OK, this is definitely a light week, and that's entirely my fault. Since the esteemed KA and I put together the mad dash to Michigan (with stops in Toronto and Hamilton) on the fly I didn't really have the opportunity to plan the Discography this week. Doubtless, we'll have a jam-packed Week 48 this week, even as we plan around Saturday's Four Sport Triathlon. And with that in mind, I should let you know that I'll be heading down to Miami in a couple weeks to visit the truly excellent Jack Schultz. If the last year has taught me anything it's that you should never put off visiting a dear friend.
John Mellencamp, Jack and Diane
This is definitely an odd week for me because I'm not a John Mellencamp fan. I don't hate his music, but I've never owned any of it and can't imagine I will. To be fair, this is probably more a reflection of my own tortured relationship with my home state than a commentary on Mellencamp's music. Certainly he ended up being a much better singer and songwriter than anyone would have ever imagined. I chose the song this week because of a wonderfully odd and oddly wonderful trip to Hamilton that was part of the excellent KA's and my trip to Michigan to see Sylvie Maple Burkhardt (I can't quite remember the names of her parents, some librarians or something). We decided to head across Canada on both legs of the journey, which, to be fair, is always my answer. Since we would be passing through Hamilton, and since I am Vermont's Leading CFL Fan, it made perfect sense to pick up some tickets for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats game vs. the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Saturday afternoon. I had driven through Hamilton but never made it into the city proper until this trip. It's a rugged, beat down steel city that has seen better days, sort of a combination of Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Even the Tiger-Cats uniforms are a very Steelers gold and black (I'm going to do some research on their early history because I have a feeling that there are definite connections between Pittsburgh and Hamilton, and that gold and black are probably the colors of some Eastern European secret society). In the picture below you can see the steel factory and the Orthodox Church which gave the whole city an eerie Deer Hunter feel. The stadium, newly renovated, is packed inside of an old working class neighborhood. We ended up parking in the driveway of some guy's house. Everybody there was thoroughly toasted before the game ever started, and a ten year old kid collected our money and was clearly the only one responsible enough to hold down that job. The game itself was fairly uneventful, other than Kevin continually discovered new peculiarities of CFL football. We saw two rouges, so it was a win. It was essentially the exact opposite of attending a Montreal Alouettes game, which is played on a university field - and has a bunch of fans who look like they simply ended up with free tickets and figured it was a good place to go before heading to a trendy bar. Tiger-Cat fans clearly lived and died for their team. Early in the fourth quarter they paused the game for a singalong, and we both had this feeling that they played the same song every time (sort of like the Red Sox and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline). Anyway, it was Mellencamp's Jack and Diane, and the fans sang along lustily. My initial thought was that these guys clearly had never truly listened to the song, but then I quickly turned it around in my head and determined that they completely understood: that these were the most self-aware and intentionally ironic people in the world. The line they sang the most boisterously was "life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone." While my goal is to see a game at every CFL stadium (Toronto and/or Ottawa are up next year) I think you can tell that I'm definitely looking forward to heading back to Hamilton for another game.
Dave Wallace
James - Laid
I recently heard Laid by
James, which I hadn't listened to in a long time. It reminded me how much
I loved the song, which dictated its inclusion in today's blog,
Dave Kelley
"Sonica USA" Alejandro Escovedo.
Escovedo has had a long and varied career spanning punk,
Americana, traditional Hispanic music, and garage rock to name a few. He
cites the MC5 and The Stooges as huge influences, and he is channeling those
artists on his advance single off of his upcoming release. Thanks for
introducing me to this essential artist, GB.
Gary Scudder
John Mellencamp, Jack and Diane
This is definitely an odd week for me because I'm not a John Mellencamp fan. I don't hate his music, but I've never owned any of it and can't imagine I will. To be fair, this is probably more a reflection of my own tortured relationship with my home state than a commentary on Mellencamp's music. Certainly he ended up being a much better singer and songwriter than anyone would have ever imagined. I chose the song this week because of a wonderfully odd and oddly wonderful trip to Hamilton that was part of the excellent KA's and my trip to Michigan to see Sylvie Maple Burkhardt (I can't quite remember the names of her parents, some librarians or something). We decided to head across Canada on both legs of the journey, which, to be fair, is always my answer. Since we would be passing through Hamilton, and since I am Vermont's Leading CFL Fan, it made perfect sense to pick up some tickets for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats game vs. the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Saturday afternoon. I had driven through Hamilton but never made it into the city proper until this trip. It's a rugged, beat down steel city that has seen better days, sort of a combination of Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Even the Tiger-Cats uniforms are a very Steelers gold and black (I'm going to do some research on their early history because I have a feeling that there are definite connections between Pittsburgh and Hamilton, and that gold and black are probably the colors of some Eastern European secret society). In the picture below you can see the steel factory and the Orthodox Church which gave the whole city an eerie Deer Hunter feel. The stadium, newly renovated, is packed inside of an old working class neighborhood. We ended up parking in the driveway of some guy's house. Everybody there was thoroughly toasted before the game ever started, and a ten year old kid collected our money and was clearly the only one responsible enough to hold down that job. The game itself was fairly uneventful, other than Kevin continually discovered new peculiarities of CFL football. We saw two rouges, so it was a win. It was essentially the exact opposite of attending a Montreal Alouettes game, which is played on a university field - and has a bunch of fans who look like they simply ended up with free tickets and figured it was a good place to go before heading to a trendy bar. Tiger-Cat fans clearly lived and died for their team. Early in the fourth quarter they paused the game for a singalong, and we both had this feeling that they played the same song every time (sort of like the Red Sox and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline). Anyway, it was Mellencamp's Jack and Diane, and the fans sang along lustily. My initial thought was that these guys clearly had never truly listened to the song, but then I quickly turned it around in my head and determined that they completely understood: that these were the most self-aware and intentionally ironic people in the world. The line they sang the most boisterously was "life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone." While my goal is to see a game at every CFL stadium (Toronto and/or Ottawa are up next year) I think you can tell that I'm definitely looking forward to heading back to Hamilton for another game.
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| Here's a view from the top of the stadium. In the distance you can make out the huge steel factory that takes up most of the horizon, and up closer you can see the Orthodox Church. I'm not certain you can see the house where we parked our car, but it's over on a cross street behind the scoreboard somewhere. |
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