Setting of Setting of Champaign

The blog is dead, or atleast will be residing in the web's version of purgatory for a while.

Although I have several thoughts on the topic(s) described in my about this blog post, most of them would be pointless to share in this format and are better internalized and/or brought up through conversation.

But the blog was fun while it lasted and defnitely helped me to develop a lot of lingering thoughts about Unofficial as well as Champaign in general.

Peace.

The "About this blog" post

I hate to bring it up again, but the blogging has helped me to come across a great point that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

While editing a link on the site I noticed that the title to the last post was a bad choice. I chose it before I wrote the post which was a flawed and illmade decision because you should always title something you've written after you've started it, save a basic email response. Regardless, I realized that my title was wrong and wanted to change it.

The bottom line is that I've figured out what the purpose of this blog is. I always knew I wanted to write about something because I love to write. Yet to write on the internet comes the need to relate to others about something in order to draw interest and spark debate; or merely to provide entertainment. My blog will hopefully be a combination of both. Without this a blog is nothing more than a personal journal that others can read. And please note that this is not the intended purpose.

The topic is the setting of Champaign. My role is merely an actor. A narrator that will discuss other actors and changes in the various sub-settings within the greater Champaign setting. The goal being that it will provide similarities for those familiar with living here as well as entertainment for those who have never stepped foot.

It is because of this realization that I've decided to change the title of the blog and set in the motion the posts that will surely follow in the next 3 months. Because like I said, you can only title something after you've begun.

Aftermath

Saturday's News Gazette included a well written piece on Unofficial written by Amy F. Reiter. In it, she mentions how the ''late" bar openings didn't do anything besides irritate Dorothy Chrisagis, a local senior who has been living near campustown for over 50 years. Which is upsetting because Dorothy totally could have gotten a senior citizen discounted free cup at the neighboring apartment party. I bet she'd one-flip in Taps every time. The article continues with this almost poetic snippet:

"Throngs of green-clad students filled the streets on Friday morning, happily hopping from house party to bar and back. Some started the drinking before sunrise, and many ended it well after sunset. Classes became secondary, beer became green and Green Street became a hazardous place to drive."

Hazardous? Without a doubt. But she leaves out the operative adjectives fun and entertaining. My midday drive to the ATM on Friday was a unique experience. It's not often you get to drive around in midday while the front door to every bar in campustown is erupting green like an Irish volcano.

One particular image from the drive that stands out is that of a throng of girls attempting to cross fourth street. One girl gave me a look coupled with a wave that must've been intended to get me to stop, slow down and help expedite the end to their sobriety. I simply returned the wave, smiled and kept on driving while they hovered in the other lane. Although, I have a softspot in my heart for drunken pedestrians and didn't intend the act to be spiteful, the girls' lime tinted mindset had probably just caused them to assume that the light, like everything else on Friday, was green.

Officially Unofficial

With Friday comes Unofficial St. Patrick's Day here in the warped and wonderful world of Champaign, Illinois. The irony of course is that Unofficial is not unofficial at all and is the creation of bar owning guru Scott Cochrane. Cochrane, the owner of THE Clybourne, C.O.'s and Firehaus (referred to from here on out as 'the haus'), invented Unofficial in 1996. First of all, Cochrane has done well for himself. He has a diversified bar portfolio that now includes Firehaus which isn't really that bad, but has failed to live up to the hype that comes with a place that was rumored to open every Friday for about 4 straight semesters. Regardless, Cochrane's idea has now become so popular that other people are now using it not just to get drunk, but to make money:

"I spent a lot of time, money and effort for it to be successful. It took a few years. Now everybody out there is trying to rip me off"

Well, Scotty you'd have to be naive to think that anyone who owns a bar or sells booze wouldn't love to take money from morons like Chris Massie. Chris, a sophomore at U of I, displayed his brilliant time management skills by declaring that:

"I plan on kicking the day off with some beer pong at 6 a.m. and continue until my first class at 9:00," Massie said. "Between 10 and 11 a.m. I'll take whiskey shots, and 11:00 is my next class. Then I'll come back (to my fraternity house) and drink beers until I pass out."

Excellent. Commenting on a quote like that would only serve to detract form its greatness. Thank you Chris for making my morning. But what would a story about drunken fun be without some Debbie Downer trying to kill everyone's buzz and silence the drunken hiccups by bringing us back to reality. Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart used his emergency powers as city liquor commissioner to limit bar opening time untill 11am. According to commish Schweighart:

"I don't want kids drinking from 8 to 10 a.m. and showing up drunk in class" at the University of Illinois, Schweighart said. "I'm trying to deter drinking early in the morning. Maybe it'll distract them so they'll go to classes earlier."

Something (aka logic) tells me that this cunning attempt of chicanery will not deter those who would be willing to wait in line at Kam's at 8am to drink green beer somewhere else. And if you don't think there was a line outside Kam's last year, trust me, I slept about 100 feet away from the front door every night.

Eager binge drinkers waiting outside in sub 40 degree weather should not be confused with an emergency. There were 32 campus arrests on Unofficial last year, although I've heard several claims that two-thirds of those arrested were from other schools. Regardless, your friends at the Champaign police department will be ready and will target students that are "out of control" and bringing attention to themselves. Moral of the story: Don't go double-O C and we will avoid any emergencies.

Regardless of the buildup, Unofficial represents something different to everyone here in the land of CU. At its core is a time to celebrate and revel in the carnival that is campustown. Perhaps Cochrane had it right when he spawned the idea. Although the green he envisioned was a slightly different shade and contained words like "federal reserve note" and "dollar", he wanted people to have a good time and be safe. And now Unofficial has become something bigger and better than just one man's dream to increase bar traffic. It has become something that unites the campus drinking brethren in a way no other day can.

So what are you waiting for, get out there and have a beer while the sun is still shining.