Badlands

Badlands                                                  1844

Tuesday, September 27, 2005-12:48 MDT (Wednesday morning)

Hello from Dickinson, North Dakota, home of the new Days Inn Grand Dakota Lodge, and the field office for Ralph Tetta and Inner Loop Comedy Productions for the next day or so.  I left Lexington, Nebraska, around 7:00 this morning, and drove about 9 hours, trimming 3 hour or so off of the expected drive time (according to RandMcNally.com).  I traversed western Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota, going through a part of the country known as "The Badlands."  If you've never been out here, there's really no way to describe it, other than that there's absolutely nothing, and plenty of it. You might see a herd of cows, about eight or twelve of them, and have no idea who they belong to, because you won't see a barn or a house for miles.  The curvature of the Earth seems to disappear, and you can see absolutely nothing for ever and ever....it's very humbling.  About six hours into my trip, I absolutely declared my unquestioning faith in a God because only a supreme being could make a place like this, but at the same time, I decided that His love for us is overrated.  The Badlands are a Godforsaken place.

I hit the road as the sun came up, and it was one of those red sunrises that they tell you sailors don't like, because the weather is supposed to be bad.  I got lucky and stayed in front of it all the way to Dickinson.  A little rain might have been nice, because there's an overpowering animal waste smell in the midwest, either from the animals they raise, or the crops they fertilize.  Either way, western Nebraska needs a flushing.

My biggest fear was running out of gas or having a mechanical problem on my way to North Dakota.  I had zero cell signal for most of the day, which meant I was subject to the loneliness of no human contact.  Luckily, I brought music for the car, because radio wasn't happening, either.  For long trips, I recommend blues and jam band stuff like Widespread Panic.  It really makes the miles melt away.

I'm working with Bob Jay this week, formerly of Full Contact.  He's an impressionist and is a lot of fun to watch on stage.  The bar was a rowdy place to work tonight, and I didn't envy him having to do his thing.  I fought my way through, but only had to hand for half an hour, and I could do the mc/warmup thing and not try to drive my material home.  Afterwards, it was Taco John's for us, and now I'm getting ready for a nice nap.

In the meantime, I got my pictures back from the developer, so I thought I would share some with you.  This is me after my headlining set in Niagara Falls at the House of Comedy with a couple of fans back in August.  Ain't I the chick magnet?

Have a nice day!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY