Bleeding Kansas, baby

Bleeding Kansas

Bleeding Kansas, sometimes referred to as Bloody Kansas and/or the Border War, was a sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-SlaveryKansas Territory between roughly 1854 and 1856. The territory bordered Missouri, a state where slavery was allowed, and the area became a battleground for pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces who fought over whether the resulting state of Kansas should be a slave state or a free state. There was a total of 157 deaths during this period. Historians today believe that only 56 of these deaths were connected to the issue of slavery or politics while the other 101 deaths were drunken brawls or personal issues. elements that took place in

A few famous people involved with Bleeding Kansas are John Brown and Silas Soule.

It has been argued by some historians that the violence during this period was the true beginning of the American Civil War.

Wow. Seeing Death Cab For Cutie at the Bleeding Kansas music fest this weekend was totally worth the forty dollars plus gas/food money... because it was the most fantastic concert I've ever experienced.Not only was the music most excellent and beautiful live, but the whole show was amazing... the performance itself, the stage, the environment, the people, everything. Keane was an awesome concert too! I really enjoyed them, they were so energetic! And the lead vocals... absolutely beautiful voice... he's got pipes man. Sometimes bands sound so different live than they do on their cd's, but that was not the case here. Ok, and his british accent MAY have caused me to feel weak in the knees, just a little bit. Ok, ok........ A LOT. I love how he called cell phones "mobile phones" and albums "records"... haha, and when he was talking about one song he used the word "wintry"... I turned to Erin and told her I want him to read me poetry sometime, because that would just be beautiful. haha. Seriously though.

Back to Death Cab's performance though, definitely the highlight of my night. The songs I think they performed the BEST live are the following: "Soul Meets Body", "What Sarah Said", "We Looked Like Giants", "Title & Registration", "Transatlanticism", aaand "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" (purely acoustic, gorgeous). I love how they started off the show with my FAVORITE song on their 'Plans' album... "Marching Bands of Manhattan". Some other songs they did... "Expo '86", "The New Year", "Crooked Teeth", "How Many Calls", "The Sound of Settling", "Your Heart is an Empty Room", "Different Names for the Same Thing", and some more. I have to say the most amazing part of the show was when they played my absolutely favorite from their 'Transatlanticism' album-- "We Looked Like Giants". I kid you not, it went on for like 8 minutes, and half of the song, probably more than that actually, was purely instrumental... oh gosh, it was beautiful. I enjoyed it more than any other part of the show, I wish it never would have ended. :-)

My Keane favorites they played are probably like "no duh!"... but I definitely loved "Somewhere Only We Know", "Is It Any Wonder?", "Bend & Break", "Nothing In My Way", aaand "We Might As Well Be Strangers". Wonderful, wonderful music!!!

I can't not mention Mates of State, 'cause I totally loved them too. Their music is so different and weird, I can't stand it haha it's AWESOME. They are just two people- husband and wife, the wife is on keyboards, the husband on drums. They both sing and their harmonies are strange and beautiful, I looove it. I plan on familiarizing myself with their albums much more after this.

We saw 7 or 8 bands in all (just on the Main Stage). There were like 20 other bands that played at two smaller tents, so music was heard all day and night... 9 hours of live music!!! Haha, I brought that up to Erin at one point, I was like hey... ya know, when this is all over, we will have listened to live music for 9 hours straight. SWEETNESS, I tell you, sweetness. Another band that played on the main stage worth mentioning was called Aberdeen City, and I thought they were awesome. They're from Boston, if I recall correctly. Also, Broken Social Scene was a main event, and I liked their music but... it was after Mates of State and before Keane, and I was absolutely exhausted from being out in the heat all afternoon so I pretty much laid back on our quilt and fell asleep for most of the show. haha. I remember hearing 3 or 4 songs, a couple at the beginning and one at the end of their show... but that's all. They were sweet, I was just kind of out of it! Not my faves though.

After Death Cab performed and the festival was officially over (for those of us under 21, that is), the three of us traveled on over to Kansas City where we spent the night at Jamie's Grandparents' house... but before arriving there, we took a little detour to get some dinner (at midnight, heck yes!). We ended up at a Wendy's, where I (being the driver), pretty much acted like a drunk, giggling fool. It was the lemonade and the heat I think. It was a long day. So anyway, everything was hilarious to us. Even ordering our food... "a jr. bacon cheeseburger...mayonaisse...ONLY???" - "anything else?" - "yes, for the 5th time YES! We WILL be ordering more food, we have THREE people in this car who want food! YES!!!" hahahahah... ok, it was just really funny, but you probably had to be there. Oh goodness.

Erin, Jamie and I had a GREAT time together... it was a wonderful drive down there and even though it was 111 degrees outside, even though we sweated like 5 gallons of salt while we were there, I think it was pretty much a perfect weekend getaway extravaganza. All I can say is... you CAN get drunk off of lemonade if you have 6 glasses... and... ILOVEDEATHCABFORCUTIE. The end. :-)