Things to do in Springfield when your iPod's dead

Heritage Days at Little Flower is this weekend and the weather should be fine for celebrating in the time-honored Catholic tradition of combining family fun with beer. There will be 80s cover bands performing on Friday and Saturday nights, games for the kids, ethnic foods, and BEER. For you bargain hunters/skinflints, there will be a massive, 15,000-item garage sell on Saturday morning.

And get this – for $50 you can purchase a raffle ticket guaranteed to win you $25,000 provided that it is picked out of the drum at the opportune time on Sunday afternoon. Otherwise it will guarantee you to win $2,500, $1,000, $100, or, in a worst case scenario, nothing. But why dwell on the negative; you’re going to win the big prize.

Anyway, they’ll be more fun than you can shake a stick at. I wanted to book a performance by the BlogFreeSpringfield Dancers, but they were already committed to a month-long gig in Tunica. Maybe next year.

Locals like to ponder why the citizenry here won’t support a professional sports organization. I think I know the answer: we’re theatre people.

I went to the Muni last night to see Miss Saigon and was quite impressed, in light of threatening weather conditions and the weekday performance, with the number of people in attendance. It’s obvious that we Springfieldians have an appreciation of the theatrical arts and would rather spend our time in the company of thespians and altos rather than southpaws and shortstops. So forget all that nonsense of Springfield being filled with rubes and philistines, we’re actually tony sophisticates, albeit ones who still enjoy a good parish festival (see above.)

As for last night’s show, there were some very impressive performances to be enjoyed and if you like your musicals a little racy and heartbreaking, Miss Saigon is for you. Be sure to bring along, as Russ did, some 33 Export Lager to fully immerse yourself into the Vietnamese culture depicted on stage.

Since this post is largely self-serving, as opposed to the usual posts which are largely boring, I thought I’d seek advice on a recent technological calamity that has thrown my world into a dither. I believe my iPod is in need of a new battery, if it isn’t all together fried. I’ve read that it is much cheaper to replace the battery yourself rather than sending it in to Apple. Has anyone attempted this delicate procedure and if so, do you offer any helpful tips?