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The Dispatch wrote
Mystery straw appears in Goodale Park pond
Monday, June 30, 2008
BY ENCARNACION PYLE
If you thought you saw a large straw in the middle of the Goodale Park pond in the past few days, don’t be alarmed. You aren’t suffering from heat-induced hallucinations. And your head isn’t clouded from marijuana fumes from someone enjoying ComFest a little too much.
There really is a large straw sticking about 3 1/2 feet out of the pond. It’s not just any straw. It’s a red-and-white bendy straw. The kind that kids drool over and can’t resist using to blow bubbles in their drinks.
Greg Maynard, a board member of Friends of Goodale Park, had the answer. “It is a conceptual art piece by local artist Vinchen,” he said.
Comments
- cheap: i highly recommend the Millersport sweet corn festival of course,the cor
- Jimmy Mak: Thanks for the write-up! Just to clarify - this is the third year we've do
- Briana Henry: Well, eventually they plan to add more bands from the region...gotta start
- bucki12: I like the business model, but the internet sales part seems like something
- racheltb: I don't see the Ohio Shrimp Fest on the list. It is truly a good time. h
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Mystery straw appears in Goodale Park pond
By: Walker
Related Posts:
I found myself kind of ambivalent about Comfest, to be honest. It kind of made me realize that I have a hard time telling the difference between a lot of people getting together to relax and have fun, and a lot of people looking for an excuse to go get drunk and stoned. It might be a matter of degree, or it might (dear God please no) be a function of me getting older, I don’t know. But when I found myself feeling that Comfest fell into the latter category, it got very boring very fast.
Edit:
I’m not normally one to speak out. But the festival has become an excuse for suburbanites and college kids to get drunk. I don’t feel like there is much community going on there. Just like the 60s… which were supposed to be about brotherly love and peace and togetherness…. I think the thing has gotten wildly out of hand and become more about getting wasted and dropping out.
I know my opinion isn’t popular.
Don’t be so sure. Much better put than I managed, above; just didn’t see it before I started typing. Definite +1.
Whoa, who rained on your Comfest?
Stolen bikes. Roommate hit in the face with a baseball bat. People puking in the park. Overpriced food. Focus on beer.
I’m not normally one to speak out. But the festival has become an excuse for suburbanites and college kids to get drunk. I don’t feel like there is much community going on there. Just like the 60s… which were supposed to be about brotherly love and peace and togetherness…. I think the thing has gotten wildly out of hand and become more about getting wasted and dropping out.
I’d love to see… (and even help) the organizers of this event return the focus to people getting to know what goes on with the people around town and get people to know about what Columbus is about.
I actually think the Do Dah Parade does a better job of showing what Columbus is really about. People having fun… supporting the things they love.
I know my opinion isn’t popular. But I’m posting it here anyway…. as that is what this place is for….
8)
Valid points.
Do the yoo-hoo’s still throw water balloons during doo-dah? Or was that forever banned after people got hurt and windshields were broken in the 90′s.
wow I never would have thought to hear hate from AB on one of the largest festivals in Columbus let alone the realest form of Indie expression we have. Then again comfest is fun and we all know about you and FUN things! lol
Yeah….. Indie drunks. Just what I love.
Indie? Do you mean like Independent Music lovers and mostly hanging out at Offramp Stage? We weren’t all drunk, some of us hang out at the Offramp Stage to see old friends that no longer attend shows or have moved to different cities but return for Comfest.
I would add to those thoughts a bit.
IF people like that Comfest is a place to go drink…. I would appreciate it alot more if there were 400,000 people there for an international beer festival.
I would just hate to know that the so called “best example of indie expression” that this town has is a bunch of people in a park just getting drunk.
I think we have SOOOO much more to offer than that.
I’ve never been hassled drinking in the park those other days.
I am having trouble wrapping my mind around that one.
We have a pond that is 1/100 the size of GP’s. I don’t spend 10$/mo to keep it filled, even during the drought times. (And those are radicalized numbers under-estimating my pond and assuming just 1K$/mo for GP.)
A.
IF people like that Comfest is a place to go drink…. I would appreciate it alot more if there were 400,000 people there for an international beer festival.
I would just hate to know that the so called “best example of indie expression” that this town has is a bunch of people in a park just getting drunk.
I think we have SOOOO much more to offer than that.
I agree with AB. The city has a lot more to offer than cheap beer and some pot smokin in the park. The politics and approach feel tried and dated.
When you google Comfest this is their search result byline.
I think the way the message of “peace and justice” is currently experienced at Comfest is ineffective and unauthentic.
You know, I totally support the drunkenness, getting high, gorging, and overall gluttony that is comfest. It’s just a huge pigfest through out. Even the stuff that was for sale was GROSSLY over priced EXCEPT the beer. Chicken Fried Rice for $11???? A burger for $7???? YOU GOTTA be drunk or high to pay that. Even the art was a bit pricey for what you were getting and how long it probably took to make the pieces. But I had fun so I didn’t mind!
BUT I didn’t see a single fight or argument and I was there at least a total of 10 hours. The music was overall decent. Nothing stellar. Nothing there says I really need to go out of my way to see this festival. I loved it, but only because I live here. I would not travel for it unless I had a free place to crash.
Oh and the overall flow of everything sucks. I say put food together. Jewelry together. Art together. Etc. Have little tented areas that make sense with less vendors of higher quality. Make a music aisle for bands to sell T-shirts and CDs. And decrease the music tents for Christ’s sake. The smaller ones suck they are so small and enclosed. Drop it down to 3 but make them nice and big and OPEN. Have a picnic pavilion by the food. Comfest isn’t broke, it’s just not a well oiled machine yet.
I found myself kind of ambivalent about Comfest, to be honest. It kind of made me realize that I have a hard time telling the difference between a lot of people getting together to relax and have fun, and a lot of people looking for an excuse to go get drunk and stoned. It might be a matter of degree, or it might (dear God please no) be a function of me getting older, I don’t know. But when I found myself feeling that Comfest fell into the latter category, it got very boring very fast.
Agreed. I’m not a fan of ComFest. I don’t find crowds relaxing or fun, and I don’t find drugs relaxing or fun. And while I do find drinking relaxing and fun, I like to do that in moderation and where I don’t have to worry about losing my keys in a mudhole.
I think the way the message of “peace and justice” is currently experienced at Comfest is ineffective and unauthentic.
To take it back to the original topic of the thread…. I suppose it could be said that the most socially aware, art related, relevant thing in the park was a straw in some shitty water.
My advice for Vinchen would be to go get a giant plastic cup and move the pond into that next time. :D
Corndogs @ $3 were as nice to me as I was to them.
Whoa, who rained on your Comfest?
Stolen bikes. Roommate hit in the face with a baseball bat. People puking in the park. Overpriced food. Focus on beer.
I’m not normally one to speak out. But the festival has become an excuse for suburbanites and college kids to get drunk. I don’t feel like there is much community going on there. Just like the 60s… which were supposed to be about brotherly love and peace and togetherness…. I think the thing has gotten wildly out of hand and become more about getting wasted and dropping out.
I’d love to see… (and even help) the organizers of this event return the focus to people getting to know what goes on with the people around town and get people to know about what Columbus is about.
I actually think the Do Dah Parade does a better job of showing what Columbus is really about. People having fun… supporting the things they love.
I know my opinion isn’t popular. But I’m posting it here anyway…. as that is what this place is for….
8)
Yeah, good points. I don’t know what it used to be like, but, definitely get the sense that its gone more mainstream – not always for the better. Is it a matter of a growing small minority thats ruining it for everyone? or is it more serious than that? Baseball bat to the face – what the hell is up with that? I’d like to think the guy wielding it would have been instantly buried in about 20 wet people in tye-dye shirts. Thats a wakeup call right there…
I was really put off by the number of people carting in booze to the park, and some of the conversations I overheard regarding the cost of beer at the event. Yeah, its expensive, but, hosting a party for several hundred thousand people IS expensive. And like Adam mentioned, why is it about the beer anyways?
So, what are some of the potential fixes? More Security? Start citing people draggin’ in booze? Haul off people that are intoxicated or being dickheads? Could be a riot in the making and the subsequent end (at least for a year) of Comfest… Not that any of the small percentage of assholes wrecking it for everyone else would give a flyin’ crap. I’m thinking stepped up security is one of the best/short answers.
Don’t know what the right answer is, but, kudo’s to artbomb for starting the hard conversation… Better now than after the fact when we’ll be saying “wow, I miss Comfest”…
(disclaimer: For those of you who Volunteer and give of your time, please don’t take my criticism personally – I’m very thankful for the time everyone gives. Things like this (however necessary) can be difficult to hear after you’ve been up for 36 hours picking up trash after the party)
Perhaps if that’s what people want, it should be moved to the fairgrounds, where it can take on the character of a drunken, riotous orgy, minus any pretense of community or art.
I’m actually serious. Better yet, split it into two — the community/art part to remain at Goodale, and the drunken orgy (complete with cheap beer sales) moved out to the fairgrounds, which would be intentionally watered down in dry summers to provide mud when none is naturally present.
BTW, on the subject of art, the best art I saw all weekend was not, unfortunately, for sale: I was at a mutual friend’s house and happened to see Artbomb’s homemade cornhole set. I wish I had pics — it was the coolest, and most howlingly funny, thing I’ve seen in a long time.
Well…I live in the community, therefore I support it year-round. So no, I didn’t buy beer.
I did buy a coozie and some corndogs though.
I enjoyed one of those on Sunday! So good!
Much of the same dialogue – community/message vs par-tay! – is occurring within the ComFest organization itself.
If you want to see it continue in any one of several fashions, get involved. There is a need for some people to take the handoff from those who have carried the ball for a couple decades.
A.
On a tangential note, someone mentioned Stan Sells… he is one of my favoritest dudes in existence. Nicest person around, they don’t make guys like that anymore 8)
If you want to see it continue in any one of several fashions, get involved. There is a need for some people to take the handoff from those who have carried the ball for a couple decades.
A.
Bro that means work.
If you want to see it continue in any one of several fashions, get involved. There is a need for some people to take the handoff from those who have carried the ball for a couple decades.
A.
Buzzkill, man.
So, what are some of the potential fixes?
How about instead of ridding the event of the things people enjoy…. like drinking and getting high…. start focusing on how to ADD other things to do that would make a balance in the type of activities that happen.
I’ve been to the meetings. (I agree with Mr. Hall about getting involved) However… the meetings are a crazy mess of confusion. In a three hour meeting…. I heard two hours of discussion about beer. Seriously. That is the focus of the event.
Why not dedicate more time to the art and music. Rather than making the bands there as background to drink to… make it the focus. Make it participatory. Make the art interactive. Chalk drawing. Contests. Make games. Have a “field day” portion. Allow families and friends to sign up for activities. Have workshops.
The logistics of managing a major party are hefty. I know that. But when the focus is placed on things that continue the trend… nothing changes.
I wish there were 500 straws. And part of the event was to pick your favorite variation. With the winner being given a prize from a sponsor.
This is just like the State Fair. There are some really cool things that happen. Imagine winning for best pie. That is some awesome stuff. But it gets lost in the sea of Clay Aiken watching NASCAR lovers that are there to win giant teddy bears for their cut off Whitesnake shirt wearing girlfriends.
(ok.. that was a bit harsh and elitist)
But really…. I’d love to see who in Columubus MAKES the best beer? Who in Columbus plays the best basketball? What social groups are in town and what do they have to say?
I want to know more about my community. Honestly.
(and thanks for the props on the Cornhole set. It was fun to make)