More concert notes

Had a bunch of random thoughts from this weekend that I couldn’t fit into last night’s posting. Here they are.

1) This was my first trip to Columbia and I have to say that it is a rather nice little campus town. Seemed to have a number of really neat stores and a cool vibe to the place. That was a very pleasant surprise. What amazes me is that somehow the Universities of Missouri and Kansas somehow have a cooler, more alternative campus than the University of Illinois. I mean, we had like two coffee shops for a school of 34,000 students. I know that I haven’t been back in ten years and for all I know they have this huge goth scene now but man, you can tell what happens when your campus is run by engineers. All you have are bars. And computer shops. And comic book stores. Really, really good comic book stores.

2) I won’t even get into South Bend as a campus town. It doesn’t really apply. The entire point of the Notre Dame campus is that you should never have to leave the campus. Thus, you just can’t compare it to anything else.

3) This was my first trip on I-70 east of Royals stadium (yeah, I don’t know if that should be a point of pride or not). Like any trip through the Midwest you discover one constant on the road, billboards for adult bookstores. I think it is a law that every ten miles you have to see a sign that says “Porn: next exit.” When you drive past one of those places during the day you see that it is some decrepit trailer and you come to the realization that you’ll probably need a shot of penicillin just for pulling into the parking lot. But when you drive past one of those places at two in the morning you realize that they are truly one of your first stops after parole. You don’t even want to imagine who has decided to stop in to browse.

4) When I was waiting outside the club in Columbia I was given a survey by the club to fill out. They were trying to improve their customer experience and alter the way they book bans. While filling it out I saw one question that read, “How far did you travel”, wrote down 120 miles and said to the person giving the survey “I am so going to screw up your averages.”

5) For the record, I watched the White Sox win Game 3 at Harpo’s in Columbia. Then, after a celebratory beer I hung out with some Red Sox fans at the Son Volt show. I know it is bad form to gloat but oh my God, the White Sox actually won a playoff series. For the first time in generations. This isn’t gloating, this is wondering if the fabric of the universe is about to be torn asunder.

6) Walking around Lawrence on Saturday I saw much to my surprise that every other person was holding a red balloon. I consider this to be yet another sign that I should probably cut back on the absinthe.

7) Oh, and on a comment from last week. Of course I’ve already purchased the “Nobody reads my blog” t-shirt. I know a conversation starter when I see one. Plus, it is a little less nerdy than “I was young. I needed the gold pieces.”