Popscholar

Despite the ridiculous heat, we actually had a pretty rockin' weekend...no pun intended.

Friday I spent the evening with The Blogger Formerly Known as Pencopal while DD played poker (he, unfortunately, lost). We started off by having dinner at The Continental Midtown on the early side because we were catching P's friend's jazz quartet at Chris's Jazz Cafe at what we thought was 8 (turns out we were an hour early). Thus, we felt like geriatrics gunning to make the Early Bird Special when we ate at 6 pm. The good news is that we beat the super-annoying crowd that was lined up down Chestnut Street by the time we left.

General hilarity ensured over the course of the evening as we died laughing at everything from sex and poop to therapist faux pases to our waitress who looked like one half of the doublemint twins and couldn't do math to save her life.

__________

Saturday was a lazy day. DD and I were completely unproductive for the most part. In the evening we indulged in gluttony and ordered cheesesteaks from Tony Luke's. Then we sat in front of the TV and watched the final episodes of Undeclared on DVD (which, I should add, is no Freaks and Geeks, but it definitely has its moments).

Oh, and since I'd never seen 40-Year-Old-Virgin, we watched that too. Kind of funny, but it started to drag.

__________

Sunday we paid the price for those cheeseteaks and spent the morning at the gym. Later on in the day, around 5, we met up with our friends G&M at North Third, a local pub, to do an early dinner & drinks before heading down to the SoCo free concert on the waterfront (where everyone from De La Soul to The Flaming Lips was playing).

In particular, DD wanted to see Bob Mould, former frontman of 80s punk outfit Husker Du (and later of Sugar). We heard BM's set and then visited with some friends. I also unexpectedly ran into a guy from high school, so it was fun to catch up.

Finally, The Flaming Lips hit the stage. DD and I aren't fans per se; we like what we hear enough, but we're not enamored to the point of wanting to buy the records. Rumor has it that their live show is quite a spectacle, though, so we stayed to see what all the hype was about.

Sure enough, the band went all out. To start off the set, the lead singer climbed into what was essentially a giant balloon and rolled/surfed atop the crowd. There were lights, dancers, costumes and video footage galore. Whatever the band lacked in music they most definitely made up for in exhibition.

__________

This is going to be a relatively quiet week, up until Thursday when we're leaving for The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, New York. I'm SO looking forward to taking in four days of music and friends.

Before that, on Wednesday, DD and I will be celebrating our third wedding anniversary, so it's fitting that we're getting away. According to my mother, this is the "Leather and Crystal" anniversary.

"Did you bring that up because you bought me something in one of the two categories?" I asked her.

She assured me that, no, in fact she hadn't. Thank goodness. You know, I really wouldn't want my mother getting me a leather anniversary gift if you know what I mean. And crystal? There's a reason we didn't register for any the first time around.