Red Pens and Star Trek 2 - June 22, 2011

Well, okay, so I didn't really see either of these things last night. But I tried.

The 6th Annual Cinema & Civics music and film series is taking place Wednesday nights in Steven's Square park right now. And by right now I mean, weather permitting. And by weather permitting I mean, in some other dimension. Because, really? 5.09" of rain so far in June (2" above average according to Paul Douglas on Weather). And, according to me, most of that rain has fallen after dark. What? I'm a trained observer of... stuff. Sh'up.

Back to the part where I tried. Last night around 7pm I hopped in my car and headed over to my friend Jesse's place, for a pre-concert/pre-movie shoot-the-breeze session. En route the light drizzle turned into rain which turned into pouring rain which turned into a very likely, fine obviously since they would have been setting up at that moment but color me optimistic, cancelled event. Dang it! I've been looking forward to seeing the Red Pens live and will now have to wait a bit longer. I hate waiting. But I had not yet entirely given up hope, so when I peeked out the window around 8pm and it seemed to have pulled back to a drizzle I thought, maybe?? I told Jesse we should walk over to the park to check things out. He humored me and grabbed a blanket to sit on, just in case. Unfortunately, other than the lady walking in front of us complaining loudly to herself about the weather (or maybe she was talking to us, come to think of it maybe she was on the phone - stupid bluetooth headsets), things were remarkably quiet around Steven's Square.

Not willing to give up on the night of music completely, Jesse and I made a quick excursion to a nearby liquor store and purchased the most obvious of let down drinks, champagne. We spent the rest of the evening talking and listening to music indoors, away from the elements. I really dug hearing Generation X, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Patti Smith on vinyl, it has been a long time. But I have to confess, and color me embarassed to admit, that last night was my first encounter with Saul Williams. It will not be the last. Check him out, y'all. Spoken word, singing, performer takin' things in new directions. I look forward to hearing where he goes next.