The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

THE GOOD
On Saturday we went with Valerie to the Circle of Eight pottery sale. I was most impressed. It was great to meet the potters and examine such a wide variety of works. I was inspired.

Afterwards we went to the Blues, Brews and BBQ festival in downtown Charlotte (it's part of Charlotte Shout). There were no arts & crafts, which was a bummer. Most of the booths were your standard festival-food fare and advertising/promotional sign-ups. There was a booth hosted by the Knightly Order of the Fiat Lux - they put on a cheesy medieval sword-fighting demonstration to raise money for a variety of causes benefiting children in the Piedmont. It was fun for the kids.

We stayed only for the first blues act, Bill “Sauce Boss” Wharton. His show was a kick. Musically, I’d have to say it wasn't the best blues performance I’ve ever seen, but it was fun, entertaining and certainly memorable. He was dressed in a chef’s outfit and sang a pot of gumbo into existence. He had a big pot and a burner on-stage; throughout his show he sang songs about the ingredients that go into gumbo. He had a Johnson & Wales student on-stage assisting (mostly just stirring the gumbo). At the end of the show he gave everyone a bowl of his gumbo (the line was pretty long, so we didn’t get to try it). He accepts donations for the gumbo, which go to his charity organization called Planet Gumbo to help those in need.

I thought it was pretty funny that there were weddings taking place at both of the churches in the festival area. I wondered if the respective wedding parties knew the festival would be taking place during their wedding - especially the ones who were trying to take photos on the steps of the church while the knights were sword-fighting on the street in front of them.

For future reference, I would recommend the festival, but only for the music. I probably wouldn't spend any time on the rest of it. I wish we could have seen Delbert McClinton, but of course the headliner is the last act of the night, which ended pretty late. One note: if you go for the music, bring your folding chairs - the stage is set up in a parking lot.

Hyundai and Sports Illustrated had a booth where they were taking pictures of people in a mock Sports Illustrated magazine cover. The kids got in on the act:






They chose their own props by the way. I wonder, is there a girls football team around here?






THE BAD
On Friday Debi and I watched the movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer on the recommendation of some friends. I have to say I just didn't get it. I didn't find it entertaining, there was no higher truth unveiled, no lesson, no moral that I could detect. It was just weird and gross. I won't spoil it for those who want to watch it, but I would suggest having a barf bag on hand. I should mention that Debi found more value in it than I, although I can't for the life of me imagine why.

THE UGLY
Football. Need I say more? The Saints and the Dolphins both played horribly. It was a huge disappointment and pretty much ruined what should have been a great football day.