July 23, 2005
Public Transportation and Ducks On Strings
I have a nasty cold today, and that's why I'm in the room watching Mr. Holland's Opus while I write. Although, yesterday I took an adventure into Cincinnati on the public transportation system called TANK. How is it that transportation organizations always have the best acronyms? Although, it wasn't a Tank at all, it was bus. A public tank--now that'd be somethn'.
Initially, I was planning on heading to a large outdoor mall to see a movie, but I couldn't bring myself to see another movie, and anyway, they weren't playing Opus. I decided instead to stop at a little green square on the TANK map called Contemporary Arts Center. I only walked around the museum store. I saw lots of little ingenious doodads that harnessed the power of the magnet. Museum stores would be nothing without magnetism. I didn't have time to get my money's worth for the main exhibit about slideshows. I found a smaller museum around the corner featuring some mixed media artists that was free.
The entryway of the museum displayed a piece from the ceiling. It was a bunch of stuffed ducks on wires attached to motors that spin around and around the room, like something created by a taxidermist with a ceiling fan who decided to take the idea to the people. I like it. It's called Flock. I watched for longer than the average person, probably. Once, I thought it might be interesting to have amongst the flying ducks a shotgun on strings that flew around and around in like manner. Just a flying shotgun amongst the flying ducks. Would that be funny? Maybe offensive to some? I wondered how people would interpret it. Probably a hundred different ways I concluded. I just thought it would be funny.
I walked around a little more in an area the TANK map calls Fountain Square. It was a nice fountain. I would've taken a picture, but the battery in my camera died after it saw the ducks. I gave a woman a dollar for a program in her church to help drug addiction. She gave me some very strange looking Tootsie Rolls that I didn't eat. I walked around a little mall. I spent some time in TJ Maxx and bought a wallet originally marked $100 for $20. You should see my old wallet. It's old and empty. This is one is new.
I got back on the bus. There was a woman on the bus who had been on my bus into the city. That's always a surprise. Like, you're almost obligated to say hi now, since this is the second time you've shared a bus. That seems to happen to me a lot on planes too. I think that should be one of those things that means good luck. The whole experience has a positive vibe to me.
As for yesterday's shows. Every once in a while you get an audience that just rocks beyond others. Last night at the late show, we had a killer audience. They were always teetering on the edge of standing up (some would), but most would just bubble in their seats ferociously and make you love your job. If audiences like that didn't happen occasionally, I don't think live stand-up would exist. Comics need that. Not every show but occasionally.