Enter LAURaville

Please excuse our lack of posts - both bloggers have been busy buying up homes and making them livable. More fun coming soon.

Kinoki Foot Pad Test - 2nd (and Final) Week

Now that I have completed the two weeks of the Kinoki Foot Pad test, I’m sure you have lots of questions:

1. Did The Foot Pad Work?
2. Do I feel Cleansed?
3. Do I feel more alive and Energetic?
4. What is that brown stuff and why does it smell that way?

The answers are below, but first let’s look at the video:

Answers: (1) Don’t think so, (2) Nope, (3) Nope (4) Not a clue

So maybe I don’t have the answers yet. But hopefully WBAL-TV will give some more clarity on the product’s effectiveness. They are still filming the other elements of their report. When they get the video done, I will post it right here on Laur versus Laur.

Kinoki Foot Pad Test - 1st Week

Well it has been one week and 7 foot jerky smelling pads later - how do I feel? I will let the video do the talking . . .

The tests go on for 1 more week - keep checking for more updates

Kinoki Foot Pad Test

For the next two weeks, I will be helping out WBAL TV with a story on the Kinoki Detox Foot Pad. According to the Kinoki web site, it’s a product that is made to “assist your body in the removal of heavy metals, metabolic wastes, toxins, and other chemicals, ” and will “Boost Your Energy Level” as well as, “Improve Your Health and Wellness.” Please see the informative commercial here:

Now, the commercial and website do lead to some skepticism, but, in the name of science, I am keeping an open mind to see if these detox pads will actually lead me towards a more energinic and health life. WBAL TV will be following my progress and I will be updating and changes here on Laur Versus Laur.

Last night was my first night using the pads. The pads were easy to put on and I found I was able to sleep easy, just as if I had a band aid on my foot. The pads did excrete a small smoke smell. When I woke the next day and removed the Kinoki pad, I noticed the pad did change color – a kind of bad banana brown. And the smoked smell was now a more pungent beef jerky smell. Here is video of Kinoki Foot Pad Test Night 1:

Check back on LvsL for more updates:

Cut Copy at Sonar (Baltimore)

cut copy, 5.17.08, sonar

If you have not checked out the band Cut Copy, do it.






They tore up Sonar last Saturday and the heat in the room told the story. It was straight bonkers in there! Here is a review of the show.

Wedding Countdown is at 11 days (by the time someone reads this at least).

John’s 1 Week of Diverse Concerts. Show 4: Kanye West

Line up: Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., Rihanna, and Kanye ta the

Date: May 17th 2008

Venue: Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ

Weather: very nice, then a little drizzle

The Crew: John and Bobbie

Mechanical Bulls: 0

The Crowd: Teenie boppers, lots of them, and lots of them passed out drunk

What did I wear: Chucks, jeans, black hoodie

Beverage(s?) of choice: Captain and Diet/Jack and Diet, very expensive

Show lowlight: missed Lupe- very sad

Show highlight: oh so many! I really enjoyed N.E.R.D.’s set with this little sample of the White Stripes

Video highlight:\


Comments: Bobbie and I had a blast at this show. So many great highlights. Lupe joining Kanye on stage one of my favorites “Touch the Sky,” Rihanna coverd M.I.A. and N.E.R.D. reminding me how great “Rockstar” is.

John’s 1 Week of Diverse Concerts. Show 3: 98 Rock’s Miller Lite Night

Line up: Airbourne, Theory of a Deadman, Alterbridge

Date: May 15th 2008

Venue: Powerplant Live

Weather: clear night skies

The Crew: John, Bobbie, 98 Staff, and the Bob Mould Fan Club

Mechanical Bulls: 0

The Crowd: 98 Rock P1’s

What did I wear: Chucks, jeans, indie t-shirt

Beverage(s?) of choice: Miller Lite, of course

Show lowlight: Douche bags

Show highlight: Lead singer of Airbourne scaling to the top of the stage and doing a guitar solo.

Video highlight:


Comments: Miller Lite Night before Preakness is a classic 98 rock tradition that isn’t so much just a concert but an excuse to get really, really drunk. So that’s what we did - drank and did Cult sing-a-longs.

Next Show: Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour

John’s 1 Week of Diverse Concerts. Show 2: Radiohead

Line up: Liars, Radiohead

Date: May 11th 2008

Venue: 7th Ring of Hell, er, I mean Nissan Pavilion

Weather: rain, lots of rain, and minor flooding

The Crew: John, Troy, Mat Turney

Mechanical Bulls: 0

The Crowd: wet

What did I wear: Chucks, jeans, t-shirt, black zip up hoodie, and a blue poncho

Beverage(s?) of choice: Coors Light (thanks Turney)

Set List:
All I Need, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Lucky*, 15 Step*, Nude#, Pyramid Song#, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi#, Myxomatosis#, Idioteque#, Faust Arp#, Videotape#, Paranoid Android#, Just#, Reckoner*, Everything In Its Right Place, Bangers + Mash, Bodysnatchers

Encore 1: Like Spinning Plates, Optimistic, Karma Police, Go Slowly, Planet Telex

Encore 2: Fake Plastic Trees, National Anthem, House of Cards

* = songs we heard
# = songs we saw

Show lowlight: I don’t know what is worse - having numb feet or sitting in a car for 8 hours for only 1 hour of music.

Show highlight: a great light rig helped on tracks like Paranoid Android and Idioteque

Video highlight:


Comments: See Troy and Turney’s video review. Also, the problems with Nissan’s traffic issues have been well documented, but how would planning of a concert venue allow the traffic to be so bad? Apparently, Disney is to blame. Check out this article - Anatomy of a Bottleneck.

Next Show: Airbourne, Theory of a Deadman & Alterbridge @ Power Plant Live

John’s 1 Week of Diverse Concerts. Show 1: Kenny Chesney

Line up: Gary Allen, Leann Rimes, Big and Rich, Brooks and Dunn and Kenny Chesney

Date: May 10th 2008

Venue: M&T Bank Stadium, Home of the Baltimore Ravens!

Weather: started cloudy and cool, then got sunny and warm, then got dark

The Crew: myself and Bobbie

Mechanical Bulls: 1

The Crowd: mostly white dudes in jeans and t-shirts with cut off sleeves and gals in jeans and tank tops.

What did I wear: Chucks, jeans, t-shirt, black zip up hoodie

Beverage(s?) of choice: Miller Lite and Captain and Diets

Show lowlight: Sammy Hagar was mentioned on the original line-up but never showed. Bummer!

Show highlight: Kenny doing “Back Where I Come From”

Video highlight:

Comments: My first ever full country show, it wasn’t too bad. Bands where pretty entertaining, it was a beautiful day in Baltimore, and I could tell that Bobbie was really enjoying it.

Next Show: Radiohead @ Nissan Pavilion

The Water, a band I know and halfheartedly give decent advice to on occasion.

the water, 13th floor, 2.29.08

Dan Cohan once told me, "You know what I did with it, I bought all of this" and showed me his recent purchase of 20+ cases of Natty Boh. James, drinking a Boh next to me could only chuckle and it was then that I knew what fueled The Water.

Why The Water?

For me it's the bands combination of glass-blinking drums, looped thrash guitar and symbiotic melodies from Klink's key-IPOD-axe setup that orchestrates their own blue collar sound

What do you think? Give a listen to this video below.

Of late they have been spending their time fine tuning a new EP at their east Catonsville apartment. Both James Klink and Dan Cohan live together and also makeup the two person outfit. The band is preparing for two upcoming shows in the Baltimore area at the 13th Floor (may 23rd) and the SOWEBO festival (may 25th).

Recently, The Water opened up for another electro-noise band, the Benevento/Russo Duo at the 8x10 Club in Federal Hill. The Duo has come a long way since their early days performing in the New York City alt-jazz scene with famed residencies at the Knitting Factory making $100 bucks a night playing indie songs stretched out in twenty minutes jams.

Similar in layout, the Water's two person sound machine might be quickly compared to the Duo because the rigs looks so damn similar. But let your ears be the judge. This summer The Water will be working the ports of Baltimore, playing wherever there is an outlet and a cooler. Get out to one of their shows and have a little taste of true Boh-driven, balmer Water; trust me, it's refreshing.

Gooey Butter Cake?

You would figure as a guy who spent many years in Missouri I would know a thing or two about Missouri traditions. But I don’t. I have just recently heard of a St. Louis tradition known as the Gooey Butter Cake, and I can’t tell if it looks good or not. According to Wiki, the Gooey Butter Cake has a “bottom layer of buttery yellow cake and a top layer of either egg and cream cheese, or butter and sugar. It is generally served as a type of coffee cake and not as a dessert cake.” The Office's Phyllis says the cake will in fact put you in “immediate cardiac arrest,” and that sounds delicious. Watch this video where Steve Carell talks to Phyllis about Gooey Butter Cake:


I think I may try to make this myself using this recipe. Keep checking LvsL for taste results.

3 Random things to do

Here are three things I offer for you to do today:

1. In case you are meeting with other people today in a professional setting, here is an article I recommend.

How to Deliver Effective Presentations - wikiHow

One of my go to tips, is to write an outline before you give the speech, lay it out in front of you and then take a step back and direct eye contact across the room.

2. But if your just feeling down, like no one cares, no one fuckin cares and your the only with a car, then watch the clip below:

3. Do whatever the hell you want.

Maybe even record a few jowlers (or as my crew calls them, wobblers) or research kickass cars.

It's your day buddy.

The Drive Home

Just call it fun with the Flip Cam, but one day I decided to document my drive home and put it to music. My daily commute home starts on TV Hill at the WBAL building, goes through Woodberry and Hampden, continues onto the JFX, and ends on the corner of St. Paul and Biddle in MT Vernon. The video is shortened for time constraints. The song used in the video comes from the Athens, GA group known as The Whigs. Its called "I Never Want to Go Home" from their last release Mission Control out on ATO records.

Pnuma Trio rocks the 8x10

I really enjoyed the Pnuma Trio concert at the 8x10 club last Thursday night. This band is less than four years old and is coming into their own. If you are a fan of singing, you will hate this band! Instead, be prepared for killer drum fills, drop jaw beats and some scintilating soulful keys. I first was able to see these guys in 2006 open for the Bridge. This past summer I had a chance to meet and talk with Alex and Lane at the SCI Finale at Red Rocks. Real nice, down to earth guys who def, love music.

For a little listen, check out this video taken of the show:

If you wanna kick it at a show with me, this is what I have booked for the summer:

May 11th- Radiohead at Nissan Pavillion

June 11th- REM, Modest Mouse and the National at Merriweather Post Pavillion

June 28th- Dave Matthews Band and Michael Franti at Nissan Pavillion

July 11th-13th- ALL GOOD Music Festival at Marvin's Mountain Top, WV

MORE TO COME!

Audio Documentary: Spoons

A great thing about Laur vs. Laur is that it gives me a place to archive all of these weird projects I have done in the past. I have a few of these audio documentaries that I did while in an Audio Documentary class at Towson University (taught by one of my mentors Jackson Whitt) and while I worked for WTMD. I have a blast doing these things and hope to do more in the future, but for now, let’s dig into the vault a little bit.

My audio doc class was based on four documentary projects – a person, a place, a thing, and a specific location in Baltimore. My favorite of these four was the doc that I did for a thing – spoons(not the band Spoon, that would be more entertaining perhaps). My idea was to show the many uses and many types of spoons, through sounds and descriptions. I hope you enjoy:
if you don't have flash - click here for audio

BARACKY The Road to the White House

It doesn't matter if you are Democrat, an Independant or somehow even a Republican (just kidding Mom), everyone knows the story of Rocky: The underdog boxer out of Philly who took on Apollo Creed, the Cold War and himself in order to rise to the top when no one said it could happen.

But now my friends, it's time for...BARACKY! A whole new underdog who is taking on the Clinton machine and looking to shock the world, one vote at a time.

What do you think of this video? Does it inspire you? Drive you nuts? Bore you? Leave some comments on what you think of the newest YOUTUBE sensation "Baracky".

And for up to date results on the Pennsylvania primary, Click here!

Obama Rally in Wilmington, Delaware 2008

Troy "The Underdog" Laur

We are only about a month into baseball season and already there have been some great stories dealing with America’s Pastime and particularly the AL East. There was the hawk that attacked the girl at Fenway, then there was the Boston jersey buried under the new Yankee Stadium.

But the biggest story of the young baseball season took place the night of Baltimore’s Opening Day. That is when a young up start took his first leap into competitive eating *Correction 2nd leap, the first was a wing eating competition at North Hanover Grille, which "The Underdog" won - thanks Lucien*. The setting – Mother’s Orange Patio, the competition – Hot Dog Eating contest, the prize – respect and admiration of dozens of drunks (well, and a trip to Vegas but really the respect and stuff), and the up start – our very own Blog Master, Troy Laur. Troy had the support of the home crowd including fiancé Katie, Uncle Mike aka Dad, Cousin Deanna, Fitz, Bobbie, John, and our true spark plug Joshi. Excitement was building and the names of the competitors were announced. Over the loud speaker we heard Troy “The Under Dog Lover” – thus a new nick-name was born.

See the competition:


Great camera work by Katie! Troy took down 16 hotdogs in 6 minutes, falling just 1 short of the winning tally, but with those 16 dogs, Troy “The Under Dog Lover” cemented his own place in baseball folklore.

One more Saturday night...

Well it is somewhat not surprising to consider that this past Saturday was going to be the day I made the big time. After all it was my birthday and I did have my babe, best bud and family (sans Prego sis) with me for a trip out to Camden Yards to see the beloved Birds of Baltimore take on the dreaded New York Yankees.
Click here to see the results of the game.

Needless to say, my mother, did work. Our seats (given to us by an inside source at the Orioles) were in the 2nd row behind homeplate next to the Orioles dugout. My sister Brooke practically was sitting next to Ernie Tyler, the long-term ball boy for the Orioles.

Freaking amazing seats.

All in All the game was awesome, the seats were amazing the laughs were joyous (highlighted by Katie's killer A-Rod joke which you can read about below) and we spent Saturday night rubbing elbows with Baltimore's elite and their kids.

Katie's A-Rod Heckle:

"Hey A-Rod, do you get your paycheck in ones?"

Katie, Troy and Cal

A Love of Bluegrass

A Bluegrass Music Overview
By Kim Ruehl

Though there is the occasional downtrodden, slow-going bluegrass tune, bluegrass music can also be quite fun and exuberant. The instrumentalists in bluegrass music are often impressive soloists who pride themselves on lengthy show-off moments, noodling up and down their fret boards at speeds that tend to make fans' eyes bug out of their heads. Read More

GamberA small town in a small suburb of the small city of Baltimore (in Maryland)

Recently I revisited my childhood stomping grounds, Gamber, MD. As many or none of you know, Gamber is famous for its relationship to racist organizations, the former home of Sandy's Carryout and is best known for its annual Firehall carnival featuring the likes of Poision Whiskey and the dime pitch. But what even I did not know is that Gamber is home to ex-MTV Real World star Jon Brennan. Crazy?!

TRUE STORY!!!

Click above and visit the Who is Sweeter blog to see how Jon ranks

with Real World co-star, Beth Stolarcyzk

Here are a few pictures I took that I think you might enjoy. Oh yeah, if you ever visit Gamber, MD stop by Morgan Run off Klees Mill Rd. That is where the stream picture was taken. At this time of year, it is breath-taking.

For personal Gamber tours, please contact Mark Knofler.

Post 1: Introduction

This is the introduction.