A full day of NFL football and bar hopping to distract ourselves from the failure of our Chicago trip.
Although, during the first game of the day, we found a trip that we could do cheaply without sacrificing any amount of adventure (actually raised the stakes on the adventure front really).
We decided to leave Brooklyn at 6am.... drive 2 hours to South Jersey.... pick up the keys to our family cabin in the mountains of PA and spend a few days "camping out" and experiencing the wilderness.
I have extremely vivid memories of this place from my childhood, even having only been there once before.
I remember driving up the side of the mountain, hugging the right side because a sheer drop was on the left side of the car. I had on my walkman listening to a cassette of heavy metal that I had recorded from one of the late night college radio stations. I could feel the pressure behind my ear drums as we drove higher and higher.
Once we were there, I remember little other than sitting on the porch at sunrise and witnessing one of the most amazing things of my life.
We sat above the clouds.
I didn't think that was even possible but it was true. We were above the clouds. We were above the sun.
Bundled in a blanket, I saw the little ball of glowing light creep from down behind the lake and slowly attempt to reach the heights that we were at.
It is a vision I'll never forget.... and hope to relive in a little over 24 hours.
But as for tonight....
considering we didn't make it to a single bar... we needed something to do.
One quick browse of the internet told me exactly what we needed to do....
Talib Kweli was hosting a night a Brooklyn Bowl, which is by FAR the raddest venue around.
Bowling, flat screen tvs, live music, full bars, delicious food.....
what more could you ask for???
Brit and I sat and ate pulled pork pizza and cajun catfish as Graph Nobel opened the show.We finished up in time to catch the last 4 songs from John Forte. I was pleasantly surprised by him. He sounded like a clean mix of John Legend and Saul Williams. Soulful and sensible.
He even went as far as doing an interpretation of a classic Kate Bush song.
Then, as DJ EQUE rocked the tables, Kweli came out and spit for awhile.
It seemed like he really wanted to mimic the style that The Roots developed during their "Roots Jams" at Highline Ballroom. Come and go from the stage. Rock a few bars of a song here and there. Test out some new stuff....
But Kweli sadly couldn't pull it off.
It has nothing to do with his emcee abilities what so ever.
The harsh reality of it is, he is just one man.
The Roots are a group of extremely talented musicians. They do not rely on any member, no less Black Thought. So when Black Thought leaves the stage, they have an entire crew of dudes who can pick up that limelight and captivate the audience.
But when Kweli leaves the stage, all you are left with is DJ EQUE spinning M.O.P. records to a dwindling crowd of overpriveleged and undersexed Williamsburg kids.
But the fact remains....
It was a good night.
And no matter how little stage time Kweli had or how overplayed "Ante Up" is or how sad it is to see an Andy Dick look alike attempt to seduce a drunk girl.....
It was a good night.
And tomorrow....
Tomorrow is an adventure.
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