epic weekend

Forecastle, Part 2:

We left after Bassnectar in search of a pool party that never quite happened. We wanted it so bad, though. We ended up at the Galt House in Robin & Carla's room. The room had a balcony that looked out over the interstate and the river. They had a CD player and a bunch of CDs that I had never heard of. I managed to find one stellar album. Peaking Lights
is a band I heard at Boomslang. (Also greatly enjoyed at Boomslang last year, Caboladies.) Soft female vocals backed by ambient noise. No one else seemed to enjoy it, so I took the CD player out onto the balcony and sat by myself for a bit. Looking out over the river, feet up on the railing, bridges lit up and the Colgate Clock in the distance, accompanied by the sound of the interstate and Peaking Lights. It was profoundly amazing. The amalgamation of the serenity of the river, mixed with lights on the concrete bridge to the visuals of lights in the distance and speeding lights below, supplemented with the sounds of thousands of cars driving by, to places I will likely never see in my lifetime. It brought to mind American Beauty, my favorite movie.

"It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. It helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."

That last sentence sums up my feelings on that balcony.


While I'm on the subject of this beauty by the waterway, I wish Lexington had a waterway downtown. I know there was one that was covered up. I want that back. That is one thing I love about being in bigger cities is being able to be downtown by the water. Another stark contrast of man vs. nature. I have lived in Lexington my entire life. I'm pretty dang sure that it will always be my home. I went to preschool and high school at the same school. I now teach at that same school. While sometimes I feel really lame for not leaving and going on to do something grand in a big city, I love Lexington. I know it has its downfalls, and many of them, but it is solidly my home. If my heart could be shaped in another form, it might look like Kentucky. In my KY shaped heart, there would be a river flowing through Lexington. It would probably be a river of blood. That is so morbid. I'll be moving on now.

Mindy and I got back to our hotel room around 12:30. I really wanted to go find the after party. After dancing to Bassnectar, I was ready for some more. Mindy was too tired to go out, and nobody else was wanting to dance, so I decided to walk around downtown Louisville by myself. I walked down Main St. to 21C Museum Hotel. Most of our friends were staying there. I walked around the first 2 floors of the museum, looking at all the incredible art. Before that night, art museums sounded stuffy and boring. All the art I have studied has been art of dead people. Obviously, not my kind of art. I should have known better! all of the art at 21C is by living artists.

One artist had taken pictures of children, altered their facial features and placed them in strange ominous backgrounds.

This was part of the main exhibit. Animals that have been altered or pictures of taxidermied animals in unnatural settings. The actual animals were very strange.

This was one of the few conceptual art pieces. I saw this one first at night, then took this picture the next day. The three machines blow smoke rings. depending on the atmospheric pressure, angle of sunlight, temperature and wind, the smoke rings took a wide array of shapes and sizes. it was mesmerizing to watch. The thought that went into this art, from conceiving the very idea, to creating the machines that will make the rings, it all fascinates me that others people's brains work this way. Mine certainly does not.

This is one of the first pieces that caught my eye. The Barbie-esque eyes places on the contrasting dark skin stood out in a haunting manner. It gave the illusion of a jungle animal, stalking its prey.

This is a pencil drawing. Even up close, it is hard to tell. The shading and detail is so intricate and detailed. The image of a young boy in a man's body, in a piece of art that is nearly life size.


After wondering around 21C for an hour & a half, I left and walked around downtown Louisville for an hour. I looked at the old shotgun buildings and how far back they go. The buildings are old but for the most part, in good condition. Louisville seems to value the old architecture more than our fair city. There were entertaining signs on the Army Surplus store. There was a building with windows decorated with rainbow designs on the first floor, with the remaining 3 stories an empty shell. These building were haunting but hopeful. Down the street a bit I was marveling at the shotgun business when suddenly, in front of me was not a little storefront, but gigantic pillars of granite. I looked up and realized I was in front of the Humana Building. I am not easily impressed with new architecture. I was not impressed by the building materials, structural design or the feel of the building. In fact, the entire building made me want to shake my fists at the insurance premiums I pay, all the forms of documentation I have to send in, all so they can build an enormous building so their CEO can sit comfortably. The things about the building that really impressed me is that I was looking at storefronts that are at least a 150 years old, then suddenly, I'm in front of a new building. the mixture of the old and new, how well they were melded together, made me yearn for Lexington to have the vision to do that as well. There was a space in between the old buildings and the new that was about six inches wide. I could stick my arm in between these buildings. Those six inches separate at least 150 years of architecture and history. It made me jealous of what could be in Lexington.

I came back to our hotel room and talked to Asian Steev and Mindy. Mindy and I stayed up until 5am laughing. Slumber parties are awesome. I have dibs on Mindy and Steev for my hotel room next year. Back off.

By Sunday, My energy from performing was waning. The last two performances were especially taxing. I just didn't have it in me anymore. After 10 performances, I was ready to put the cymbals down for a long break. Once I laid the cymbals down, I realized that I had not eaten since 10am. I ate a really good hamburger (with locally raised beef!) and fries. I took it easy and patiently waited for the show I was most excited about, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Darin and I saw TL in 2006 in Newport. While TL was awesome, the venue was horrid. There was no re entrance. We went in at 2 o'clock and didn't leave until midnight. They had fries, hot dogs and pizza. Tap water and beer. And it was a smoking venue. But, Ted Leo made what would have been an absolutely miserable day into a bad day with a good ending. Me & Mia is one of my favorite songs. It is about a girl with an eating disorder. There is a touching movie that a girl made about her struggle with eating disorders here. I got there early enough to be in the front row, which is not something I typically do. The band came out and I got to get a good view of them for the first two songs. I couldn't hear Ted enough, so I moved to the back to be with my friends. The music was all awesome and high energy. Ted Leo is a great performer. Most of his songs are political in some way and his for wanting to fix things that are unjust and write beautiful songs about them clearly comes across in his music. The drummer is also very entertaining to watch. He is easy on the eyes and he looks like he is focusing so hard on drumming. He doesn't make eye contact with the crown at all, he just looks up the entire time. They played for about 40 minutes and played only stuff off their new album, Brutalist Bricks. I patiently waited for them to play Me & Mia, to no avail. When they said their Thank Yous and Goodnights, I was heartbroken that they hadn't played my jam. While the whole show was excellent, my expectations killed me in the end. I left the show pretty bummed. In the past, I have had a hard time with expectations. I would create these scenarios of what I expected to happen, the best possible outcome. When my ideal didn't occur, I would be disappointed, no matter how good it really was. I slipped back into that bad habit for the show, but it has served as a good reminder of why expectations can only let you down.

We migrated over to the main stage to wait for The Flaming Lips. What more can I say other than they are The Flaming Lips? Their shows are of astronomical proportions. The videos, the confetti, the balloons, Wayne Coyne in a giant ball rolling over the crown. The band coming out of a huge infrared ultraviolet vagina of light? What is there not to be impressed by? They played Vasoline in the beginning, Yoshimi towards the middle and they closed with Do You Realize? I cried during DYR? I cried for friends that have passed on that would have been at that show if they were alive, for friends faraway, for all my relations. It is such a happy sad song, the kind of song that makes you cry, but inspires you to do better. I have been compiling a list of funeral songs for several years. This sounds morbid, but I'm searching for songs that are not just about death, but about the good things, too. DYR? was the impetus for me to make that list. It is just the right songs for endings.

So, in closing for this entry that went on for far too long:
Do you realize that happiness makes you cry?