The newly tweaked lineup of Timothy Monger State Park notched our second show this weekend with a strange drunken night full of friends and family.  In addition to being the record release show for Jeremy Quentin’s Small Houses project, the show at Woodruff’s was my dear brother’s aptly titled “Jamie Monger Birthday Acknowledgement Night”.  GLMS bassist and close friend Scott McClintock made a surprise visit from Virginia as did some other really amazing people who were not from Virginia.  In addition to the alcohol and good cheer there were balloons shaped like champagne bottles and dolphins, a copmlete set of MLB team stickers and a lovely TMSP/JMBAN banner courtesy of Jenny Harley.  We have some cool friends. 

The evening ended with a sloppy but heartfelt Monger Brothers encore just before closing time.  Here are a few photos that Jack Spack took.

Jamie quizzing the audience on his lyrics:

Me laughing:

TMSP playing rock music:

My strange Saturday began with a 21 mile training run to Petersburg and back which was horribly derailed by the flooding of the River Raisin at Ida Highway.  The only crossing I could find that didn’t involve miles of rerouting was over an old decrepit railroad trestle to which I could only gain access by trespassing through someone’s yard.  While it was a thrill navigating the rickety old bridge over the swollen brown river it pretty much killed my concentration and the remaining 9 miles back to Britton were horrendous.  But, with just three weeks to go and very limited training time left, this will have to serve as my last long run until the Edinburgh Marathon on May 22nd.  I’m sure that adrenaline and a hearty breakfast of haggis and blood sausage will carry me through the race just fine.

Following my run, I ate a bunch of calories and watched Fellowship of the Rings from my sleeping bag on the living room floor.  Later that evening before the gig, we celebrated both Jamie and Tania’s birthdays with an insane Korean dinner at Seoul Garden in Ann Arbor.  BBQ beef, pork, Bi Bim Bop, Kimchi… the works!  It was a heroic amount of eating. 

Kristie took this photo of our accomplishments:

Today, we were very tired.  Amidst the untroubled lounging and watching of subsequent Lord of the Rings films Kristie and I managed to knock out a quick photo shoot for my upcoming album.  We used several locations around Britton, but I really like this one at shot at the Britton Grain Elevator. 

And because today is May Day and I was taught by my mother that you’re supposed to leave surprise flower baskets in friends’ doorways, here is a picture of a surprise hyacinth that popped up in front of our house.

Happy May Day.

-TM