Meet Tony Dreibus.

Tony and I worked together at The Gateway, the student newspaper at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

{An aside: I gave Tony his first job in journalism, even though he’s four years my senior. Today, he works as a commodities reporter for Bloomberg News in Chicago.}

For the second consecutive year, Tony is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by participating in Team in Training.

Please consider making a donation as Tony prepares for this big race. He’s hoping to raise $1,200 this year.

Here’s Tony running in last year’s Team in Training event.
Run Tony, run!
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Midwest Dilemma will join Simon Joyner, Paleo at O’Leaver’s Pub on March 19

OMAHA – The stripped-down, soulful sound of Midwest Dilemma, the musical project turned full-time passion of Omaha singer/songwriter Justin Lamoureux, will perform with legendary lyricist Simon Joyner and wandering troubadour Paleo at O’Leaver’s Pub Monday night.

Like a summertime slow dance at sunset, Lamoureux effortlessly combines lyrics and music at a pace akin to melodic prayer with fellow musicians Elizabeth Webb (vocals, clarinet) and Clark Drinkall (vocals, violin).

For the past three years Lamoureux has traveled the highways and byways of Canada and the United States, bringing with him Midwest Dilemma’s messages of family, love, redemption and hope to audiences of all ages. His experience on the road continues to influence his music.

The March 19 show with Joyner and Paleo is another page in the ever-growing book of Lamoureux’s live performances.

“I am honored to be sharing the stage with Simon Joyner,” Lamoureux said. “Simon’s influence on music alone, matched with his talents as a well-respected musician, will make March 19 a night to remember.”

Joyner will perform at O’Leaver’s following a stellar career that continues to move forward. Last year Jagjaguwar released a collection of Joyner’s singles and compilation tracks, Beautiful Losers: Singles and Compilation Tracks 1994-1999.

“Beautiful Losers is literally every song I gave to labels putting out compilations who asked for a song, and the few 7” records I did during that time period,” Joyner said. “Nearly everything on Beautiful Losers is either out of print or difficult to get and I had people requesting that I put it all on one record to make it easy for everyone.”

Joyner describes Beautiful Losers as “pretty fun. It covers various sonic territories, from sparse bedroom sputterings directly into a tape deck, to multiple track recordings with other musicians.”

In November 2006, Joyner and his band, the Fallen Men, released Skeleton Blues, also on Jagjaguwar.

Although Joyner will be playing with a smaller ensemble for this show, the Fallen Men on his album features Omaha musicians Dave Hawkins, Mike Tulis, Alex McManus, Lonnie Methe and Chris Deden.

About Skeleton Blues, Pitchfork said, “The Fallen Men feverishly work the bellows, pumping these seven overcast tracks full of unruly rock dynamism. Though their spirited presence virtually ensures Skeleton Blues to be the noisiest album in Joyner’s catalog, it also leavens the bleakness of his visions enough to also make it his most approachable.”

Since 1993, Joyner has released albums on various independent labels, including One Hour Records, Sing, Eunuchs!, Shrimper, Brinkman (Netherlands), Wurlitzer Jukebox (U.K.), Tonguemaster (U.K.), Secretly Canadian, Truckstop, Seagull, Unread and Jagjaguwar.

Show Details
Midwest Dilemma will join Simon Joyner and Paelo at O’Leaver’s Pub, 1322 S. Saddle Creek Road, Monday, March 19. The 21-and-over show begins at 9:30 p.m. Cover: $5. Visit www.myspace.com/midwestdilemma for more information and tour dates.

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Last week I was reminded of a quote from Omaha artist Roger Gerberding, whom I wrote about in the February 2003 issue of Medium Magazine. (The magazine, by the way, is no longer published.)

His quote reminded me that a heart beats behind every piece of art, whether it’s a song lyric, a portrait or a sculpture. I continually try to approach my life in this way when discovering and evaluating the work of others.

From the article, “Altered Artist: Rodger Gerberding” by Wendy Townley:

The artist and person Gerberding is today also doesn’t allow unwarranted criticism to continually surface. He says he understands and sometimes connects with the person behind the work, regardless of his opinion: “It’s very difficult for me to criticize, in a very outright way, anybody’s work. I tend to look for what beauty is in it, what it says about the person who did it. That’s something I’ve come to fairly recently. You have to consider the hand and heart that’s behind it.”

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My webcam was back online today, albeit for a few short hours.

www.shaggy-money.flywheelsites.com/webcam

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Disney Changes Theme Parks Slogan in England

LONDON (metro.co.uk) – Entertainment giant Disney has been forced to back down over its ‘dreams come true’ slogan – as it’s already used by a British porn producer. 45-year-old Michael Wightman from Newcastle, has trademarked ‘A Place Where Dreams Come True’ for his mobile phone blue film company. Disney also used the slogan to promote their theme parks until its lawyers backed down after a legal challenge. Disney will now use ‘The place where dreams come true’.

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If you’re anywhere near the Omaha area this morning, you know about the blizzard devouring Nebraska’s largest city.

As such, I’m home from work.

I couldn’t make it up my steep driveway and parked my car across the street. Inside my car are two delicious boxes of Girl Scout cookies: Thin Mints and Lemonades.

I’m thankful that the 12″ of snow blowing around outside prevent me from going anywhere near my car and grabbing those cookies. On a day like today I’d most likely consume the majority of those two boxes of yummy cookies.

Not because I wanted to, but, quite simply, because I could.

There’s a pan of brownies on my kitchen counter that are calling my name, though…

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This Dilbert cartoon is hilarious and true for us writers.

Ha!

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I recently sold my silver iPod shuffle so I could purchase a pretty orange one. (I’m a slave for design and color, that’s for sure.)

Question (to anyone who can answer): Can I listen to podcasts on Apple’s new shuffle? I uploaded a few podcasts, but couldn’t locate these files while listening to my shuffle.

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While watching a number of “Star Wars” episodes this past weekend on HBO, a thought occurred to me.

When all six episodes were said and done, how many storm troopers had perished?

It appears those alleged protective soldiers of Darth Vader hit the floor more often than ball gowns on prom night.

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Who will win? You’ll have to watch to find out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qHO8l-Bd1O4

{Many thanks to Chris Machian for sending this my way.}

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