Last Friday Jason and I went to a concert at the U of U, known as The Grand Kerfuffle, with my brother Andrew and his fiancé Simone. What is a kerfuffle you ask? The answer: I have absolutely no idea. I think it must be something akin to a shindig. Whatever it is, the U’s event is not just your average kerfuffle-it’s a GRAND kerfuffle. So all you schools that put on common kerfuffles-take that!

Although I’m still not entirely sure what exactly a kerfuffle is, this I do know, The Grand Kerfuffle is an outdoor concert thrown every year for the student body. It used to be an entirely free event and now students pay just five dollars to attend. Since my bro and Simone are both students at the U, they were able to get $5 tickets for me and Jason. The bands performing this year were Augustana, Hellogoodbye, and Shiny Toy Guns. Since I like all three of these bands, there was no way I could pass on $5 tickets to see them.

The weather on Friday was supposed to be warm and springish, unlike the other days last week that it snowed and felt like February again. But alas, the weathermen were slightly off on their prediction of when the warm front would move in, and Friday didn’t feel anything like mid-April. So I wore my boarding coat on top of another coat, and a beanie to this concert. Drew somehow forgot that it was freezing outside and didn’t bring anything but a hoodie. He had to borrow every extra warm thing we had brought. Common sense is not a strong trait in my family.

We had a lot of fun at the concert, despite a couple peculiarities. Yes, some things were peculiar. First of all, the crowd was very cheering deficient. Seriously people, do you not know how to clap? I felt like I was one of the loudest people there. Even when they were obviously enjoying themselves, their cheering was rather pathetic.It was a strange phenomenon.

Another thing that I thought was somewhat obnoxious was the couples making out roughly a foot away from us. Okay people, we realize you are anxious to get some action, but at least go to the back were you aren’t so conspicuous. Is that really so much to ask? If I had wanted that kind of show I would have just stayed at home. College students…was I ever that dumb?

But yes, regardless of these oddities, I had a great time. We didn’t make it in time to see Augustana, unfortunately, but we did see most of Hellogoodbye’s performance. The crowd was obviously not terribly familiar with their music and didn’t really get too into it, until they played their one hit, All of Your Love.

The crowd reacted much differently to Shiny Toy Guns. Their applause was still lacking, but they were definitely energized and grooving with the music. The masses were jumping, moshing, and crowd surfing. I took the opportunity to jump too, even with my temperamental tendon. Simone, I discovered, is a woman after my own heart. She and I bounced around and rocked until our legs felt like jelly. I can’t say the same for the boys. Though, with some strong encouragement, I actually did get Jason to jump with me a little. He looked a bit like the guys from A Night at the Roxbury, but I was glad to see him do something beside just stand there.

All the bouncing paid off for me and Simone. We stayed nice and warm while the boys froze. Those boys…

I still had a great time even with Mr. Lethargic. It was a fun, energetic, and cheap concert. So thanks Drew and Simone for inviting us to tag along, and thanks Simone for shaking it with me. There was a whole lot of kerfuffling going on!

P.S. It has come to my attention that kerfuffle means a disorderly outburst or tumult. We learn something new everyday.

There is a strange and unique species of geek, a relative of Videogameous dorkus nocturnous, which thrives on a specific activity-playing board games. This species is known as Boardgameous dorkus maximus.

Although they are in the same geek family, there are several differences between Videogameous and Boardgameous. Unlike its cousin, Boardgameous actually enjoys being in the presence of real human beings and having genuine social interaction. To the non-geek, the type of socializing that occurs at board gaming events might seem strange and perhaps undesirable, but it is still interaction between actual living beings, and is therefore less geeky than the atmosphere Videogameous dwells in, which is devoid of any human contact.

Now, if when I mention board games, you are envisioning the likes of Monopoly, Clue, Cranium, Battleship, Sorry, or Life- you are grossly underestimating the caliber of geek I am referring to. Boardgameous would never be satisfied playing such games, they are for lesser beings. Instead, Boardgameous enjoys games such as: Arkham Horror, War of the Ring, Descent, Robo Rally, Puerto Rico-games that all you non-game geeks have probably never heard of. If these games are unfamiliar to you, rejoice, for you are less geeky than me and there is still hope for you.

These geeky games are much more complex than your standard board game. In fact, some of their rule books are about the same length as Crime and Punishment and take an equivalent time to read. And if reading the rules for a game doesn’t take you a decade, playing the game certainly will. The playing of some of these games is an all day event.

I must admit, that while I am not really into the extreme hard core geek games, such as Arkham Horror or Descent, I do quite enjoy geek gaming. Nearly every Saturday night for over a year now Jason and I could be found at the Rowley’s playing some geek board game. Now that the Rowley’s have moved to New Jersey we will have to relocate our game night, but the tradition will continue.

Speaking of the Rowley’s-no discussion about board game geeks is complete without mentioning Jeremy Rowley. He is a perfect example of a special sub-species of Boardgameous. This subspecies is practically unable to function unless given a regular infusion of board games. I am happy to say, that while I am geekier than I would like to admit, I am not THAT geeky. (Halleluiah!)

So there you have it, my confession. Although I am much less obsessed than Jeremy Rowley, I am a board game geek, and I have no intention of reforming.