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a friend of ours knows the lead singer for a band called superchick, who happened to play at six flags tonight. well, this lead singer (trisha) gave this friend (john) a few tickets/backstage passes to the show, which included tickets to the amusement park itself. well, in the almost four years that we’ve lived here, we had never been there, so we rearranged our schedules and headed that way. the weather was absolutely perfect, the park wasn’t too crowded, and we had a really good time. here are some observations from the day:

1. i found out that the concert was part of a weekend-long christian concert festival. i’m not really a fan of that whole business (i don’t think gretchen really is either)…i think because lots of people see playing or taking part in those shows as a big ministry opportunity, when the fact is that most of the people who go there have already been exposed to the gospel…and lots of times there is a lot of cheese in the crowds…and i’m probably just being a jerk. there is a great possibility of that. i’m often called that, actually, when i talk about cheesy christian-based stuff… and i’m sounding really negative when we ended up having a really good time…so i’ll move on.

2. i saw three people walk by me wearing matching t-shirts. the front read as follows:

REPENT
or
BURN
in
HELL

so as a lover of sarcastic, challenging, ironic, even satirical idea exchange, i rubbernecked as they walked by to read what witty rebuttal would be offered to redeem the above t-shirt slogan. the backs read like this:

GOD
HATES
YOU
SINNER

honestly, i just about puked in my mouth right then and there. it really got me angry. that’s the same kind of self-righteous, judgmental crap that you read about and see pictures of on the news…and in my opinion, it ranks right up there with putrid filth such as “god hates fags” signs and the bombing of abortion clinics and the prostesting of the war at the funerals of fallen soldiers! i couldn’t believe i really saw something there that stupid. needless to say, it caught me off guard. if i hadn’t been with my family, i would have probably said some mean things… i thank god that he loves sinners…otherwise i’d be in a world of hurt. the fact is that the people jesus wanted to hang out with were sinners. moreover, the ones he really had it out for were religious people. make a shirt about that.

i wonder how many “sinners” saw that shirt and immediately dropped to their knees in repentance. probably a lot.

3. we were rock stars for the evening…backstage pass! also got us through lines real fast on the rides (only went on one…twice…)

4. i’m getting old: i had to ride the superman ride twice in a row (because there were three of us plus ella in the stroller, and we had used our backstage passes to get us to the front of the line…and gretchen waited with ella the first time around and then she wanted me to go again with her when it was her turn…), and between the two times i was already feeling queasy and head-achy. after the second go-round i was downright uncomfortable…even now my stomach is still a little upset. what an old wuss.

5. went to see superchick. their earlier repertoire is painfully hanna montana-esque. if they happen across this, i hope they don’t take offense. they are an evolving band, and they were younger at the time, and they are growing. their older stuff seems to be targeted toward 8th grade girls, but their newer stuff is very cool. they played a few unreleased tracks off their upcoming album tonight and i was really impressed. they also have pretty good stage presence and are very entertaining and talented. noteworthy: they’re not all chicks. three of the five band members are dudes…i don’t know how they lost the name game… “superdude” must have been taken.

6. i also enjoyed hearing kutless play. here’s a band that i had really only heard a little bit of, and i thought it was “aight.” but they are fun to see live. they have pretty good presence and, after touring for several years together, have a very tight, cohesive sound. i don’t know how much they’ll be making the rotation in my ipod, but i liked them.

7. going to an amusement park is much harder and more difficult with a baby in a stroller. first time for us. w00t.

8. also, going to an amusement park is even more expensive than it used to be! admission: $30 (we got in free), fast pass: $74 for a group of four (allows you to take a much shorter line for certain rides and attractions…we didn’t buy one, but they were available), parking onsite: $10-25 (depending on how big your vehicle is and how far you’re willing to walk), food: $9 for four chicken strips and a few fries (if you want a bottle of water, add $3.25)… oh my word. totally crazy. you could go to a nice all-inclusive resort over a weekend for the price of taking a family of four to six flags for one day. what are people thinking when they plan a trip there?!!

9. ella is a rocker! the loud music didn’t scare her (we were outside and pretty far back, so it wouldn’t damage her little ears.), even when some of the frontmen decided to shout or scream into the mic. in fact, she laughed and clapped almost the whole time. attagirl!

10. i’m really glad john invited us to go. we had a blast.

Posted on March 22nd, 2008 by adamdeweber
Filed under: art, culture, funny, mind dump, music, people who rock, people who suck, religion, social issues, what in the world?, wisdom