Somebody you once knew might never swim.

The sound of bocce balls colliding at the Alta House can be heard clearly from my house - the Cipullo Bocce Tournament is going on this weekend in Little Italy. The sun has only now decided to come out, and it looks to be a cool autumn day.

You heard me. What is this, hmm? The mildest July in a while, at least as long as I can recall. It made the cycling tour tolerable last week, but it's kind of weird. I expect to be miserably hot in my sans A/C house!! Wait, why am I even complaining?

Jeff comes home tomorrow night from the Great Lakes Relay. I'm almost tempted to have him ask the downstairs tenant if I got into anything bad this weekend. My neighbor (We'll call him "Buddy") is a nice guy... But he seems to be awfully fond of lying about things, or at the very least exaggerating. On several occasions, he's texted me when we've been on vacation to inform me that the 40+ year old woman that works in the lab with Jeff is having loud sex in my apartment. This wouldn't happen. Then he told me she had 3 or 4 people with her. Nothing against this woman, but this stuff just wouldn't happen with her.

I wonder what Buddy would say to Jeff if he asked what I did this weekend....

"Why yes Jeff... She was whoring around all weekend! (whisper) But don't say anything. She's a sweet girl, just misguided and lonely." Details may follow.

Before parting, we went to see the Bowerbirds at Beachland Tavern. A local band went on first, and we missed them due to eating dinner at Jackie Chen's which was okay, but not as good as (and not to be mistaken for) Richie Chen's on Cedar. The second band was Megafaun, and they were my favorite of the evening.

The Bowerbirds were also remarkable. Both bands had amazing melodies and musical talents, but we walked away with a Megafaun CD at the end of the night.

Brad and Phil Cook (brothers), along with Joe Westerlund make up Megafaun. These three tall, mountain-men like individuals create a folsky, unique sound that reminds me a little of my childhood. When I was little, my mother and aunts would get together on Sundays and sing folk songs and old gospel tunes in beautiful harmony - and that's what seeing Megafaun felt like to me. Both bands are definitely worth a listen.

It seems that the tournament is in full swing now (or about to be) - So don't even think of getting a parking space down here. Fuhgeddaboudit.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. As for me, I am going to hang out with a friend this afternoon. Barring catastrophe, we're going to go to the West Side Market and then traipse about Little Italy for a while. (weather permitting)

If the rain holds out, we might have to get all up in my grill.

I think I may go to Presti's for breakfast.

PS: Etna was reviewed in the PD. I should go again to check it out. (Really, I'm craving L'Albatros though). In another ADD moment, I think I want to buy this book.

Game on!