Not as Miserable

Yesterday, I was able to shed some misery/Misery.

The day began early as I set out to St. Louis to attend a job fair for the city's school district. I don't know if I want to work there, but it was good for me to talk to some city folk and get back to what I know and can do as a teacher. Besides, I had four hours to myself in the car with some good music.

The Buckeyes won their semi-final game versus Purdue. The game could have locked a #1 seed for them if they beat Wisconsin today or the game ends late. Either way, I'm ready for March Madness and to see what this young team can do.

R was sick, so I was able to do some things for her. I went to 9th Street and rounded up some films. While there, I asked to take the Cold War Kids poster they had on display. As long as I wasn't going to destroy it, I was able to take it home.

Then, I picked up some Vietnamese soup, joked about the Nazi's in town this weekend (24 of 'em), and got to see downtown COMO in a different, more diverse light. There seemed to be mixtures of people all over "the district" (of Columbia). The Vietnamese place in particular was serving several mixed-race couples with children. The man behind the counter and a young black guy bumped fists in mutual admiration. It was a multi-cultural dream. I realize this is mostly superficial, but sometimes I feel like Misery is the South. So, it was nice to feel comfortable with my Misery.

After eating soup with R, I met a friend/co-worker downtown to discuss my non-renewal (see previous post). He bought me a couple of beers and complained how much it "sucked". I agreed.

Now to what I really wanted to blog about: rock 'n' roll. The Cold War Kids and Tokyo Police Club were playing a sold-out Mojo's.

Delta Spirit opened with dance-able, indie, white-boy soul . They were a solid act. Don't know if they're my cup of tea, but they are nice guys. I ran into the front man, Matt, outside rolling a cigarette. Matt was interesting. He had been around, including remote communities and communes all over the country - all at 23. He was a nice fellow. We talked about whiskey, recording, and neo-Nazis (again, there were only 24). I believe he took off for more whiskey or the Blue Note to catch TV on the Radio or both. So, I headed back inside. There, I talked briefly with Kelley (?) - I dunno; it was loud. He was nice enough to talk as well. He had played the Newport in Columbus, so we reminisced how great Columbus is.

Tokyo Police Club played second. They really remind me of Brainiac live without all the pomp. And, man, are they young. The Club mainly played songs from their incredibly frenetic EP. I suspect they were attending TV on the Radio as well, because their set was very quick. I picked up a t-shirt and button. The t is American Apparrel, of course, and has a Zeppelin with spotlight on the left shoulder and some electrical design with band name on the bottom right. Way hipper than I normally wear.

The Cold War Kids came on last. Their brand of white-boy blues plays very well live. They played what I believe was a Nick Cave cover and a new song that was purposefully disjointed in its rhythm. The singer sounds way less like Robert Plant in-person, but still has some chops. They're a confident bunch and put a on a good show. I don't know that they will do much after this, but I'm glad I got to catch them when I did.