i can't wait to see the gin blossoms in kzoo in one month

[Screw_Michigan]

you know, until about a year ago, i thought i would have been caught dead before admitting i like the gin blossoms, but i do. go fuck yourself if you have a problem with that. i always hated the empire records song "until i hear it from you," and i still do, but i discovered them through a live boot of theirs from 03 and it was sweet. new miserable experience is a fantastic album and it was really tragic with what happened with doug hopkins. too bad it had to end so quickly.

i'd say the best gin blossoms songs are until i fall away, found out about you, hold me down, cajun song and allison road. they'll be playing in kalamazoo at the greek festival downtown for $10 on 6/7, so i see no reason why i should not attend. i love any opportunity to see a show in kzoo. i guarantee you i'll be drinking tons of bell's beer that night.

[Shoalzie]

Wow, they're stuck to playing Greek Fest. Geez...

That's cool though...that might give me a reason to pop out there for a day and stuff myself with gyros.

[Screw_Michigan]

i bet a show at that amphitheater downtown would be pretty cool. and shit, it's $10, they won't play past 11, and you can go do whatever you want afterward. and as i hinted, bell's in a prime nearby location.

i drove past where that new theater is downtown for the first time a few weeks ago, i was surprised to see how developed that stretch from the theater to the gazette has become. pretty cool. kzoo has much better downtown than south bend, for sure. but in sb's credit, i have to admit i don't miss the constant panhandling like in downtown kzoo and around campus. that shit gets tired quick if you're not living in a major metropolitan city, i.e. chicago. i'll tolerate it there, but not in mini-metro ville.

[Shoalzie]

Downtown Kzoo is actually pretty cool in the summer. I like going to the festivals and there's a few decent places to eat and drink. My company does work at the Radisson so I find myself out at Burdick's afterhours on some nights. I am a fan of Bell's beer but I still have gone to Bell's yet. Shakespeare's is cool and I've been to the new comedy club located underneath it.

The panhandling does still occur though. I was actually taking my dad to the train station last Sunday morning and some crazy lady came up to everyone asking for money claiming her car broke down and her mother was killed the night before. I have to say, that was the most original story I've heard. I usually just get homeless people asking for change or someone wants money for the bus. When I had night classes at the KVCC across the street from the Radisson, I'd get the occasional guy approaching me when I went out to my car.

[Screw_Michigan]

glad to hear you're enjoying your time in downtown kzoo. there's a great mix of eclectic places to hang out ranging from up and under (the one closest to my heart) on the SW side and bell's on the NE side. i only went to bells the bar a couple times during my way too long stretch in kzoo because 1) they close around 12am on weekends, i don't know if they still do this and 2) they don't accept plastic. bullshit. suck it up, larry bell, you're a rich man anyway. i stop there more often now when i'm in town because they sell singles at the general store. and i'm dying for a two-hearted t-shirt with the fish on it. god, i love that label.

the problem with the panhandling is that the city gov't has allowed it to be ingrained in the culture. that's just how it is from the bottom of west main hill, north to the north side, all the way south east of vine past the hospital. i've discussed this one of my friends in kzoo and he thinks it is because they put the homeless shelters downtown. while this may be true to some extent, there is a shelter just south of downtown in sb and none of the panhandling goes on. i think it's because for decades it's been tolerated by the cops and local authorities. and mix in the fact there are two colleges packed less than a mile away from each other, that area is like blood to vultures. you can't just legislate-out a culture overnight.

funny you mention the train station. the gazette has done a good job covering the frequent bullshit happening there. if you are not there for business, you should not be there, period. it's not bronson park or anyplace like that. customers won't purchase fares that involved kzoo because they don't want to put up with the bullshit, plain and simple. the kzoo housing action network needs to pick better fights with the city than pulling one over the train station. if you are not there to do business, you shouldn't be there, period.

oh and burdick's is fucking legendary. it's the reason i still have my id from two years ago for the half-off booze and food sundays. half-off two hearted drafts + playoff hockey = bliss. they, of course, turned half-off food sundays into half-off food and drinks immediately after i graduated. i would have spent every sunday there, but i'm not going all whitey now.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Kalamazoo is a shitbox.

[Screw_Michigan]

Kalamazoo is a shitbox.

Ypsilanti resident says...what?

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

I live in the cool part of Y-Town.

Dick.

[PSUFAN]

At least yinz are brewing good beer. Things could be worse.

...or BETTER.

--Bud Rice Wagon