Not being one for political rallies, I decided to brave the hurrah of the crowds and the stump-speeches for a few tunes from Stevie Wonder. Why? Because it was Stevie Wonder. Yes, I've forgiven him for "I Just Called To Say I Love You."
So we arrive at approximately 6:30pm, noticing a decent parking space and thinking it boded well for our chances. We walked from the new library past the satellite trucks and their well-lighted, neatly coiffed inhabitants, making our way past the grassy mall set to hold all of the festivities. Once we reached the head of the line, we marched our way dutifully towards the back.
Which, at the time, was four blocks away, near the Bank One Tower. The first photo in the gallery shows the line ahead of us. The second is the line behind us, which may have stretched to Greenwood. The third photo shows my wife, hiding from the rain under my shirt. Finally, there was, sprinkled amongst the many folks shilling candidates and their related button-, shirt- and hat-related merchandising options, a gentleman asking for Iraq to consider an electoral college. Because ours worked so well, you know.




We got three songs, re-interpreted with bonus Obama lyrics, and called it a night when the rain picked up. Still, a successful outing.
It was Stevie Wonder, you know.
Nothing new about artists giving their music away on the Internet. Even when it's somebody famous, like Trent Reznor. The seal has been broken, the trail has been blazed, and we can move on. The interesting thing about the latest album download from his site are the formats in which you can obtain said free download. I chose the lossless Apple (regular mp3 and FLAC are available) and the 24-bit/96 KHz files, just to see what it will work with. Word of warning - the higher-end files use torrents to download, so you have to have a torrent program installed to get it.
I like the direction toward better audio quality files, but I wonder how people will adjust to less room on their iPods (or other portable media players), and if they'll notice the better quality over their earbuds. Still, the choice is there, and that's a good move.
Apologies to anybody whose concert experience at Victor/Victoria was ruined this weekend by my coughing. I was trying to suppress it as much as possible with cough drops and liquids, but the hits just kept coming. Luckily, I'm tucked behind a curtain high in the mezzanine, so I don't think anybody noticed.
The Playboy Psychonauts picked up three more songs this weekend, from souces including Henry Mancini and The Cult. The Jazz Kitchen show Wednesday should be fun - we kick off at 9:30pm, following the usual genius playing of Rob Dixon.
This weekend includes the monthly cultural explosion that is First Friday - I'm trying to take in all I can between writing/the show/general illness and malaise.
Radio Radio has The Born Again Floozies and Jimmy Steinmetz tonight, along with the Stringtown Pickers and Pillars of Society Saturday.
Sam's Saloon features The Tomkats and 19Clark25 Saturday night.
Deano's Vino presents Andy DeCarlo & The Travelin' Hillbillies tonight and Circle City Bluegrass tomorrow.
Big Car Gallery has a huge event tonight - Beat Debris, The Roundups and Blake/e/e/e play to celebrate the opening of the Herron Art School print show. Good stuff.
Victor/Victoria (at the American Cabaret Theater) has shows on Friday and Saturday nights with a Sunday matinee through June 1st (excepting race day).
And I can't think straight right now. Probably from seeing too many campaign ads. Turning it over to the podcast.