Buffalo, NY

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Zach

I promised you something exciting, and I’m about to deliver.

Buffalo! Amazingly, the origin of the name of this city is unclear — there are a number of contesting theories, with no clear winner. Also interesting is that the fictional Gotham City was modeled after Buffalo, with its abundance of Gothic architecture.

The drive to Buffalo from Pittsburgh was beautiful. It was a wonderful day and the scenery did not disappoint.

I even passed some Amish dudes driving their carriages but didn’t get a picture. Instead we waved to each other. I did manage to get a picture of one of the signs warning drivers to watch out for them though (a bad picture at that).

Next thing we knew, we were coming up on Buffalo (we didn’t know anything for several hours evidently).

The first thing we did is hang out with a Couchsurfer I’d met for lunch in Omaha on one of his stops, a flight attendant by the name of John Crandall. John is a cool dude and gave us the grand tour of his area; we walked all around, ate some nice burritos from a great place called ETS in the park, and had generally great times.

John was also helpful in finding a host and people to record. Unfortunately the dude who I’d planned on recording in the evening lost his keys while biking somewhere and had to spend the remainder of his evening hunting for his keys in the dark. Not fun.

So instead I met a girl who likes donuts!!

This picture was taken the morning after hanging out with her and our host Justin and several other awesome peeps (including another Couchsurfer who was also staying there that night) late into the night around an outdoor fire.

We stayed up late chatting and somehow she got on the subject of donuts, and we realized that it was important that we wake up early in order to eat some donuts. So we did.

As an aside, I’m suddenly curious if the “bon” in “bonfire” means “good.”

“I was curious about that too!” interjects Attractive Girl. “So I looked it up on the Online Eymological Dictionary! It says:”

1556, from M.E. banefire (1483), originally a fire in which bones were burned. Johnson mistakenly derived it from Fr. bon “good.”

Thanks, Attractive. So the answer to my question is no. But at least I can put the blame for my erroneous guess on Johnson. Darn that Johnson.

And, that was that. No one got recorded in Buffalo, sadly, but we did have a great time, eat some good donuts, and… see Niagara Falls.

NEXT: Niagara Falls. Don’t stay on the edge of your seat though, it’s not good for your posture. Also don’t bate your breath, just breathe normally. You’ll feel better that way.

Coolest Award Ever

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Zach

I forgot to mention something about my friend Stephanie Axne in Chicago.

If anyone has a better trophy than that, I’d like to see it.

Chicago, IL

Posted on August 2, 2008 by Zach

We spent four busy and fun days in the windy city. I’ve been behind on posting due to having so many pictures from Chicago and so much to report, so I might be a tad terse. Forgive me.

July 26th

The first night we met up with my old friend Stephanie Axne:

We had a good time chilling with her and her friend and her brother.

Then we called it a night.

July 27th

The next day we ate some breakfast at a really cool breakfast joint, the name of which I have forgotten. (Steph – if you read this, totally say the name of the place in the comments OK?) Besides the delicious eats, one of the highlights was this picture in the bathroom.

All the other pictures were roosters.

After breakfast, Steph put down some nice vocals for one of my songs, and then we were off to Gino’s East to introduce JH to Chicago-style pizza.

You have no idea how I’ve been craving Chicago-style pizza. The only place I could find it in Korea was at a Pizzeria Uno in CoEX mall, which had “Chicago style pizza” as a single menu item! Omaha doesn’t even have it. Not even at Old Chicago!! Seriously. Needless to say, the pizza was a huge highlight for me.

“What’s so special about Chicago-style pizza?” asks Attractive Girl attractively.

Actually, the fact that you don’t know decreases your attractiveness.

“Really. Did you know,” she asks coquettishly, “that I want to discover everything about the world, including Chicago-style pizza? Also, I value correct spelling and grammar.”

Okay, you’re still pretty attractive then. But I can’t answer your question.

“Why not?” Blink blink.

Chicago-style pizza must be tasted, not explained.

“But-”

No. That is my final word. You just have to go eat some. I would totally take you out on a date to eat some but you are only a narrative device. Too bad for you.

“Sigh… I wish I were real.”

We all do, believe me. But getting back to this post… after dinner we headed out to meet our next host, a happening dude by the name of Matt Lederhosen. We had some milkshakes, went to his house, chilled with him and our laptops, went to sleep. (INTERESTING FACT: that is not actually his last name, but it does start with L.)

July 28th

The next day we were off to see the city. We drove to the south side (where I had a session later),

hopped on the train toward the city,

got off said train once we were in the city,

and proceeded to take random pictures of stuff:

Not pictured: I had a good time taking JH to Ed Debevic’s, where the serving staff is rude to you. It was quite a change from polite Korea.

Then we were back to the south side to record my old friend from WU, Rob Leveridge. Rob and I used to make music together back in the day, when he had long hair and we were rock stars. Rob now has short hair, but he’s still a rock star. In addition to being a rock star, he works for Chicago Theological Seminary. We recorded in his office:

Rob had brought all kinds of fun toys, like a wave drum (never heard of it before), a frog (kind of like a guiro), and of course his guitar. He layed down a nice assortment of tracks for a few songs.

After that, I went downstairs to record this absolutely nasty-sounding old Steinway I had seen down there. The room wasn’t climate-controlled, and I believe the piano hadn’t been tuned. Ever.

There was also a chapel in one of the older sections of the building which sounded amazing. I wanted to record the Pakistani drum that Rob had brought with him in there. Unfortunately, there weren’t any power outlets nearby, so we weren’t able to record. Here is a nice bittersweet view of the space:

Finally, it was off to our next host, an extraordinarily helpful fellow named Taylor Brennan. We shot a few holes in the breeze there before going to sleep.

July 29th

Taylor is a singer (with a broadcasting degree… how cool is that?), and he broadcasted some nice vocals for several songs.

We took a break for food with Taylor and his girlfriend Kim and their other roommate Nicole.

After lunch, Kim joined in to do some group vocals with Taylor!

Then, it was back into the city for some more sightseeing!

Seriously, friends, we walked a lot. My feet and legs were already killing me from the day before, and then we walked several more miles seeing the city again. We walked all the way up the Magnificent Mile too. And, we were really hungry. Would you believe there are no restaurants on the Magnificent Mile?! It’s pretty much true. Finally, near the John Hancock building, we ate at the food court in Macy’s, at California Pizza Kitchen.

Then, we hopped in the John Hancock building up to the 96th floor for what is considered the best view of the city (for people without airplanes).

We came outside as a storm was busy beginning. We got rained on pretty hard as we ran for the subway station, where we discovered that the northbound train we needed was rerouted due to construction, and we had to go to a different station. Another run in the rain. Then a ride on a train. Then we walked back to Taylor’s place, passing closer to Wrigley Field this time.

July 30th

On this day, we woke up, loaded up, drove out, ate some Chicago-style hotdogs, and were off to Kalamazoo.

I am proud to report that we never had to fill up the tank in Chicago, where gas is like 40 cents more expensive. Yay not doing that!

COMING SOON: Another exciting adventure! Stay tuned!

Chicago!

Posted on August 1, 2008 by Zach

Who is a lucky photographer? That’s right, I am.

More on Chicago soon, but I just had to share that shot.

The Last Asian Wednesday

Posted on July 27, 2008 by Zach

No, this is not a short story about Asia being destroyed on a Wednesday, or switching over to some crazy calendar that doesn’t have Wednesdays (although you are welcome to write one in the comments… I will give you a dollar if it’s good). Rather it describes an event, known as “Asian Wednesday.”

“Tell us about the origin of Asian Wednesday!!” clamors a mob of nearby teenagers.

Well mob of teenagers, Asian Wednesday has a long and glonous tradition — and cultual. Tuk under thurnb and held firmly.

“WHAT?!” they yell angstily.

Now you can pick up anything! …never mind. When I returned to Omaha from Seoul last March, I met up with my Korean friend Jong-hun, who had come over to Omaha to study English. He ended up living at an awesome place called Capitol Court, which is kind of like a dorm for international students, where he met many other international students, such as Mina Kang and Rumiko Niijima:

I and some of my friends decided to have a get-together with these people every Wednesday, wherein we would eat food and watch Asian videos. President Bush, upon learning of our weekly outing, said, “I like to say, if America can’t have Asian Wednesdays, it’s not the America I know.” The name stuck.*

Last Tuesday (yes, Tuesday) we had a special Asian Wednesday — the last one of its kind. Mina was leaving the next day on a two-week vacation to see America before she goes back to Korea, and I was about to leave on my second Leaf. What’s more, Jong-hun is going to accompany me for several weeks of this Leaf, and Rumiko moved from Capitol Court just two days prior. It just goes to show that Things Change.

Some things, however, don’t change. For example, men like cars:

Even better, cars and girls!

And pretty much everyone likes great food.

We ate at a place called Jam’s American Grill. Not only was it ranked highly on websites about Omaha restaurants, but it had the word American in the name, which made it an excellent place to take international students for a final, special outing.

I would like to mention that Rumiko is an excellent girlfriend. She has been my girlfriend for a while now, and I am her boyfriend number two, after Kim Jong-Il (President of North Korea). My efforts to oust Mr. Kim have thus far been unsuccessful. She is always interested in more boyfriends, so if you are interested let me know and I’ll submit your information to her. Unqualified applicants can expect to be boyfriend 500 or more, but applicants with appropriate qualifications (lots of money, President of a totalitarian nation) can expect to rank higher. Rumiko reserves the right to reject all applicants for any reason.

Following our adventure eating at Jam’s, we went to the Shark Club. We were totally not sharks, but they let us in anyway. We played a fun game known as “pool.” We tried to act like sharks while we were there.

We also sometimes acted like humans.

And aliens.

It is my wish that the spirit of Asian Wednesday will live on.

How to Have Your Own Asian Wednesday

Find an Asian.
Eat some food with the Asian.
Maybe watch a movie or something.

That’s it! Note that it does not even have to be Wednesday. Good luck!

* That part about the President is a lie.

Serb Fest!

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Zach

Hundreds of people thought I was Serbian last Saturday.

“Why?” asks Attractive Girl while eating a delicious snack.

“Ooh, what is that snack?” I ask.

“It’s 호떡!” she says, smacking her oh-so-kissable lips.

“Oooh, I love 호떡!” I say. “Can I have one?”

She assumes a flirtatious motherly pose. “Only if you answer my question.”

Fair enough. The reason people thought I was Serbian is not because I’m Serbian. I’m not. It’s because I drummed for a Serbian folk music band (Majstory, pronounced like my story) at Omaha’s Serb Fest on Saturday! We were basically the dance band for the evening.

“What is Serb Fest?” asks Attractive Girl, handing me a nice greasy 호떡.

Besides being the reason I had to come back to Omaha, it was an all-day party for, of, and about Serbian things! Things including music, history, food, and of course, people. There were tables with Serbian items on them, interesting historical trivia about Nikola Tesla (he was Serbian by the way) and the Serbian Orthodox Church (priests must marry and grow beards), and singing Serbic children:

Also, these children danced. Serbishly.

You can’t see any shots of me playing with the band (I forgot to ask someone else to take pictures), but you can see our stuff set up there behind the childs. There was also a ton of super delicious Serbian food.

“What did you eat?”

Roast lamb. I think I should say it again: roast lamb. It was roasting for almost an entire day. Super good. Hey, you’re drooling!

“Oops! *slurp* But… I want to eat roast lamb!”

Don’t we all!

“Actually,” says a passing vegetarian, “I don’t.”

Well… um. Okay. But all normal, omnivorous people want to eat it.

“Are you saying vegetarians are abnormal?!”

Um… no. Dang it, I don’t even know who is talking anymore! Narrative devices aren’t supposed to be confusing! Let me talk more about Serb Fest.

“Okay.”

So there was food, and drink, and history, and tours of the church, and dancing, and music. The music was provided not only by Majstory but also by an acoustic group, pictured both above and below.

That guy playing the upright bass is also the bassist for Majstory. What’s more, he is named Joe Brudny and he came over to my house yesterday and recorded some of that medium-sized guitar (which is actually not a guitar per se but rather a Serbian instrument called a brač) for me. Awesome.

IMPORTANT NEWS: I’ll be drumming again with Majstory for a similar event in Kansas City on September 13th! Come on over! Say “shta radish tea!” to people and they will think you’re Serbian too.

Now I am going to go before Attractive Girl or Vegetarian Girl confusingly interrupt again.

Hit the Road, Zach

Being a recounting of Zach's Recording Tour of Love

Category Archives: Travel Tidbits