Friday night I went with a couple of coworkers and some
friends of theirs to Dane Dances, which is a wonderful free concert every
Friday in August, up on the roof of the Monona Terrace. This past week the band
was Madisalsa, preceded by an R&B band who were also really good. I danced
with a Japanese girl, who gave me a hug afterwards, one coworker, and someone I
know from fiddling circles who volunteers there. Dane Dances is a ridiculously
PC dreamland, with people of all ages and colors coming together to enjoy the
music, though people do mostly stay in their own age and color groups. After
all, it is easiest to relate to someone of your own culture and generation,
though I personally think it is worth the effort to get to know others outside
of your comfort zone. Then again, look at me – most of my friends are middle-aged Catholics
of European descent, so I should talk, right?
Saturday I went to Africa Fest in Warner Park. I got there
just after it opened, so there wasn’t too much going on, but some guys were on
stage drumming. It wasn’t entirely clear whether they were practicing or
actually performing, but I enjoyed listening to them. They sang in some African
language, French, and English. I had some spicy goat soup and browsed the goods
for sale, buying some cowrie shell jewelry for my wedding. The necklace might
be too big and gaudy, but the bracelet is pretty and subtle, so that will be the symbol of my African heritage.
Then I drove to Travalon’s house and we went to Irish Fest.
We listened to lots of Celtic music and browsed the goods for sale. One guy had
a T-shirt that said, “Irish-ish,” and the one Travalon liked said, “The
Titanic: Built by Irishmen, sunk by an Englishman,” so he found it and bought
it. I bought some claddaugh earrings for our wedding to symbolize my Celtic
heritage. Now I just need something to symbolize my Anglo-Saxon heritage, my
German heritage, and my Italian heritage.
Cecil Markovitch had given Travalon and me free tickets to a
Brewers game, so we ended the evening by watching them beat the Reds. I thought
I only liked baseball on a small scale, like the Mallards (who won the
championship! Woo-hoo!) but we really had fun at the game in spite of all the
commercialism surrounding professional baseball. Lots of people were wearing
Braun jerseys in spite of the scandal surrounding him. Travalon says next year
when he’s allowed to play, and he hits a home run, all will be forgiven and
everyone will just forget that he played dirty. We’ll see… Now our plan is to
go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. My grandpa would be so proud of me!
Famous Hat
1 comment:
That was quite a day, I also enjoyed the Brewer game a lot more than I thought I would. That Braun comment about the home run next year and being forgiven is not originally mine, it came from a Milwaukee area sports radio talk show host. I had to say it as its' just so true. Not every single Brewer fan will forgive him, but there is a large contingent of very shallow, small thinking individuals who still see this lying, cheating idiot as a hero who was unfairly railroaded and believe Brewer wins,(at any cost)are much more important than playing by the rules and integrity. These people don't have much of a life themselves, so they live through their heroes, like Braun and the Brewers, who can do no wrong in their eyes.
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