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OCT

11

2008

there was a lot more people at this year's davis square honkfest compared to last year. the weather probably had a lot to do with it, but also word of mouth. the large crowds inject a lot of energy into the performances, but the downside is the loss of intimacy and the difficulty of finding a good place to shoot photos. there was also a lot less rotations this year, with each band performing in no more than 2 venues (last year, the same band rotated throughout the square as many as 4 times). i made sure i arrived in time to catch the rude mechanical orchestra (i saw them last year and became a big fan). besides RMO, i also caught the loyd family players, new to honkfest this year. i tried to see what cheer? brigade but it was so crowded at davis square plaza that i couldn't see anything, just heard them.

my roommate was supposed to come with me but he was skyping with his wife back in china so i left without him. he went by himself later, and came back soon after i returned home. he rode the bicycle and wanted to remove the kryptonite lock, the one with the missing key. instead of sawing it off, he suggested we could disassemble the brake wiring and remove the lock that way. he said he did a lot of bike repair back in china and seemed to know what he was doing so i let him take care of it with a set of tools i pulled out from my closet. outside we bumped into an astronomy research coworker of his, along with his wife and baby, walking down to market basket. apparently word gets around, because they asked me if that was the same bike lock my previous china roommate left on the bike before losing the key (yeah it is). my neighbor ed also came by, suggested a bunch of alternative lock removal ideas. he showed me the secret place on harris street where a trellis of ownerless concord grapes were growing. 15 minutes later my roommate managed to remove the kryptonite. newly unshackled, he took the bike into the city to get some groceries from chinatown.