Great Start to the WE-eekend

Yesterday I actually got off of work about 8:00 - believe me that's a nice change from the way the rest of the week had gone - so I decided to go down to check out WE Fest. For those who don't know, and unless you live around Wilmington you probably wouldn't, WE is a 4-day festival of independent music, art, and film that's held here each Memorial Day weekend. Also it takes place about 2 blocks from my apartment, and costs $1/day to get in, so getting there required only a very small investment of time and money on my part.

I got there in time to see most of Jennifer Glass's set (her...not her). Nice singer-songwriter acoustic stuff, and good way to kick things off. But here's the beauty of the whole concept - there are 3 different floors in the building, and each has a different stage. So that means when one act ends, you can walk right over to hear another band while the first stage is setting up for the next one. Very well planned out.

After listening to a little of I Love You Airlines, I headed upstairs to catch Seems So Bright, a sort of modern-rock-with-Radiohead-esque-undertones group from NYC. Then it was back downstairs for the bluegrass trio Barnraisers. Towards the end of that set, it became quite noticeable that something HEAVY was going down in the basement (the bass/guitar/banjo combo 15 feet in front of me was being drowned out by sounds traveling up through the concrete floor). I had to see what that was all about.

Enter Study of The Sirens, a vocal-less rock/metal band that kind of reminded me of Explosions in the Sky (from the Friday Night Lights theme song). Outstanding set, and definitely a pleasant surprise, because that was one I was planning to skip in favor of Snatches of Pink. Fortunately the timing worked out that I could hear both.

Anyway, it was a great time. I've put in all the links above so you check these bands out for yourselves if you want. They're all small-label or unsigned acts, and I know they would appreciate all the support they can get. And as I got off at 1:00 today (that's not bad for a Saturday!), I'm sure I'll end up back over there at some point - there's a full slate of music right through Monday.

Rock on.

This Guy is AWESOME!

I've never actually met this guy, but I stumbled across an article in one of the local papers about who he is and what he's doing - his name is Eric Vithalani, and he's taking 2 years away from "real life" to jump on his bike and cycl around the world. Yeah, obviously there will be some air travel involved to get around those pesky oceans, but what a goal!

His whole outlook on the journey is very much from the "me" school of travel, as well. Sure you can fly somewhere, stay in the largest, most modern, most American-ized hotel near the tourists traps, and be able to say "Oh, I've been to ___!"

But have you really?

The most rewarding travel experiences I've ever had were the ones where I've got far off the beaten path. Touring the Guinness brewery in Dublin is great...drinking a Guinness in a pub in County Clare in which you're the only American is better. The Coliseum in Rome is a must-see...but sitting out under the stars in a small Mediterranean village with a couple of locals, a guitar, and a bottle of wine is more memorable. I always try to explain that to people whenever the topic of travel comes up.

This guy clearly gets it.

His blog is at www.theheaviestbike.blogspot.com. I will be following this one closely. God knows it takes very little to inspire to jump on a plane for parts unknown. If I only had the time right now....

"...Where Could I beeeee? Believe it or not, I'm not Hooooome!"

So yeah, it's been awhile. And the reason? The perfectly legitimate, yet altogether unexciting:

"Work has been terrible lately."

I know...so lame. But here's what happened - At the end of March we lost an attorney. Not such a huge deal at 20 lawyer firm. Mid-April, another one bites the dust. "We'll all have to pitch in a little extra to pick up the slack," my boss says. The very next week, we say goodbye to yet another. "Since our case load is down a little anyway, it's not such a bad time for this to happen," the aforementioned boss announces.

Now I essentially have 2 jobs (same pay, of course). Over the past month, it has become routine to wake up at 5:30 to get some work done at home before the courthouse opens at 8:30. When the courthouses close at 5:00, I typically have 3 or 4 hours of work to look forward to at night. Sometimes I get lunch/dinner breaks. Sometimes not.

That has a way to cut into the posting time. Today, I finished up around 7:00 and it felt like summer vacation. Anyway, I do actually have some vaguely creative, informative, entertaining ideas I'd like to write about if I get around to it. Maybe this weekend.