ACL Music Festival 2005 

Dear God, it was hot

Went to ACL Fest yesterday, and for the first time we almost left mid-afternoon because we weren't having any fun. I found out today, the high temperature recorded yesterday was 108 degrees. It was so hot I started feeling a little nauseous, and I had to sit in the cooler SBC tent for about 40 minutes with one of those little spray fans to cool off. The last four or five hours was a much better time, as the sun went down and the music heated up.

Around 5:30pm, there was a dust cloud beginning to rise from all the people criss-crossing the park and the fact that we haven't seen any rain to speak of in the last month or so. All the grass was dead, where there was any at all, and the dirt was very fine. Apparently this was a problem all three days but I hadn't heard about it, so when people started donning surgical masks it was a bit of a surprise. Some people were just wearing bandannas over their faces, but one guy we saw actually had a box of masks he was handing out, if you can believe it.

The big surprise for me this year was the Black Keys, who put on a scorching blues rock set. This was one of the greatest live performances I've ever witnessed. They're from Akron, OH, up near Cleveland I think, and they blew me away. Two guys, singer-guitarist and drummer.

Next year, I'm thinking about getting a three-day pass so I can leave and come back, which you can't do with a one-day pass. Then, if they predicted this kind of heat, I could wait until late afternoon each day to go out, or go early, leave for the hottest part of the afternoon, then come back in the evening.

My week of music

Completely unexpectedly, I found myself with a ticket to the taping of Austin City Limits last night, courtesy of Phil. We got in line around 5:30pm for the 8:00pm taping of Franz Ferdinand. These guys totally rocked. People were stomping their feet and dancing, and the guys on stage were so into it. At one point the lead singer jumped on the bass drum while he was playing guitar. After they left the stage, there was about a half hour intermission, then What Made Milwaukee Famous played. Phil and I have both seen them several times and it was getting late, so we only stayed for the first three songs. I think they've got a shot at the big time.

I'm going to ACL Fest today, which will mark the fourth day in a row I've been out seeing music. I love Austin.

Known city

Just got back from Red's Scoot Inn, over in the now-familiar East Austin, where I got to see two really cool bands for $5 on the open air patio and was still home by 11:30pm. The Texas Sapphires are a bluegrass band that got the feet stompin', and Chili Cold Blood are a rockabilly trio with emphasis on the rock. Not only that, but I went inside just in time to hear a perfect cover of "On the Borderwalk" played by a few old-timers to a full house. I heard they were playing Neil Young covers before that. Awesome.

Blinking in the headlights

I went to see a retired general named Paul Van Riper speak last week. He led the "enemy" in a war simulation conducted in 2002 to test the military's new theories about information awareness in achieving victory in war. He beat the "good" team pretty spectacularly by using their expectations against them. I remember reading about this in the papers when it happened. Then, the orders came down from above that the game was being reset so that the "good" team could win and the Pentagon could announce the success of its new theories and apply them to Iraq. If this sounds like a load of crap to you, welcome to the neocons' America.

There's a chapter on Van Riper in the book Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. It's about "rapid cognition", and the ability we all seem to have to make snap judgments that are as accurate as reasoned positions in some circumstances. Some people appear to be better at this than others, but it's Gladwell's position that this can be used to improve behavior as long as there are constraints applied that are designed to mitigate unconscious prejudices that color our responses. It's a fascinating book, and very well-written.

But one of the most interesting things about it is the author's tackling of the limits of rapid cognition. Instead of brushing them aside, or trying to reduce their significance, he really delves into the evidence that our snap judgments are often wrong when they are made unconstrained, so to speak. Since he's advocating more use of them in the decision-making processes we engage in as a society, this carries a real risk of undermining his argument. I have to applaud him for being intellectually honest and not shirking his duty to the audience.

By the way, I collared the general after his speech to ask him if he saw any coordination between the political and military arms in the U.S. government's response to Islamist militarism, to which he responded "No, not at all." This is hugely discouraging, coming from someone in such a position to know the facts of the situation.

Tooth and consequences

I found out earlier this week that I have an abscessed tooth, which is going to require a root canal to save it. Alternatively, I can wait a few years while the tooth turns black and then falls out. The dentist asked me if I remembered any blow to the mouth or other event that might have killed the tooth, saying it may have been five or more years ago that it happened. Nothing comes to mind.

In addition to that, I also have a few tiny cavities forming on my molars. He took a bunch of digital pictures and brought them up on his laptop to see for myself. Sure enough, they're tiny but distinct. He said I can treat them now and get small fillings that are pretty much invisible, or wait while they grow and eventually have a mouth that looked like his, at which point he opened up and gave me a good look. Every visible molar in his mouth looked completely metallic. It also turns out he was a fighter as a young man, and his perfect front teeth are all false replacements for the ones that got knocked out. No wonder he got interested in dentistry.

I hadn't been to the dentist in about 18 months, because I didn't have insurance for about a year, and then I had to wait for my new job's insurance to kick in. I kept up the same routine I'd followed since moving away from home, brushing my teeth every day and never flossing. My last dentist told me repeatedly I should floss, but every time I went in for a cleaning he and his assistants always told me I was doing a good job keeping them clean. If they look great, and I'm keeping them clean, why change?

This new dentist actually took the time to explain to me about gum disease and a bunch of other stuff that my old dentist never had. Now granted, this meant we didn't have time for my cleaning, which is why I was there in the first place (I go back for that this Tuesday), but still, this is the kind of individual attention so obviously lacking in most of the health care industry these days. And if I didn't have insurance, maybe I'd be angry with him for coming up with all these expenses that could save me future costs in both pain and money. But his mouth cost him $20,000. He told me to think of the stuff I need to have done now as an investment in my retirement, and I think he's right.

Pickin' and grinnin'. 

More visiting

My buddy Lyndon, on the right in the picture above, is planning on coming down to Austin the beginning of October. He's one of the best people for running a cookout that I've ever encountered. I'll have to make sure to have some meat on hand worthy of his skills.

Meanwhile, I continue to win kudos for my own chops at making desserts. I prepared a Jello dessert on Sunday from a box that my mom brought with her a couple weeks ago and took it in to work yesterday. I must say, it was delicious.

Hopefully, we'll get to play some guitar while he's down here. It's been a long time since we actually sat down and played some tunes.

Visiting

Just wrapped up a visit with the folks for the holiday weekend. It was good seeing them, and we got to see a lot of the town. We didn't make it out to Lockhart, though, maybe next time.