17 Days and Counting… September 23, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in vacation, wedding.Tags: beer, dj, japan, liquor, minnesota, rsvp, vacation, wedding
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It’s less than 17 days until the wedding, and we are still scrambling to get a few things finished up.
Back at my old DJ job, my boss promised me free DJ service for my wedding. I have since left that job, but was told a few months ago the offer still stood. Even so, I have still been a little leery as to whether or not he’ll come through. Then I met a guy who started at the Profile as another in-house DJ alongside me. I explained to him my situation and he said he’d love to DJ our dance. Great! I told my old boss thanks, but no thanks. We’d found our guy. Not an hour later, I found out our new DJ already has a commitment the same day as our wedding. So I had to plead for my old DJ back. And as of now, I’m still not really sure what’s going on. So, if anyone out there knows somebody who can stand behind my laptop and monitor a playlist and make a few announcements, we’ll gladly pay them for their efforts!
Tomorrow after work, Lauren and I will travel to Marshall, MN to meet with our wedding officiant, Rev. Aaron Rush. He will be traveling east from Avon, SD and we’ll meet halfway and have dinner and discuss plans for the wedding.
As for RSVPs, I am only waiting on two people who I actually think might come. There are about 10 who are yet to respond, but they’re mostly people from Carpenter who I would be shocked to have see in attendance. This whole RSVP thing was actually fun for me. I enjoyed the suspense of waiting to see whose RSVPs we’d get in the mail each day. They’re still trickling in 11 days after the deadline!
Meanwhile, the handful of co-workers I invited are getting excited for the wedding. Our CEO from Japan is going to be there, and he and the company president are both getting hotel rooms nearby so they can get crazy that night. It’s not just that these co-workers are coming, but they have told me time and time again that they’ve never been so excited for a wedding ever. That’s a lot of pressure. Jason, you’d better deliver with a best man speech that they’ll be talking about for decades.
We also had our visit to the liquor store last night to do some pricing. I don’t want to spoil all of our liquor surprises, but it is a full open bar the whole night with beer, wine, and liquor. We believe there will be two kegs, probably Premium and Summit EPA, a couple of our local faves. And some of the wedding party have created specialty drinks that will be named after themselves on a very special menu I’ll whip up.
Finally, my vacation request was approved, and I will be away from the office from October 8-18, 11 whole days. Part of that will be the wedding, part will be the honeymoon, and then there are four more days to lounge at home. Awesome.
Volunteers Needed! In addition to a DJ, we are still looking for a few volunteers for other things. We need 2 or 3 people to arrive to the church early and serve as parking attendants at the church lot. We also need someone to videotape the wedding, either with my video camera or your own equipment. And anyone who wants to volunteer to help me set up at the reception site the morning of the wedding, I am in charge of putting up the centerpieces and a few other things. Thanks! Please leave a comment here or e-mail me at glanzerr@gmail.com.
Six Feet, DJ, Titanic August 3, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, dexter, dj, tv.Tags: country music, dj, frances conroy, history, how i met your mother, michael c. hall, museum, peter krause, profile event center, shipwreck, six feet under, thunderstorm, titanic
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Six Feet Under
Lauren and I have been pounding through the TV series on DVD lately, putting our Best Picture project on hold until the winter months. As I mentioned before, we’ve been watching Six Feet Under, the HBO series that ran from 2001-2005. The main reason why I chose that series is because we’re such big fans of Dexter, and Michael C. Hall was one of the main actors in Six Feet.
So far, after seven 52-minute episodes, we are really enjoying the show and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our next DVD in the mail today to continue the first season. I learned that the star of the series, Peter Krause, is a native of Alexandria, Minnesota and went to Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter. My favorite character on the series so far is actually the mother, played by Frances Conroy, who just so happens to play Barney’s mother in an episode How I Met Your Mother, the other series we’re following right now.
DJ
Saturday night I was back at the Profile to DJ another wedding dance. This was one of the easiest all-around dances I’ve ever done. I arrived at 5:30, hung around till 6:30 before the first guests started arriving, played some cocktail music for another hour, and finally close to 8:00 the couple arrived. They did a receiving line and then started dinner after 9:00, which means the waiting staff had the food ready to go about two hours prior and had to keep it all warm. The dance finally kicked off around 10:00, and was over by 1:00. The couple preferred country, making my job all the easier. One of the groomsman told me it was the best music selection he’d ever heard at a wedding dance, which was a nice compliment.
Titanic
Sunday, we sat down to watch the Twins/Angels game, but the Twins quickly fell way behind and I lost interest and needed to get out of the apartment, so Lauren and I headed to St. Paul to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit. We watched a fairly interesting movie on the iMax amphitheater and then walked through the exhibit, which included over 600 artifacts from the Titanic which had been lying on the bottom of the Atlantic for 90 years.
It was all very interesting, but the coolest part was an actual large piece of the front of the ship that was on display several feet behind a knee-high glass wall. The sign specifically said “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH” but we were the only ones in this particular room at the time, so I leaned as far over the wall as I could and took a swipe at the Titanic, but I missed. I quick glanced around again and heard someone coming, so I took a second lunge over the wall with my arm and my finger finally made contact with the Titanic. I felt like touching the Titanic was something that I’d never ever have the chance to do again, and probably not very many people have done, so I risked getting kicked out of the exhibit to do it… and glad I did!
Rain
And for the first time all summer long, we actually had a really good thunderstorm late last night around bedtime. There was lightning, thunder, and fairly heavy rain. I was beginning to think we’d go an entire year without one good storm, which would have severely disappointed me. I still find it very odd that the hottest day so far in 2009 was May 17.
“I’m Unfamiliar with Your Musical Tastes” by G-Lanz featuring the Profile Staff July 12, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in dj.Tags: britney spears, dj, flo rida, hip-hop, kanye west, keri hilson, lady gaga, music, ne-yo, rap, t-pain, TI
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I suppose I should come clean. Despite me being a professional wedding DJ, I sometimes am the least qualified of anyone in the room to be doing my job.
That was the case last night when the couple asked me to play only rap and hip-hop during their dance for their guest list of over 300. Except for the head-scratching exceptions of “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred, “Your Song” by Elton John, and “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton interspersed among the thumping bass, the rest of the music I played I was very unfamiliar with.
Artists like T-Pain, Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne, TI, Flo Rida, Lady GaGa, Britney Spears, and Ace Hood filled the playlist. True, the couple provided me with a list of songs they wanted played, but it is my job to keep the flow going and not play a fast song, two slow songs, two fast songs, a slow one… All I could do to study for my night of work was to listen to a snippet of each song beforehand and comment as to its tempo. Turns out, all the songs sort of fall somewhere between upbeat and slow. The differences are very slight.
I also learned that I could tell if a song was going to be a hit or not within the first two seconds because the crowd informed me within the first “note” or two of the song with an emphatic “whooooooooooo!” if they approved or not.
I find it odd that almost every rap or hip-hop song is by [artist] featuring [another artist]. About 70% of the songs were by a combination of two or more artists. It’s almost as if to say “I’m not sure if this song is going to be a hit or not, so I don’t want just my name tied to it if it is indeed a massive failure and laughingstock!” How come all the rappers are such good friends and are so willing to collaborate? I figured it would be just the opposite.
Despite my skepticism, I did find a few gems in the playlist, including a collaboration between Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo, and Kanye West called “Knock You Down,” and there was something oddly intriguing about Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face.” I also like the 3oh3! song “Don’t Trust Me,” but that I guess is considered to fall under the genre electronica.
Not to diss these genres, but for now I think I’ll stick with my Montgomery Gentry and Jason Aldean. “Big Green Tractor” is a very catchy tune on the country airwaves… I wonder how that would have gone over last night?
New Photos July 1, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in Uncategorized.Tags: dj, photos, the hangover
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Just thought I’d pass on this link to my latest Facebook photo gallery for those of you not among my 706 Facebook friends. Let’s see, that includes Dad, Jason, Steve Poulter, Tim Rosok… um… that might be about it.
Not a whole lot else to report. We saw The Hangover Sunday night, which I thought was actually a great movie. It was extremely funny and had a pretty good storyline. I would describe it as a rare edge-of-your-seat comedy. Monday Lauren had her pilates class and I took a jog around the lake, but I got such a violent side ache I keeled over on my knees and had to sit there for a few minutes before I could continue. Yesterday on break I had a dr. appt. in Edina so I had a quick lunch with Liz at Subway. As always, very nice to catch up! And last night I went to the Profile to meet with another potential wedding DJ client.
Long, but Rewarding Day of DJing June 14, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in dj, vacation, work.Tags: breakfast, dj, minnesota twins, vacation, wedding
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I always complain about having to give up half of my weekend to DJ wedding dances, but when I’m actually there doing it, it doesn’t seem that bad. In fact, yesterday’s debut at the Profile Event Center was borderline fun.
First of all, let me say how much better this DJ job is than the old job.
1. I get to go to the same place every time, just a 15-minute drive, as opposed to a different location every weekend, sometimes as far away as 100 miles.
2. Profile has all the equipment and it is, of course, all set up and ready to go. I don’t have to go pick up the equipment, unload it, set it up, make sure it works, take it down, load it back up, and take it back to someone’s garage.
3. I’m not doing it alone. There were at times four people assisting me last night.
4. They pay much, much better, and pay me immediately after the show.
Last night’s couple asked me to do their grand march introductions, fully utilizing Profile’s impressive lighting system. We cranked up the fog, and Profile event managers Heather and Patrick, and full-time sound engineer Ron ran a wild light display while I cranked up the “Jock Jams” song and did a great announcer voice as I introduced the wedding party. The crowd went absolutely wild as the wedding party entered and did some fun dances and stuff. By far the best wedding entrance I’ve ever been a part of.
I had to be there for two hours at 8am for rehearsal, and then came back at 3pm for the actual wedding ceremony and didn’t get home until 1, but as I said, it was an excellent pay day, very helpful for that wedding fund.
Today we woke up and went to the Longfellow Grill for breakfast to try something new. I am becoming a big fan of these eggs benedict/hash meals. Afterwards, we stopped at Target for a few basics, but when we got home we realized we’d left a bag at the store, so I wasted 40 minutes going back to the store to get it.
This afternoon it’s a big Poulter family gathering as the family celebrates three birthdays and Father’s Day. I had originally asked for a vacation day tomorrow, and Jason was going to come over this evening and hang out, but I am desperately needed at the office Monday as we put the final touches on this new business which is scheduled to launch this week. So, I may instead take Thursday off and go to the Twins/Pirates day game. One way or another, I think I am in need of a random vacation day. It will be a last-minute decision, I think.
Walshichetti Visit, Target Field, Pulltabs June 8, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, dexter, dj, tv, work.Tags: dexter, dj, gambling, lauren poulter, minneapolis, minnesota twins, sarah domenichetti, sculpture, target field, the wire, walsh
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This weekend was quite the time, as usual. Lots of crazy stories and fun times were had, but I’ll spare from incriminating myself this time. Friday after work, Lauren and I stopped at the Poulters and had a friendly chat and dropped off some free/cheap groceries Lauren picked up from work. Afterwards, we joined the gang at the Hopkins Tavern for Amanda H’s birthday. Lauren insisted on playing the pulltabs and gave me $5 to go pick a winner. I picked a barrel and told the lady to dig deep for a good ticket, and wouldn’t you know it, we won $102 on the first ticket I opened! We split the profits and got out of there relatively early.
Saturday we were greeted by Walsh and Sarah’s visit to Minneapolis. We hit up a variety of Uptown watering holes, including Zeno, Williams, and the VFW. Yada yada yada, I was really tired Sunday morning!
Target Field looks much more official with that giant Twins logo up!
Sunday, Lauren cooked us all a delicious breakfast before Walshichetti departed. In the afternoon, I went for a 5.5 mile walk to get some fresh air and check out the Twins’ new stadium. It seems like the project is coming along very nicely, and now that the huge Twins logo has been installed, it all seems a lot more real. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get very close due to construction equipment, but I got a good enough view.
The rest of the afternoon was spent napping and watching The Wire, season 5. I am not quite ready to proclaim it the best show ever, but it’s definitely up there, probably top five now. I think I still like Dexter better.
Monday at work I kept plugging away on writing product copy for this new company, which has been rumored to officially launch a week from today. I can’t imagine why it would be a bad thing for me to give more details and create some buzz, but I’m sure it would get me in trouble somehow, so I’ll shut up until it’s really live. I will say that I have now written original descriptions for almost 200 products.
Tomorrow I am going back to the Profile to meet with potential DJ clients, including one couple whose wedding is over 11 months away. Better early than late, I suppose. Saturday is the big day with my 8am-2am DJ gig. It will be tiring, no doubt, but an excellent pay day. All money will be put into the wedding savings account.
My visit to the famous Minneapolis landmark.
Patrick, Joe, Krista, and Abby May 17, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, dj.Tags: dj, joe allen, krista sullivan, patrick lynch, wedding
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Friday night after another long work week, it was off to the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park to say farewell to Patrick, who is California-bound on Monday where he will be living with his grandma in the Los Angeles area for a change of pace. We expect Patrick to come back someday. Patrick had an excellent showing for his going away party. Another familiar face, Luke Katuin, was also there, and he’s also leaving us soon for Denver. Good luck out west, Patrick and Luke! We’ll have to go visit sometime.
Patrick's last hurrah in Minnesota
Saturday was the Joe Allen/Krista Sullivan wedding. Joe and Krista were both good friends of mine from Valleyfair, and they asked me to DJ. I had the idea to go to pick up the DJ equipment at noon in Eden Prairie, drive to the Holiday Inn in Lakeville to set it up, come back home in Minneapolis to clean up and pick up Lauren, go to the wedding in New Prague at 3, and race back to Lakeville to start playing music as guests arrived.
Well, I didn’t allow myself nearly enough time. Due to road construction on 35-W, I was delayed over a half hour. By the time I got back to the apartment there was no feasible way we would have made it to New Prague for the wedding, so we just went to Lakeville and waited for guests to arrive. I like being really early for events like this in case there are car troubles or more road construction or something, so we got there absurdly early. Lauren wasn’t too pleased, but better early than late, I think.
The reception and dance went very well. Krista’s maid-of-honor and Joe’s best man both gave excellent speeches—some of the best I’ve seen at the many dances I’ve worked in the past year. The dance was highlighted by the rowdy Valleyfair crowd. Lots of former co-workers were on hand, including some I hadn’t seen in a long time like Mike Carlson, Leah Villa, Emily Bisek, and Amy Ronnei. Lauren seemed to get along well with my old co-workers as I ran the dance from the DJ table. It was a long night though, as we got back to the apartment after 2am.
Me with Joe and Krista Allen
Sunday, we slept in a little, but I needed to race off to Medina to Penny Steele’s cake place to pick up some new wedding cake flavors to sample. I was handed a bag of six or seven different flavors and we tried two, but they’re too rich and probably fattening to sit and eat them all at once. If you’re coming to the wedding, be prepared for the best cake you’ve ever eaten!
Next it was on to Pete and Sarah’s house for Abigail’s first birthday. She was given a gigantic cupcake cake and many presents, including some finely knit clothes made by Lauren, and a riding plane that took five men to figure out how to put together. And I ate my share of food, so it looks like everyone was a winner… except perhaps Pete, whose chair flipped backwards off the deck, resulting in a mixed combination of concern and laughter. But he was okay.
Hmm... where to start...
We came home in the late afternoon to a wildly messy apartment, so rather than just clean, we rearranged the living room. In order to do so, we had to clean the other rooms so we could put things in them temporarily while we moved stuff around in the living room. It was a pain, but the place looks much better.
And, finally, the Twins have had three straight walk-off losses to the Yankees in New York. That’s the first time the Twins have lost three straight games on a team’s last at-bat since 1973. Thank God I was too busy to see much of those games.
One last thing… we are watching the last of Lawrence of Arabia, so for those who are interested, I’ll have a new Best Picture review up on the other blog soon.
Quick Week; Big Weekend Coming May 14, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, dj, work.Tags: detroit tigers, dj, exercise, freelance, gym, minnesota twins, patrick lynch, tennis, web design, work
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The week sure did go by quickly. I continued writing product copy, one after the other, for a very mysterious new company that’s not too far from going live, and also designed the front page of the website for this company. I was also assigned a large number of new projects for MB, so I definitely kept busy.
I put the finishing touches on the Classic Hall website. I can’t remember if I’ve linked to it before or not, but if you look at it, remember, I only did the Classic Hall part, not the Classic Rides & Rods part. So be sure to click on the right link! I wonder when I’ll get paid for these freelance sites…
I went to the gym Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights, and jogged around Lake of the Isles Wednesday night. I am not very good at running; I was maybe able to run half of it and walked the rest. We were definitely lazy on Tuesday night though as we tried to continue our Best Picture project and get a few hours in on Lawrence of Arabia. We are nowhere close to finishing it.
The Twins had a great week, sweeping the Tigers in three games at home, including two thrilling comebacks Wednesday and Thursday. I watched till the very end of Wednesday night’s 4 hour, 48 minute, 13-inning game which ended with Joe Crede’s walk-off grand slam in a 14-10 win.
Friday over break the plan is to make my tennis debut vs. Aaron. I think one time at the Huron Community Center in high school I played a minute of tennis with Brandon or someone, but that’s it. Aaron has no more than played his wife, so it should be an even battle.
Friday night, we say goodbye to Patrick, who’s moving west to California. It sounds like a large group of 30 or more people will be gathering at Park Tavern to see him off. Saturday I am attending Joe Allen and Krista Sullivan’s wedding in New Prague, then DJing the wedding dance in Lakeville. And Sunday Lauren and I will swing by the Anderson home for Abby’s first birthday bash. Probably not the most relaxing of weekends, but should be some fun!
Down 15; Can’t Clear Throat; DJ Job April 23, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, dj, illnesses, tv, wedding, work.Tags: carrie underwood, cold, cough, dj, jason mraz, nab show, powerball, profile event center, red sox, scrubs, sick, twins, wedding, weight loss, ywca
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I stepped on the scale this morning and saw my weight was down to an even 250, meaning I’ve lost 15 pounds since Lauren and I joined the YWCA about 50 days ago! I can’t really tell the difference much, but our scale wouldn’t be lying to us. In the first 50 days, I’ve gone to the gym 28 times, which isn’t even that great of a ratio, but considering over the last two years I was doing virtually no exercise whatsoever, my body is responding well to doing something active.
In other news, I’ve been very sick since Sunday with a cold. Monday and Tuesday I was coughing all day with either a runny nose or stuffy nose depending on whether I was sitting or standing. Now, I feel like I’m pretty much over it except I absolutely cannot clear my throat! Every time I exhale I can hear and feel my scratchy throat, and it feels like it’s just one good cough from being cleared, but I can’t make it happen and it’s really getting frustrating! Plus, every time I cough, it rattles my brain and I get a very painful, but short, headache.
In part-time job news, I am officially the in-house DJ at the Profile Event Center, the site of our wedding reception! I wasn’t planning on getting involved in any more jobs, what with the company I work for full-time, the start-up company I will work for full-time, my freelance web design, and my other DJ job that I essentially quit. But at the Profile, all the equipment is already there. I just have to show up dressed nice with my laptop. It’s a much easier gig than before, plus it looks like the pay is better.
The Profile also had some interesting news when I visited, that major music stars have been on site for rehearsals and stuff. Apparently, when artists come to town for a concert and need somewhere to rehearse, they go to the Profile. Carrie Underwood was there rehearsing the night we went in for our entree tasting! Jason Mraz was also there recently. So, not that it matters, but it was interesting to know.
I guess that’s about all the excitement from here. Work has been silent this week with our top brass out of the office at a trade show. I am amazed that I am yet to hear a word from them, but that’s good. That means I didn’t screw anything up getting the booth and products arranged. Either that or they’re so angry with me that they’re waiting to yell at me in person. Hmm…
I didn’t win the Powerball last night, so that sucks. I bought one ticket and didn’t come close to matching any numbers. If I did win, I would go to work opening my own dive bar near the Twins’ new stadium. Jason has long ago agreed to work at this bar, even if it means scrubbing toilets.
The Twins got swept in a doubleheader yesterday in Boston, and now have been outscored by 31 runs overall on the young season. That’s by far the worst in the majors. What I like about it, though, is when they lose, they lose big, so it’s easier to take. Not like losing 4-3 where you can dwell on one bad pitch. They lose convincingly. It actually takes some of the pain away.
Oh, and I must say, last night’s Scrubs was very good.
The Voice-Over Endeavor April 17, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in random.Tags: acting, dj, emcee, microphone, public address, radio, voice, voice-over
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I keep getting myself involved in more and more stuff. Tomorrow, I am going to a voice-over acting class/audition at MCTC. Along with my Flash class, I signed up for this voice acting class, thinking perhaps it was my calling.
I did, as you well know, serve as an on-air radio personality on KOKK/KZKK radio in Huron in high school, and briefly KJAM radio in Madison in college. I also had a brief stint as a guest commentator on KWAT as a basketball color man. Brandon, Guy, and I had our Stretch & Shades Show in high school during the girls’ basketball games. I announced the starting lineups for many high school sports, and even served as emcee of a fashion show. I released a number of self-recorded songs in college based on friends from the dorms. My voice was once heard on a TNN commercial during the closing credits of The Wonder Years. Even here at work, they used my voice on the auto-response line for Tech Support, and I did the voice-over work for our two product demo videos in 2006 and 2007. I was a renowned microphone artist, if you will, at the Valleyfair games that required microphones. I’ve never been shy at karaoke and all the theatrical productions I’ve been a part of. I offered my services to read the Easter Sunday bible verses. I DJ’d 25 wedding dances last year and plan on doing more this year. And yes, I even auditioned for the Twins’ vacant PA announcer job after Bob Casey’s death.
Sorry that was so long-winded, but different things just kept coming to mind. I figured that was enough amateur voice-over work to suggest that perhaps I missed my calling. So, tomorrow, I will go to class from 10-1 where my voice will be recorded and analyzed by professionals to determine if I do indeed have a future in the biz. Not that I intend to quit my current job, but if a part-time gig were to come up, I wouldn’t turn it down.
I do not intend to speak in my normal talking voice, but rather a deeper tone with attention to enunciation and clarity.
