Yet another reason to love Neko Case

It's been ages since I posted on here and we have a ton to catch up on folks (short version -> Mr. B falls in love, Mr. B's bf gets a job in MN, Mr. B moves to MN to be with bf, a year goes by, blah, blah, blah, Mr. B is single and sad).... but all that catch up can wait....for now we have some good news to talk about....

As if there weren't enough reasons to absolutely love Neko Case, she recently gave us one more...

She's released the first single from her Middle Cyclone album that's due out on March 3rd. The single People Got A Lot of Nerve is out on her website and downloadable for free (download here). New Neko always makes me happy so that alone is pretty cool news.

But now here's the kicker - for every blog post about the single she'll donate $5 to Best Friends Animal Society, for every iLike user who posts it to their profile she'll donate a dollar.



Marketing ploy? Not at all folks - she's incredibly dedicated to the issue of animal welfare. I had the privilege of meeting Neko and Kelly Hogan (her AMAZING backup singer) this past fall while they were touring through Minneapolis. They accepted an offer to swing by the Animal Humane Society for a tour before the concert that evening. All through out the concert they would dedicate songs to the animals they met that day with things like "and this song goes out to Spike, a 4 year old lab mix who loves long walks and belly rubs". They really involved the crowd with the important work we do and encouraged adoptions and donations - at the end of the night we met many people who said they were inspired to offer their support. This is an issue that both Neko and Kelly seemed incredibly passionate about.

And while this particular promotion doesn't go to the Animal Humane Society that I work for, it goes toward the same mission - to serve the lifelong needs of homeless, neglected and abused animals. Please take a second to promote Neko, promote this single and promote the work of the organizations that support animal welfare. This is a wonderful free way to help out - but I also encourage you to consider a tax deductible donation of your very own - you can give to the Animal Humane Society, Best Friends or an animal welfare/rescue group in your local community - but please remember to support the animals that are in need.

In fact, to continue this spirit of giving, I'll make a commitment as well. For anyone who posts about this promotion of Neko's on their blog and mentions reading about it here, I'll make a $5 donation to the Animal Humane Society. I'll make another $5 donation for everyone who makes an online contribution directly to the Animal Humane Society and emails me at jfcass@gmail.com about it or leaves a message in the comments.

(btw - i read somewhere that Middle Cyclone feature guest vocals by the incredible Sarah Harmer - how much am I looking forward to this CD!!!!!)

Employed Again and Loving It!

So not only can I report that I now have employment again, I actually have employment that I enjoy! I'm working at the Animal Humane Society as a Donor Relations Associate. I absolutely love it there. Granted it's only been about a month and a half but this far into my last job I was already bitter and jaded.

It's actually a nice departure from my last two gigs. While they had great benefits and a pretty fair salary, the day to day was just dreary. In my last job, I had no responsibilities and had to make up projects to do or just sit at the computer surfing the net all day. The job before that had a little bit more required of me but I essentially worked in a pressure cooker waiting for the next huge eruption from my brilliant but overly emotional and rage-aholic boss.

Now I'm working with exceptionally nice people and have real projects, real work, real responsibilities. My brain isn't stuck in idle all day just begging to be used. The days go by fast and I actually look forward to going to work. I don't dread being there or count down the minutes before I can go home. It's a wonderful feeling.

And while the benefits aren't as exceptional as my last job in the traditional sense, there are other perks that you just don't get at other places. The biggest is just having our mission right down the hall. If my energy is sinking or I'm getting frustrated with the database query not working the way I think it should I just go take a break and go see the pups. A little fur therapy goes a long way. It's so rewarding and always picks me back up.

Some examples of the heart warming things I see each day:





And since I know that seeing these vids are making you wonder "Hmmmm Mr. B, how can I get involved and contribute to this great org myself". Well funny you should hypothetically in my own mind ask. It's actually really simple because right now we're two weeks away from our largest fundraiser of the year the "Walk for Animals". I got my own little walk page up and it's quite easy to donate right right here. I've added some pics (oooh me shirtless on a beach!) and a little more information about the good work we do each day. Be sure to check it out....

Oh and Durban Bud contributed, and since you want to be like him you should too! :-)

Jesus and Weiner Poopie

Ah, good midwestern drama!

Favorite Videos of the Moment

Love, love, love me some Sia!!! She is an absolute blast and amazing live. She's on tour now to promote her latest release "some people have real problems" so be sure to check out her tour dates to see if she'll be coming to city near you...


the latest vid from indie princess Feist...

Not a vid but gotta do a little plug for Bob Mould's latest, District Line , out on February 5th! Pre-order here and get a little sneak peak here. His tour starts in Minneapolis on March 5th and I can't wait to see him! Check out his tour dates to see if he's playing near you.

oh yah for sure yah....

Hello, hello!

So a couple minor changes since the last post...

1 - Mr. Bartender is no longer a bartender. I suppose that should create some sort of existential blogger crisis but given how often this thing has been updated I suspect my blog identity was tarnished awhile ago! I gotta admit that while I really did love bartending and it helped me come out of my shell on so many levels, I'm glad to be done with it for now. Working two jobs for the past 7 years took a toll on my personal life and was getting to be a little harder to manage than when I was 21.

And since quitting the bar felt so good, why stop there? By that I mean...

2 - Mr. Bartender is totally unemployed. Yes indeed I quit my day job as well. No I didn't win the lotto, strike it big at the slots, or sleep with a rich old troll. No, no - I decided to move on.

And move on I did...

3 - Mr. Bartender moved to Minneapolis. And holy frozen fuck is it cold. As I type this its 6 degrees out which is "warm" compared to the -16 it was this past weekend. Why the hell did I move to Minneapolis you ask? Well, the boyfriend got a kick ass job offer and I came along for the ride. It's been a little bit of a bumpy ride but we got through some of the bigger potholes (inept movers and fucking comcast (comcastic my ass!) were two big ones) and are slowly getting the hang of this new city.

Homesickness has been a little issue we've both had to deal with. Luckily some of the peeps have already made plans to come and visit. Just knowing the friends are on their way helps even though it's still a little ways off. Oh and ordered some concert tickets to some shows the new few months. I plan on closing my eyes for a little bit at each one and pretend I'm at the 930 Club. Now I just need to find a room full of shirtless furry men dancing and kissing so I can pretend I'm at Blowoff!

More to come later, but for now I'm signing off to cuddle up with my warm fuzzy fur ball luva...

oh for a future post perhaps, but one final observation - I think there is a reason they call it Minnesota Nice and not Minnesota Pretty.

Abused Chinese Children Attacked By Pirates Jump Roping For Jesus

yeah not really much else to say

he's baaaaack.........kinda....

I've decided to come out of hiding for a brief moment this evening and say hello again to the internets. y'all miss me? tonight's sneak appearance is brought to you courtesy of insomnia and my blog crush who has been prodding me for an update.

It's been so long since I wrote on here that I kinda forget what to write about. I could post about the new Hilary Clinton Sopranos spoof but I think that the fine folk here sum my thoughts up better than I could, right down to the Celine Dion disgust. Seriously there are few things in life more annoying or grating than that woman.

So let's see, maybe I should do a life update. Here's what's going on with Mr. Bartender:

* been dating a guy for 10.5 months which is a DC record for me. I have a habit of getting tired and annoyed with guys around the 1 month or 6 month mark so this is quite an accomplishment for me. Oh and for some reason he's still kinda sorta diggin' me. Odd but cool. Lots to write about him (how we met, dating, pipples popping policies, etc) but will save that for a later post...

* new day job! yay! still working non-profit, but switching outside of the arts has made a world of difference. FAR better salary, and above all a different level of respect for employees. The standard benefits are all top notch, but we also get fun perks like Fridays off in August, lunches at the Mayflower for Administrative Professionals day and my personal favorite a gym in the basement. Can i just say how amazing it is to workout during the lunch hour!?!? And it's decent enough of a gym that I canceled my Washington Sports Membership and am going to the gym 4-5 times a week instead of just 2-3.

* new job -> more money -> less dependence on bar money -> mr. bartender taking more time off from the bar and having a full weekend like "normal" people do. it's been kinda amazing. FINALLY have been able to attend blowoff which is OH SO MUCH FUN. It's Mr. Bartender's time to hang out with the fun blog boys, get half naked, and make out with the boyfriend in front of hot men, and then make out with hot men in front of the boyfriend.

* new job -> more money -> less debt! I still have TONS but I've made such good progress is trimming down the fat off those credit cards. I'd started focusing on my spiraling problem about a year and a half ago and started paying more than the minimum due and spending with debit card or cash only. Those things were great but it wasn't until the new job that I could actively and aggressively throw money at the problem and see it start to go down. Feel like it's much more manageable now.

And I guess that's it for now. Pretty lame update I know...honestly do you guys really care about my credit card debt? Nah, but maybe this post is more about getting back on the blogging horse again.

But I can't leave you without giving you ANY entertainment, so I give you a little slice of randomness that I've been playing FAR too often at the bar...