Aggieville, Alky-ville

Every college town has it's bar section and even Podunk, Kansas is no exception. Ours is Aggieville, in tribute to the days when K-State was pretty much just an AG college. Every other store front seems to be a bar, cheap eats, coffee shop, or other retailer targeting the students. Some are nicer than others. Some are pluperfect pits of despair. I went to one of each last night.

Co-worker #1 and I hit Buffalo Wild Wings where my partner in crime proceeded to get me hooked on trivia games. Interactive trivia games. Halfway through the first game, the batteries on my player started to die and I was forced to play on a second unit. Because I was unable to log out of the first unit, I had to play the rest of the night with an alternate identity. And of course I could answer every single question in the game we sat out, but I had a blast. The food was good and so was the company.

Co-worker #1 was supposed to accompany me to the location (The Pit) where co-worker #2 was running the sound board for the bands playing but he pussied out because he had to get up early in the morning for a volunteer stint at a charity function. I don't know why I hate The Pit so much because the babies running interference for under-age drinkers usually card me at the door, which makes me feel young. Could it be the aroma of beer-vomit that hangs like an invisible cloud? The smell of stale smoke and used condoms in the bathroom? I won't call it a rest room, you wouldn't want to spend any time resting there...

Co-worker #2 has several electronic boxes set up on one of the tables on the patio (at least the air is fresh there) with pretty blinking lights everywhere, most of which he says "...mean nothing." So far no other co-workers are present but we don't have long to wait until they start trickling in. The band on stage, Squished Bread, was supposed to be a trio but they've imported a slide guitar player who was the best of the bunch, yet unmiked due to his unexpected presence. They are playing the sort of music I expected to hear when I moved to Kansas, corn-pone, barn-raisin' country. Of note was their version of Paradise, a song I used to cover when I sang with Al & Arlen. They slowed the beat waaaay down and it was an interesting cover. I wish the slide guitar had been miked as he was the stand-out on this song. Co-worker #2 says the headliner rocks, but I can feel Squished Bread killing my weaker brain cells and it is rather late so I bid my friends good night and head for the hills.