I’ve just posted the photos from last weekend’s brouhaha at the illustrious Welland Soccer club. You’ll also see a few photos from the Friday – with peelers apparent and a few choice stills from Chopper’s garage. More explication to come.
Friday’s Quizzlet: Tripper The Light Fantastic.
Appetizer: Measured in minutes, how much exercise have you had this week?
Just walking around, really. When I arrived at the Buffalo Airport last Friday, I checked my voicemail and discovered I had to wait an hour to be picked up. So I left the terminal, suitcase dragging behind me, and tried to find a bar, restaurant, anything. I saw the golden arches in the distance and walked 20 minutes to get there. The highway was too busy to cross, so I remained cheeseburgerless. By the time I walked back to arrivals and read for 20 minutes – Gary was there.
Soup: If you had to change your blog title to something else, what would it be?
It wouldn’t be my real name – that’s for sure. I’ve gotten into trouble a few times and honestly have started to pull punches a bit. It’s unfortunate, but I’m not frigging Walter Winchell. I do this for fun, not for integrity, so I’d rather it didn’t get me killed at any point.
Salad: Name one television show you watched when you were 9-12 years old.
I was a huge Three’s Company fan. I could tie plotlines to landlords – “yeah, that was during the Norman Fell era, not Don Knotts. And Mona hadn’t schtupped Larry yet”. There’s worse things to be obsessed with when you’re young. Like going outside to play.
Main Course: If someone gave you $50 to spend with the one condition that it had to be educational, what would you purchase?
Yet another self help book, probably. I haven’t read any of them yet. I can just see them on the shelf when I’m in bed and they make me feel better about the fact I’m watching Three’s Company on Nickelodeon as opposed to learning about investing. Jack invested lots of money at the Regal Beagle if I remember correctly. I’m forever thankful I’m not easily distracted.
Dessert: Do you tend to prefer dark colors, neutral shades, or pastel hues?
I tend to be heterosexual. But if this answers the question at all, I likey cobalt blue.
I Don’t Even Know What Espionage Means, Sir.
Once upon a time I worked at a company who insisted I sign a lengthy and vague non-compete / non-disclosure policy which obviously benefitted absolutely no one but themselves. Supposing I had decided to sell a 500-word webcam product review to the Russians – what could have been my fate, I wonder? I think non-competes are designed to make CEOs feel better about themselves. Especially if you sell, like, rabbit food or something. I’ve even seen interns made to sign the things. Let’s act out a little scene here for illustrative purposes:
– “Let me get this straight. I am going to intern here and basically work for you for free for 300 hours this summer.”
– “That’s the offer on the table, yes.”
– “And on top of that, I have to sign a document saying I will never perform the skills I am interning here to learn in practice for any other company – for a period of at least 5 years?”
– “Bingo, baby.“
– Are you going to guarantee me a job at the end of my internship?
– You’ve got a better chance of seeing one-legged a cat bury a turd on a frozen pond. So do we have a deal?“
– What color is the sky in your world?
And… scene. Be careful what you sign, kids. I am not going to go into any amount of detail, but I’ve seen some silly things recently that have made my head spin with disbelief. Or maybe that was just all the mentholated schnapps.
Wednesday Wadio: The Specials ‘Ghost Town’.
“This town, is coming like a ghost town
All the clubs have been closed down
This place, is coming like a ghost town
Bands won’t play no more
Too much fighting on the dance floor”
I knew who the Specials were, and I’d heard A Message to Rudy hundreds of times over many years with complete indifference. Although I was a fan of the Clash, and knew a lot about the whole ska scene via UB40-ish knock-offs and the musical guests on The Young Ones, I was completely unimpressed. Then one evening I was walking across Government Center in the dark with my new iPod on shuffle – and the opening mournful organ chords of Ghost Town started playing. I never saw the song the same way again.
The club referred to in the lines “All the clubs are being closed down” and “Too much fighting on the dance floor” was The Locarno. It is now Coventry Central Library.
I had listened to it subconciously a dozen times – it features very prominently in one of my all time favorite movies, Snatch, for example – but honing in on one tune completely out of context can really give you a new appreciation for it. It can also be heard in Shaun of the Dead and a particular episode of Father Ted, when it is the only record a DJ remembers to bring to a church dance.
Ghost Town is my pentultimate ‘driving at night song’ and I subjected several carloads of people to it over the summer during road trips to the Cape and Canada. And usually with favorable results. It’s spooky, cool, multi-layered and catchy. It changes pace and pitch pretty wildly throughout and features a wide array of insturments as use of brass was one of The Specials, and really ska in general’s, trademarks.
The video makes them look like a bunch of complete dorks, but they were very popular during their day in England, and went on to form several sub-groups including Fun Boy Three. In fact, The Ghost Town EP was at number one in the British charts when the pressures within the band and the strains of touring finally resulted in their demise in 1981. “Ghost Town perfectly echoed the feelings in Britain at the time, and reached the number one spot in the charts to a backdrop of inner city riots in Liverpool.” I’ve read that Specials’ shows were plagued by violence, as can be explicated from the lyric snippet at the top of this article. This is especially odd, considering the fact that in the Ghost Town clip they make Depeche Mode look like John Wayne.
The Specials have a really comprehensive website with all kinds of interesting fanboy content. Friends and members of the band have gone to painstaking lengths to document the history, archive stories and provide audio and video clips. Watch the seminal Ghost Town video here and then click on through for more info.
Damn It Gym, I’m A Doctor Not A…
I need some advice, PITF readers. Since our office move I have lost my gym, and I need to find a new one – stat. I am reasonably sure that my several months of lethargy have been the root of some greater issues – including a creativity lapse that would make Jayson Blair do a doubletake. I’m not looking to join a spinning class or get into Yoga – I simply want an eliptical and some freeweights. Maybe a bench press thrown in for good measure. Where should I look?
It also has to be close to the Financial District and/or North End. If I have to take a detour on the way to or from work to get to the gym, it’ll be easier for me to justify not going. Know thyself. Know thyself does not like to go to the gym. Once I get into the groove it’ll be easy. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. I simply need my location of cardiac enhancement to be proximous to both my dwelling and workplace, old chap. I also don’t want it to be mobbed at all hours of the day and night. I’m not interested in any social aspect. In fact, if I could work out in a parallel dimension, I would.
Help me out, kids. Where’s good and where’s close? My arteries thank you in advance. Of severe clogging. Maybe start here.