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.