Just finished 8 hours of commuting for a 50 minute show, which gave me plenty of time to dwell on commute/show time ratios. It\'s pretty insane how far we go sometimes to see the band play for a few minutes. To calculate, break everything down into minutes, then divide the total travel time (to and from) by the playing time. For example, tonight would be 480/50 which is 9.6. (480 minutes is 8 hours.) So that\'s 9.6 times more traveling than show-watching. Ouch. Here are my personal bests and worsts that I can recall:
Worsts:
7/23/2 Boulevard Cafe; Chicago, IL
56 hour drive from Eugene, OR, for 2 hours of show
Ratio: 3360/120 = 28. DOOZIE! If anyone out there can beat a 28 for a show they made on time, I extend my congratulations and pity.
Camp Creek \'04
450/45 = 10
Tonight:
480/50 = 9.6
Then of course there are the shows you go to and completely miss. These shows will have a 0 in the denominator, and therefore are infinitely bad. One time this happened to 3 carloads of us from UMass. We drove 4 total hours to and from Keene, NH when the show got canceled at the last minute. 240/0 = Unlucky Another example would be when I commuted 4.5 hours for a show that was actually taking place on the following Friday. 270/0 = Moron
Best ratios: All things UMass:
11/19/99 (my first show)
30 second walking commute from Baker to Butterfield for about 4 hours of show
.5/ 240 =.00208 or about 480 times more playing than commuting.
Other Butterfield shows (3 hours)
.5/180 = .0028
Pearl Street/Iron Horse shows from UMass:
30/180 = .167 6 times more show than commute.
And of course, if you can hear and see a show from your bedroom, then you have a 0 in the numerator for an infinitely good situation. This was a reality for a lucky few of us:
5/5/1 Baker Quad: 0/135 = Best show ever. These absurdly low ratios have a lot to do with the UMass bliss factor!
Looking forward to another killer ratio at FF6:
Wolfman the Statman