I spent a month in Columbus, Ohio, last week.
Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck.
No, really. YUCK. Not the city – the bad joke.
I’m no comedian (obviously), so I generally leave the jokes to those who are. And last week, while in Columbus for a tradeshow for a couple of days, I ran into someone who seems to be a good one in the back of (614) Magazine, a free community publication.
It’s one of the best community pubs I’ve come across in my highly exciting business travel history (I mean, seriously, how many people get to go to places like Columbus for free on a regular basis. Right?). Good writing, interesting pieces, great images and design. And the best thing I can say about it: (614) was fun to read.
On the back page I met Mark Lucas, a Columbus-based comedian who writes a regular feature for (614) called “Parting Shot.” This one is titled “Jokes and Jams,” to complement June’s music issue, and it’s worth the few-minute read. Especially if you’re someone like me, whose formative years were the 1980s and whose playlists have freak tunes from Mister Mister, UB40, The Fixx and The English Beat alongside Dylan, Zeppelin and The Doors; ’70s folk rockers shuffling through the hip-hoppers and rappers of the ’90s; and all of it flowing into metal-head Metallica finales.
So, these days, the real question for people like me is not “What do you listen to?” but “What are you hiding in your playlist?”
And Mr. Lucas nails it.
Read his piece. And go to Columbus. From what I saw of its downtown, it’s a cool city.
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