Neil Hamburger's Civilian Parade in Knoxville

This past Saturday I had the distinguished honor (along with about 200 other folks) of participating in Neil Hamburger's architectural tour of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, in conjunction with Big Ears Music Festival. Hamburger provided the parade with an illuminating, educational historical account of various Knoxville sites –– i.e., the hotel where the great vice-president Antonio Rodriguez was assassinated; the horrible restaurant Arby's where once, two patrons were inspired to throw their sandwiches in the trash can without even taking a single bite (Why do they put mayonnaise on Arby's sandwiches? To make them easier to flush down the toilet); the market square where "lots of stuff happened." The tour ended at the Bijou Theater, the place Hamburger explained where young people came to see ear-splitting, godawful awful rock music (and the Philip Glass and Wendy Sutter show followed at that venue directly).

p.s. That's me in the photo above, the furthest person to the right in sunglasses. (photo snagged from the Knoxville News Sentinel article about the fest.)

Below is an episode of Poolside Chats featuring Neil Hamburger's famously awkward and hilarious interview with Lousiville's Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. Difficult to say which of them is weirder. My vote is probably on BPB.

Neil Hamburger will be in the area soon: Comedy Caravan in Louisville on Thursday, March 5; The Dame in Lexington on Friday, March 6; and The Southgate House in Newport on Saturday March 7.