thought of the day: in what scenario is receiving not better than giving?
after a week and a half respite, am i ready to go back to work next monday? i doubt it. don’t get me wrong, i’m quite excited to be starting my new responsibilities (as well as sloughing the old), but there’s just something about being without responsibility for a spell that really makes one question the unfortunate necessity of having to slave one’s life away just to survive. then again, there’s a certain satisfaction that comes with even the most tedious toil, and i personally believe the more gruelling and labourious a task, the more rewarding and satisfying one feels upon its completion.
anyway… fast-forward about a month; that’s how long it’s taken to write this entry…
two weeks ago i spent a 4 day weekend out in eastern wisconsin, ultimately to attend u2’s vertigo tour playing in milwaukee, 9/25. let me just say that the four hour drive was nearly unbearable, no matter how many creature comforts i surrounded myself with: my ipod, the plush leather seats, cruise control, multiple zone climate control, etc etc. i guess all the “things” in the world just don’t make up for the simple company of another human being, which i believe would have improved the quality of such a long drive. don’t get me wrong, the trip overall was more than worth the effort, but i can talk about that in just a bit.
why would i drive over 300 miles to see a concert that 2 days prior i could have caught in my home town? three reasons. first, i couldn’t legally buy tickets to the show here in minneapolis, thanks to another of those wonderfully oppressive minnesota laws; the only tickets available were selling at several multiples of their real face value…illegal for me to buy for a local event, as a local resident. even ebay didn’t help, with their system helping to enforce these laws. oh well. second, even if i did have tickets for the show here, i’d not have anyone to go with. not only because i have a limited number of friends, but the ones i have aren’t big enough fans; i’m pretty passionate about a show like this, and don’t want a companion being a lifeless dud just standing there. which leads me to the third reason… tickets for the milwaukee show were ‘affordable’, my sister is a huge fan like me (so there was someone appropriate to go with), plus my accommodations in madison would let me visit not only my sister, but my brother, and one other special gal who recently moved there from here.
it was this girl who i spent a full half of my visit with, doing all sorts of things i’d have otherwise no exposure to: a spoken-word performance (i’d equate to a coffee house poetry reading, just with a more urban, hip-hop feel), a trip to the local farmer’s market at the state capitol, an urban fashion show, a new computer game that exploits my dyslexic, anagram-prone brain (giving me an almost unfair advantage), the wild fanatacism of badger football. i had such a great time, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
the concert itself was more than worth all the trouble getting there, with plenty of ‘pros’ spilling over the cup to drown any ‘cons’. i found general admission tickets on ebay, and with my sister, made our way to milwaukee. after driving around in the pouring rain for a few minutes to find parking that didn’t require the deposit of an arm or leg, we go to the bradley centre stadium. there appeared two lines, so feeling a little assertive, i walked up and asked someone at the end of the line if this was the one we needed. sure enough. so we stand there in the rain for about 10-15 minutes. turns out that it wasn’t two lines after all, but one really, really long line that just had a gap in it–that’s where we just sort of cut in, unknowingly. it also turns out that the people i’d started talking to got there 6 hours earlier, so my sister and i really got a bargain in terms of line position…we were right near the front of the line…hehe. but that’s only the beginning of our luck.
for anyone unfamiliar with the current u2 tour, it’s quite similar to their elevation tour, around 2001: a sort-of open, centre stage, with a large loop around which extends out into the audience on the floor [image]. the thing about this setup is that inside this ellipse is a large area that needs to be filled with fans. this is why i bought the ‘general admission – floor’ tickets, to be right up to the ellipse, as i had back in 2001. well this time around, a new procedure had those floor tickets scanned at admission, and at random, some were chosen for special access to watch the show from inside the ellipse. keep in mind my sister and i unwittingly cut into the near-front of the line, so when my ticket was scanned and like one of those electronic slot machines came up ‘vertigo’… i was IN, baby, and the inner circle (as it’s known) had maybe 2 dozen people inside, out of what i’d estimate room for about 400. so we were as close as could be, and almost dead-centre. i would estimate my distance from the stage was less than my own height at about 4-5 feet. to see a show like this really spoils a person. aside from a meet and greet to boot, i couldn’t have dreamt a more fantastic experience.
![[image]](http://www.u2tours.com/reviewfiles/2005/26/7720/7720-3.jpg){kind=link}
to top this, i noticed a few people nearby taking photos. for whatever reason, security didn’t mind cameras, despite the caveat emptor printed on the face of each ticket. i can’t speak for the rest of the stadium, but it seemed one in 7 or 10 around me had a camera or photo-capable cell phone. in the pocket of my rain-dampened jeans was the protective pouch with my business cards, and i thought to approach any of these people to ask the favour of being sent some pictures of the show. during the performance, i tried being mindful of who was snapping the most shots, and who might have the best view/angles. i found my guy, and quickly approached him after the show when the lights came up. sure, we were all deaf, and probably somewhat dizzy and blinded from the onslaught of various staging elements, but i figured i’d try anyway. he seemed a little surprised, but willing to lend me the favour. turns out he was also from minneapolis. small world, but even smaller than you’d think. i found out later that the guy was a student at one of the art colleges in town–one that i’d considered, but couldn’t justify the expense/return-on-investment–and was graduating in a month or two. interesting coincidence as well, i thought, that we held another common interest and industry. to top this, i then discover he works for best buy as well, just in the retail setting; in fact, at the store i visit just about every week! he goes on to tell me that he’s looking for a job in precisely the same department at the corporate campus as me when he graduates. wow. the world really isn’t much more than a pebble.
i grabbed lunch with my bro on my way out of town and tried old chicago for the first time. i’ll definitely make it a regular choice on my list of eateries. a truly unforgettable weekend.
in other news, for anyone who’s been even slightly keeping track of my progress (or lack thereof) in posting a gallery of my photography, i can happily announce that it’s up! not complete, mind you, but it’s a start. i counted just under 200 photos as i was fiddling about in HTML the other night, and i have tons more to add as time allows. be sure to drop me a line sometime and let me know what you think. one note about the images is that they’re watermarked, as i know how otherwise images get taken and used without permission in all sorts of places you’d never expect. if you’d like to use them for anything, drop me a line, chances are i can get you a copy in the proper size and resolution, instead of a marred, low-res version.
on that note, i’ll put a stop to my incessant wordiness, and continue with some commentary soon. i’d add it here, but this entry is already too long, and it’s pretty positive, and i don’t want to ruin it with any sour flavours (the contents of my next posting). thanks for stopping by..!