From Michigan headed north to Chicago before cutting west. For the pizza of course. We didn’t have much time to devote to the city of wind and it was on our route so we figured why the hell not. As a native of the northeast I’ve been led to believe that all pizza should be as thin as the box it’s served in and a slice should be about the size of your head. And Chicago does the opposite with squat, fat loaded deep dish pies. And I wish the two would just combine forces already for loaded pies the size of one’s face. That is all. We came into Madison, WI the weekend before halloween. Unbeknownst to us, this was probably the best time of year to be in town. Every year they have a massive halloween gathering (Freakfest). Massive as in 30,000+ people and bands playing on multiple stages. All for like 12 bux0rs (8 if you bought in advance. We did not.) People had some seriously badass costumes. Some of the standouts:
- Elliot from E.T.
- Wacky inflated car dealership thing
- Lego People
- Lots of Mario and Luigi
- Various forms of Walt and Jesse from Breaking Bad
- Skanks (not actual skanks – guys dressed as halloween skanks. Several groups chose this path.)
The bands were all good, I hadn’t heard of any of them except Chiddy Bang. Of course, at this point I’m close to twice the age of the target demographic so it’s a wonder I enjoyed any of it at all. There were some other interesting moments, like when both of the wacky inflated carwash things ran into each other, it was as if the planets aligned and the fates conspired to bring them together at that exact moment. They hugged and danced and did the crazy wavy arms thing side by side while admiring onlookers looked on… with… admiration? The sheer elation on their pre-formed plastic faces – this is truly what it’s like when doves cry.
I have to start taking halloween more seriously.
Vijay
[1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/97388931@N08/sets/72157638183877716/