Born to Synthesize

I slept as late as I wanted despite a stated goal of leaving town for Cleveland around 10am. I wasn't out of bed until roughly 745am. I could see that the sky was clear as I prepped a pot of coffee. While the coffee brewed I began organizing stuff for our trip. I set the ticket & hotel confirmation out on the island then placed my personal electronics there, too, which included my iTouch, camera, phone, and chargers. I washed my running clothes the night before. Figured I'd use/wear others for my Saturday run so I would have fresh stuff packed for the trip. I'm thinking that it was near 9am when I finally left for a run. I'd already given up on the idea of leaving by 10am. We didn't have to be anywhere at any particular time before the concert which wouldn't begin until 8pm.

It was about 44 degrees when I headed out the door. I opted for a light long sleeved wicking shirt, a jacket, and hand covers. I ran the usual 3 mile weekend trail. It was a pleasurable run with no discomfort. I can tell that my legs are finally releasing. Thank goodness!

Mindy was just out of the shower by the time I was back. I organized more stuff for our trip while she finished her ready. I brought up an empty growler along with the soft Jimindy cooler from the basement. We planned a stop for lunch at the Ohio Brew Kettle in Strongsville on our way into town. We planned to have our jug filled there. I also packed a hard cooler with water, soda and Gatorade.

Around 1015am I headed up for a shower. Before getting in the shower I sat out the few articles of clothing I'd be taking, including a swim suit, though i wasn't sure if the hotel had a pool. If they did, I'd be prepared. Was downstairs again around 1045am. Mindy packed some snacks and then left a note and pizza money for Lindsey & the boys. They were going to one of GD Kaileigh's cheering competitions before coming to the house.

I programmed my Droid navigation for The Brew Kettle. We hit the road around 1120am. We stopped and filled the gas tank at Thornton's then jumped on 270N. It was a lovely drive up 71N, the trees sporting lots of fall color. We stopped at the Frederickstown exit to pee. I believe that's one exit south of Snow Trails. Strongsville is a Cleveland suburb that straddles the I-80 corridor right off of 71. We had one minor problem finding the Brew Kettle. The navigation system took us to their production works, an off-site brewery a couple miles away from the pub in a warehouse complex. I had a sneaking suspicion it was leading us astray. We corrected the error in all of about 5 minutes and arrived at the actual brewpub a few minutes later.

As one friend told us a month or so ago, the pub itself is nothing to look at, especially from the outside. It sits in a small strip mall that's straight out of the 70's. I took Mindy's photo outside. Inside, I headed for the john and then towards the rear just to take a look around while Mindy snatched us a couple stools at the bar. It's bigger inside than it appears from the exterior. In the back is where they have the home brewing. It was packed with patrons either brewing or bottling their recipes. I snapped a couple photos then returned to the main pub.

There we met Paul, the bartender. He was friendly sharing a little bit about their beer. They had about 30 different beers on tap, including six or seven of their own. I noticed they had CBC IPA. I just happened to be wearing my CBC shirt. I got a couple thumbs up for their brew from passing patrons. Mindy and I both ordered White Rajah fresh off the tower. MMMMM, good! I saw they had some Three Floyds. I asked if they had Bubble Gum Head. Nope, but they routinely get it in, according to Paul. He also shared that as difficult as it is to find White Rajah in Columbus, it's nearly as difficult there locally. Fear not, however, said they're in the process of expanding their capacity to better meet the demand for White Rajah.

We wanted to order some food. We were both really hungry. The menu was vast. Paul highly recommended their wings. Why not? We opted for the wings and an order of deep fried green beans, something we get in Yellow Springs, too. While our food was being prepped, we walked back to the home brewing area again. I bought Mindy a t-shirt and then two pint glasses. We chatted with the guy working the counter for a while. He said CBC IPA is one of his all time favorite beers. Paul came back to tell us that our food was ready.

The wings were indeed something. First, they were very big, the whole wing/leg combo. They were dry rubbed and smoked. I would give them a 9-9.5. They came served with four different sauces. All were tasty and different than what we're used to at home. The deep fried green beans were good too. We met a few nice folks, one, an older couple there brewing beer. Mindy later said she thinks they were from Akron. They travel all around visiting brew pubs. Lots of cool stories.

We wanted to get a growler of Rajah for the road. We gave Paul the sad face when he shared that they had just ran out of growlers. Fear not, we had the one from home. As much as we wanted a Brew Kettle growler to add to our collection, we were happy to get some fresh White Rajah. I went to the Accord to fetch our growler. Paul filled it to the brim. Mindy decided she wanted a piece of pie. She went with their pumpkin chiffon. A gentleman sitting near us at the bar, who I now think works there, came back to the bar and shared that he found one more box of growlers back in the home brew area. Cool. We paid for an empty growler.

I'm thinking it was near 3pm when we settled our tab and hit the road for downtown Cleveland. While Mindy hot the john, I snapped a photo of a threesome dressed in Ghost Buster costumes, about as authentic as you can find. They were happy to be photo's, and then shared that I should see their car. I went out to the lot to check it out. It was a Mini Cooper decked out in full Ghost Buster equipment. Cool! I showed Mindy when she came out too.

According to the Droid, it was another 22 miles to our hotel in east downtown Cleveland. Just as the weather forecast predicted, the sunny day faded to clouds as the afternoon faded into early evening in downtown Cleveland. It appeared we were driving through a seedy part of town, our hotel located near the Case Western Reserve campus, just a block from the Cleveland Art museum. The area in and around the Double Tree Tudor Arms was primarily occupied by the Cleveland Clinic. No exaggeration, they must have 20 buildings in the immediate area.

We found the hotel with little trouble. Mindy rolled down the window to ask about parking. The valet parkers directed us to the self park area. The hotel is and old castle-like structure and as ornate on the inside as it is on the exterior. Very cool! Right away, Mindy picked up on the wedding reception sign in the lobby that announced the wedding of Mike & Christopher. The lady working the front desk offered that we should pay a visit to the 2nd floor and check out the reception decor at some point. She asked our preference for floors. We opted for an upper floor. She gave us floor ten of eleven. We headed up to our room now almost 4pm.

The room was well appointed - small - but nice, and certainly enough room for the two of us. We took a few minutes to get settled and oriented. Mindy Googled the Cleveland museum of art only to learn that it was closed on Saturday. Too bad. But even if it was opened, the regular closing time is 5pm. We wouldn't have had anytime to browse anyway. Mindy suggested we pour ourselves a Rajah then head down to the wedding reception. And that's exactly what we did. I felt awkward but followed Mindy to the 2nd floor reception ballroom. It was even more ornate than the lobby. Either Mike or Christopher is a florist. His shop did all the flowers. The theme color was yellow. Looked very nice. But then again, most gay men have a flair for decorating.

We met one of the grooms sisters then one of the grooms mom. They were all very nice and very sociable. Welcomed us to look around. While visiting for a few Mike & Christopher showed up. We met them too. I didn't want to wear out our welcome. I told Mindy that we needed to go. I sensed she was trying to score us an invite to the reception. Can you saw awkward! We finally headed back to our 10th floor room where we tuned into college football. I eventually plopped down on the very comfy, very soft king sized bed. I may have dosed off for a few minutes but for the most part stayed awake watching football - Notre Dame and Stanford.

Near 620pm I leaped from bed and shared that it was time to ready for the concert. By then Mindy was snuggled up in the bed. She quickly followed my lead and redid herself for the concert. Mindy called the front desk inquiring about the free hotel shuttle service. The Agora was only 2.2 miles to the west. The front desk cited only a 2 mile radius. They wouldn't cave. Said they'd be happy to call us a cab, though. By the time we headed to the lobby it was raining and at a pretty good clip (of course!). Mindy went to the front desk and asked for a cab.

She found it comical that Sam at the front desk was calling Cleveland Johnnie, the same car guy we used some 16 months prior during our last overnight Cleveland stay. Said he'd be by in 7 minutes. I chose to wait just outside the door despite the rain under the large overhang. I didn't want someone else to snag our car, as there were many others awaiting cabs/cars too. Long story short, he never showed. More than 20 minutes passed and several other cabs showed up picking up others.

It was now 720pm. Mindy went to talk to Sam at the front desk. I headed back inside to see what was up. Sam got Carlos, an employee of the hotel to give us a ride to the venue. Said he'd pull his car around - a red Pontiac Vibe. Carlos was a friendly guy. Moved to Cleveland from NYC about a year ago. Told us all about the area. Said you don't want to be walking the streets in and around the hotel - dangerous. Went on to tell us about a recent YouTube video of a Cleveland bus driver upper cutting a drunk woman on his bus. Apparently she had it coming, causing all sorts of problems. Said it's gone viral. Carlos dropped right at the door of the Agora. He wanted no money. Mindy gave him a $10 tip.
Figuring out the will-call arrangement was a bit misleading. While we sought out the end of the line, we saw our Columbus friend and CBC bartender Kevin drive by and wave. Soon we were inside complete with 'drinking wrist bands'. Much like the Columbus Agora (aka Newport), the venue appears run down - unkempt, and certainly not on par with some of the more prominent theatres in downtown CMH like the Southern, Ohio, or Palace. We headed to the bar where the scant beer selection left me drinking a Heineken. Mindy opted for a Diet Coke. I checked out the make-shift t-shirt stand before heading to our seats. The commemorable t-shirts were very plain-jane yet still asking a whopping $35.

We headed to our seats in balcony #1. A flight or two of the stairway leading up had the carpet removed. The carpet that remained has definitely seem its better days. I laughed to myself thinking that it's been barfed on more than a few dozen times. Out seats were just right of the center section row 'F' seats 9 and 10, or 3 in from the end. For my money almost ideal. When we first entered the venue they had Rundgren's, Initiation side 2 playing over the sound system - nice! By the time we found our seats they were playing routine 70s pop.

Much like the commemorative t-shirts, the stage set-up was minimalistic. In fact, looked similar to what you might expect to find at one of your buddies garage band shows. Before the show began, I slipped off to the restroom, which was just down the stairs and around the corner. I'm thinking that the show started around 815pm. Aside from Todd, I recognized only one other, Kasim Sulton on bass.

Todd played a vast assortment of his tunes, all seemingly off the cuff. He threw in a number of political jabs aimed at Mittens and then some tongue and cheek country stuff, including Patches, and then a song from Bonanza's Lauren Green, about guns. The show wasn't without a technical problems, either. They blew the sound system twice, once a bar or two into Hello It's Me. It was perhaps the most interactive show I've seen him do. Lots of funny banter.

I felt the whole time as if we were sitting in on an informal studio jam session, which was pretty cool. Thinking back to my very first Todd concert, it occurred to me that I've essentially grown up with Todd Rundgren. He's changed and so have I, but somehow we've managed to stay connected. During one of the encore's he played Born to Synthesize in bluesy/jazzy beat and without any special effects - a completely different song without the benefit of knowing the original. I can easily think of 10 more songs I wish he would've played, but in the end I very much enjoyed the show, and that's what really matters.

I should also mention that of all the Todd shows I've seen through the years, this was the first time that he didn't play lead guitar. In addition to playing rhythm guitar, he sat for most of the show. I guess he's getting old like the rest of us - 64 years. Without the benefit of conversation, I could tell that Mindy was enjoying the show, too. Imagine that, Todd, endearing himself to yet another new fan. We exited the theatre with smiles on our face and Todd's music still dancing in our heads. After 32+ years it's still alive and well.

Our attention immediately turned to a safe return to DoubleTree. stood just outside the Agora for a while hoping several cabs would pull up, but when none did we asked two of Cleveland's finest standing next to us monitoring the easy going crowd. They assured us that we'd have to call for a cab. Furthermore, they reiterated how unsafe the area is between the Agora and our hotel. Told us that we shouldn't take the bus either. Yikes!

While Mindy Googled Cleveland cab companies, I simply dialed 444-4444 thinking that would get me the Yellow cab company. It worked. I got the cab company. They only problem was it was the Columbus Yellow cab company. Silly me, I didn't consider dialing the Cleveland area code. By then Mindy found a couple cab companies via Google. She quizzed the cops of their reliability. They gave their thumbs up. Mindy called and ordered a cab. Once again, they didn't ask our name or destination. And like the hotel earlier, there were others waiting on cabs too. Several pulled up and each one I asked if they were there for us. No! I wondered how they could possibly know.

The crowd thinned in a hurry, but as long as the Agora remained opened and those two cops were close by, I felt somewhat safe. Just like earlier, our cab never showed - repeat theme in Cleveland. In fact, I read a couple reviews on Google while waiting that espoused the same sentiment. Mindy eventually caved and called Sam back at our hotel. He assured Mindy that he would get a cab to us. Not even a minute after Mindy's call to Sam, an ABC cab that pulled up earlier but took another couple west to downtown, came back for us. He asked us to get in then and then shared that he wasn't going to leave us there. Cool! He drove us back to our hotel just 2.2 miles east.

The fare was a whopping $9. I gave him a $20 and told him to keep the change. We were never more thrilled to be back safely at our hotel.

We were both hungry and after walking past the desk thanking Sam for his kindness, we headed into the hotel restaurant/bar. But as we suspected, the restaurant kitchen was closed for the night, bar only. Crap! We headed back to the room to scope out the room service menu. I poured a White Rajah while Mindy scoured the menu. Damn! Room service ends at 10pm too. I suggested we order a pizza, but that didn't fancy Mindy. She was ready to go to bed. I ate a few of the rod pretzels we brought from home and then the once warm chocolate chip cookie that the DoubleTree is infamous for. I washed it down with the Rajah.

The first went down fast. I poured a 2nd then got comfy in the bed all the while watching the end of the South Carolina/LSU football game. More importantly, we kept a close eye on the Buckeye score rolling across the bottom of the screen. They held a lead but every time we would score Indian would score, too. We bounced between the start of SNL and ESPN until the Buckeye game went final. We won 52-49. Can't recall the last time we gave up so many points.

Surprisingly, I managed to stay awake through all of SNL. But more surprisingly, so did Mindy. In seven+ years that might be a first. I think she wanted me. :)