Homesick for a stomach ache

As a person who has spent his entire life living a 10-minute drive from Philadelphia, I like cheesesteaks. A lot. They’re not something I need on a daily or even weekly basis, but I do get cravings now and again, and I’ve yet to find anything in State College that satisfies my hunger.

Granted, I haven’t yet tried every rendition of a cheesesteak in the area, but because I’m naïve and easily forgiving, I’ve tried a lot of them—and I’ve cursed myself each time for giving State College yet another chance to let me down.

It’s not a complicated sandwich to prepare—it’s literally just meat and cheese and bread. But for some reason, you just can’t get a good one anywhere that’s more than a short drive from Philly. Whatever it is about the cheesesteak, they do something in Philadelphia that they don’t do anywhere else. But we’re not that far from there—only a few hours. Beyond that, there should be enough Philadelphian transplants in State College that someone could competently make one.

I mean, Tastykakes are widely available here, and a Rita’s Water Ice just opened up on Beaver Ave., so why can’t anybody make me a dang cheesesteak?

Philadelphia natives may argue over the merits of Geno’s and Pat’s and Jim’s and a thousand other places, but while all these vendors have their own idiosyncrasies, they’re all infinitely better than anything you can get here.

That’s not the point though—anyone could tell you the best of Philly is better than anywhere else.

My point as that, even at its worst, you can walk into any hole in the wall within an hour of center city, and you can find yourself a steak sandwich better than anything anywhere else.

This doesn’t make any sense.

I can’t stress enough the fact that it’s just meat and cheese and bread. And it’s not like the preparation is some kind of secret: most places actually let you watch them as they make it.

This is all part of a bigger, upsetting trend, though, and that is State College’s lack of culinary identity. Yeah, we have ice cream, and it’s awesome, but what beyond that? I’m not calling for any sort of fine dining establishment; I just want somewhere good to eat. Pizza, wings and Chinese food can only go so far. While I’m here, there are about 600 different food items I pine for, but when I’m home, there’s really nothing food-wise that I miss about Penn State.

Rock the Casbah

I got my first taste of a big bar show in State College on Monday night at Lulu's Nightspot when the Lemonheads came to town. The show was pretty good overall, but more importantly, Lulu's has got a pretty sweet set-up.

I don't know how successful live music can be in a college town where the vast majority of students don't care about live music. But if Lulu's can book some shows that appeal to the more musically inclined among us, it could turn out to be a great venue. The sound in the place was really good, even when The Lemonheads got into their more distorted punk numbers. The drums came through especially well, which was fortunate because the drumming, in my opinion, was the most consistent thing about the show.

The only thing I wondered about Monday's show is why it was a 21+ show. In a college town, does it really make sense to cut out the majority of your potential audience? I'm not sure if it's possible with the way the bars are set up, but a bracelet system would be ideal for the venue. That way you keep your hands clean of furnishing alcohol to minors, and meanwhile all the 21+ among the crowd can still drunkenly heckle Evan Dando.

The crowd on Monday was middling in size, but other than that, Lulu's was a great place to see a show. The decor is pretty sweet and the sound, lights and stage were all up to snuff. I can't wait to see how the place handles an all-ages show next month when The Hold Steady comes to town.

The Big Screen

The thing I've liked most about the State Theatre has little to do with a new venue for the performing arts, either national or local. I'm excited by those things, of course, but they're still trying to find their identity and really get the ball rolling.

What I've enjoyed the most so far is the theater aspect, the screening of old movies. I don't know if everyone feels the same way, or has stopped to think about it in these terms, but seeing classic films with an audience is really a worthwhile experience.

Some might say that it's silly to spend money on a $7 ticket for a movie that's been in syndication on cable for years, or easily available for rental. But watching a movie on a dinky TV set by yourself or with a friend or two is nothing at all.

I used to get jealous whenever I'd talk to friends who lived in big cities who talked about theaters screening older films. Of course it's got appeal: the Star Wars triology was successfully given a new theatrical run around ten years ago, and Disney's brought back their old films.

For example, I've seen Clockwork Orange many times, and even dressed up as the droog leader Alex for Halloween. I couldn't wait to plop down a few bucks for a chance to see it in a theater. Crowd reactions can change how you feel about a movie: you laugh at things you never considered funny, or feel the anticipation waiting to see the crowd's reaction to a big event.

But, of course, like all things local, that effect was diminished by a lack of interest: there were only a few dozen people there. I suppose it's ridiculous to expect a full house for a classic film, but I can't help but think if more people thought about the second chance afforded by a screening like that, I would have been in better company.

State Theatre Blues

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of watching a fantastic singer and songwriter perform at the State Theatre. Country/folk singer Rodney Crowell played to an enthusiastic audience and put on a two-hour set that didn't drag for a second. But, as I found myself to be the youngest person in the crowd, the show seemed to go unnoticed by the primary readership of a music blog like this.

Low student turnout could be because of unfamiliarity with Crowell. However, I've noticed a trend with State Theatre shows: They're bringing in noted acts, just not in genres targeted towards the student-age crowd. I'm sure most serious music fans I know would have enjoyed the set if they'd heard it; it's getting them in the door that's the problem.

Of course, it's hard to think of what can be done on that end. You can't force-feed someone a genre they don't like. For Crowell, getting most people past "country" is hard enough (though he calls himself folk-rock now, something I attempted to play up in my preview of the show.)

Ticket prices could also be a factor: Crowell's show was more than $20, like most other shows there, and some are more than $40. I don't know if there's a practical way to lower prices, but it's a huge detriment to thrifty college kids who are reluctant to throw down that money for a band they want to see, let alone something you have to convince them to check out.

It's doubly unfortunate, because if the State Theatre continues having lukewarm reactions to these shows, they're unlikely to experiment with bringing in different acts that might draw in this demographic. I just hope we're not stuck in a stalemate where they continue booking interesting shows that go overlooked.