(*sorry, i accidentally deleted these photos off of flickr, so you'll just have to use your imagination... whoops!)
this morning i woke up to the sounds of a rousing rendition of the song 'low rider.' i immediately thought, 'whoa... how late did i sleep in' (knowing that the logan high school marching band doesn't usually practice outside until the afternoon), but i looked at the clock and sure enough it was only coming up on 9:30. so i went outside to see what was going on and they were set-up downtown playing, in uniform. i went down to see what was going on and found myself in the middle of a growing group of state bureaucrats. the governor was in town and they were dedicating the empty lot of the old pioneer hotel to the state for the construction of a new 5-story office building. the band played a diverse assortment of songs until the speeches started including things like 'my girl,' 'the hey song,' 'the theme from blues brothers,' the school fight song, and 'ain't no mountain high enough.' it was pretty entertaining in the context of a governor's speech. after they played, by all witnessed accounts, the band did not care at all what any of the politicians had to say, they waited patiently for it to end and gave one final song. i know a lot of kids in the marching band so it was fun to see them all down there. most of them saw me and waved. nu-era (the greatest doughnut manufacturers in the world) supplied some of their wares for the occasion, so after the festivities i served as the breakfast foods liaison to the marching band and supplied them with the energy to go back to school. (i guess they had been told they weren't allowed to take the doughnuts themselves by the band director). the speeches were actually pretty interesting.
you may recognize the site of the new building from a few months ago. this is the tent that was set-up today...
...and this is the same lot during the freedom festival. yes, that's the tiger cage. and although the lot was full of politicians today, it wasn't as much of a circus as it was that day in july. (plus joe never jumped through any hoops in order to get a "meat treat." although if you want to carry that on into the figurative world, i'm sure there's some kind of connection.) npr was there also, taking pictures and recording the speeches. i asked the photographer and he said they were from d.c and were covering the election someway or another and they picked logan (?) i don't know what they're doing but i guess joe and logan could end up on the national news.
and interesting way to start the day.
::