2. Big Country
The DCV countdown started way back on January 6th of this year w/ a note about the scoring system. Assuming most folks don't remember, it was a combination of
- how much I liked them in the 80's (60%),
- how much I like them now (30%), &
- how popular they were w/ other folks (10%)
Big Country lost big on the 3rd criteria, & got nosed on the 2nd criteria, but they were the clear winners in the "how much I liked them in the 80's" category. If it wasn't such a countdown copout I'd just call them #1a to the next band's #1.
It's sounds weird to say looking back, but Big Country's music was just incredibly instrumental in Dolberry's surviving (and perhaps prospering through) the high school and college years. It's cliched to say so, but their songs we're the soundtrack to the 80's for me.
I can still vividly remember sitting in my room listening to The Crossing and being inspired. Not necessarily inspired to be doing the homework I was supposed to be doing, but inspired to live my life in a certain way. Big Country's root-level philosophy was embedded in their one big hit "In a Big Country" (peaked at #18 in the U.S. in 1983) and it was to "stay alive". Stuart Adamson and the lads spun huge anthems about you-and-me people trying to make it in a world that was/is not always necessarily looking out for us. But the people in BC's songs always held onto a spark, always yearned for something better, always strove to stay alive (in the figurative and literal sense).
Some sample lyrics (that still come immediately to mind w/o need to reference them):
In a big country, dreams stay w/ you. Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside. Stay alive.
I will carry you home w/ the stars in my eyes. I will carry you home while the westerlies sigh.
It's just a shadow of the people we should be, like a garden in the forest that world will never see.
We save no souls. We break no promises.
But when I look at you I see you feel the same way too. And you will take my hand and be w/ me in wonderland
Im not expecting to grow flowers in the desert, but I can see the sun in wintertime.
The memories are very fresh when it comes to Big Country. The Crossing was always my get-fired-up-for-races tape. I still remember getting the Wonderland EP cassette from that mall south of Louisville (the same one where we got Intellivision) and wearing it out. Every Friday at SLU was Steeltown afternoon. The tradition was to listen to that tape in its entirety as part of the transition from school week to weekend. I wore lots of plaid back in the day in my attempts to emulate the lads. I still vividly remembering driving down Taylorsville Rd. one day and hearing "Look Away" from their third album The Seer on the radio.
The 80's were a great time for Dolberry up through 1988, when I dispatched myself to the wastelands just south of downtown Chicago for grad school leaving most of my friends behind. Big Country hit the skids (inside joke there) that year as well w/ their dismal 4th album Peace in Our Time.
Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, Dolberry and BC's fortunes both picked up in the early 90's w/ me leaving school, getting a job, getting engaged, getting on a good softball team. Meanwhile, Big Country blasted back to life w/ Buffalo Skinners. Again, the memories are vivid of an afternoon in Stephen's apartment in Elgin IL, him saying he'd gotten BC's new album & I should give it a listen. Not expecting much, figuring they had wandered off the track for good, I was surprised that the first song ("Alone") really rocked. Figuring that would be the outlier, was surprised the second song ("Seven Waves") really rocked. The whole album really rocked.
BC put out three more studio releases in the 90's and while never reaching the unobtainable heights of The Crossing or even Buffalo Skinners, they all had several very good songs on them.
I'm guessing that most readers know the total irony of how Big Country's story ended, or at least how Stuart Adamson's story ended. (I love Tony, Mark, & Bruce, but Stuart was the heart of BC.) He hung himself in a Best Western hotel room in Honolulu, on December 16th, 2001. His blood alcohol level at the time was > 0.279. Stuart had reportedly battled alcoholism for many years. It is strange to me how a life spent encouraging others to stay alive would end w/ someone taking their own. I get teared up thinking about it even now.
I was playing indoor soccer that winter in an attempt to stay in shape in the softball offseason. It was a team consisting of individuals who had signed up to be on the house team (i.e., no one knew each other) and we played that way. We lost nearly every game and most of the time was spent in endless recriminations of overly long shifts and not enough passing. I was pretty detached from all of this as I was in way over my head as far as my soccer skills go. I'd take a shift or two a half and try not to embarass myself. The night of Stuart's death (& I believe Kristin broke the news to me), I vowed to get a goal in his memory ... as he was a big soccer (football) fan. Amazingly enough, I got two. My only two of the season. Things like that make me think that there's a God, and he's real, and he's there for us, and he wants the best for you-and-me in a world that's not always looking out for us, and that we need to keep that spark, we need to keep yearning for something better, and that we need to stay alive ... just as Stuart said.
Best songs: In A Big Country, Fields of Fire, Wonderland, Harvest Home, Where the Rose Was Sown, Chance, all of The Crossing, You Dreamer, Look Away, pretty much all of them.
Worst songs: Eggplant, King of Emotion
Thursday, May 31, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #3
3. R.E.M.
Another band I "discovered" via the J-town library, which I guess was the Itunes/Napster of those way bygone days. R.E.M. is the highest ranking American band in this survey of Dolberry's memories.
R.E.M's career trajectory is essentially a chi-square distribution w/ four degrees of freedom (see plot). By the way, this is how I write at work. I express some fact/opinion and then say "see plot" usually in parentheses like above. Then I state some other fact/opinion which has its own plot, or sometimes for variety's sake a table.
Anyway, R.E.M. started in the early 80's, out of the University of Georgia, with their signature Peter Buck jangly guitars and Michael Stipe's mumbly, mostly incomprehensible lyrics. This style is most evident on Murmur, Reckoning, and Fables of the Reconstruction. In Dolberry's opinion, R.E.M. peaked with the fantastic Lifes Rich Pageant album which was produced in southern Indiana with Mellencamp's long time producer. In these days of Live Earth concerts and star-powered environmental conciousness, it's neat to remember that R.E.M. was crafting melodious treatises on why fouling our atmosphere and water (e.g., Cuyahoga) is not the best route to sustained life on this planet since 1986. And while the acid rain problem has more or less been mitigated through the use of market-based control measures (whereby utilites buy and sell pollution credits in an environment of a declining cap on those emissions) "Fall on Me" nails the oddity of a company having the right to inject large quantities of SO2 into everyone's air.
"Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky, don't fall on me."
Anyway, Stipe et al., stayed at the top of their game through 1987's Document and 1988's Green. Somewhere along the way though, R.E.M. started morphing from a cool college rock band to a pretty much insufferably huge pop band. 1992's Automatic for the People was really the worst IMO w/ its whiny "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon". The story is that Kurt Cobain was listening to this album shortly before his suicide and while I don't think it's that bad, it certainly is something best avoided. They bounced back a little w/ 1994's Monster (a somewhat late entrance to the Nirvana-led early-90's scene). And while Dolberry consistently bought their next three albums hoping for a return to form, it never happened. I didn't even get their last album. At some point, everything R.E.M. did seemed to be highly, almost-transparently calculated, which was an abrupt departure from their early free form days. Wikipedia says they're currently in Ireland working w/ Jackknife Lee (sometimes U2 collaborator) on a new album. Dolberry is adopting a cautious wait-and-see attitude.
Best Songs: The One I Love, It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine), Harborcoat, Green Grow the Rushes, Disturbance at the Heron House, Begin the Begin, Fall on Me, I Believe, South Central Rain, Driver 8, Pop Song 89, Radio Free Europe, Losing My Religion, Bad Day, Binky the Doormat, What's the Frequency Kenneth.
Worst Songs: Man on the Moon (I loathe this song in a way that bold and red font'ing cannot capture.), most of the songs on New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
Another band I "discovered" via the J-town library, which I guess was the Itunes/Napster of those way bygone days. R.E.M. is the highest ranking American band in this survey of Dolberry's memories.
R.E.M's career trajectory is essentially a chi-square distribution w/ four degrees of freedom (see plot). By the way, this is how I write at work. I express some fact/opinion and then say "see plot" usually in parentheses like above. Then I state some other fact/opinion which has its own plot, or sometimes for variety's sake a table.
Anyway, R.E.M. started in the early 80's, out of the University of Georgia, with their signature Peter Buck jangly guitars and Michael Stipe's mumbly, mostly incomprehensible lyrics. This style is most evident on Murmur, Reckoning, and Fables of the Reconstruction. In Dolberry's opinion, R.E.M. peaked with the fantastic Lifes Rich Pageant album which was produced in southern Indiana with Mellencamp's long time producer. In these days of Live Earth concerts and star-powered environmental conciousness, it's neat to remember that R.E.M. was crafting melodious treatises on why fouling our atmosphere and water (e.g., Cuyahoga) is not the best route to sustained life on this planet since 1986. And while the acid rain problem has more or less been mitigated through the use of market-based control measures (whereby utilites buy and sell pollution credits in an environment of a declining cap on those emissions) "Fall on Me" nails the oddity of a company having the right to inject large quantities of SO2 into everyone's air.
"Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky, don't fall on me."
Anyway, Stipe et al., stayed at the top of their game through 1987's Document and 1988's Green. Somewhere along the way though, R.E.M. started morphing from a cool college rock band to a pretty much insufferably huge pop band. 1992's Automatic for the People was really the worst IMO w/ its whiny "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon". The story is that Kurt Cobain was listening to this album shortly before his suicide and while I don't think it's that bad, it certainly is something best avoided. They bounced back a little w/ 1994's Monster (a somewhat late entrance to the Nirvana-led early-90's scene). And while Dolberry consistently bought their next three albums hoping for a return to form, it never happened. I didn't even get their last album. At some point, everything R.E.M. did seemed to be highly, almost-transparently calculated, which was an abrupt departure from their early free form days. Wikipedia says they're currently in Ireland working w/ Jackknife Lee (sometimes U2 collaborator) on a new album. Dolberry is adopting a cautious wait-and-see attitude.
Best Songs: The One I Love, It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine), Harborcoat, Green Grow the Rushes, Disturbance at the Heron House, Begin the Begin, Fall on Me, I Believe, South Central Rain, Driver 8, Pop Song 89, Radio Free Europe, Losing My Religion, Bad Day, Binky the Doormat, What's the Frequency Kenneth.
Worst Songs: Man on the Moon (I loathe this song in a way that bold and red font'ing cannot capture.), most of the songs on New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Wednesday
I've spent all evening applying for my own job. It's a long story. I had to update my resume and answer four long essay questions.
On the plus side, I'm pretty qualified for this job, so I like my chances.
On the down side, I'm too wiped out to write anything else. I'll put Relient K's new video up for your blogging satisfaction. Their single has raced up to #56 on the charts over the past month or so.
On the plus side, I'm pretty qualified for this job, so I like my chances.
On the down side, I'm too wiped out to write anything else. I'll put Relient K's new video up for your blogging satisfaction. Their single has raced up to #56 on the charts over the past month or so.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Baseball: Season ending loss
We lost 1-0 tonight despite no hitting the other team. A two-out walk, followed by a dropped pop up to second base, led to their only run. Meanwhile, we got two hits but stranded 5-6 runners.
Not bad against the #1 seed, but we had them beat. Oh well, ifs and buts & only one team ends the season w/ a win.
APD took the loss, but he pitched great. He seemed ok about it which is good.
Not bad against the #1 seed, but we had them beat. Oh well, ifs and buts & only one team ends the season w/ a win.
APD took the loss, but he pitched great. He seemed ok about it which is good.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #4
4. The Rainmakers
Look out now! Here it comes!
One of the most underappreciated bands of all time, IMO. They had a pretty devoted following in Missouri in the mid-to-late 80s. Dr. Ron McCann, one of the best roommates a guy could have, put Dolberry on to the Rainmakers during the SLU days. Their eponymous debut album, The Rainmakers, ended up being their biggest, peaking at #85 on the U.S. album charts. It featured several Missouri-specific references: "Downstream" (which was about floating down the Mississippi w/ Mark Twain, Harry Truman, and Chuck Berry) and the searing "Rockin at the T-Dance" which lambasted the American engineering disasters of Apollo 1, Apollo 13 and the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt which killed 114 people during an afternoon tea dance in 1981.
"You can still see the ghosts, but you can't see the sense.
Why'd they let the monkey go and blame the monkey wrench?"
This 1986 album spot-on identified many of the elements of what was wrong, maybe what is wrong w/ America: too lazy (Government Cheese), drinks too much (Drinkin' on the Job), too gossipy (Information), too lustful (Big Fat Blonde), and just generally too aimless (Long Gone Long, a true classic). Strangely enough, the Rainmakers had a Top 20 hit in England w/ "Let My People Go-Go" off this album.
They followed that album up w/ the equally excellent Tornado (1987) and The Good News and the The Bad News (1989). Stephen won a contest (or did I?) where we got to see them play a live studio show for WXRT w/ like 40 other people. I remember that was extremely cool but being slightly disappointed that frontman Bob Walkenhorst seemed way more interested in talking to the womenfolk in the crowd than dweeby (well, Stephen anyway) 20-something guys who had wished to thoroughly dissect every song they'd ever written. In retrospect, I can respect his decision. We saw them in concert at the Park West one time which was also cool.
The Rainmakers were always very popular in Norway for whatever reason. I wish they'd have come along at a time (like today) in which music is so widely available and when quality music will find a large audience via the internet. They would have been huge.
Anyway, my favorite memory of the Rainmakers occured on probably the best day of my life (top 2, definitely). The day I married the lovely KMD. We'd had a beautiful ceremony and had retired to the Galt House for our reception. The first three hours were mostly talking w/ people and taking care of all the obligations of a reception, but the last hour or so was a true blast, capped by Dolberry's mesmerizing dance to the Rainmakers "Tornado of Love" (slipped the cassette to the DJ at some point that night). If you weren't there, words can not describe the transcendentally athletic beauty of that dance. Well actually they can ... Dolberry mostly spun around like a tornado and tried to knock people down. I plan on reprising it on our 50th anniversary, so watch out.
Best Songs: Rockin at the T-Dance, Long Gone Long, Tornado of Love, One More Summer, Reckoning Day, The Other Side of the World, Too Many Twenties, Another Guitar.
Worst Songs: Wild Oats
The wind took, the ground shook, & me and my baby traded one last look.
The heavens squalled ... push come to shove.
Ain't no escaping the tornado of love.
Look out now! Here it comes!
One of the most underappreciated bands of all time, IMO. They had a pretty devoted following in Missouri in the mid-to-late 80s. Dr. Ron McCann, one of the best roommates a guy could have, put Dolberry on to the Rainmakers during the SLU days. Their eponymous debut album, The Rainmakers, ended up being their biggest, peaking at #85 on the U.S. album charts. It featured several Missouri-specific references: "Downstream" (which was about floating down the Mississippi w/ Mark Twain, Harry Truman, and Chuck Berry) and the searing "Rockin at the T-Dance" which lambasted the American engineering disasters of Apollo 1, Apollo 13 and the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt which killed 114 people during an afternoon tea dance in 1981.
"You can still see the ghosts, but you can't see the sense.
Why'd they let the monkey go and blame the monkey wrench?"
This 1986 album spot-on identified many of the elements of what was wrong, maybe what is wrong w/ America: too lazy (Government Cheese), drinks too much (Drinkin' on the Job), too gossipy (Information), too lustful (Big Fat Blonde), and just generally too aimless (Long Gone Long, a true classic). Strangely enough, the Rainmakers had a Top 20 hit in England w/ "Let My People Go-Go" off this album.
They followed that album up w/ the equally excellent Tornado (1987) and The Good News and the The Bad News (1989). Stephen won a contest (or did I?) where we got to see them play a live studio show for WXRT w/ like 40 other people. I remember that was extremely cool but being slightly disappointed that frontman Bob Walkenhorst seemed way more interested in talking to the womenfolk in the crowd than dweeby (well, Stephen anyway) 20-something guys who had wished to thoroughly dissect every song they'd ever written. In retrospect, I can respect his decision. We saw them in concert at the Park West one time which was also cool.
The Rainmakers were always very popular in Norway for whatever reason. I wish they'd have come along at a time (like today) in which music is so widely available and when quality music will find a large audience via the internet. They would have been huge.
Anyway, my favorite memory of the Rainmakers occured on probably the best day of my life (top 2, definitely). The day I married the lovely KMD. We'd had a beautiful ceremony and had retired to the Galt House for our reception. The first three hours were mostly talking w/ people and taking care of all the obligations of a reception, but the last hour or so was a true blast, capped by Dolberry's mesmerizing dance to the Rainmakers "Tornado of Love" (slipped the cassette to the DJ at some point that night). If you weren't there, words can not describe the transcendentally athletic beauty of that dance. Well actually they can ... Dolberry mostly spun around like a tornado and tried to knock people down. I plan on reprising it on our 50th anniversary, so watch out.
Best Songs: Rockin at the T-Dance, Long Gone Long, Tornado of Love, One More Summer, Reckoning Day, The Other Side of the World, Too Many Twenties, Another Guitar.
Worst Songs: Wild Oats
The wind took, the ground shook, & me and my baby traded one last look.
The heavens squalled ... push come to shove.
Ain't no escaping the tornado of love.
Friday, May 25, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #5
#5. John Mellencamp
As Etienne noted earlier, he & Dolberry and the Dolberry Sisters once made a pilgrimmage to Indianapolis to see Mellencamp on his home turf. As I recall, the concert was at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which I interpreted to mean that the fair was going on and we should arrive really early. Which we did, but there was no fair. Instead we sat/stood in line for most of the day & still had "seats" (it was a huge lawn) about 50 yards back from the stage. I recall there being a really cool sunset that night.
Anyway, Mellencamp was obviously a big deal to us Midwesterners in the 80's. "Scarecrow" and "The Lonesome Jubilee" dealt w/ issues that meant something to people outside of LA and NYC. Lyrics like "I'll probably die in a small town", "It's a lonely ol' night", and "his dream burned up like paper in fire" resonated back in the day.
JM was famously from Seymour, Indiana. Seymour was one of the many southern Indiana towns I visited during the summers of 1987 and 1988 working for Nabisco. Thanks to Mr. Jim Allen, I had one of the best summer jobs imaginable. Let me highlight the perks:
1) You made like $7 bucks per hour which was pretty sweet.
2) Every Friday you could fill a box w/ all the Nabisco products you wanted (e.g., Oreos) from their snack closet.
3) They let me take Fig Newton end stands to SLU after they were done w/ them. We used them as bookshelves and they were surprisingly dorm-durable.
4) The job was really easy. All you had to do was take the cookies/crackers from the back room where the trucks dropped them off and stock the shelves.
5) On really long trips (e.g., Washington IN), Nabisco would put me up for the night in a hotel, w/ a per diem. Other than when APD was really young & we all went to San Diego for a conference, this was probably my favorite business trip of all time. Got to watch a movie and eat at Ponderosa on Nabisco's tab. Wow.
6) Most of my summer was spent driving around southern IN farmlands listening to music in the old Datsun. Except for those times when the Datsun expired, then I spent my time in repair shops in southern IN.
Anyway, that was a great job & Mr. Allen was a great guy. This year's version of the O'Jimmies (my Dad & my roto baseball team) is an obscene offense to his memory. Ah, now I'm in a bad mood, just thinking about it.
I was tempted to dock Mellencamp a spot in the ranking for every thousand times I heard his "Our Country" song in that Chevy commercial. If you're so inclined, move him down to 19th.
Best Songs: Paper in Fire, Small Town, Minutes to Memories, Human Wheels, Rain on the Scarecrow, Hand to Hold Onto, Pink Houses, Pop Singer.
Worst Song: "This is our countreeeee. From the East Coast ... to the West Coast ... to the Dixie Highway ... back home. This is our countreeeeee." And this is our truck.
As Etienne noted earlier, he & Dolberry and the Dolberry Sisters once made a pilgrimmage to Indianapolis to see Mellencamp on his home turf. As I recall, the concert was at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which I interpreted to mean that the fair was going on and we should arrive really early. Which we did, but there was no fair. Instead we sat/stood in line for most of the day & still had "seats" (it was a huge lawn) about 50 yards back from the stage. I recall there being a really cool sunset that night.
Anyway, Mellencamp was obviously a big deal to us Midwesterners in the 80's. "Scarecrow" and "The Lonesome Jubilee" dealt w/ issues that meant something to people outside of LA and NYC. Lyrics like "I'll probably die in a small town", "It's a lonely ol' night", and "his dream burned up like paper in fire" resonated back in the day.
JM was famously from Seymour, Indiana. Seymour was one of the many southern Indiana towns I visited during the summers of 1987 and 1988 working for Nabisco. Thanks to Mr. Jim Allen, I had one of the best summer jobs imaginable. Let me highlight the perks:
1) You made like $7 bucks per hour which was pretty sweet.
2) Every Friday you could fill a box w/ all the Nabisco products you wanted (e.g., Oreos) from their snack closet.
3) They let me take Fig Newton end stands to SLU after they were done w/ them. We used them as bookshelves and they were surprisingly dorm-durable.
4) The job was really easy. All you had to do was take the cookies/crackers from the back room where the trucks dropped them off and stock the shelves.
5) On really long trips (e.g., Washington IN), Nabisco would put me up for the night in a hotel, w/ a per diem. Other than when APD was really young & we all went to San Diego for a conference, this was probably my favorite business trip of all time. Got to watch a movie and eat at Ponderosa on Nabisco's tab. Wow.
6) Most of my summer was spent driving around southern IN farmlands listening to music in the old Datsun. Except for those times when the Datsun expired, then I spent my time in repair shops in southern IN.
Anyway, that was a great job & Mr. Allen was a great guy. This year's version of the O'Jimmies (my Dad & my roto baseball team) is an obscene offense to his memory. Ah, now I'm in a bad mood, just thinking about it.
I was tempted to dock Mellencamp a spot in the ranking for every thousand times I heard his "Our Country" song in that Chevy commercial. If you're so inclined, move him down to 19th.
Best Songs: Paper in Fire, Small Town, Minutes to Memories, Human Wheels, Rain on the Scarecrow, Hand to Hold Onto, Pink Houses, Pop Singer.
Worst Song: "This is our countreeeee. From the East Coast ... to the West Coast ... to the Dixie Highway ... back home. This is our countreeeeee." And this is our truck.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #6
#6 Stray Cats
The amazing thing about this countdown is how little staying power a band had to have to be one of my lingering favorites. The Stray Cats were huge for about 9 months in 1982 and 1983. They were a strange mix of 50's-sounding rockabilly w/ an 80's New Wave sensibility (having hit it big in England about a year prior to hitting it big at home).
My favorite memory of the Stray Cats was watching the video to "Rock This Town" some Saturday afternoon & attempting to duplicate Slim Jim Phantom's signature leap off the drum kit to end the song from a folding chair we had. Something went awry & I managed to destroy the chair. Pretty cool.
Best songs: Rock This Town, Stray Cat Strut, Rumble in Brighton, Sexy + 17
Worst songs: Did they have any other songs?
The amazing thing about this countdown is how little staying power a band had to have to be one of my lingering favorites. The Stray Cats were huge for about 9 months in 1982 and 1983. They were a strange mix of 50's-sounding rockabilly w/ an 80's New Wave sensibility (having hit it big in England about a year prior to hitting it big at home).
My favorite memory of the Stray Cats was watching the video to "Rock This Town" some Saturday afternoon & attempting to duplicate Slim Jim Phantom's signature leap off the drum kit to end the song from a folding chair we had. Something went awry & I managed to destroy the chair. Pretty cool.
Best songs: Rock This Town, Stray Cat Strut, Rumble in Brighton, Sexy + 17
Worst songs: Did they have any other songs?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Great game tonight! (APD)
First tournament game tonight. We ended the season as the #8 seed (of 12) and played #9 tonight. We tied them earlier in the season. Nothing screams "What a Matchup!" than when a 3-5-2 team hooks up w/ a 3-6-1 team.
The day started out bleakly w/ a note and call that our best pitcher had broken his toe in the morning. As it turned out he was fine. He gave up his first run of the season, but exited on the plus side of a 2-1 ledger thanks in part to a triple he hit. APD got a nice line drive single to the OF ... on a 3-0 pitch.
We got them out in the 4th inning after APD made a nice 4-3 play on a hard hit ball and our 2nd pitcher got a 1-3 line out DP. APD popped out to SS in the 4th. But, they tied it at two in the 5th.
In the top of the 6th we gave up a leadoff walk and a SB, then our SS made an amazing 6-3 DP by tagging the runner trying to go by, then gunning the guy out at 1st. Our 4th pitcher of the game was pitching great & struck out the next guy.
Bottom of the 6th, we get a leadoff BB, steal 2nd, FC advances the runner to 3rd w/ one out. Two walks later both on full counts, we have bases loaded w/ out second best hitter up. He'd struck out his first two times but on a 2-2 pitch he hit the ball over the OF's heads for the game winner.
Too exciting. Our team is really getting better. Only one K looking & almost everyone was putting the ball in play. And our infield defense is amazing.
We play the #1 seed on Tuesday. I think we have a legitimate shot at pulling the shocker. If we do, beach goers will be able to see APD on Sat 6/2 if they so desire (9am game).
The day started out bleakly w/ a note and call that our best pitcher had broken his toe in the morning. As it turned out he was fine. He gave up his first run of the season, but exited on the plus side of a 2-1 ledger thanks in part to a triple he hit. APD got a nice line drive single to the OF ... on a 3-0 pitch.
We got them out in the 4th inning after APD made a nice 4-3 play on a hard hit ball and our 2nd pitcher got a 1-3 line out DP. APD popped out to SS in the 4th. But, they tied it at two in the 5th.
In the top of the 6th we gave up a leadoff walk and a SB, then our SS made an amazing 6-3 DP by tagging the runner trying to go by, then gunning the guy out at 1st. Our 4th pitcher of the game was pitching great & struck out the next guy.
Bottom of the 6th, we get a leadoff BB, steal 2nd, FC advances the runner to 3rd w/ one out. Two walks later both on full counts, we have bases loaded w/ out second best hitter up. He'd struck out his first two times but on a 2-2 pitch he hit the ball over the OF's heads for the game winner.
Too exciting. Our team is really getting better. Only one K looking & almost everyone was putting the ball in play. And our infield defense is amazing.
We play the #1 seed on Tuesday. I think we have a legitimate shot at pulling the shocker. If we do, beach goers will be able to see APD on Sat 6/2 if they so desire (9am game).
Saturday, May 19, 2007
APD's Outer Banks Trip
Taking a break from the countdown to briefly describe APD's 4th grade OBX trip. Thanks to KMD's dedicated service throughout the year, I was fortunate enough to be a chaperone.
We met at his school at 6:15a Thursday and got on a really nice bus.
1st stop was at Fort Raleigh. Very interesting site. The colonization of America didn't get off to the best of starts.
2nd stop was Roanoke Island Festival Park. That was really cool. The kids got to "work" as if they were part of the first colony. They worked on a ship, w/ a blacksmith, & learned some dances.
3rd stop was Jockey's Ridge State Park which is a series of tall natural sand dunes. It had been raining all day & was about 59 degrees, so there was some doubt as to whether the kids would be able to do this part, but we went ahead & did it. Because they didn't want sand in the kids shoes, we all did it barefoot. The kids loved it & I got off my best line of the trip, remarking to another chaperone (re: the barefoot slogging uphill in a steady, wind-driven, cold rain) ... "This isn't a field trip. It's a hazing." Ha. I'm pretty funny.
After that we went to Pizza Hut (no link, I'm supposing you've seen one at some point) and retired for the evening at a church's gym. The kids played basketball & rollerskated from 8-10p, then crashed for the evening. Sleeping on a basketball floor is something I can going another few years w/o doing again. We ended the day w/ a really nice talk from his teacher about how God had blessed these kids w/ so much and it was up to them to do something w/ those blessings. It was powerful. The second best part was after that when APD's teacher (who is outstanding) was on his last frayed nerve after all day w/ that many 10 yr old boys & 10-15 minutes of mayhem in the dark said "the next one that talks of gets up is getting the air let out of his air mattress." That quieted them down.
On Friday, we started out at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It had stopped raining, but was still cool and very breezy. At the top of the monument hill, it was probably sustained 30 mph which the kids loved. There were pictures taken. One of me & APD, if it turns out, I'll post it. Pretty cool up there as you can see the Atlantic and the Sound. The museum itself was solid w/ a really nice presentation. The kids got to run along the paths of the first four flights. APD was able to beat the plane on it's first three flights.
The last stop was in Washington NC at the North Carolina Estuarium. It was cool. Featured a museum and a nice walk along the Pamlico River. We saw a muskrat and some baby ducks.
We ate dinner at a Golden Corral & got back home at 8p. (In time for me to get to a 9p softball game where I threw two runners out from LCF, but we lost.) It was just a really special time to watch APD as a member of this big group of kids. He cares so much about his friends. It's cool to watch.
We met at his school at 6:15a Thursday and got on a really nice bus.
1st stop was at Fort Raleigh. Very interesting site. The colonization of America didn't get off to the best of starts.
2nd stop was Roanoke Island Festival Park. That was really cool. The kids got to "work" as if they were part of the first colony. They worked on a ship, w/ a blacksmith, & learned some dances.
3rd stop was Jockey's Ridge State Park which is a series of tall natural sand dunes. It had been raining all day & was about 59 degrees, so there was some doubt as to whether the kids would be able to do this part, but we went ahead & did it. Because they didn't want sand in the kids shoes, we all did it barefoot. The kids loved it & I got off my best line of the trip, remarking to another chaperone (re: the barefoot slogging uphill in a steady, wind-driven, cold rain) ... "This isn't a field trip. It's a hazing." Ha. I'm pretty funny.
After that we went to Pizza Hut (no link, I'm supposing you've seen one at some point) and retired for the evening at a church's gym. The kids played basketball & rollerskated from 8-10p, then crashed for the evening. Sleeping on a basketball floor is something I can going another few years w/o doing again. We ended the day w/ a really nice talk from his teacher about how God had blessed these kids w/ so much and it was up to them to do something w/ those blessings. It was powerful. The second best part was after that when APD's teacher (who is outstanding) was on his last frayed nerve after all day w/ that many 10 yr old boys & 10-15 minutes of mayhem in the dark said "the next one that talks of gets up is getting the air let out of his air mattress." That quieted them down.
On Friday, we started out at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It had stopped raining, but was still cool and very breezy. At the top of the monument hill, it was probably sustained 30 mph which the kids loved. There were pictures taken. One of me & APD, if it turns out, I'll post it. Pretty cool up there as you can see the Atlantic and the Sound. The museum itself was solid w/ a really nice presentation. The kids got to run along the paths of the first four flights. APD was able to beat the plane on it's first three flights.
The last stop was in Washington NC at the North Carolina Estuarium. It was cool. Featured a museum and a nice walk along the Pamlico River. We saw a muskrat and some baby ducks.
We ate dinner at a Golden Corral & got back home at 8p. (In time for me to get to a 9p softball game where I threw two runners out from LCF, but we lost.) It was just a really special time to watch APD as a member of this big group of kids. He cares so much about his friends. It's cool to watch.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #7
#7 Van Halen:
Edward Van Halen and cohorts flat out rocked for a period from 1978 to 1986 (or so). This has been somewhat overshadowed over the past two decades due to their unsurpassed ability for non-musical drama. To truly appreciate Van Halen I think you had to grow up in Louisville. We had one rock station ... WQMF 95.7. QMF played three bands in strict rotation, and while the songs could vary, these were the only three bands that were ever played: Led Zeppelin, Heart, and Van Halen. The Halen is the only one of those three I enjoyed. If I hadn't, this neverending blogging exercise would probably consist of Alabama, Eddie Rabbitt, & Oak Ridge Boys, because that's what the other side of the dial was.
Of course, if El Cuarte was doing the countdown of the 80's, it'd be a one-blog countdown consisting of these guys.
Best Songs: Panama, You Really Got Me, And The Cradle Will Rock, Jump, Ain't Talking Bout Love, Unchained, Ice Cream Man, Right Now, Dreams
Worst Songs: Jamie's Cryin', Dance the Night Away, Love Walks In
Edward Van Halen and cohorts flat out rocked for a period from 1978 to 1986 (or so). This has been somewhat overshadowed over the past two decades due to their unsurpassed ability for non-musical drama. To truly appreciate Van Halen I think you had to grow up in Louisville. We had one rock station ... WQMF 95.7. QMF played three bands in strict rotation, and while the songs could vary, these were the only three bands that were ever played: Led Zeppelin, Heart, and Van Halen. The Halen is the only one of those three I enjoyed. If I hadn't, this neverending blogging exercise would probably consist of Alabama, Eddie Rabbitt, & Oak Ridge Boys, because that's what the other side of the dial was.
Of course, if El Cuarte was doing the countdown of the 80's, it'd be a one-blog countdown consisting of these guys.
Best Songs: Panama, You Really Got Me, And The Cradle Will Rock, Jump, Ain't Talking Bout Love, Unchained, Ice Cream Man, Right Now, Dreams
Worst Songs: Jamie's Cryin', Dance the Night Away, Love Walks In
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80's: #8
#8 The Police:
My favorite memory of the Police was when the Dolberries all loaded into the Volare sometime during the summer of 1983 to drop Dolberry! off at the Naval Academy for some summer program while the rest of the family vacationed at Ocean City. I do not remember why I went along w/ this idea. Anyway, I had a decent enough time in Annapolis. I got some good brooding in while listening to U2's amazing War album on my walkman while running around the Naval Academy's track from which you could see Chesapeake Bay. I also had some fun learning about coastal engineering w/ sand dunes and stuff in the USNA wave tank. Very cool. Anyway, I probably would have gone to the Naval Academy but for three reasons: 1) the call of the Billiken, 2) I was pretty sure that I'd never get the hang of that strange thing the cadets have to do w/ their shoes whenever they turn a corner, and 3) I think you needed a Congressional letter of recommendation & we were Larouchies at the time. Anyway, from what I've gathered over the years, the rest of the family had a miserable time at the beach w/o me, and vowed never to be away from me ever again. This summer were all going to the beach as a family and so far no one has signed me up for Camp Lejeune, though I'm going to grip the door handles tighter this time as we pass. As they say ... fool me once ...
What does this have to do w/ The Police? I'm getting to it.
If you've been a reader of the DCV since day one, you'll know I was once upon a time a great countdown buff. Now, I hardly ever count stuff down (at least not quickly). 1983 was the golden era of countdowns & somehow I was able to talk Mom & Pop into constantly scanning the radio to see which song would be played the most during our car ride. Looking back, I can't imagine how annoying this must have been ... to listen to 5-10 seconds of every song before searching for another one. It certainly appears to indicate some guilt on the part of the parental units in dropping their only son off at military school while they went to the beach. The most-played-song contest came down to two songs: the horrific Sergio Mendes ballad "Never Going to Let You Go" and (here comes your payoff) The Police's "Every Breath You Take". As we entered into Kentucky heading west/home on I-64, EBYT was trailing by two plays, but aided by better knowledge of which stations were likely to play the Police and staying away from Mendes-favoring stations, Dolberry was able to engineer a victory for Sting, Stuart, & Andy.
The Police had a lot of great songs. "Roxanne" is pretty good, but if you've never had the pleasure of listening to it w/ accompanying falsetto from Dolberry, you haven't experienced it in full. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" was always a Trinity cross-country favorite which was sung when someone would try to run too close to you in practice. I love the fact that the Police were able to work this guy into a song so seamlessly. "Synchronicity II" was a pretty amazing song as well ... as the lyrics to that one pretty much summed up how I felt every day fighting the traffic home in Chicago.
Another working day has ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race.
Sting's solo career was sort of a disappointment for those of us who enjoy rocking out on occasion. Guess he was doing was he wanted to be doing though, so bully to him. Hope their reunion tour goes well this summer. They're playing at Churchill Downs at some point. I guess Louisville has Giacomo to thank for that.
Best Songs: Every Breath, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Don't Stand So Close to Me, Message in a Bottle, Synchronicity II, Roxanne
Worst Song: After a while I got tired of "King of Pain", but it was ok.
My favorite memory of the Police was when the Dolberries all loaded into the Volare sometime during the summer of 1983 to drop Dolberry! off at the Naval Academy for some summer program while the rest of the family vacationed at Ocean City. I do not remember why I went along w/ this idea. Anyway, I had a decent enough time in Annapolis. I got some good brooding in while listening to U2's amazing War album on my walkman while running around the Naval Academy's track from which you could see Chesapeake Bay. I also had some fun learning about coastal engineering w/ sand dunes and stuff in the USNA wave tank. Very cool. Anyway, I probably would have gone to the Naval Academy but for three reasons: 1) the call of the Billiken, 2) I was pretty sure that I'd never get the hang of that strange thing the cadets have to do w/ their shoes whenever they turn a corner, and 3) I think you needed a Congressional letter of recommendation & we were Larouchies at the time. Anyway, from what I've gathered over the years, the rest of the family had a miserable time at the beach w/o me, and vowed never to be away from me ever again. This summer were all going to the beach as a family and so far no one has signed me up for Camp Lejeune, though I'm going to grip the door handles tighter this time as we pass. As they say ... fool me once ...
What does this have to do w/ The Police? I'm getting to it.
If you've been a reader of the DCV since day one, you'll know I was once upon a time a great countdown buff. Now, I hardly ever count stuff down (at least not quickly). 1983 was the golden era of countdowns & somehow I was able to talk Mom & Pop into constantly scanning the radio to see which song would be played the most during our car ride. Looking back, I can't imagine how annoying this must have been ... to listen to 5-10 seconds of every song before searching for another one. It certainly appears to indicate some guilt on the part of the parental units in dropping their only son off at military school while they went to the beach. The most-played-song contest came down to two songs: the horrific Sergio Mendes ballad "Never Going to Let You Go" and (here comes your payoff) The Police's "Every Breath You Take". As we entered into Kentucky heading west/home on I-64, EBYT was trailing by two plays, but aided by better knowledge of which stations were likely to play the Police and staying away from Mendes-favoring stations, Dolberry was able to engineer a victory for Sting, Stuart, & Andy.
The Police had a lot of great songs. "Roxanne" is pretty good, but if you've never had the pleasure of listening to it w/ accompanying falsetto from Dolberry, you haven't experienced it in full. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" was always a Trinity cross-country favorite which was sung when someone would try to run too close to you in practice. I love the fact that the Police were able to work this guy into a song so seamlessly. "Synchronicity II" was a pretty amazing song as well ... as the lyrics to that one pretty much summed up how I felt every day fighting the traffic home in Chicago.
Another working day has ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race.
Sting's solo career was sort of a disappointment for those of us who enjoy rocking out on occasion. Guess he was doing was he wanted to be doing though, so bully to him. Hope their reunion tour goes well this summer. They're playing at Churchill Downs at some point. I guess Louisville has Giacomo to thank for that.
Best Songs: Every Breath, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Don't Stand So Close to Me, Message in a Bottle, Synchronicity II, Roxanne
Worst Song: After a while I got tired of "King of Pain", but it was ok.
Monday, May 14, 2007
APD Baseball
Our baseball team is starting to feel like we're playing soccer or hockey, as we tied our 2nd game of the season tonight. This one was 2-2. We played really good defense and got some great defense, but left the bases loaded in both of the last two innings.
APD pitched 2 shutout innings and walked his first two times up & came up w/ the bases juiced and two outs in the bottom of the fifth (w/ time having run out). He got down 0-2 to a fast pitcher, then chopped one down to the 3rd baseman who made a nice play & got the force at home. Then in the 6th, we had the bases loaded & our leadoff hitter popped one up to 2nd. It was a really exciting game. Probably no one deserved to lose. I think we're in 8th out of 12 now at 2-5-2.
APD pitched 2 shutout innings and walked his first two times up & came up w/ the bases juiced and two outs in the bottom of the fifth (w/ time having run out). He got down 0-2 to a fast pitcher, then chopped one down to the 3rd baseman who made a nice play & got the force at home. Then in the 6th, we had the bases loaded & our leadoff hitter popped one up to 2nd. It was a really exciting game. Probably no one deserved to lose. I think we're in 8th out of 12 now at 2-5-2.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Euphoria!
This blog is boring enough w/o me getting into details about my softball games, but last night's game was too much fun to move past.
I've been hitting much better lately. On the Gold team (10-1, 2nd of 17), I've gotten on base 7 straight times (6 hits, 1 E5). On the Blue team (6-4, 2nd of 6), I was leading the team in hitting going into our last game (~ .700). Anyway, we were down 17-8 going into the last inning last night. Dolberry had made the last out of the prior inning so I was minding my own business coaching 1st as our team battled back w/ a whole bunch of hits to 17-15. So, I came up w/ 2 outs, 2 on, and down by two, & cranked one down the first base line that bounced by the RF to the fence for an 18-17 Blue victory. It's been since Chicago that I got a hit as fun as that one.
APD had a nice game today as well. One hit and he scored our only run in a 2-1 loss. He was the losing pitcher, but not really his fault as he pitched 2 IP, struck out 2, & walked one. Unfortunately, we had a ground ball that was an E6, E3, E2 that allowed two to score. Oh well. After that we had our annual parent-kid game & they won that one 9-8. KMD got a big hit in that game as well, so we all are hot.
I've been hitting much better lately. On the Gold team (10-1, 2nd of 17), I've gotten on base 7 straight times (6 hits, 1 E5). On the Blue team (6-4, 2nd of 6), I was leading the team in hitting going into our last game (~ .700). Anyway, we were down 17-8 going into the last inning last night. Dolberry had made the last out of the prior inning so I was minding my own business coaching 1st as our team battled back w/ a whole bunch of hits to 17-15. So, I came up w/ 2 outs, 2 on, and down by two, & cranked one down the first base line that bounced by the RF to the fence for an 18-17 Blue victory. It's been since Chicago that I got a hit as fun as that one.
APD had a nice game today as well. One hit and he scored our only run in a 2-1 loss. He was the losing pitcher, but not really his fault as he pitched 2 IP, struck out 2, & walked one. Unfortunately, we had a ground ball that was an E6, E3, E2 that allowed two to score. Oh well. After that we had our annual parent-kid game & they won that one 9-8. KMD got a big hit in that game as well, so we all are hot.
DCV Top Bands of the 80s: #9 (new contest!)
#9 Men at Work
I remember the first album I ever really wanted (& got) was Men At Work's Business as Usual. Prior to that, I was always happy w/ 45's or taping individual songs onto cassettes. Yes, I feel old. Anyway, Men at Work pretty much dominated 1982 and 1983. "Who Can It Be Now" was #14 for the year in 1982 and they had three songs in the year end Billboard countdown in 1983: "Down Under" was #8, "Overkill" was #41, and "It's a Mistake" was #71. According to wikipedia, Men At Work is one of only five artists ever to have the #1 song in the U.S. and the U.K. at the same time (along w/ Simon & Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Beyonce, and the Beatles ... seven times).
However, pretty much as fast as one could eat a vegemite sandwich; they were gone.
Primarily famous as an Austrailan band, the lead singer Colin Hay was actually born in Scotland, only moving Down Under when he was 14. One of the DCV Top 5 bands also features a few Scottish lads. Anyone who can guess the Dolberry Top 5 Bands of the 80's in order (post guesses below) will when a special prize pack of a Dolberry! Best of the 80's CD and an old Dolberry t-shirt from the 80's that doesn't fit anymore. Good luck!
I remember the first album I ever really wanted (& got) was Men At Work's Business as Usual. Prior to that, I was always happy w/ 45's or taping individual songs onto cassettes. Yes, I feel old. Anyway, Men at Work pretty much dominated 1982 and 1983. "Who Can It Be Now" was #14 for the year in 1982 and they had three songs in the year end Billboard countdown in 1983: "Down Under" was #8, "Overkill" was #41, and "It's a Mistake" was #71. According to wikipedia, Men At Work is one of only five artists ever to have the #1 song in the U.S. and the U.K. at the same time (along w/ Simon & Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Beyonce, and the Beatles ... seven times).
However, pretty much as fast as one could eat a vegemite sandwich; they were gone.
Primarily famous as an Austrailan band, the lead singer Colin Hay was actually born in Scotland, only moving Down Under when he was 14. One of the DCV Top 5 bands also features a few Scottish lads. Anyone who can guess the Dolberry Top 5 Bands of the 80's in order (post guesses below) will when a special prize pack of a Dolberry! Best of the 80's CD and an old Dolberry t-shirt from the 80's that doesn't fit anymore. Good luck!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
DCV Top Bands of the 80s: #10
(Has anything so meaningless ever been so drawn out? I'm guessing, no.)
#10. The Fixx:
Only in the 80's could you have so many good bands who started out as hairdressers as Cy Curnin of the Fixx did (and the Flock of Seagulls guy). The Fixx entered Dolberry's conciousness in '82 as one of the early MTV heavy rotation stalwarts w/ songs such as "Stand or Fall" and the apocalyptic "Red Skies".
I wonder what year marked the point in which people quit worrying that the world could end any second due to nuclear war. I remember thinking about atomic mayhem many nights falling asleep while growing up. And for you youngsters out there ... we had this so-called "Doomsday Clock" which showed how close the world was to ending and it was always like 11:57pm. Just for hoots, I googled it to see where we're at now: 11:55pm. Now that's progress, folks. Good thing I was already staying up late tonight going over everything I could have coached differently in our 3-0 loss tonight.
Anyway, "Red Skies" made the prospects of a nuclear holocaust totally hummable ... "Red Skies at night ... red skies at night ... Oh Oh ... oh oh ... Oh OH OH oh Oh Oh ho ho!"
The Fixx hit it really big in 1983 w/ their Reach the Beach album featuring the smash single "One Thing Leads to Another" and less-smashier hits "Saved By Zero" and "The Sign of Fire". I saw the Fixx live in St. Louis w/ one of my earliest SLU friends Harry (last name forgotten). The Fixx started a great SLU tradition though w/ their "sharing" of zeroes w/ the crowd. Cy Curnin would form a zero w/ his thumb and forefinger and throw it to the crowd, then patiently wait for someone in the crowd to throw it back, whenceupon (?) he would catch it using a reverse motion of the throwng motion. We did it a lot at SLU because it was as fun and creative as hackysack w/o having to have any hackysack-skillz.
My other Fixx memory was that Ron M. hated 'em, or at least disliked them. One night when I was in a grumpy mood, I vowed to listen to Reach the Beach all night long to indulge my gloom by hopefully passing it on to someone else. Two problems w/ the plan ... 1) Ron usually forestalled getting gloomy by hitting/kicking/stickwhacking people & 2) I could only listen to about 6 Fixx songs by that point (1985?).
Best Songs: Saved by Zero, Red Skies, Are We Ourselves, One Thing Leads to Another
Worst Songs: The Sign of Fire, Less Cities More Moving People
#10. The Fixx:
Only in the 80's could you have so many good bands who started out as hairdressers as Cy Curnin of the Fixx did (and the Flock of Seagulls guy). The Fixx entered Dolberry's conciousness in '82 as one of the early MTV heavy rotation stalwarts w/ songs such as "Stand or Fall" and the apocalyptic "Red Skies".
I wonder what year marked the point in which people quit worrying that the world could end any second due to nuclear war. I remember thinking about atomic mayhem many nights falling asleep while growing up. And for you youngsters out there ... we had this so-called "Doomsday Clock" which showed how close the world was to ending and it was always like 11:57pm. Just for hoots, I googled it to see where we're at now: 11:55pm. Now that's progress, folks. Good thing I was already staying up late tonight going over everything I could have coached differently in our 3-0 loss tonight.
Anyway, "Red Skies" made the prospects of a nuclear holocaust totally hummable ... "Red Skies at night ... red skies at night ... Oh Oh ... oh oh ... Oh OH OH oh Oh Oh ho ho!"
The Fixx hit it really big in 1983 w/ their Reach the Beach album featuring the smash single "One Thing Leads to Another" and less-smashier hits "Saved By Zero" and "The Sign of Fire". I saw the Fixx live in St. Louis w/ one of my earliest SLU friends Harry (last name forgotten). The Fixx started a great SLU tradition though w/ their "sharing" of zeroes w/ the crowd. Cy Curnin would form a zero w/ his thumb and forefinger and throw it to the crowd, then patiently wait for someone in the crowd to throw it back, whenceupon (?) he would catch it using a reverse motion of the throwng motion. We did it a lot at SLU because it was as fun and creative as hackysack w/o having to have any hackysack-skillz.
My other Fixx memory was that Ron M. hated 'em, or at least disliked them. One night when I was in a grumpy mood, I vowed to listen to Reach the Beach all night long to indulge my gloom by hopefully passing it on to someone else. Two problems w/ the plan ... 1) Ron usually forestalled getting gloomy by hitting/kicking/stickwhacking people & 2) I could only listen to about 6 Fixx songs by that point (1985?).
Best Songs: Saved by Zero, Red Skies, Are We Ourselves, One Thing Leads to Another
Worst Songs: The Sign of Fire, Less Cities More Moving People
Monday, May 07, 2007
Grazie, Domo arigato, Chong rakhmat!
What a great weekend! Thank you seems inadequate. (So, I put 3 "thank yous" in the title in different languages.)
Most blog readers were there, so no need for the usual tedious detail. Thursday was a slow, wet, traffic-laden drive in. Friday was spent at the Downs for the Oaks. Never been at the track when everybody in the group was winning. (Thanks to Lucky Chucky.) Saturday was a great day highlighted by a front row view of the Derby, time w/ great friends, and a trip to the paddock for Race 2. Mostly losers in the picking department, but that was ok. (Congrats to Carey who won w/ Street Sense. 2nd year in a row for him. Will start calling him Lucky Carey.)
Special thanks to ...
Uncle Brian for treating us to a really special experience ... even at the expense of the owners of Double or Nothing.
Uncle Greg for the smoked turkey, parking pass, & already on-line pictures.
Aunt Linda for the early reservation of the space and Nathan for the security presence.
G-G Fitz for the companionship & watching Alex for stretches.
The Alexanders, Cynthia/Paul, and the Timins for being such great relatives/friends.
Lucky Chucky for the free money.
KMD, Sparky, Scott, & the fabulous Dolberry Sisters for a full day w/ a full house of under 10 year olds.
And most of all Mom & Dad ... flat out the best parents anyone could ask for. I hope I grow up to be like you guys. (KMD says I've already grown up. Oh well.)
Most blog readers were there, so no need for the usual tedious detail. Thursday was a slow, wet, traffic-laden drive in. Friday was spent at the Downs for the Oaks. Never been at the track when everybody in the group was winning. (Thanks to Lucky Chucky.) Saturday was a great day highlighted by a front row view of the Derby, time w/ great friends, and a trip to the paddock for Race 2. Mostly losers in the picking department, but that was ok. (Congrats to Carey who won w/ Street Sense. 2nd year in a row for him. Will start calling him Lucky Carey.)
Special thanks to ...
Uncle Brian for treating us to a really special experience ... even at the expense of the owners of Double or Nothing.
Uncle Greg for the smoked turkey, parking pass, & already on-line pictures.
Aunt Linda for the early reservation of the space and Nathan for the security presence.
G-G Fitz for the companionship & watching Alex for stretches.
The Alexanders, Cynthia/Paul, and the Timins for being such great relatives/friends.
Lucky Chucky for the free money.
KMD, Sparky, Scott, & the fabulous Dolberry Sisters for a full day w/ a full house of under 10 year olds.
And most of all Mom & Dad ... flat out the best parents anyone could ask for. I hope I grow up to be like you guys. (KMD says I've already grown up. Oh well.)
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Derby picks
... for entertainment purposes only ...
4 - Great Hunter
3 - Any Given Saturday
2 - Street Sense
1 - Circular Quay
4 - Great Hunter
3 - Any Given Saturday
2 - Street Sense
1 - Circular Quay
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