Culture on the Hocking

A Friday night in Athens. Somehow I missed it the last time I was here. I think it is because my apartment was so far away from the town, and the rain was so continuous that it was difficult to motivate myself to go out after I got warm and dry. This time I'm less than a 100 yard dash to all the action, although action isn't really the right word for it.

For example: I began the night's adventure at the Donkey. There was a duet performing by the name of Ukulele Typewriter, a name that I thought was intended to sound av ante guard. I squeezed into the back room, paid my three bucks, and looked up to the stage to see two young men setting up their instruments. One had a ukulele, and the other had a Brother Selectric Typewriter. As they prepared to start the Ukist(?) placed a piece of sheet music on his stand, and the typist rolled a form into his typewriter. They paused for a brief introduction, and then the typist explained that he would be filling out a 1040a form during this number. He hit the carriage return, and the Ukist launched into tax man by the Beatles. It was magical.

My brother Dwight had one of those typewriters and I used to play with it whenever he could not whack me. The click-snap of the key strikes are indeed musical. The backspace key makes a nice high-hat sound (Phsss-Shht) and the shift key creates a superb bass kick. As a trained percussionist this guy was able to make the ugly little artifact of office equipment rock.

I stayed for three songs, before the room started to close in on me. There seemed to be about 150 people in a room full of chairs and tables and only one exit. Contributing to my wary/paranoia was the fact that my decaf was more like a three-caf. I couldn't sit anymore, and I probably wouldn't sleep very soon so I ventured down court street - the Bourbon Street of Athens.

The natives are either restless or smart. The students move en mass from bar to bar, chasing drink specials, an activity locals call the Court Street Shuffle. One text message can turn a full house into a vacant bar in a matter of minutes. The bars know this, and program multiple events into the early (11pm to 1am) part of their schedules, which keeps the crowd moving.

I'm more comfortable in a place where there are at least a few sober adults so I shuffled to the Cantina. The Cantina is a the oldest co-op, employee owned, establishment in Athens and draws locals, professors, and a few precocious students. They serve mostly vegan and locally grown food, along with beer, wine, and liquor from all over. Unfortunately, I got there just as they started demanding a cover charge. I opted not to fork out anymore money for music and turned around heading for home when I remembered that the Student Union, called the Baker Center, had a midnight movie.

I got there with time to spare and took the time to tour the new five-story building. It's built on a hill which makes it look like a two-story building from the top and the tower of Babel from the bottom. The building's literature is proud to point out that it has the only escalator for seventy miles. It also has a two-acre food court on the bottom floor, along with a high-end restaurant and bar. What's not open space is dedicated to student organizations and entertainment. I made my way to the 500 seat theater for the Midnight Show: Brokeback Mountain.

Twenty international students, a handful of drunk freshmen girls, and two senior citizens joined me for the two-and-a-half show. I'm not sure any of us understood what Heath Ledger was saying, but the shots were beautiful.

When the show was over at 2:30am. I walked across the campus, pass clutches of drunken youths, curbside food trucks, sidewalk musicians, and a few students just on their way out. The night is young to them, but it is clear by their deference for me, that I am not.