WontonBlog

Au revoir Harborfest

My hometown has always been the friend I can’t trust. It’s been there through thick and thin, but it was as much a contribution to the former as the latter.

To counter the apathy that invariably forms in towns such as mine, there are festivals, which like cheap perfume, merely masks problems with promises of the exotic and exciting. In South Haven, Harborfest amounts to a reason to wander aimlessly back and forth along the same couple blocks, wading past the oceans of people, young and old, but rarely in the middle, listening to a sickening mixture of bad blues, jazz, and 80’s rock, while hoping to stumble into some excitement. As a person who rarely goes into downtown South Haven, its a chance to see the familiar faces of those who do, and to catch up, through a string of nearly identical conversations outlining the last few years of our respective lives.

It was indeed fun to see people I haven’t seen in a long time, especially those who no longer live here, but were in town specifically for the festivities. Its funny how high the correlation between people worth seeing and people who no longer live in South Haven is. Funny, but not surprising. To all I talked to, however, thanks, and good luck.

Fahrenheit 9/11 opens Friday. From what I can tell, the closest theater that will be playing it is in Grand Rapids. Apparantly some theaters are being bullied into not showing the movie, with one theater owner in Indiana reporting to have received death threats. Regardless, I’d like to see the movie when it comes out. I’m sure its only gotten better since the preview of it I saw months ago. Anyone who’s interested in going, let me know.