Kentucky Times Day 1

My buddy Jim and I drove over to Kentucky on Friday, May 6. The main reason for our trip was to witness the grandeur of the Kentucky Derby, but the other days we were in Louisville were eventful as well. We agreed the night before that we needed to leave early (which to us meant 10 am) but for reasons I won't get into we didn't leave until noon. From St. Louis, Louisville is about 4 hours away.

When we got close to Expo Five, the camp site where we had made a reservation, it became apparent that the neighborhood was very... colorful. Liquor stores, strip clubs, and adult entertainment shops vied for control of the main drag. Apparently Kentucky is one of those states where grocery stores can't sell hard alcohol, so there were way more liquor stores than are usual. Most of them had drive-thru's as well.

Many of the little places had funny names. The sky was a bit overcast, but luckily this strip club is "open rain or shine". This place sparked a short conversation between the two of us over the correct spelling of "thoroughbred". I'm a nerd, I know.

Because we arrived a bit tardy, we couldn't get a tent spot on the grass, and instead got a spot on "the beach". I could tell by the way the campsite greeters were referring to it that it wasn't such a great place. It could as well be called "the quick sand pit" or "tent stakes won't help you".

Jim enjoying life on "the beach". Our Walmart tents were both so gross after the rain that we threw them away.

Expo Five is like part campsite, part bar and venue, part flea market.

The stuff they were selling was pretty random. Like wedding cake toppers and cowboy boots in the same stall random.


Here was the little venue bar. They called it the Expo Dome, but it reminded me of one of those military surplus buildings.

Once we were settled we headed to downtown Louisville, hoping for a change of scenery.

The dome topped AEGON Center is the most distinctive building in the Louisville skyline.


Busy putting the Louis in Louisville.

While driving around looking for parking, we just happened to pass by the Brown Hotel and popped in. The streets of downtown Louisville were heavily populated with the well dressed, and the hotel seemed a bit on the fancy side. Jim and I were in t-shirts and were both half expecting ourselves to be stopped by the top-hatted doormen. Luckily the hotel was kind enough to overlook our clothing long enough to take our money. The hotel is famous for a local specialty, the Hot Brown. So, of course, I had one.

The menu describes the dish as: "Roasted Turkey Breast on Toast Points, Sauce Mornay, Parmesan Cheese, Tomatoes and Bacon, Baked to Perfection!" It was really good. It reminded me of a upscale version of a horseshoe.

We apparently made a good impression on our bartender, who gave us a couple free drinks on the house. Being in Kentucky we naturally asked for the most expensive bourbons they had. I also had my first Kentucky-made mint julep at the hotel.

For dessert it was Derby Pie. It's like a chocolate version of pecan pie.

I was just trying to be funny and make a little small talk, so I asked our bartender if he had any hot horse tips for me. He got really serious and lowered his voice as he spoke. He told us something like "bet on the 2nd horse in the 3rd race, and bet 5 across the board". He even added some of that classic "it's a sure thing" sort of crap you always hear in the movies. Now I've never bet on a horse before, so I hadn't the slightest idea what "across the board" even meant. Now that I have had my expensive education on the subject, it means that you bet on a particular horse 3 times: one on it making 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Plus if the horse wins, you get the winnings from all three. And the five was five dollars on each. Long story short, that horse didn't even make it to 3rd place, and my beloved 15 dollars now belongs to someone else. But hey, that's a low price for a memorable story.

After a bit of strolling we arrived at Fourth Street Live!, a little outdoor entertainment complex. They had a ton of bars and restaurants and what have you. This isn't really my type of place. It all looked pretty cool, but I like off the beaten path, and I like local culture when I travel. Hard Rock Cafe and T.G.I. Friday's are neither of those things. We lingered a bit to listen to a free Bare Naked Ladies concert that was in progress, but then returned to the camp site. We were hitting the race track in the morning, and surviving the Kentucky Derby requires a good night's sleep.

Bob Saget

Bob Saget came to SIUE campus for a stand up comedy show on April 21. Saget is of course from Full House and America's Funniest Home Videos fame. Tickets for students were only 10 bucks, and I saw Dave Coulier do stand up about a year ago, so I figured I should complete the Full House set. The two have starkly different ideas on comedy. Coulier is still super clean. He did all kinds voice impressions and cutesy stuff like that. Saget on the other hand, has embraced the dark side. I'd say a good 20 percent of his show consisted of accusing various audience members of bestiality.

My iPhone takes pretty terrible pictures in the dark, but I feel obligated to include one.

Saget's segment of the movie The Aristocrats gives one a good understanding of what to expect. The movie's tagline is "No nudity, no violence, unspeakable obscenity". I'd say that sums up Bob Saget's stand up quite nicely.

A Couple of St. Louis Blues Games

I have a new interest in sports: hockey. I still don't watch it on TV, but I really like going to the games. I've been twice now.

The first match I went to was so awesome that I'll likely never be able to best it. On February 19 the St. Louis Blues played the Anaheim Ducks and stomped them thoroughly 9-3. With such a high scoring game, plus a couple of solid fights, I really enjoyed myself. My friend Seago had managed to get Club Seats, which include food and drinks, and that really topped off the awesome experience.

According to this I could have been enjoying my free stuff for a whole hour before the game started. I'll remember that next time.

The second game I attended was April 1st against the Calgary Flames. This time they lost 3-2, and food actually cost money. In spite of these setbacks there were some redeeming qualities to the game. The game happened to fall on April Fool's Day, and they played a joke on a couple of guys wearing Flames jerseys. They were told on camera that they had won amazing tickets, then when they showed up to claim them they we laughed at. There was also a pretty large pile up sort of fight that I enjoyed. Good times.

This game we were closer to the action and at a bit different angle than the previous game.

Charlie Chaplin in St. Louis

This Christmas, instead of buying my parents something that would most likely gather dust in a closet somewhere, I bought them tickets to a show in St. Louis. We all went to a showing of Charlie Chaplin's silent movie City Lights along with the St. Louis Symphony playing the music. The show was at Powell Hall.

The lobby was very nice. I think they even allowed patrons to bring food and drinks they bought here into the theater, which is rare.

The movie was so awesome. That was my first time seeing a silent film, let alone one from the great Charlie Chaplin. I'd like to see his other stuff now. Apparently Chaplin was one of the victims of McCarthyism. He had his visa revoked during a trip abroad, and decided he had been harassed enough and didn't want to return to the United States(cite). Very interesting.

Vampire Weekend in St. Louis

I recently went to a Vampire Weekend show at the Chaifetz Arena on St. Louis University campus. I had only first heard of the band a week before going to the show, so I didn't have much background information. They have a very unique sound and the show was entertaining. A review of the show in the St. Louis weekly paper Riverfront Times begins "It's extremely difficult to write about a band that does everything right", so that is some indication that it was liked by those with tastes more refined than my own.

At a point early in the show someone in the back of the crowd started whipping glow sticks in big bunches through the air. I assumed that this was part of the show (the reviewer thought it was just a generous fan). Either way the effect of everyone waving them around was cool.

After the show I acquired the band's two albums at a little known place called "the Internet". They also have a few music videos, with "Giving up the Gun" being by far the nicest. It's the best video I've seen in some time, and I've watched it several times already. The song has some cool Japanese influences and has an all-star cast, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Jonas, and Lil John.

This one has nowhere near the production value of that previous, but it does have a good energy to it.