Adventures in hipsterdom

Okay, so you get two posts today. I didn't want to make one huge post, so I broke it down. That way you can take a break in between if you need to. Use the bathroom, get something to drink, find more rewarding ways to spend your time, whatever. Anyway, here we go.

I felt pretty hip this weekend. Or at least indie. I did indie things. Like see a cool film. Here's my rock-solid hipster recommendation for this week: Go see Garden State. I realize not everyone has the resources or the free time to see all the movies I recommend, but I'm serious about this one.

Garden State was a beautiful film and I don't toss that term around lightly. It also moved me and I can't say that about too many films. It was a very "generational" film, in that it seems to capture the mood and feel of a certain segment of people, much like The Graduate or Reality Bites did. So if you're reading this and you're not my parents or grandma, that probably means you. The comment about it being "existential angst for the Saved by the Bell generation" was actually right on the money.

Also, one of the greatest things about Garden State was the ultra-cool indie soundtrack. It was so cool, it didn't even use the same Postal Service song as the trailer. It used a cover of the Postal Service song! That's how cool it is! But seriously, I'm buying it when it comes out. Check out the song "Let Go" by Frou Frou at this website: http://www.froufrou.net. It plays over the end credits and has been stuck in my head since Saturday.

On Sunday I took a walking tour of Old Town, the neighborhood where Second City is located, which was fun. It was given by a member of the Second City Touring Company, so it was fun. At least until the end, when classes prevented us from going in either theater as promised. Stupid classes. I also saw the Second City mainstage show that same night, which was great. So that was Second City day. Hooray for that.

Finally, today I cheered on the ComedySportz softball team as they played in the playoffs of the Theatre league. They played a couple great games - they beat Blue Man Group but lost a heartbreaker to Candlelight. Then I dashed over to the Metro to catch an amazing concert by Mutual Appreciation Society: a collaboration between - get this - Nickel Creek, the lead singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket, and the former bassist of Led Zeppelin. It was some amazing stuff.

Unfortunately, the bassist attracted those stupid fans who live in the 70's and follow everything the former members of bands do. So there was one dude who kept shouting "JOHN PAUL" throughout the show, which was stupid. His name was John Paul Jones, so that wasn't stupid, but the act was. Everyone hated him. Including, I'm sure, John Paul. I briefly considered yelling "George Ringo" and pretending like we were playing Marco Polo, but I don't think that would have helped.

And that was my weekend. Okay, so this post turned out mega-long anyway. Sorry. Now it's off to my last week at work. Sigh...