Free Weekend

Virgin Fest was this weekend, over 12 hours of pop music, drunk folks, lame t-shirts and people watching. I got a pair of volunteer passes from Johanna at MPIRG, so Nate and I tabled for the city smoking ban from 10-3 in full view of the main stage, then went off to fully rock out. I guess all together I saw Kasabian, Wolfmother, The Raconteurs; Brazilian Girls, Gnarls Barkley, Scissor Sisters, The Who, The Flaming Lips, and the last two songs of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Raconteurs were excellent and I'm excited to see them for real with Bob Dylan in November. Drive By Truckers played the first slot and I snuck away from our booth for 15 minutes to see them put on their now-standard performance, which for the uninitiated or die-hard fan is a hard-rocking show. Unfortunately it was noon and I wasn't prepared to rock and donc, found them lackluster. I had a great time at their show a month ago in DC so I slipped away to safeguard that memory rather than witness a less-than-stellar gig.

I spent 17 bucks on the cab to Pimlico and nothing else the entire weekend. We got free lunch for volunteering and I scored water from Nate and one drink from Allison and Darien, who worked magic with factory-sealed water bottles, knives, ziplock bags and lighters and brought in enough booze to kill a horse. How Ali was still dancing at the end of the night having eaten and drunk nothing but vodka and diet Pepsi I will never know; I was impressed. I couldn't really get into the festival even after my shift was done and ended up wandering, lone-wolf style, from stage to stage, avoiding pukers and Bill Gates lookalikes.

[As I'm searching my bag for my schedule]
Bill Gates: "Hey, you got a piece of gum in there?"
Me: "No, sorry."
Bill: "Aw, too bad, cuz I ate this onion and pepper pizza and my breath is pretty bad right now,"

That might be the worst pickup line I've ever heard.

I talked to the Roller Girls whose booth was two away from us, and they recruited me for tryouts after I revealed I'd played hockey. Later on in the evening they waved hello to me which totally appealed to my inner middle-school student (the cool girls said hi!). Not sure I have the time or funds to put towards this activity (other things would have to move, like climbing or the bike coop), but since I already have my rollergirl name (Chrome Molly) and number (103) I am tempted to hit up Play It Again Sports for some old school skates and give it a try.

To pass the time Nate and I created a ladder of tshirt coolness:
5 (least cool) - Virginfest tshirt
4 - Band tshirt (if the band is playing at Vfest it's a high 4) or college tshirt, or brandname tshirt (except Old Navy, which is a 5)
3 - slogans
2 - clever slogans (I didn't think these existed and that all slogans were inherently tacky, but Nate disagreed) or kitschy tshirts (Seseme Street, for example)
1 (most cool) - cool designs that I did not recognize. Small monsters, or a line drawing of an owl, no words allowed. If I know what you're trying to associate yourself with, it's not cool.

We gave an exemption to kids under 15 because their enthusiasm is cute even if their clothing isn't.

By the end of the night I was dog tired from being on my feet for over 12 hours. The Flaming Lips guy made his entrance in a huge plastic bubble which he rolled over the crowd. I ran into James from Lake Trout but did not say hi to the rest of the band (Biggest Error of the The Night). The Who were good, everyone was good, but I just didn't have the werewithal to fully enjoy myself. If I had paid the 100 bucks for the ticket I'm pretty sure I would have had a better time, according to behavioral theory. But for 17 bucks I cannot complain.

Today I went with Allison and Darien and their friends Corn(elia) and Matt to the O's/Twins game, which was company organized. So we got free tix and free lunch (bbq beef mmm). O's put together a rally late in the game, thanks to Tejada's two solo homers, but then the rain hit and we left. They lost the game, the last one of the season. Tant pis.