andrew.pilsch.com

Considering how rotten I’ve felt all weekend, I’m surprisingly euphoric tonight (actually, earlier, I think my blood sugar was low and I got that whole “I’m watching myself from the third person” thing. So I was literally euphoric. I hate that “euphoria” gets used to mean “really happy” in English (Hell, I do it). The word means to be beside oneself and has all kinds of weird implications within psychedelics. Anyway, digression over). Thursday was truly surreal, which would appear to be appropriate, as my Thursday seminar was taught by a professor of Surrealism. We were discussing the Marquis De Sade and were supposed to be meeting at a bar for an evening class (explaining involves a long story that ultimately doesn’t matter). When I arrived at the bar, I discovered that we had, instead, been moved into the fancy dining room of the Nitanny Lion Inn (probably the #2 restaurant in State College, PA. More importantly, though, it is the classiest). So, we sit down over pitchers of beer in a (thankfully) sparsely seated dining room and begin our discussion of sodomy and sexual violence in Philosophy in the Bedroom. Needless to say it was very, very weird. Especially when the little Chinese girl ran into the room and started waving at everyone. After class, I drank whiskey with a friend in seminar until I couldn’t see. I woke up the next morning in my clothes, with the light on in my room and twenty minutes to get to class.

Getting out of bed was a challenge. I half-showered and ran to class (I probably wouldn’t have shown up, excepting the fact that I had to give a twenty minute presentation on Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition. Surprisingly, that went really, really well. I seem to actually present better hungover than sober. Although, I don’t want to test that hypothesis.) Anyway, I left class and got ready to go to Philadelphia, where I was going to see the Wrens.

It turns out a 3.5 hour car trip is not the best place to get over a hangover. It might be the worst (airplanes are the other Hellish place I’ve dealt with hangover, though). Anyway, so I finally eat something on the way to Philly and get some coffee. It got really hot in the show and I got dehydrated (this is going to be a theme for the whole weekend). However, all of that is beside the point, as the Wrens completely destroy live. I’ve seen a lot of generic indie bands in my day. I’ve even seen a few stellar indie bands. Frankly, I lump the Wrens in the first category, except that, live, they actually put on a show. I suppose most indie rockers just stand around looking bored when they play because they feel that being excited “cheapens” their already derivative music. Truth be told, most of the memorable concerts had more to do with the band’s show than the music. Except for experimental psych bands (NNCK, Sunburned Hand, GS!BYE) and bands that fucking rock the shit out and completely drain all your ability to resist (Comets on Fire, Lightning Bolt, Explosions in the Sky), the bands I most remember live are not ones I would particularly mark for their music. I remember their showmanship. I saw Ted Leo once almost brain himself on a low hanging speaker stack because he was climbing on the monitors and trying to get the crowd to dance harder (and we were dancing pretty hard). Ted Leo is okay. Similarly, the Wrens are okay. Live, though, they have a bass player who will not sit still and isn’t afraid to fall on his ass climbing on shit. They have kids come up on stage all the time. They really sell their music through their enthusiasm and set pieces (their first song was fantastic and a great way to intro a set). Anyway, given what comes next, it was all totally worth it (at least in my mind, but I wasn’t driving).

We got really fucking lost in Philly. 45 minutes to get back on the highway. We ended up in Fairmont Park, which is huge and full of streets that do not have places to turn around for miles and miles. We got back to State College at 4:30 AM, so the less said about that drive, the better (I think).

The next morning, I woke up a few minutes before noon (so I get to say “the next morning”). Due to dehydration at the concert and during the ride home, I ended being still hungover a little on Saturday. Also, I hadn’t eaten more than a piece of Starbuck’s pumpkin loaf and a plate of Wegman’s Chinese food. Suffice to say that I ate three meals in four hours before I was finally full. Which was good, because forty people came over to our house for the EGO Halloween party. I dressed up as Trotsky. All in all, a fantastic party and everyone left at a reasonable time (2 AM). Moreover, I had fun.

I spent today cleaning up, watching pro football, reading, and watching Grey’s Anatomy season 2 on DVD. Despite the relaxing, I still feel like I need a weekend for my weekend. Good thing I have nothing to do on Monday. All in all, quite the weekend, I must say.