the story of bob weber

i am sitting in angel falls. downloading music... not music for me... music for sarah. she got the new limited edition u2 iPod for christmas, and with that, the entire u2 collection... 447 songs. i am trying to understand... the iPod came in the mail and the excitement was so intense that she had to start the downloading. well, the time that sarah had available to download this said music spanned less time than the tracks require to be downloaded. so, here i sit, keeping the computer company as the songs file in. the current song is 164... i have been here by myself for just over an hour. we were here for 2 hours before sarah left. i am estimating about 3 more hours before it is all over. sigh.

enough to make sitting here for hours on end, doing next to nothing, completely worth while, the random man in the red plad shirt. i was sitting here, the coffee house was full, and a friendly looking 40ish gentleman with gray curly hair, bright eyes, and a warm smile sat down at the end of my table. this was just fine, i dont mind sharing my space. he pulled out his iBook and we both sat contently, not talking.

i was listening to travis on the iPod, then sarah came back in to drop off some stuff for me before she went off to work. so, i took out my ear buds, and chatted with her for a brief moment. just after sarah left, bob weber (the above mentioned gentleman) turned to me with a smile and said, "is that the new The Cure cd?" as he nodded towards a stack of my cds. being the friendly person that i am, i smiled and said, "yep, it is. it is really good too. if you want, you can go ahead and listen to it." he asked if he could download it (which i am generally very much opposed to, but for reasons i am not really sure of, i told him to go ahead). so we sat here chatting, about the cure, the new u2 iPod sitting next to me, and other random musical subjects. he asked if i like rem, i said yes, that i had just bought the new cd. so we chatted up about rem... i think he was trying to determine if i knew what i was really talking about, or if i was a poser. i must have proved myself worthy, because he divulged personal information. he works for rem... tours with them... hangs out with them... friends with michael stipe. (honestly, i thought... you have got to be kidding me... do you actually think that i am going to sit here and actually believe what is coming out of your mouth). so i humored him... or so i thought. then one of the owners of this here coffee joint walked over and said, "hey bob, when are you going on tour." holy shit!

i almost peed. i am not kidding. this was all internal mind you, i was externally very calm and composed. so bob and i kept talking. he has worked with rem since 1989. this has allowed him to get to know folks like pete yorn, joseph arthur (who is touring with rem in europe this winter), and wilco (yes, we are talking jeff tweedy and john stirrett, wilco, my favorite band, wilco!). when he asked if i was familiar with wilco, prior to talking about his having worked with them, i gushed... it went something like, "oh yeah, totally my favorite band, no contest." he seemed amused by my response, talked a bit about working with them. i said i had just bought tickets to their show yesterday, that i am super excited. his eyes shown and he smiled, "really, well, jason, the guy that runs the boards for wilco, is one of my best friends. what is your name?" i told him... he picked up his phone... pushed a few buttons, and jason was on the other end. it went something like this, "hey jason, this is bob, i am sitting here with a friend of mine that is going wilco when they are here in cleveland. her name is colleen, i told her to catch up with you at the show. i want you to give her and her friends vip treatment. she is a cool girl." FREAKING OUT! then bob and jason chatted for a minute or two about something completely unrelated to me, he hung up the phone and smiled. no joke, i could have kissed the man. i got excited like a little kid... i am sure that i should probably be embarrassed for myself, but bob seemed to love my response.

if this all really comes to pass, i am going to designate every december 29th for the rest of my life to being "Bob Weber Day." i am so excited that i can hardly contain myself. oh sweet joy. beautiful things like this make my life amazing. it is only #201... i have hours left... it is all worthwhile.