The
weekend before last I attended a few hours of the quarterly and much-anticipated
Katrine Jamboree at the local community center. I might have been the youngest
person in the audience; there were certainly a lot of geriatric hoofers on the
dance floor. In my never-ending quest to
sample the local musical talent, I sat through three or four acts before I’d
had enough. I will say this, the finger sandwiches were quite good. When it comes to live music I’ll listen to
almost anything – I’ve sat through some pretty lame open mic acts in my day –
but this was a less than spectacular set of performances. By contrast, last
weekend I attended the 7th annual music festival known as “The Family Traditions Hoot” held at the nearby Stisted Fairgrounds, and that
was pretty darned good. My only problem was locating the Stisted Fairgrounds.
Advertised
on Moose FM, one of the local rock stations, this hootfest sounded like
something I’d like to see, and it came recommended by our plumber, who is a pretty
good musician in his own right. Unfortunately, like most of the locals around
here, my plumber assumed I knew the area better than I do, and his directions were
less than helpful. “It’s at the Sisted Fairgrounds … you know, a mile or so past
Sprucedale and then south about ten miles, until the road changes to Yearly, then
you make a left on this side road and a right on that one, etc.” I consulted my
local map, and of course there was no such location to be found. I finally did what I always do; I drove
aimlessly in the general direction I was instructed to go, and assumed some
kind pedestrian would provide guidance once I got close. Men and directions,
right? As luck would have it, and after several wrong turns on dusty back roads,
in the middle of nowhere, I found a tiny sign directing me to the elusive hootfest.
As the crow flies, it is relatively close to Huntsville, but it is one of those
you-can’t-get-there-from here spots. It’s a wonder I found it.
When I
arrived I had a deju vu moment, because the event brought back memories of an
annual pig roast we used to attend in Western New York. Lots of tents and
campers and a lot of cars parked in a field. This get together was a little less unruly
than those crazy pig roasts were. There amidst the trailers and concession
tents was a mobile stage set up and a band was playing. The vocals sounded pretty
good, but the rest of the band was weak. Fortunately, their set was almost up.
As the next band set up a couple of guys that looked like very old hippies got
up and played some filler tunes on very out-of-tune acoustic guitars. The next
band up was a bit of a disappointment as well and I was beginning to think this
adventure was going in the been-there-done-that catagory. I hadn’t brought a
lawn chair, or mosquito repellant, or anything to eat or drink, and quickly
realized that I was completely unprepared for any long term listening. But I stayed and I’m glad I did. Eventually my
plumber showed up, and he had an umbrella, lawn chairs, refreshments, and the
much needed mosquito coils. I’d already missed four bands but did see four
more, and two of them were really good. Even the bad ones were better than
those at fossil fest the week before. I recorded some of the better stuff and
as I listen to it now, I’m glad I made it.
Final
notes … Disturbing video of those riots in the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey.
Istanbul was the first exotic city I ever visited, back when I was a teen, and what
an eye opener that was for me. Jury selection has begun for the George
Zimmerman trial down in the rogue state of Florida. Zimmerman is the vigilante neighborhood
watch guy who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a teenaged African American man.
Zimmerman claims he acted in self defense, but no one really knows what
happened. Why did Zimmerman follow Martin even after he’d called in the 911
alert? Much has been made about the fact that Martin was not a bad kid, and
Zimmerman may have over-reacted. This one has all the makings of a race riot if
Zimmerman is acquitted. Florida’s “You-Snooze-You-Lose”
law basically allow the “threatened” victim to use deadly force, so it will be
interesting to see how the jury rules on this one. Assault weapons aside, do
you think that there would be less victims and less crime if all victims were
packing heat? Hero or traitor: now the spin doctors are saying that NSA leaker
Ed Snowdon might have been spying for China. Of course there’s going to be a
smear campaign against this guy. I don’t know how I feel about this one. I can’t
imagine whistle blowers at the NSA are favorably treated, but did Snowden cross
the line? This story calls into question how we control information, or fail to
do so. With everything from banking to shopping
to filing income tax returns, all your information is in cyberspace
whether you know it or not. I’ve been
wondering, exactly how does one control information and police the internet? In
an autocracy perhaps it’s a little easier, but we live in a free country. I
think that horse is out of the barn and didn’t look before he leaped.
Written by
Jamie Oppenheimer c2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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