My Hero of the Day 7/17/06

Is, shockingly, my roommate, Tom.

Tom takes a beating, mostly... okay, entirely, from me.

But today I want to reflect on some of the great things about this big dope.

I have gotten a lot of really cool stuff from this guy. He discovered The Charms, who was my favorite band for about a year until Farfisa organist Kat Kina departed, completely changing the band. (Sorry Ellie, but it ain't the same without Kat)

He also introduced me to some of my favorite restaurants, but the music front has been where ol' Tommy-boy has livened me up the most. He is the man when it comes to last-minute ludicrous gestures surrounding show attendance that should be reserved for college kids and drug addicts.

Tom is not above flying to L.A. to see early 90s LA punk band The Muffs, one of his three favorite bands (along with the Kinks and the Mekons). I tagged along to see them in Brooklyn a couple of years ago and there we discovered this amazingly hip group called Tight Fit, who sadly got sued and had to change their name to Tra La La, which is possibly the lamest name in the history of music behind Milli Vanilli, though they still kick ass on stage.

Tom routinely gets tickets for all the shows on the ast coast when the Mekons tour, which happens about every other year. Last night, Tom got word that Tral La La was opening for Susanna Hoffs (late of the Bangles) and Matthew Sweet. Tom's college roommie plays guitar for Sweet, so he jumped in his car after work, drove to Manhattan, caught the show, drove home, slept three hours and went to work.

Honestly, this is the kind of life I enjoy leading. Kids are terrific, but what's the point of being kid-free and single at 40, and NOT doing stuff like this?

For that, and for today, Tom Beyer... well he's my hero. Barring some nonsense at work, I would have joined him...alas, I missed the show and he adds another great show to a long, long list.

Nice work, kid.