right on bro!

Okay, so people are wondering why I went to Chili’s last night. As it turns out…the Hilliard/Dublin

area is brand new - that explains the total urban sprawl of chain stores, and little else. More on this

in a bit.

Just to be clear, here are my Three Rules About Eating at Chain Stores While Traveling:
1. Local restaurants are preferred
2. If local restaurants are not available or look too scary, local chain stores are acceptable
3. If #1 and #2 don’t work, eat wherever you can (this rule applied last night)

First stop of the day: I read on Roadside America that there is a field of giant corn in Dublin. So I

went looking for it, and I got lost. I ended up at the Dublin Convention & Visitors’ Bureau, where the

lady there seemed to take great interest in the fact that I was driving cross-country, and that I wanted

to see the field of corn along the way. I also got a history of Dublin - it used to be all corn farms,

until the city incorporated in 1987 and then went through a rapid period of development. That explains

the Chili’s, Best Buys, Dave n Busters, Starbucks, Bob Evans, Tim Hortons, etc. Dublin is now on Money

magazine’s list of best places to do something or other in the United States. It certainly seemed like a

very safe, upscale suburb.

Anyway, the field of corn is a public arts project - it was made to memorialize Dublin’s history of once

being a bunch of corn farms. She also pointed me to another art project, Leatherlips - which is a face

made out of stone that’s supposed to look like one of the early Native Americans that was in the area.

So after I got a map from the bureau lady, I went to see both things. They were pretty cool.

After that it was onto Cleveland for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It was a two-hour drive to Cleveland,

and I was playing the new Guided by Voices album along the way. When I saw smoke billowing out of some

industrial buildings, I knew I had arrived. I parked, went in, bought my admission, and went downstairs

into the main exhibit, which had a section called History of Music in Ohio, and it featured…Guided by

Voices! They only had album covers, but it’s good to see a band like GBV get a mention.

Unfortunately the museum did not allow photography so I couldn’t take any pictures. But I will bore you

with the list of stuff I saw. It’s mostly costumes - there were a lot of costumes.
* A couple of Christina Aguilera’s dresses
* Andre 3000’s suit from the “Hey Ya” video
* A couple of Jerry Garcia’s guitars
* Old Jimi Hendrix costumes
* One of Curtis Mayfield’s guitars
* Pete Townsend’s custom Hiwatt stack
* Old tape machines from Sun Studios in Memphis

Oddly enough I found little mention of three artists that I thought had a pretty significant impact on

music: R.E.M., U2, and the Replacements. Jeff Buckley got his own kiosk and I haven’t even heard any of

his songs. There was also nothing on Def Leppard, which was a disappointment.

That was pretty much it. I mean, there was a lot of other stuff as well - some funny letters from the

Rolling Stone staff, especially Hunter S. Thompson, and Michael Jackson’s glove. But I don’t think this

museum was nearly as comprehensive as it could have been. I’ll give it a 2 out of 5, also because I had to drive to Cleveland to see it, it was twenty bucks to get in and seven bucks to park., and I can’t get this damn admission wristband off.

Well, that was my day. After that I drove east. I ate dinner at a Perkins (it’s like Denny’s, see chain

store rule #2). I’m now holed up in Corapolis, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles outside of Pittsburgh. All I

really want to do is get to my brother’s place at this point, see my family, and get my Thanksgiving grub

on. It’s been a long trip, and even though it’s been cool so far, the driving is getting to me. One more

day to go.

Two more things:
1. Kelly, I forgot to mention that somebody called into a talk radio station in Arkansas and was

complaining about how they cancelled Hawaii. You are not alone.
2. Identify This Movie, Part 2: Clint Eastwood plays a Phoenix cop who goes to Vegas to pick up a witness.

When he gets there, he finds out there’s a betting line on whether he’s going to make it back or not.

Violence and stuff ensues. I want to see the end of this movie. Thanks.