Halloween

I was going to write an entry related to Halloween, but Jerry Seinfeld does a better job talking about one of my favorite holidays. Enjoy.

The Airport

I went up to New York this past weekend to visit family, and instead of driving I flew. With a few flight delays and a cancellation, I ended up spending way more time in airports than I had wished.

The problems began immediately. I arrived for my 4pm flight from Richmond at 3pm, and as soon as I got to the gate I noticed three gentlemen huddled over a laptop checking the status of our flight to Philly. After eavesdropping on their conversation, I found out the flight was delayed about an hour even though the monitors at the gate said it was on time. It was probably a good 30 minutes before the delay was announced at the airport. I found it interesting, though not at all surprising, that the three guys were able to keep tabs on our flight better than the airport could. And rather than consult the airport staff at the gate, fellow passengers kept checking in with the three guys with the laptop for flight updates. I guess the passengers would rather interact with people who sympathize with our situation rather than employees who maybe could not care less.

Another experience I had on this trip happened at my next stop in Philly. After several delays for the flight to White Plains, an announcement was made our aircraft was in flight and would arrive in Philly in about an hour, at which time it would be prepared to take us to White Plains. My fellow passengers at the gate clapped, high-fived each other, fist-pumped, and cheered as if their favorite sports team scored a touchdown. Literally 30 seconds later, an announcement was made that the flight was now canceled. Now it felt like a touchdown was called back for a holding call. Jaws hit the ground, a few people cried, profanities were muttered, and profanities were shouted. I was actually pretty frustrated myself, but kept my emotions to myself. Perhaps bottling up those emotions will not be good for me in the long run, but I figured getting angry at the airline staff wouldn’t do me any good.

The final observation from my air travels this weekend occurred on a flight. I have noticed that most people traveling alone usually keep to themselves or engage in small chit-chat on the flights. But one guy in the aisle across from me completely opened up to the woman sitting next to him about his drinking problems and marriage problems. This was before we even taxied out to the runway. Perhaps he just needed a stranger to talk to, and that was cool, but I wouldn’t know how to react if someone like that sat next to me. I’m not a chit-chatter. I stay engaged with the Sky Mall catalog and don’t look up until the flight is over. The woman who sat next to this man was actually open to the idea of conversing with this guy. She must have more patience than me.

Gym Culture

If you’ve seen any pictures of me, you know I obviously work out a lot. Like, seven days a week for two hours at a time. Actually, as hard as it is to believe, I am kind of a novice when it comes to going to the gym. But I’m trying. I used to go to the gym every now and then when I was an undergrad student, but in the past month and a half or so I have been working out quite regularly. While taking breaks from lifting extremely heavy objects, I have made a few cultural observations about the people at the gym.

I think my favorite group of gym-goers are the older gentlemen in their 60s or 70s. While many gym-goers wear standard workout attire, these guys have no problem working out in slacks and a button down shirt. At first I thought they looked ridiculous, but then I tried picturing my own grandfathers in cut off t-shirts and sweatpants and realized how cool it is these guys don’t even care, they just want to stay fit.

I have also noticed the level of conversation going on in the gym. It is very minimal. People who go to the gym by themselves usually keep to themselves. Some people work out as if they are on a mission. They move from machine to machine staring straight ahead, focused on the task at hand. It’s as if they are machines themselves. Then there are the Chatty Cathy’s who come to the gym, talk to the personal trainers walking around, talk to their friends who happen to be at the gym, and talk to the strangers on the treadmills next to them. It is interesting when the more talkative gym-goers try to make conversation with the focused gym-goers. It’s kind of uncomfortable to watch actually.

When I go to the gym, it is usually around lunchtime. I have noticed that people take their lunch break from work and come to the gym to work out for a bit before heading back to work. It’s interesting that they use this time for working out, rather than going before or after work. I figure these people have families that they spend a lot of time with, and lunchtime might be the only chance they get to go to the gym. It makes me think about my future, and whether or not in a few years I will be the guy who comes to the gym on my lunch break.

Finally, I tried to decide if I fit in with the gym culture. I’m thinking not quite yet. I still nervously examine certain machines, trying to determine how to operate them and trying to determine how much I can lift. I think I stick out like a sore thumb, but within a few more weeks, I will be hopping around from machine to machine like a regular Jack LaLanne.

My First Hip-Hop Show

This past Saturday night I went to the Ghostface Killah show at the VCU student commons with a few classmates. It was a free show presented by Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. I’ve seen quite a few rock bands, and I’ve seen a few DJs spin in clubs, but never before had I been to a live hip-hop concert.

Like many of the rock concerts I have been to, the crowd wasn’t very energetic for the opener. Witchdoctor was the rapper who opened the show. I had never heard of him before, and it seemed like most of the crowd hadn’t either. He tried hard, maybe a little too hard, to get the crowd excited by asking us to make noise if we love real hip-hop or if we had ever taken drugs before. His set wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t that good either.

After Witchdoctor, we had to wait an hour before Ghostface Killah. It became almost unbearable. It was hot, we couldn’t sit down, and the crowd grew restless. Two shoving matches broke out when someone in the crowd threw a paper airplane.

When Ghostface finally came on stage, the entire crowd pushed forward. We were all excited for what should have been an energetic and fun show. Unfortunately it didn’t exactly turn out that way. He performed a few of his hits, but he mostly left the rapping duties to his entourage of about 10 other rappers. He stopped the show after a few songs and called all amateur emcees in the audience to come to the stage for a contest. It was entertaining watching a few of them perform, but I would’ve rather have seen Ghostface. Later on in the show, he called a few ladies in the audience to go up on stage and dance with the guys – which turned out to be a large dry humping session. The show ended with a freestyle by some of Ghost’s friends.

Overall, I had a good time at the show even though I was a little disappointed in the performances. Sean assured me Ghostface usually puts on a better show, so I wouldn’t object to checking him out again.