Saturday, July 10, 2010

Three rivers pink etc.

Yesterday was a much smoother day than the day before had been. Not the high highs or near the low lows. In my usual day-off tradition I lounged through the blogosphere while sipping down half a pot of coffee; cleaned the bathrooms; ran for an hour; and headed out. I was on my way into the Fort with no particular place to go and at one point decided to ask God where he thought I should. He led me to Parkview Behavioral Hospital to check in on a friend (of a friend). I had never been there, and it was a little intimidating on my first visit alone - especially not knowing if I would be welcome or not. I was unable to make the visit, but did make contact and hopefully opened the door a little. Afterward I meandered around the city, seeing what there was to see.

Before long is was time for my dear overworked wife to come home. She got off "early" for a Friday (at 5 o'clock), and we soon headed downtown to Henry's for supper. We have found that the little side is much quieter (and to our liking) than the big side.

We often head to Jefferson Pointe for free music after supper on Fridays. It's a nice place to walk off the overeating, and also a good place to people watch. I won't mention the band that was playing because... I don't know if their regular guitarist was gone or what, but... they were a little lacking. You know, and it's never a good idea for a 5-piece band to chide the audience for not making enough noise, ESPECIALLY when THEY are not making very much noise. I've never seen a guitarist just stand there and not play as much as this guy. They had a fantastic set-list, they just couldn't play it.

So we thought we might as well head back downtown and take in the opening night of the Three Rivers Festival. There was a Pink Floyd tribute band playing (Pink Droyd), and I'd heard they were pretty good. It seemed like a nice night for some PF music. Of course, first we had to find a parking space. The two places we usually park in were (a) under construction and (b) had vendors set up in them (instead of where they usually are). I just hate to PAY for parking downtown so we parked on Wayne Street and walked the 5 blocks to Headwaters Park.

I wasn't real excited about paying $9 apiece to get in, but I figured it was our civic duty to support good music at the 42nd annual TRF. We saw Jack Hammer as soon as we walked in. Apparently he is the organizer this year. We took a quick walk around the place and soon found ourselves a couple of seats outside the stage area alongside some long-hairs. It was a hot night, so we didn't need anymore body heat than was necessary. We listened for awhile from there and, while it wasn't terrible, I wasn't all that impressed. So we decided to mosey under the roof and see if that made a difference. Oh boy, did it! We got to just about halfway back from the stage and the sound was literally blowing my shirt. And it sounded great too! I love feeling the bass actually move me. We stood there until they took a break, then found a spot in the back and listened from there until after midnight.

It was funny because earlier in the day I had heard Roger Water's was doing a 30th Anniversary tour for The Wall. Pink Droyd played both sides of that album, as well as a lot of other music. As I was standing there - me, a pastor, and Jane, a bank manager - it hit me that on nights like this I felt much more like I did 30 years ago than I do now. I can remember listening to The Wall in its entirety at Skipper's house, and it was just like I was there again. I certainly wish Skipper was still here, but some people die too soon. At any rate, it was a nice night, and there were people from all walks of life singing along, everyone with a big grin and looking quite comfortably numb.

We made the trek back to the car and neither of us turned into a pumpkin. We saw several police incidents on the way home, but managed to steer clear, and now the night is done and over and it's today. Work in the office, then mow.

Peace out, my friends; and in.

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