This is a good indication of the type of weekend that I had. After working out this afternoon (very poorly I might add because of a high ankle sprain that just will not go away) I took a shower and told myself, “Ok, I’ve got a ton of stuff to accomplish tonight so I have to make every minute count.” I then promptly had dinner and then lied down on the couch and watched the Simpsons and Family Guy for two hours. Sigh. For the record, I’m not lazy, it’s just that my motivation is currently misplaced. Oh, and I played solitaire on the computer as well because, well, that’s just the state that my life is in right now. (More on that as the week progresses)
I did actually get out of my apartment for part of the weekend. I hit the Brookside Art Fair and it reminded me a lot of the Old Town Art Fair in Chicago. Same funky type of neighborhood, same parking on the streets so that you are guaranteed to forget where you parked, same interesting mix of people. Except that while they had the same number of booths it was like in one quarter of the space. I’m not kidding, at one point I was walking down the aisle between booths and realized that if I stretched my arms out I could touch them on both sides. When you describe an art fair, the word “claustrophobic” really shouldn’t be the first to spring to mind.
Didn’t see anything there that really struck my fancy. Some interesting sculpture work but at that price range I could pick up another Everhart and finally have a painting of Charlie Brown in my apartment. It is a lot cooler than it sounds (or reads), believe me. Otherwise, a lot of New Mexico art and pictures of apparently the same towns in Italy and Ireland that every artist takes. It doesn’t matter what art fair you go to, there are certain pictures that never change. I did see a cool one of the Aran Islands, one of my favorite places in Ireland, which I might think about picking up one of these days.
I also caught Jack Ingram in concert over the weekend. I figured out that the first time I saw Jack was back in ’99 so I’ve been seeing his shows for a long time. Waiting for the show to start I found myself talking to the same people that I meet at every show: the guy from Pitt State, the couple that brings their kids, the woman with the camera who is at every show that I attend and either she is stalking me or I’m stalking her and neither one of us can figure out which. Anyway, I was talking to them before the show and one commented, “Might as well take advantage of the chance now because Jack is going to play bigger venues from here on out.” Which I took as odd as I’ve been seeing him for years and often it was just me and a couple dozen of my closest friends in the bar.
His show started off a little rocky as he dealt with technical difficulties. Either that or he’s decided that “Guitar down, damnit!” is a great opening lyric. Jack’s always an upbeat guy and he was pissed at the soundman, I was confident that I was finally going to see a guy unplug his guitar, walk over to the soundman, and just start clubbing him with the guitar. But they got things together and he put together his fun show with a tinge of religious revival thrown in. He even surprised me by admitting that he had now made it. Because he actually has a certifiable hit and he’s going to be opening for Sheryl Crow. And as much as I prefer my favorites acts to play small clubs where only cool people can hear them I’m proud for the guy. For once, I might be able to say I listened to him well before he was cool.
The five random CDs of the week (and a motley crew at that, including some that haven’t been listened to for a decade)
1) Beausoleil “La Danse De La Vie”
2) Counting Crows “August and Everything After”
3) Jump, Little Children “Vertigo”
4) The Frames “The Roads Outgrown”
5) Various Artists “O Brother, Where Art Thou”
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