Brutal day, great Celtic music and the usual -- you know, the usual Open Air Museum stuff.

At about a quarter 'til one on Sunday morning, I had a pint of Bitter in my hand, a stomach full of mussels, and was listening to a half-dozen musicians, some New Albanian locals and others from far-away Ballyfermot, all of them playing and singing together in the corner at Bank Street Brewhouse.

It's the little things that make it all worthwhile.

Saturday was a long, brutally hot and deathly humid day with far more in common with the equitorial rain forest than an ideal Southern Indiana day in June. Obviously, the Celts on the River show went on as planned in spite of the heat and a strictly personal level of annoyance with utterly non-communicative local powers that be which might have hit even higher on the Rog thermometer than the scorching surface temps; evidently, transparency ain't nuthin' but a four-syllable word that no one ever bothered to learn in school 'round here.

But please, let's accentuate the positive.

I crossed my fingers and NABC vended slightly more beer than last year while the great music was performed. Yes, the crowd seemed a bit down, which was understandable given the weather, but it was undoubtedly a successful event, and will be back in town next year. We may well have a tradition on our hands, but to preserve it, there needs to be a higher level of grassroots support on our side of the river. How we achieve that -- if it even is achievable -- I really don't know.

As for the usual local politician watch: Ed Clere and family were there. I saw Diane Benedetti and Pat McLaughlin (city councilpersons), and as always, searched in vain for Steve Price, Dan Coffey, Burger King and King Larry (who still believes he's a local politician). If I missed someone, please let me know. Gads -- a free concert, no tax monies extorted from them people, and still Professor Erika did not attend. Perhaps the inhaler tube got blocked with sticky tobacco bile.

By the way, in light of my experience yesterday, I have a question and follow-ups for the mayor at the coming mayoral forum on Wednesday, June 16:

Can we have fresh locally brewed craft beer down there at the waterfront for the approaching 3rd of July celebration, or is that one of the events arbitrarily selected to patriotically honor multinational swill?

What about the other events and how the city plans to treat 3-way supplemental catering permits?

Does anyone at City Hall know what 3-way supplemental catering permits are?

Is there a game plan for the decision-making process to award access to vending by the river, or is it a chaotic variation on the Oklahoma land rush?

Can you explain how the bidding system works?

Thank you.