Nerdery Week: Day 4

Dang! Is it already Day 4? What the heck am I going to do with myself once Nerdery Week is in our rearview? How ever will we cope?

Somehow, I think we’ll manage.

You know, I don’t think I’ll promise that this installment will be shorter, because, let’s face it…they never are. So, pack a lunch or a snack and let’s take another peek at TKT HQ or, as we affectionately call it: THE NERDERY.

Today, I’m going to take you to Fridge Corner.

You’re thinking: Hey’s it’s just a little corner in the nerdery. This won’t take long. No sweat.

Right.

Well, as you probably surmised, this is the entry to the Nerdery. It’s kind of a little nook where I’ve got concert posters, the fridge and a couple other little nuggets of nerdy goodness. I tried to shoot it with the desk corner there for perspective, so you can sort of get your bearings. Dang. I’m gonna have to shoot a video, aren’t I?

First up is my framed poster for the Fountains of Wayne show I saw at First Avenue back in June of 2007. Dang. Has it been that long already? It’s hard to see, but I’m a nerd in that I frame my concert ticket right in the frame whenever possible. What’s cool about this poster is that it was a limited run of 250. At least, that’s what I was told.

If you look past the door and right above the little fridge, you’ll come across a trio of concerts pretty much rocked my world. Starting from…

The Top – Well, here’s where I lose all street cred and admit that I’m a pretty die-hard Bjork fan. If you only know her as ‘that wacky broad that wore the swan dress’ then…SHAME ON YOU! I won’t get into how much of a musical and visual genius she is (including the swan dress, haters!) but I will tell you that my friend Dirty and I went on a road trip to see her at Red Rocks. That’s right, Colorado. I’m not a religious fellow, but that experience was, well…religious. This poster was a limited edition, too. Blah, blah, blah…

Bottom Left – The greatest band ever, which you probably already knew is Eels. This would be show #2 for me. This was the infamous ‘Eels With Strings’ tour where frontman E (Mark Oliver Everett) toured with a 4 woman string ensemble and stripped down all his rockin’ tunes to something completely different. This poster was hard to come by. I actually pestered the Pantages Theater days later until they said: “Fine. Come and get the @#%*-in’ poster.” Persistence pays, kids.

Bottom Right – There was a time when Nelly Furtado was more hippy than she was pop-y and sort of like every other Britney Spears wannabe. Anyway, this was that show. She was young, new and had something to prove. Legend has it that during this show at The Quest she was sick as a dog. She’d sing two songs, jump backstage, barf her guts out and come back to sing some more. Awesome. Also, I was in the front row and she slapped my hand. Like a groupie, I didn’t wash it for like 2 hours or something. Also, I got one of her guitar picks. You read that right: She ACTUALLY plays the guitar!

Fun fact about the fridge…it was actually an after thought. When my dad (What up, Bruce!) and I sat down and planned how to make this unfinished room rock hardcore, we never even thought about a fridge. As we were sheetrocking and wiring the joint, I got thirsty. I thought about how awesome it would be if I didn’t have to go upstairs to the fridge to get liquid refreshment. Thus, the fridge cubby-hole was born. I’d love to say it was an easy thing to build, but it actually took us a long time to get it right. Well worth the trouble…right, Dad? Er…Dad?

Now, if you turn to your right from the fridge, you’ll see this small little wall. Of course, since there’s space on there, I gots to put more crap up, right? Right?

Answer: Right.

Let’s take a closer look!

Okay, okay… So I’m not as obsessive about Bjork as say a certain Iowan is with Madonna *cough Dan cough cough* but this puts me on the map a little. You see, I spotted this thing on Ebay a number of years back and I had to have it. Had. To. Have. It. It’s got a CD single of one of my favorite songs in there (Bachelorette) and if you squint, you can see the Icelandic Princess signed it, too. I got into a MAJOR bidding war with someone and well, it’s…uh…mine. Final price? I don’t want to talk about it.

Now despite the sack of garbage on legs in brown featured in the picture, this is one of my favorite concert-going experiences ever. I got to see Tracy Bonham (she sang ‘Mother, Mother’…yes, you’ve heard it) in concert. The crazy thing? There was a typo in the ad for the show and like, literally 20 people showed up for it. Thankfully it was in the Ascot Room (which is part of The Quest), so it wasn’t totally humilating for her. I scored two guitar picks, her set list and another nerdy fan was nice enough to take my picture with Ms. Bonham AND e-mail me the picture from her camera. Now that’s value! She signed it To Kingsley. You probably figured out that’s my middle name and (another fun fact!) is what my closest friends call me.

Another year, another Eels show. Actually, this is a poster from the first Eels gig I saw. My roadtrippin’ concert-goin’ friend Dirty and I hit this one together in Madison, Wisconsin at a sweet place called Luther Blues. Don’t look for it, it’s not there (always wanted to say that), but man…what a blast. E came out onto the stage on the shoulders of one of his bandmates, playing the harmonica. Oh, and did I mention that he walked through the standing room only crowd? Awesome. Anyway, I scored a guitar pick from the man himself and upon returning to Minneapolis, I realized I didn’t have a poster to remember the show by. A quick call to Madison took care of that. Heck, she even sent me some extra tickets with a note that said: Thanks for coming out to Luther’s! Come back again soon! Dang, I wish I could.

I should apologize for the poor, poor quality of this picture. You see, one of the nerderies downfalls is the lack of a light right above Fridge Corner. I did all I could to make it look all nice n’ neat for y’all, but I’ve failed you. Friends? Anyway, this is a set list from the Jem show I saw back in 2004. She was in the same small room where I saw Tracy Bonham, but the crowd was a bit bigger for ol’ Jem. Again, it was one of those shows where you won’t see her in a small venue like this again. She went on to have her songs in all kinds of shows (Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., etc…) so she’s gotten along famously. Jem was cool enough to talk with me, compliment me on my name (why thank you!) and sign her set list for me. I wish she’d hurry up with that follow-up album, though. And in case you were thinking it: Yes, Jem is truly outrageous.

Final stretch, I swear. This is the little guy I’ve got above my door. He’s a stone face of some sort and I can’t remember what his deal is. I think he’s some wind god or something like that, but I’ve always had him hovering above the door of my respective nerdery/workspace/garbage dump. This picture doesn’t do him justice. You’ll have to come over to see it, I guess.

Lastly, hanging on my nerdery door knob are these two items. The top one, is my baseball cap from the Woodbury Fire Department. I never wear it. I look like a complete a-hole in baseball hats, but it’s there for decoration. It’s actually the 2nd generation hat and I’m not a big fan of the design. I think it looks kinda wussy. Below that is the free Resident Evil: Extinction action bag that came with the purchase of the DVD. It’s hardly big enough to hold a lunch let alone any zombie survival gear, but whateva…

Whew. No wonder I don’t feel like editing after each Nerdery Week daily installment (but I do anyway!) I’m happy to consider myself over the hump at this point. I think by Day 7 we’ll be looking at the dust bunnies under my futon. Stick around for that, maniacs!

And hey….check it. Our numbers are growing! New nerdery additions include…

The Musings of Wendy Withers
Uvulapie and His Amazing Hillbillies
Angela – The Bookshelf Muse
Unhinged

And, of course our returning cast of favorites with new updates:

Dan – This Man’s World – Spiders and Madge-tastic
Matt – Blue Birdland – The Oaks
CG/PR – The Poisoned Apple – Her Bookcase

Am I missing anyone? Hey, you…the lurker! There’s still time to get in on history. Don’t let your nerdery fade into obscurity…bring it.

We wanna see the goods!