Brooke Barrettsmith

On a Friday evening I found myself driving west on Rte 173 in Lake County searching feverishly for a small church off the road where this independent artist named Brooke Barrettsmith was gaining steam.

I have been following this girl's career for a little over two years now. She has overcome some personal family issues that are well documented and for the world to see on her website, but more importantly, created a stronger bond with them because of their journey together.

Brooke isn't any ordinary rocker - she can sing. She competed in American Idol and made it quite far. Getting cut from making the top 12 didn't derail her dreams, she soldiered on and eventually got signed.



Arriving at this small church, I can hear the loud pounding sound of music being played. As I walked in, I see a four-piece band on stage playing with such energy, you would think they thought they were playing in an arena. Armed with a small black t-shirt, a guitar, and her backing band, Brooke managed to electrify the room. To say she wore her heart on her sleeve would be an understatement. Brooke wore the whole room's heart on her sleeve. Her songs of hope, despair, and her faith created a connection with her audience giving everyone a front row seat to her life.



I first found about Brooke as I grew up with her guitarist and fiance, Billy Adams. I'm not sure if I would classify Billy as a musical prodigy, but he's pretty close. I recall being in Billy's basement with his brother over a decade ago watching him play guitar. He had a natural gift for music and it's great to see he's putting it to good use.

The concert was officially billed as her 'CD Release Party.' I picked up her album which she was gracious enough to sign for me.

Brooke's self-titled album is available on iTunes.
Check out the single "Farewell" streaming at www.brookerocks.com

Jim Gaffigan: the Sexy Tour

In the cozy, downtown district of Waukegan, IL lies a courthouse, train station, a few bars, and the Genesee Theatre, which happens to be conveniently less than 15 minutes from where I live. The theatre has been showcasing plays and bringing bigger acts for a few years now. I was particularly interested when comedian Jim Gaffigan was announced to show up.

On a whim, I decided to drive there and see if there were any extra tickets. Gaffigan originally sold out his 8pm show and an extra 10:30pm show was added. I took my friend Christine with me to see if we could find tickets. Before we made it inside, we were looking where to enter and Jim Gaffigan exited the car right next to us. A wave of applause erupted and he waved to the crowd and went in. I found where to enter inside for the box office. Before I could even reach the ticket window, a guy named Mike intervened. Mike approached me and asked if I had tickets. I told him I didn't and was looking to see if there were any. He said he had two openings next to him and his girlfriend and would sell them to me and a cheap price ($40) from what he paid. Its not common to meet a complete stranger who was this kind, but to my surprise, it was the real deal.

A bigger surprise was the location of our seats. We walked down the middle isle and found our seats were dead center 12 rows from the stage.

Gaffigan killed. He spent what seemed to be 30 minutes talking about his love of bacon. "Adding bacon makes everything better. Sprinkle some bacon on that salad and it becomes a game: find the bacon"

"if it wasn't for bacon, we wouldn't know what a water chesnut was"

Gaffigan didn't just repeat old material off his previous albums. He started off the show with a bit on bowling, followed by an ongoing joke of being lazy, and of course television. Gaffigan interrupted his talk of food for some religious jokes. "Abraham circumsized himself. I'd love to hear how that conversation with his wife went..."

Gaffigan closed the show with his signature material, Hot Pockets. As he started, the roar went thru the audience knowing what's coming next. Gaffigan did not disappoint and added some new lines to his infamous hot pocket bit. "Now they have breakfast hot pockets. Hot pocket for breakfast, hot pocket for lunch, dead by dinner!.... murder pockets!"

Incredible circumstances occurred for me to attend this show and it was awesome how it all came together. Even though my jaw hurt after laughing so hard, I would see Jim Gaffigan again in a heartbeat.

Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Delivered from the indie label Sub Pop, comes a duo from Portland Oregon: Helio Sequence. The band is new to me, but have quite a history spanning back ten years. Recently, their history involves a near tragic derailment of the band. Brandon Summers, frontman, damaged his vocal chords and nearly lost his voice after touring in support of their last album. Having to relearn to sing, Summers and his counterpart Benjamin Weikel managed to create the brilliant album "Keep Your Eyes Ahead."

Listening to the album from the beginning gives you a good indication of what to expect. "Lately" is by no means a minimalistic song. The sound of guitar notes chasing each other with a drumbeat multiplying throughout the progression of the track. "Can't Say No" keeps the album on pace as it feels more aggressive and blends the echoes of the vocals magically.

A few tracks down "Shed Your Love" find its place in the middle of the album slowing it down appropriately like a roller coaster. Summer's voice is much more stripped on this track, exposing his calmness and composure.

Near the end of the album, my favorite track "Hallelujah" makes its appearance. Summers truly shows the depth of his songwriting on this track, with deep lyrics surrounding its simple chorus repeated throughout the song: "we all said hallelujah, we all said hallelujah."

Who watches the Watchmen?

Finally got around to and finished Alan Moore's graphic novel The Watchmen (illustrated by Dave Gibbons). I was an avid reader of comics as a kid and did not stumble upon this until now. Which is completely fine as the Watchmen is serious literature as the book has won the Hugo award and was named one of Time's 100 best novels.

The Watchmen is a story of aging superheroes in 1985 who reflect on their crime fighting days while anticipating a possible nuclear war with Russia. The death of one of their own brings an investigation by the mysterious Rorschach who believes there is an attempt to wipe out all masked heroes.

Moore cleverly adds fictional material between the chapters such as the autobiography of Nite Owl, newspaper articles and anything else to help you better understand the characters.

the Sin in Wisconsin

Annually, the Wisconsin State Fair invades the Milwaukee area at the Wisconsin Fair Grounds, just a short distance from Miller Park.



Hundreds of thousands of people visit the week long celebration for music, miscellaneous attractions, and cream puffs. The long lines are astounding as it snakes inside the building and gives you a front row seat at them being made.


Personally, I could only handle one, but there are others who order them by the dozen. There are even different lines that you could just pick up an order of cream puffs.



My friend Nate, could not stop talking about a delicacy he tried the year before... Deep Fried S'mores. Several items are deep fried such as cheese, twinkies, candy, but the s'mores are something special.






The Deep Fried S'more is possibly the most delicious food I have ever tried. When you bite into the crust, there is a melty mixture of chocolate and marshmallow that tastes like heaven.

As you can probably tell, the Wisconsin State Fair isn't the finest low-calorie experience. Gluttony is the sin of choice, but at least it's a delicious choice!