Epic Status Photoblog

Tom is in the process of moving from Des Moines to the Omaha area.  Here’s some photos of him attempting to play The Awakening by Les Claypool on his bass guitar.  Awesome song, I must add.

 

 

 

Action, Music

We went with the mother and Ken to the Grand Piano Bistro in the East Village area of Des Moines.  The bistro is an interesting place to go for something different.  They will play almost any request within reason that you throw at them, along with humerous games with on-stage volunteers.  Also I’d place them in the local top 10 for the best variety of beers.

 

 

 

 

 

Bars, Des Moines, Music, Night, People

? Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) did a show at the Liar’s Club block party stage for Memorial Day weekend.? I had to get by without a telephoto lens and difficult lighting, so please forgive the quality issues.

 

He let a ton of people on the stage as a publicity stunt.? They all can go home and call everyone they know to tell them they were on the stage.? It was? too crowded for any of them to move around.? The affect was Vanilla Ice had to compete with the stage girls for attention.

 

? Vanilla Ice himself

 

? Nice soundboards, they were ginormous.

 

? Chicks were flashing various body parts.

 

? Vanilla Ice attempts to get more girls to undress.? The crowd wasn’t very receptive of his plea.

 

? Half the time you couldn’t even see him because the stage was over crowded.? Vanilla Ice’s show was interesting at best.

 

? I couldn’t say that I digged anything I heard.? We were hoping he would play some of the old school hits that we remember from childhood, but he must be too cool for that now.? It’s understandable that he’d be embarrassed.? We just wanted to hear some “Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go” or “Ice, Ice, Baby.”

Des Moines, Downtown, Music, Night, Outdoor, People

We missed going to Valley Junction for Cinco De Mayo this year.? Eric’s brother was sick (cough-cough)? and couldn’t make it to their bar to DJ.? Eric had to fill in, so that’s where we landed.? We ended up staying there with boring white people, where it was just another fifth day of May.

 

? Black and white is for your grandmother.

 

Lucky for this small? bachelorette party, Eric showed up to control the mic.? They did some song by Queen and another one that made less of an? impression on me.

 

? Fancy bathroom murals

 

 

Girlies

 

Pain is life? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Life is pain

Bars, Des Moines, Holidays, Music, Night, People

After bowling, we hung out at the? interesting bar inside Air Lanes.? They do karaoke here all the time.

 

Look Ma, I’m on Cyberspace!

 

Look lady, I’m just the bartender.? Serenade someone else.

 

? These guys were good, they were taking requests to sing karaoke.? They could do anything from rock to country to mild rap.? I just had to hear them do something by OutKast.? Impressive flexibility.

 

? Eight mile without the vomit and insults

 

? Then this woman sung a love song to another woman

 

She seeked out a new target and chose Pee Wee for this song, who was less than flattered.? Richard was jamming out and head banging to her love song.

 

 

? Freaking rock stars in here

 

We had the backstage pass so everything was cool.

 

 

Bars, Des Moines, Music, Night, People

I’m? still a poor photographer in every aspect.? (1) I can’t afford the lighting gear and lenses that I? need.? (2) I make stupid mistakes like leaving the ISO 800 setting on all night, resulting in pictures that are more grainy than they should be.? Also my flash batteries got overheated and I had to wait between shots.? Now I roll with 3 sets of batteries.? The battery situation caused me to take some no flash shots, surprisingly I really like them.

 

Eric introduced us to a new place at an old location.? His mother and brother purchased the suite where House of Bricks previously was located.? Jeannie’s Bottle is the name, “if it’s Live it’s at The Bottle.”? Eric says they have live music every Monday at the moment.

 

Meet Jeannie, on the left.? It was great to have VIP service? all night.

 

Especially popular among the younger crowd, but a little bit of everyone.

 

 

He-Man and The Hulks rocked the stage tonight.

 

 

 

? Why you have to bust me out like that?

 

 

 

The crowd goes wild.

 

 

? He-Man and The Hulks

 

 

 

 

Johnny 5 is alive, just hasn’t made an appearance in a few years.

Bars, Des Moines, Music

Went to Tom’s…

 

He has a new method for keeping the vacuum, encyclopedia, and snake oil salesman away.?

 

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? Mason’s various hijinks in the dark

 

 

 

I’m not insensitive, I just don’t care.

 

Tom on bass, me on… camera.? No music from this cat since the trumpet in middle school.?

 

Nice steak knife… is the blood trough really necessary for cooked meat?

 

 

Icicles hang off the gutters from the Blizzard of 2007

Music, People