17, 2007 by Ashley Williams of Pitchfork.com

Photo of Bjork's at the Fox Theater in Atlanta by Lauri Piper. (This was just below our seats.) - Trying to describe Bjork's Monday night concert at the Fox Theater in Atlanta reminds me of those who claim to have been abducted by aliens then returned to earth with warped memory. I knew the 87-year-old venue would be perfect, intimate with beautiful antique Arabian details including an evening sky ceiling with stars. The crowd was like 5,000 kids on Christmas morning, thrilled beyond belief and Bjork brought it getting everyone to their feet for most songs, all with dropped jaws. To briefly recap some elements of a Bjork concert that, unsurprisingly, still put her as the queen of her self-designed ring: - Vibrant face paint worn by every woman on stage - A laser light show (like the Atari game "Battlezone" was being played live) - Paper webs, a la Spiderman, being shot from her hands into the audience - An explosion of metallic confetti towards the end of the conc

- And while I'm on the subject of Bjork, I had to post this hilarious USA Today-type infographic that I found last year on The Onion 's Web site.

- - I spent Labor Day week at Jekyll Island, Georgia with Clare and her mother, Barbara. As a kid, my family vacationed across the sound at St. Simon's Island and there is something about the beaches of the Atlantic that are so much more interesting (and less populated with commercial waste) than those of the Gulf. There's not a single national chain on the island with the exception of a 1950's style resort that was bought by Radisson. That was literally the only logo I saw the entire week -- what a nice break! We spent a lot of time fishing and in our week hauled in sea bass, sea trout, croaker, blow fish (very cute), sea cat, toad fish, blue crab and some monstrosity Clare caught in her net she named "the turd crab." - Swimming, biking, cooking and some excellent naps were had in the camper that Clare and her mom have parked at the Jekyll Island campground. Like any good vacation, we hated to leave and are already looking forward to getting back. - More photo

- The magestic live oak gives the islands in southern Georgia a mysterious feel and are very generous with their shade.

- You wouldn't think cable television, a fully funtioning kitchen and room to sleep three adults and two dogs could exist comfortably in such a small space, but it does, and we could have slept three more people, but were damn glad that wasn't the case.

- Despite our best coaching, neither Charlie Brown nor Junebug were fans of the surf. Instead they created a beagle cave in the rocks that make the sea wall along the coastline of Jeckyll Island. Clare and I theorize that her other beagle, Minnie Pearl, who was left at home for potential bad behavior, would probably stay on a wake board for treats, of course.

- I never would have though it, but surf fishing is quite a workout. Keeping your upper body still while your lower body adjusts to an incoming tide is tiring after an hour or so, but fun. We didn't have great luck in the surf, mostly small sea bass and trout, but a bad day of surf fishing beats a good day of almost any other pastime I say as Clare demonstates.

- I have never cooked fish before so this was a partial experiment, but after marinating these sea trout in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and season salt, I felt like I was going to have a winner of an appetizer and I was right. After about 20 minutes on indirect heat with mesquite chips burning along with charcoal, these babies were delisciouso.

- Fittingly, the last catch of the trip was the biggest fish, a gorgeoud striped sea bass, and I had to take a picture to prove it. This dude went right back in the water as we were all done with fish mess by the last day at Jekyll.

- - - August 26 marked a very important day as I crossed over the threshold from those who haven't see live roller derby action to those who have. Birmingham's Tragic City Rollers took on the newly-formed Panama City, Fla. team, in competion dubbed "Manhandle the Panhandle", beating them soundly by more than 100 points. I watched California roller derby as a kid on television during the dawn of paid cable and the women, amazons typically all with striped knee socks, were Wonder Woman like. The Birmingham team didn't fail to live up to those recollections. The viciousness of the sport is breathtaking with elbows to the chin, while in motion and plenty of face first spills to the floor and into the crowd. The only element of the competition more impressive was the stamina of TCR's team, most of who recovered in mere seconds from some nasty collisions. The game is a little confusing to understand at first, but the rules are clearly laid out in the program provid

- Maddy Lou got special treats, food and toys today for her first birthday, including a can of Albacore and some cat grass as pictured, but the highlight of her day was breaking into a bag of potting soil with her teeth and spreading it all over the hallway. As you can see, brother Gus was very interested to know what this birthday celebrating was all about as he has yet to reach his first. - As to be expected and unlike a dog, Maddy didn't seem particularly grateful about any gifts of the food or toy variety. The attitude seemed to be, "I will eat or play with this, but it won't be a life altering experience and I sure as hell won't give you, Big One, the impression that any of this really mattered all that much." - I know people like that, but I would never have them as pets. None are as cool at Maddy Lou. - The recap is here in better design than Blogger would ever allow.

This past Sunday marked six months with the kittens and I am filled with much love and gratefulness that this amazing duo entered my life. Losing my pup Andi has made me very aware of how precious these relationships with our animals are. A friend recently coined it in a piece of mixed-media art she gave me as a "limited time offer." It's a phrase so overused, it become meaningless until you place it in a different context. There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for happiness these tabbies have brought me. Happy six months to my sweet babies. In honor of our half year together, I am reposting some cat Haiku poems that have circulating on the Internet for years. I don't know who to attribute them to, but appreciate this person immensely for getting it just right. Cat Haikus You never feed me. Perhaps I'll sleep on your face. That will sure show you. - You must scratch me there! Yes, above my tail! Behold, elevator butt. - The rule for today Touch m