dumpster derby

yesterday i had the privilege to witness the second annual event known as the dumpster derby. this is not a race between people in dumpsters, rather, people on contraptions built of implements found in dumpsters. just one hill on the long side of a block in the middle of the neighborhood, and, as a friend put it, *this* is what i call a community event. most successful items were modified palettes or other wheeled industrial products. one dude had a broke ass chair on two skateboards. someone else had a plastic horse (like the ones with springs for kids) rigged up with a stroller and possibly some part of a cart. all in all, a good time. half of the people hanging around were all dressed up for halloween as well, since holidays on wednesdays are fair game on the previous or following weekend. the only disappointment (judging by various comments in the crowd) is that nothing got set on fire. i was told that last year an american flag wound up on fire (accidentally, really) as the rig bearing its banner flew down the hill, causing flaming fragments to haphazardly flutter into nearby yards and on to nearby people, etc. at least the cops didn't show up this year.
i did see a fair share of cops during my legal observing, however. but not regular ones, these guys are the civil something or another. they all wear suits and have an orange arm band. all of them wear suits except for the very few women, that is. they clearly had to make some painful fashion decisions. i honestly felt real bad for a cop in a nonviolent situation. and nonviolent it was. almost non-anything at first; it was pouring rain, including a portion where it came in almost sideways. needless to say, turnout was minimal at the original scheduled hour. i was supposed to stay in one place and wait for my hat, but a center city intersection actually comprises a significant chunk of space. i started in front of a goodwill shop with a awning that was apparently for aesthetic purposes only; whatever it really was, the word "shelter" does not factor into the description in any way whatsoever. the porn shops a couple spots down had decent awnings, but i decided to forgo them for the moment in favor of hoping to be spotted in my appointed place to receive the hat (they're neon green) despite trying to shelter as much of my large person as possible with a rather modest umbrella (ten fucking dollars! on the other hand i would have paid a hundred if i didn't have one when i was in the monsoon...). i eventually crossed the street directly facing the porn shops to take advantage of a real awning on a nice building i believe has condos and a grocery store. i stood there for a while with a couple people who came and went, except one dude who stayed. turned out he was the only visible link in what was hoped to be a human chain through a couple mile stretch or so of the city. we stood under there until some organizer said this guy and the other couple people affiliated who turned up were supposed to be on the other side of the street, so i wound up with them under the porn shop awning hoping to absorb heat from the neon silhouettes gracing the storefronts. finally the rain let up and many more people began to file into the line. after what seemed like an absurdly long wait i received my defining headgear. after that i got to wander around and discovered that quite a number of people were lining the streets back toward the beginning and end of the line; i had been at a turn in the route. one of the interesting facets of this event was that it was mostly comprised of people representing any one of forty-odd groups participating. seems to have been an ideal way to go about it, as it turned out much more successful than i had imagined given the responses i got when i talked about what i was going to do this weekend. the whole event was really quite a thought-provoking experience. it was fun to be there and also certain about my purpose, and also to not have anything demanded of me in my first foray. the civil officers did an excellent job in my experience, taking care of traffic very effectively, in all seriousness. the only counter-protesters i saw were at the end of the line in independence national park territory, so there were rangers there and a a bunch of the civil people and a knot of legal observers. there weren't that many of us, but we outnumbered the counter-protesters two to one, and the ratio of them versus actual protesters was, well, maybe five hundred to one. i appreciate the fact that there are counter-protesters, regardless of my person feelings on their opinions. but i must say that i have never heard a group chant a slogan with no rhyme at all. and not only no rhyme, but simply bizarre sentiment: "war freed the slaves! war freed the jews! anti-war racists, go home!" i had one other equally-confusing hearing. when i was in front of some teachers' group, whose signs made the fact that they were teachers readily apparent, a person drove by and screamed out the window at the people to get a job. man, the giant banner they were holding presented the fact that they were teachers in a font the size of my face. what the hell? public school teachers in huge ass cities need passersby to harangue them like they need no child left behind. one other really odd thing about the whole affair was its anti-climatic conclusion. a huge group of people were at an important historical site and there was a really shitty sound system and some people played some nearly inaudible protest songs were you could mostly just hear the drums. it was kind of like sitting at home in that respect. a lot of the groups had booths set up as well, and that was interesting because you could get a chance to look into what their particular primary issues were beyond simply opposing the war. everything from unions to pro-life groups to a surprising amount of ron paul supporters. my favorite things about ron paul are that almost every piece of information i've ever seen about him is headed by the question "who is ron paul?" great question, always an answer ripe for dissection, as defining oneself in the small space of a political pamphlet in terms of policy views is relevant on a number of levels. i also like how much of his supporters make liberal use of bedsheets to spread their beliefs. i think that says something about having some part of the college vote more than anything, i guess. ron paul is speaking here sometime soon and i doubt we'll be observing it, but that should prove to be an intriguing event in itself. all that aside, i stood around for what seemed like another unbearably long stretch of time before i turned in my hat (i know, i can't believe i don't even get to keep one) and checked out the easternmost trolley station for the first time. weird station, not like anything else i've seen, just needlessly big much like the labyrinths it is probably attached to, city hall/15th street. there have to be minotaurs in that shit somewhere. minotaurs who constantly piss everywhere when no one is looking. i will register to vote here as soon as some candidate for anything, i don't give a fuck if it is school board or drain commissioner (do they have that here?), makes a vow to hunt down and slay these creatures personally.
time for music. no steely dan, i promise. i do want to follow up and say that it turns out the dead did more than i knew, including a rare "i want to tell you" from revolver. nice, fuckin right, eh? also "it's all too much", one of my personal beatles faves. i know there is at least one more too. but i won't go on about that again. right now i'm appreciating the nuances of bar tapes via the back forty at billy's. good ones like this drown out the crowd most of the time, but with a band like this most quiet moments are propelled by rather than marred by bar chatter. great banter from the band and appropriately amusing overly-loud people insert their spot at random into the record. the moments of interaction are always good too. since i am betting against anyone bothering to ever download anything i recommend, i'll just tell you about my small place in this one, on june 27 of this year. knowing this would be probably be my last time seeing them at billy's, i talked to the guitar/mandolin player and made a request. they honored it, and i had introduced myself by my real name because i was trying to get used to doing so, and when they give me a shout out a bunch of drunk buddies (it was the end of the third set, cut us a break) yell "metal!" and the band riffs enter sandman for a couple of bars before launching into a generous version of a tune i had always enjoyed but had never personally heard them play. i find it all funny at least, being well situated for that. this show also has the best version of another brick in the wall part two ever played by anyone anywhere (floyd wasn't the band it had been at that point, regardless of personal tastes for extended live exploration), complete with fear and loathing quotes deep in the jam. but these are the things that make music like this happen in one of its best ways. well, i couldn't help it, i ruined another perfectly good post by talking about music no one gives a fuck about. part of the package. these are the things i think about to help keep my sanity.