Weekend update

Three stories from the weekend…

I went to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band on Friday night. I believe that in my “Concertgoer Bill of Rights” Article Five states the following, “A town will determine a consistent definition as to what the time on the ticket means. It will either be a) the time the doors open, b) the time the opening act starts or c) when you should leave the house (also known as the Chicago principle).” I’d like to thank the Uptown Theater for making their own rules as I showed up fifteen minutes before ticket time to find the opening act finishing off their set and then having to sit through an hour intermission before the main set. That is just incredibly annoying when your only option for entertainment is determining just how much you are being screwed by paying five bucks for a bottle of beer.

Also, I ended up next to one of my least favorite concertgoers, “The fat Woo Hoo guy.” You know, the guy who has pounded about eight beers and is just wobbling and going “Woo Hoo” throughout the entire set. The show was cool, Robert Randolph does things with a pedal steel that it was never meant to do, but at the end it was another jam band and I can only late about ninety minutes at any jam band concert. At that point I just start wondering why in the world I am listening to yet another bass solo. For the life of me, I can not see how bass solos are ever meant to be interesting.

Second story: On Saturday afternoon I went out to run some errands and ended up at Walgreen’s. Because there are certain items in life that everyone purchases but no one really feels a need to discuss so you end up at a Walgreen’s. So, I’m in the aisle trying to find dishwashing detergent and I hear someone go, “Hey what’s up?” It’s Kristen, the girl I always run into at concerts and who I am always disappointed to find still has a boyfriend. We start talking both explaining that yeah, we’re out running errands. As I do this I determine that it really is difficult to hold a conversation with someone when you have in your hands razor blades, toothpaste, laundry detergent and toilet bowl cleaner. Sure, these are things that everyone on the planet purchases but none of us every really want to admit that we do. It’s just so trivial. And when you find yourself in a random conversation with someone you never want to have a possible branch in the conversation tree be, “So, you have a dirty toilet, eh?”

Final Story: It’s probably not a surprise to anyone that I have been watching the Olympics non-stop and probably will continue to do so for the next two weeks. I just like watching sports, especially sports that I have no idea how or why they exist. Or how to know if someone is doing well, my view of snowboarding is that if you don’t crash you did well. However, I did have to ask myself over the weekend just why I was watching the Nordic Combined in which the competitor’s ski jump and then go on a nine mile cross country ski trip. I had no rooting interest in the event, can’t understand what it is all about, and yet I still spent a good portion of a day watching it. I’m still trying to figure out the Summer Olympic equivalent. I’m guessing it would be the Pole Vault-Half Marathon competition. Anyway, expect some pretty steady commentary from me, especially once we get into the curling competition. Any sport that I feel that I could play drunk is my type of Olympic event.

The five random CDs for the week:
1) Jeff Buckley “Live A L’Olympia”
2) Gear Daddies “Can’t Have Nothin’ Nice”
3) Loreena McKennitt “The Visit”
4) The Tragically Hip “Road Apples”
5) Lucinda Williams “World Without Tears”