The Madison Bargain Hunts: Hunting In A Hostile Republican World

Madison.  Interesting place to hang out.  Lotta demonstrations going on from what I have seen on the news so when I planned to go up to Mad City it was to see what and how things work down there.  And of course to find music that I didn't have.  And came up with a few interesting things.

The weather was somewhat cool but I found myself pretty much having no trouble getting around the city.  By now when I go into town, I start on the west side and move across 151 to the other side and the next day, hit the Capitol and Mad City Music Exchange.  I also find that I have better luck at the Whitney Way Half Priced Bookstore than I do with the one on the other side of town.   Monday was pretty much going thru HP Books and then hitting PawnAmerica for their dollar CD sale.  To which I spent two hours sorting through a lotta crappy CDs and a lotta scratched up but managed to find three of them.   PrePlayed had nothing to speak of, they keep shrinking their CD inventory to the point that basically it's not much to find in there.  Come to think of it I forgot to stop at the Frugal Muse Bookstore on Washington.  No big deal, although I did stop at the west side store.

I spent Monday  Night at the Microtel as always, and pretty much took it easy.  I figured this was going to be a two day event at best, so I got about four hours of sleep and ended up getting back spams just in time for Tuesday Morning.  Nevertheless, that didn't stop me from finally walking down to The Capitol to see what goes on.  And basically despite what you hear, there wasn't much protesting in the thousands, but I've seen about 20 to 25 folks walking around with picket signs and shouts of "Recall Walker", one being Scott Walker, the Governor who took away the collective bargaining that riled up the state workers.  I took some pictures but sadly, the battery died before I got into The Capitol.  I got there about 12:30, and made past the check areas and inside the rotunda, is a beautiful sights of sculptures and paintings.  Inside, there were about 100 folks singing protest music and carrying signs and there were some schoolkids on a tour of the place.  Nothing radical, but I was amazed how orderly the protesters were.  Even the security guards were very nice. So basically I stayed a while and then moved down State Street to find Ian's Pizza, the pizza place who fed the protesters last month.  2.50 for a slice of Cheese or Pepperoni but I think the cashier messed up since I only paid 3.50, but gave them a tip and told them to keep fighting the good fight.

Got tired of feeding the meter so I drove back around where Mad City Music X was at and parked the car there and spent about three hours sorting through 45s and vinyl and finding a 45 that I used to have as a child, Tommy Roe's Carol for 50 cents and a few others.  Then walked back to State Street for a final walk through of the Capitol area before finding some cool stuff at The Exclusive Company (Say it with me!).

The night run at the Capitol showcased a group of folks still singing protest songs and holding candles but I think the overall feeling perhaps this has ran its course.  Things seem to have a back to normal feeling although there would be one protester on the block, ranting and raving.  But I think the majority of folks just went home since it was a bit chilly outside.  Or perhaps they're waiting to return for the weekend.  I'm sure they will but I have to say that I've never been inside of any Capitol or any place.   But with the events I may have been as close as I will ever get to the vibes of the 60's.

So I return back to car via a short cut at Monona Terrace and then it's off to a Borders that was closing.  Madison has two of them, the one over by the motel is not the list of being closed but the one on Midvale is. This one had two floors but by the time I got there, it was picked clean and whatever was there, Borders jacked the price up to the point that anything new was 20 bucks and even 40 percent off didn't vary all that much from Best Buy.  But you can tell when a place is closing, is when there's a down feeling when you walked through the doors and seeing the cashier with a sad look in her face.  Nothing we can do really, so I hung around for about 20 minutes and then went across the street to the new Target and see what was the fuss there.  Indoor parking, take an elevator to go up to the store, kinda nice but just time wasting to hit the road and return home.

In the end I saw the protesters, and heard them sing We Shall Overcome and This Land Is Your Land and it was emotional in a way.  But I felt like the old man out, still, I came, I saw and then went and found some more cool music.  And made all green lights out of town.

I'm sure I'll return again, but I have a friend in Des Moines that has told me of a new record store opening up.  Maybe I'll convince myself to go there sometime in the near future.   Afterthought:  Monday, Jeff Tweedy played there as well as 7 Walkers, but they must be following each other since they were playing in Iowa City last week I think.  The Old 97's and Teddy Thompson play Friday, but tomorrow James McMurtry and The Bottlerockets play at the High Noon Saloon.  15 dollars gets you in.  Would have loved to seen that.