Dispatch from Election Night: The Returns Come in at Davey's Uptown Ramblers Club
"America's not fired!"
"All emigration orders can be put on hold!"
"I don't think I've ever wanted to hang an American flag on my house more than I do right now."
The above statements were issued by various happy — nay, overjoyed people — not long after 10 p.m. last night at Davey's Uptown Rambler's Club, where I watched Barack Obama become America's ... Next ... Top ... PRESIDENT YAAAAAAY!!!
Four years ago, I also chose Davey's as my returns-watching spot. I think I went there to hang out with the ladies of Beauty Slays the Beast and to watch the flannel-clad lads of Buffalo Saints lay down some hearachey alt-country. That was a bad night. My wife at the time ended up drunk and bawling on our bathroom floor. I didn't feel much better.
Last night could not have been more different.
Last night made me feel like becoming a better person, rather than, say, torching Oklahoma. It made me feel more proud to be an American than I've ever felt in my life.
God, every statement like that just seems so banal in light of what really just happened with our country. I mean ... holy shit! I feel like Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, when confronts evil Phillip Seymour Hoffman and threatens to "beat the hell from" him and says, "I have a love in my life, and it's stronger than anything you can imagine ... I would say that's that, mattress man." (cf. 5:00 in this clip)
So, yeah, I went to Davey's last night because I knew Abigail Henderson and her husband, Chris Meck, and friends would be there. Pick up The Pitch today and you'll find a story about Henderson's ongoing battle with breast cancer, which is also a story about how hard life becomes when you're an uninsured or poorly insured musician and you get sick.
I don't need to tell you how good Abby & co. felt when the news came in last night.
This weekend, a benefit will be held to raise money to help with the costs of Henderson's cancer. Actually, it's more like a music festival, with the rock beginning Friday night at Midwestern Music Company and rolling on through Sunday night at P. Ott's on the Plaza. The main attractions are the local band showcases, with 10 bands playing Davey's on Saturday and 8 playing the Record Bar on Sunday. Go to the special Web site created for the cause, ApocalypseMeow.net for all the details. It's just gonna be a huge fuckin' celebration of America.
Also, if you go to the donate page of Abby's site, you'll see a ChipIn widget. Click "copy" on the widget and you can copy the embed code for the widget the way you would a YouTube video and paste it into your MySpace page or blog or Web site or whatever. People who visit your page will then be able to donate to Apocalypse Meow securely via the widget. I know, it's crazy! What'll they think of next? A cure for cancer? A black president?
Fuckin' A, man, it's America. Anything can happen.
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