Tonight, I feel the need for a deliberation on the topic of clubs, so please everyone, bear with me. (It may be old news to most, or just pointless news to the rest)

I visited the club Loose Change Louies here in Waterloo. It is in fact just outside the UofW, and close enough to Wilfred Laurier Uni as well. So you can guess the clientele.

It was, to say the least, packed. Not packed like you imagine a shopping mall at christmas, but packed instead like an overstuffed soccer stadium during a riot. Attempting to travel from point A to point B is perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of the club experience. I frequently found myself being pushed and jostled back and forth like a rock withstanding the force (or attempting to) of a broken dam.

But unlike the predictable nature of the flow of water, people here often don't bother finding the path of least resistance. Instead, the more unruly will attempt to blaze their own paths through the wilderness of people, often with detrimental results to the bystanders. (In one particular instance, a woman who had part of her drink spilt on her arm demanded I lick it off. The reactions of these bystanders as well, isn't always predictable.)

Remember, this isn't a riot. It's clubbing.

Another important aspect, I notice, is the complete assault upon one's senses. I think that, because the university students become so numbed during the course of their week, they seek out to become numb in a different fashion (with pleasure? excitement?). How is this occurred? The C&C Music Factory song Gonna Make You Sweat provides a strong analogy of what I'm speaking of in regards to smell. But it's not just the sweat that stifles the nose, but instead the reek of hundreds of colognes and perfumes mixed into the air. Happily, clubs around here have outlawed smoking.

Noise. As if the massive speakers parked around the dance floor don't rumble enough, there's always the consistent buzz of hundreds of voices, raised in an attempt to carry over the music. The speakers themselves though, are quite capable of dulling your ears, with large powered subs capable of pounding out frequencies low enough to burst an aging heart. Not the youth though, instead it gets our hearts racing.

Two senses down, only a few more to go. Alcohol does a lot of work for us here, enough beer will more or less completely muddle up the ability of someone to taste anything properly. While at the same time messing with our balance and clarity (sight) among others. Not that your sight needs to be fuzzed by the alcohol, the general darkness coupled with constantly flashing lights around the dance floor tend to do a fine enough job.

I suppose the point here, is that these factors amount to a basic destruction of coherency within a person, thus do we feel like we've escaped. Taken a 'trip' so to speak, without the hassle of using illegal drugs. Escapism has become quite an art form among human beings. Many people don't feel like they can truly 'let loose' without the culmination of these determinants. Another mystery? Or a reality in a world focused on production? This is, after all, the entire point of the weekend. To find ways to resolve the tension within oneself. (This resolution often goes beyond the club, into the bedroom. Or car. Or parking lot. Wherever works, really.)

So go ahead, go out and 'let loose'. I'm certainly not one to stop you, in fact, I'll even join in from time to time. The Gods know I could use a lessening of my own tensions.


~K

(Oh, as an aside, I just feel the need to mention something else. Perhaps the biggest hit of the night was my Manchester United jersey. I think I was pulled aside by nearly a dozen different people that wanted to A. Congratulate me on wearing a 'kick ass' jersey. B. Talk about Man U and tell me I better watch the game tomorrow. Or, C. Simply shout out "MAN U RULES!". It's great seeing the support soccer has around here.)