The Upstate Life

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

It's The Independence Day Edition Of...

The long, holiday weekend was kicked off nicely when our manager unexpectedly let us out an hour early on Friday, so there was much rejoicing on my part. Spiderman 2 took precedence over Fahrenheit 9/11 that evening, however, there were no regrets. Words can't describe how much better it was than the original, it's one of the few films I would actually pay to see in a theater again (and I really can't remember the last time I've done that). I'll just have to make sure it's not the Wheaton Loews next time around. I went to a midnight showing (due to some of my renowned procrastination), and around 1:30 in the morning, the audience was graced by a crying baby from the back row. Yes, some brilliant parent decided to bring their infant to a movie that started at 12am. I'm sorry, but there's just something ~~wrong~~ idiotic with that. You couldn't have brought your child to a matinee showing, perhaps? I mean, maybe there's some sort of fact I'm unaware of that taking your baby out in the wee hours of the morning would be beneficial for their health or something. Apparently the loud, startling noises and dark environment of the theater is the ideal place to raise your newborn. Anyways, the character development, use of emotion, and overall excellent writing made this movie possibly one of my all-time favorites. Still not crossed off on my summer movie extravaganza checklist: Saved!, Napoleon Dynamite, F911, and Super Size Me. As you can see, I'm rapidly falling behind here.

I went to Arlington Saturday night and met up with my buddy from high school and some of his friends from SUNY Buffalo. They were simple in awe by the Metro with its cushioned seats, cleanliness, and everyone's favorite, the blinking lights on the platform. We all went to Clarendon Ballroom which none of us had been to before. All I can say is boo to the $10 cover charge. Other than that, it was a fun place with a sweet rooftop bar, but the ride home on the Metro proved to be more outrageous. While we were waiting for the Orange Line, I noticed a couple of girls at the Metro station consoling her friend as she definitely looked like she had one too many Long Islands. Just moments later, she lunges over the rail at the station and proceeds to let loose onto the floor below. The one second delay of a splattering noise from the balcony to the ground made it that much more disgusting. When we boarded the Metro, I instantly felt like I was back on the Circuit bus at UMD. It was basically the drunk train with a ton of young professionals going back to their respective homes after hitting up the bars all night. I'm glad to say it was my first, real experience with fellow shitfaced Metro'ers. During the trip, some random girl had the brilliant idea to construct paper airplanes out of a newspaper some rider left. Between Clarendon and Ballston, there were probably at least 20 airplanes thrown around in this one car with participation from every passenger (myself included).

We all went to the National Mall Sunday night to check out the fireworks, sitting as close to the Washington Monument as we could. Since I'm never prepared for the weather, I finally made a smart decision and brought my umbrella. Out of all the times I was actually ready for a downpour, it never happened. Little did that umbrella know what suffering it would endure, but more on that later. After the fireworks, we walked to Dupont and headed to Lucky Bar. I actually gained some respect for the DJ since he played both Dizzee Rascal and The Streets! Despite the fact I was the only one in the place who knew he was playing "Fix Up, Look Sharp", I thought it was still awesome. I asked if he had any Aesop Rock and he replied that all he had was Bazookatooth and that there weren't any upbeat songs he could play from it. I can't really argue with him there since it pretty much lacks any bar-ish party tracks (Float would've been a better choice). I later asked if he had any Mr. Lif and he said he would spin that. I'm not sure if he actually did since we left soon after, but oh well; at least he was playing some decent stuff. We walked to Rumor's soon after to close out our night. When it came to last call, I needed to get a cab back to my place since I unfortunately found out the Metro was closed for the night. Besides the fact it felt like a Saturday night (today's Tuesday?), I was totally unaware that they were on a holiday schedule and were closing much earlier than I was anticipating. Each cab I hailed refused to go to Maryland, yet they would all drive to Virginia. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. Silver Spring is in fact much closer than Arlington, yet after the fifth cab denied driving me back to MoCo, I proceeded to smash my umbrella on the sidewalk like Adam Sandler missing a putt in Happy Gilmore. The result was a severely bent device that now refuses to open. Frustration had never reached a level like this before. I went home with everyone else back to Ballston and crashed at my friend's place again, knowing I would have to take a fun hour-plus long Metro ride from the end of the Orange Line to the end of the Green Line to finally return back home to my apartment the next day. I eventually made it back Monday afternoon only to find out my kitchen light doesn't turn on anymore. It looks like it's going to be a bit more challenging to ignite the range with my barbecue lighter now that I'll be in the dark.

Posted by Brett at 1:27 PM |