Our Painter's Band
Our house painter, Joe, has been asking us to come see his band play at this place called the Mellow Mushroom. We begged off the first time, but when he asked about a second gig, we couldn't really turn him down. Joe is a real nice guy, and he seems to really want to make pals with us. He's the drummer, he says, and the band knows over 300 songs.

So, we went. I admit I wasn't looking forward to it. I didn't like the idea of going to this bar, getting all smoky, and having to shout to Tom over a band playing Skynrd covers. (Joe is a sort of motorcycle guy, so Skynrd seems like what his band would play).

Well, I sure was wrong! It wasn't too smoky and the band played a lot of lighthearted music from the late 50's thru early 70's. Turns out, the Mellow Mushroom is a sort of hippie-family joint, with psychedelic pictures of Janis Joplin, etc., on the walls, and it serves pizza and beer. It's a small place. There were still several families in there at 10 pm, with young teenagers dancing with babies and people singing all the words to all the songs. You could tell the clientele was getting ready to change, though. I'm guessing around 11:30, cause we left at around 11 and the change was slowly starting to happen. This town doesn't seem to have any bars; they seem to all be restaurant/bars, so during the day and week a place is a reputable family restaurant, and at night and on weekends, it's a college hangout.

Anyway, we spotted the husband of one the professors we'll work with, playing in the band. And, according to our painter, the dean is also in the band. Now we're wondering: is it the same guy? We thought the husband was in a totally different field, because when we met him several weeks ago, he mentioned nothing of being affiliated with the school. But, now I realize, maybe I was cracking idiot jokes with the dean? Giving him a little push on the shoulder and saying, "I like you! You're a silly guy!" to the dean. Hm.