Friday, September 25, 2009

Testies and Rural Flavor at the Blues & Brews



I know I already mentioned how much I enjoyed the Telluride Blues & Brews this year and I think it deserves a bit more insight really. The Sunday day-time shows provided us the opportunity to lay down a blanket and just take in the scene. After a short time in our new "spot" we had a pretty good understanding of the people surrounding us...to the right we had the rural flavor, to the left some adult reunion group dancing their pants off and in front of us were the "testies", techie festies.

We became aware of the surrounding community when the unhappy campers, that were the rural flavor, kicked some people out of their area and we happily agreed to squeeze them and their chairs in. The she of the couple preceded to talk loudly about how we were all stealing the space and give her husband an eye massage from behind. She has apparently been waiting in line before the festival opened to secure her tarp's location.
The "testies"in front of us acquired their newly trademarked name by being overly prepared right down to the bagged fig bar snacks. They were a young couple fully sporting danskos, prana, rei and whole food swag while sitting in folding chairs and using their binoculars to watch the performers. With these two in my line of sight I couldn't help but be continually reminded of the "Stuff White People Like" list. The couple were violating at least half of the list, which is a blog and also book, featuring...standing still at concerts, tea, not having tv, etc...

The best part really is the outcome of this diverse group of concert growers. As the music went on and the sun went down, tarp lines and mud all start to blend together as more and more people take to dancing. The rural flavor couple didn't budge, they did a little jig from their seated position. The dancing group to the other side really took it to a whole new level with the mud, working it into their fun. As people flocked to the area the male of the testie couple went to run all their chairs, portable thermos and bag to the car. In the short time that he was gone his area/tarp was completely taken over by dancers and mud as his significant other was slowly pushed further and further into the corner. In the end, I think everyone had a good time and I was fully entertained just observing.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Telluride Blues & Brews

Beautiful Telluride + Blues + Beer...what could be better?

As a tightly packed weekend getaway, Telluride delivered all I had expected and more. Buddy Guy put on a great headliner show Saturday night, accompanied by Umphree's. The after-festival entertainment lived up to expectations as well, with free live blues at the New Sheridan bar all night long.

Sunday was more low-key, minus the free micro-brewery tasting, so we decided to make camp and have a picnic during the day-time shows. The weather quickly turned from warm sunshine to a quick hail storm, but Bonnie Raitt was not phased...she just took a few minute break to take shelter.
2009...new year, same old Blues & Brews, love you Telluride.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Great, Social Networking, Divide


Somewhere along the way society, at least among my 20-something recently graduated crowd, has become divided into the haves and have-nots. I'm not referring to monetary status, I'm referring to those who have embraced online socially networking and those who are blind to it. There is a huge difference between someone at a Kings of Leon show who is tweeting via their iPhone and the person who has left their phone and camera in the car...between reading Kanye's blog post apology and hearing it on the morning radio show. Not that one is superior to the other, but the social networking virgins seem to be overwhelmed on where to begin. Here are some great places to start:


Set up a twitter account...you can start by adding status updates and finding some friends who might already be signed up. You can also use twitter to follow conversation trends, ask questions and get quick answers. Tons of fun!

From here you can explore other sites and articles that might interest you through StubleUpon , Digg, Delicious and Mixx. These sites allow you to submit articles you love, make a network of other similar users and get info that might interest you.

If you are still looking for more, you can swing by Alltop...search topics you love most...and check out some of the top blogs in the arena.

Cheers, Enjoy!