Week in Review: Summer, Beer, Segway Cops

Summer is finally coming to DC after what seemed like a rainy, cold end to spring. For the next several months, I am going to be a hot, sweaty man…in a bad way.

For Memorial Weekend, we did the impossible-bought a keg of beer in DC. For those of you in normal states (or just states and not districts, for that matter) this is probably a common occurrence, but it’s extremely rare to drink beer out of a keg around here. First of all, nobody sells them. I had to apply every ounce of the research skills I learned in college to track down a place inside the district that carried them. Second, nobody has a car to transport them and the metro won’t allow you to take large metallic cylinders filled with liquid on a train. Weird. Anyway, I was lucky enough to have a supportive friend with a car offer to help me out. Once tapped, we immediately commenced grilling and eating copious amounts of meat. Eight hours later, I found myself alone in my back yard placing several ill-advised drunk dials. Just before bed, for good measure, I tipped over a few lawn chairs, and threw my Mardi Gras beer cup across the patio. Good times.

On Tuesday Jigga and I went to watch My Morning Jacket open for Pearl Jam at the Verizon Center in downtown DC. Some background: when I was eleven, I loved to stay at my Aunt’s house for the occasional extended weekend. Not only was she a great, fun aunt but she had cable television. Her TV was like a mysterious portal that allowed me to view magical worlds of immorality, the likes of which could not be seen on rural Montana basic service. Needless to say, I watched a lot of MTV. Pearl Jam was in heavy rotation at the time and when “Jeremy” came on, that was it. I immediately went out, bought the tape and played it in my Walkman until it no longer worked. When my uncle bought my sister Vs. for her birthday, I immediately stole it and listened to it incessantly.

Fourteen years, six albums and several live shows later, I’m still a fan and always buy tickets to any upcoming shows. Their music doesn’t have the same effect on me that it did when I was eleven and I get far more excited when other bands release albums, but I still appreciate them and wholeheartedly believe that their live shows are unparalleled. For me, My Morning Jacket is a close second. So when I heard they were opening for Pearl Jam this year, I was extremely excited.

I almost forgot how much of a scene these shows are. PJ fans are so weirdly rabid; they know every word to every possible song they could sing; they know certain hand movements and possible sing-along portions of all songs; they know when to be excited if a certain rare song is played, etc. It’s pretty sweet when you’re there but as Jigga put it, “it’s like being a guest at the table” if you're not entirely familiar with what goes on. I guess you have to be there to understand.

On the way home I saw a DC cop on a Segway, which is stupid on so many levels. This city might as well buy a fleet of Rascals or “Fat Carts” as I believe Easy E (aka King of the Orange Crate) calls them. I know a certain state fair that should have a ton of extras.