Today I'm gonna do stuff. I'm gonna try to do all the stuff. It probably won't happen, but as of right now, I plan on doin' it. It's good to have goals in life ya know. Wish me luck. Check out this idiot.
You won't believe what I forgot...
Weekend's done again. Damn things are short aren't they? Anyway, there's something that happened this weekend that I consider a travesty, a personal embarrassment, and an ugly scar on my near flawless permanent record. I want to go ahead and get it out there, so it doesn't slowly ooze into the public sector, which I'm sure it did as soon as Jenn got to work today. It happened on Friday. I met Jennifer at her office. We were going to see Jack Johnson, G Love and Special Sauce, and Donavon Frankenreiter at Meriwether Post Pavilion in Maryland. Anyway, we hooked up, we left for the show, and I forgot the tickets that I ordered six months ago. Yeah, what a bitch. So we're in the middle of DC 5:30 Friday afternoon rush hour and if we turn around there's a good chance that we're gonna miss the show. Jenn didn't believe me for half an hour until I called my step mom and asked her to try and order us tickets online before we got there. I need to mention that here in VA, DC and the surrounding areas we were awaiting our share of Hurricane Ivan, so it was imperative that we get a seat under the pavilion at what was to be a first-come, first-serve, all general admission show. Yeah, I'm a jackass, but it's out there and the monkey's off my back. Anyway, we got there, got more tickets, and found seats under the pavilion. By the fourth song of Donahoo Frankenstein's set it started raining, hard. Needless to say, by the time Jack played, the people on the lawn were drenched, drunk, and pissed. To assert their discontent they had obviously organized a summit of sorts of their wettest, drunkest, and most pissed to communicate with the staff how "This Sucks!" and "C'mon!" and "It's pourin' out here!". Their pleas fell on deaf ears as the staff firmly held their line and allowed those with wristbands representing pavilion seats to pass freely. Shouldn't have had that last shot of Jager in the lot asshole!!
Here's a link for your funky ass: Famous Bed Wetters
Summa' Time
Man has the time flown by. I haven't posted forever, and I left yaw with a whack-ass blog design. Sorry 'bout that . Anyway here's the rundown of the past three weeks for me (cause I know you care so much).
A. June 9-14 I was away on a road trip to Bonnaroo 2004, the annual music festival that I have attended since it's inaugural year in 2002. It was a great trip in which my friends and I managed to coordinate a six state summit, ending in Manchester, Tennessee at Bonnaroo. Regan and Kim came from Houston, Texas. Sanders made his way to Nashville from Los Angeles. Harness and April followed Jenn and I down from Louisville, along with April's friend Citara? Seetara? Sit.... whatever, and her boyfriend, and his big ass Bronco. Also, Jenn's bro' Emory came in from New Mexico to attend the 'Roo. We met at the house of Rev. and Mrs. Sanders, on the west end of Nashville. Somehow we managed to all stay together for several hundred miles all the way into the gates of Bonnaroo, and to our campsite. Well, all that is except for Citara's boyfriend (I cant remember his name to save my life, but it was something short like, Buck , or Lou).
Anyway, we got all the way to the toll booths where they check your ticket and give you your wristbands and junket. I was in the lead of our five car train, and was sitting 8-10 car lengths from a toll booth. Thats when "Buck" comes up to my window with some bad news:
Buck: "Well, I guess this is where I'm screwed."Me: "Screwed?"
B: "Yeah , screwed."
M: "Screwed?"
B: "Man, I don't have a ticket."
M: "You don't have a ticket?"
B: "Nah man"
M: "Screwed!"
That was pretty much a bad judgment on his part I thought. I'll remind you that there is neither a Will Call booth or ticket counter at Bonnaroo. All tickets sold are mailed in advance to the attendee. After that you are at the mercy of the scalpers. At that point there wasn't much we could do about it. So "Buck" and Citara unhitched from the Bonnaroo express and drove into Manchester in search of a ticket. Nothing was seen or heard from the pair until they showed up on a sweltering Saturday with a trash bag full of water balloons. So I'm glad it worked out for them to get in.
Bonnaroo this year was a bit extreme. The weather made it more of a challenge. Tennessee in June is pretty damn hot. It was in the 90's and dry the first day. We had a small monsoon on the second, and the third day the humidity set in and the mud in the concert area was up to your ankles. Bonnaroo is also getting noticeably bigger, more corporate, and less about the music. It almost has to be done to support the infrastructure of the festival it's 90,000+ attendees. The first year was large but conspicuously understated. Hippies on blankets selling burritos was more prevalent than tents full of funnel cakes and samples of energy drinks. 2002 had people proudly displaying buds from the west coast the size of your forearm, while 2004 offered glassy eyed urchins pushin' nose candy and various forms MDMA. More stages, up from 4 the first year, to 5 the second, now 7+, made it even harder to see all the bands you wanted to. It seemed that in 2002 and 2003 people were glad to have found Bonnaroo, and appreciated it's freedom and vibe. 2004 brought with it a sense of entitlement. With ticket prices increased, ( Jenn and I paid $165.00 each), more diverse acts pulled from well outside the jam band scene (eg. Maroon 5), and the increase in number of participants, people now want all the bang for their buck, and Superfly/AC Entertainment is willing to shell it out. The cost they will see, is the loss of respect for the festival, and the scene which created it.
Don't get me wrong here, I did have a great time. We had a phat campsite with a large shade tent and a small courtyard for cooking and stretching in the morning. I know I laughed harder than I have in a long time. Having a campsite full of buddies made the weather bearable, and we NEVER ran out of beer.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The guy camped next to us set up a 14' trampoline. The great part wasn't that there was a 14' tramp next to us. The great part was watching them set it up.
2. Regan brought all the water a Gatorade we could drink.
3. Praxis. Caught this band during their late night set. It was dark, electronic, and the was a guitar being properly shredded in the foreground. AMAZING.
4. Gary's Dashiki Rickshaw Service
5. Bonnaroo dirt
6. "Man, wait 'till people ask me about this (Bonnaroo). I'll just tell them "Go to your toilet, take a shit, and stick your foot in it."
7. Painted boobies
8. Government Mule
9. Grilled peppers for breakfast
10. WILCO
Thats about all for Bonnaroo, I've got more to post later on other matters, as well as a few cool links I've come across, but that will be later, so, LATER.
Special Dan
This is my friend Dan. Please don't laugh at him, 'cause it makes him very unhappy.
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