If You’re Really Bored…

What Clear Lake Will Look Like

You can join the thousands of people who will descend on Clear Lake, Iowa this week to celebrate Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Since some people obviously still have way too much money despite the state of the economy, organizers have set up symposiums by the men’s family members, concerts, and the dedication of the Surf Ballroom, where they last performed, as a national landmark by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -another sign that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has gotten out of control – they’re running around the country acting like theyr’e some kind of official body that can give real status to a building by calling it a national landmark. The weekend is called “50 Winters Later” and the city expects it to bring in over $4 million.

Clear Lake is cold. The low on Thursday night is supposed to be -1. There is nothing there besides the ballroom and a small memorial where the plane carrying the three men crashed. I could see stopping there while driving through Iowa for some other purpose, but as the focus of my journey? There’s no way a city of only 8161 people, like Clear Lake, can accommodate as many people as are expected for the weekend without charging exorbitant prices, but the city will try. Unfortunately for all of you sold on the festivities, tickets to the main show are sold out (although I’m sure Clear Lake’s notorious scalpers will have tickets), but tickets to other events are still available.
Image via Wikipedia