An Easter Memory

Bennie had a post about Easter memories, and it reminded me of Union Grove. When I was 16, 17, 18, and 19 years old I went to Union Grove on Easter. It was a huge Fiddler's Convention that happened every year for three days on Easter weekend. It was estimated that 150,000 people attended this event. I loved going. If you can imagine a huge farm - I'm not sure how many acres - filled with tents. These were the old fashioned canvas tents that all looked alike. There were Port-A-Johns every 50 yards or so. Anyway, I didn't attend the music part - hardly anybody did. It was just a huge party. There were people from all over the country and some in Canada and that I met. All hippies. You could breathe and get high. The tents were lined up so there were wide paths like streets. We would walk around for hours. Everyone was really friendly. You could walk down these paths and half the people you walked by would invite you to come sit a while, talk, and smoke some pot - or hash - or opium, which I had never seen anywhere except this place. It was never around Elkin or Jonesville. There was no law enforcement that I saw. Kind of like a country Woodstock. My friends and I would get in free because the Starmount band director's father owned the place, and they would let us in. They had to close it down a few years after I stopped going because they had no control over it. I guess they realized just out of hand things had gotten. Anyway, I was just remembering this. Even though I'm a different person now than I was then, I still have sweet memories of that time.

Out of the Ballpark

Is anyone else getting tired of this baseball stuff? And didn't Mark McGwire tell everyone in the world - without saying anything of course - that he was a big steroid user? And doesn't Jose Canseco look goooooood? Just some thoughts.

I have a desk calendar of George Carlin (which Justin has too) that is really funny most days. On the 14th he was talking about cooking lobsters, and he made the comment that if lobsters looked like puppies no one could ever drop them in boiling water while they were still alive. But instead they look like science fiction monsters, so it's okay.

One more comment - Hooray for Ketek!!!!

Holes

I just saw this movie last night. It is a great movie. I had never heard of it until a friend at work mentioned it a couple weeks ago, how her family had liked it. And then it came on a free weekend on Starz, so I taped it, having no idea what it was about. It is one of those rare quirky movies that is actually good. There are a lot of quirky movies, and most of them are just dumb. I can probably count on one hand the good ones - Princess Bride, Neverending Story, Oh Brother Where Art Thou. So, how come I've never heard of this one? If you haven't already seen it, you should.

And while we're on the subject - has anyone read "The Broker" yet? John Grisham's newest. I am almost at the end - finally. It took a long time to get good. Usually I love his books, but this one is the exception. If I'd wanted an Italian lesson I would have taken a class. And that's all I have to say about that.

Oh yeah, Forrest Gump. One of the good ones.