Redefining nothing to do with music

I'm from Philadelphia. I'm 32-years old. The last time a team (in one of the four major sports) from Philadelphia won a championship I was 7.

I don't really remember it. I remember some moments from that team, but I don't really remember the moment when the buzzer went off right after Maurice Cheeks dunked the ball to seal the Sixers sweep of the Lakers.

What I do remember are the losses that have come since...

1983 - Phillies lose the World Series 4-1 to Baltimore. Game 5 ends as I'm in the back of the family station wagon driving past (now-defunct) Manoa Lanes.
1987 - I was in bed listening to the game on the radio as the Flyers lost game 7 to Edmonton.
1993 - I was in my friend Pete's basement by myself (Pete had left for college and I was babysitting his little brother) when Mitch Williams gave up the Joe Carter homer.
1997 - I lived at 58 Woodland and watched the Flyers get swept by that team from Detroit by myself in the comfort of Ken's living room chair. I woke up the day after game 3 still in that chair surrounded by the remains from a Bud Light 12-pack. After the sweep was done, I wore all black (in mourning) for the next 3 days.
2001- In Chicago I watched the 76ers lose 4-1 to the Lakers. This wasn't actually that disappointing because it was not unexpected.
2005 - Super Bowl XXXIX. It was my freaking birthday (ok fine, 2 days after) and both my sisters came to town to visit and watch the game and STILL, that wasn't enough to prevent another crushing Philadelphia loss.

For the purpose of brevity I'm skipping 1988-90 & 2001-2003 (Eagles), 1995, 96, 2000, or 2004 (Flyers), 2005-2007 (Phillies) or 1984, 85 (Sixers)... all teams that had the talent to get there, but didn't even reach the finals of their respective sports.

This has nothing to do with the music. So why write it? It has something to do with me, and at the heart of it, that is what this whole project is about... the music taking me back to where I was "then."

All those lines of lamentation above? They're about where I was then. Each of every one of those disappointments stayed with me... and that's what makes where I am now all the more special.

Tonight, at long last, Philadelphia (still my home town even if I'm not there anymore) has a championship team again. 25 years have passed since the Sixers win. 100 seasons since the last time Philadelphia was the champion. And now, October 29th, 2008, the Phillies have won the World Series and finally (Phinally!) I know and can appreciate the feeling of victory.

If sports aren't your thing, I understand why this might not mean anything to you. But sports are my thing... have been as long as I can remember. So tonight, to finally win... was fantastic.

It got a little dusty here. I didn't weap (even though I half expected to) but there were some happy tears. It was a great feeling. GREAT! To be on the winning end after so long... felt like it meant something. So tonight, I'd like to thank all those teams who didn't quite make it, for making me appreciate this all the more. Thanks to The Wife for sticking with me through all the post-loss grumpiness and to my sister for being here to watch the game with me (the Alicia curse is over!) I'd also like to thank all the folks who reached out to send a congrats my way. I think everyone who did understands what joy and relief this night was for me.

I knew how big a moment it was when I got my very first post-game call. It was Kristin, my high school girlfriend. (We're still friends now, so this wasn't total out of the bluesville) The fact that she was on the phone 3 minutes after the game was over to share the cheers with me reminded me of how long it had been since this particular team (the 1993 Phils (we were still dating in 1993!)) had last had a chance. No matter how long it is, the people you share(d) the moments with will always be there with you. So I share this little moment with all of you.

We did it!

2008 Philadelphia Phillies - World Series Champions!!!!

from I Saw Three Ships to I Want to be a Hulkamaniac

Day 853, Session 142:
When/Where: Monday October 20th - Driving back from the burbs after attending The Wife's school's homecoming game.
First song: I Saw Three Ships by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: I Want to be a Hulkamaniac by Hulk Hogan and The Wrestling Boot Band
Progress: 2141-2162 of 6137
Total Songs Heard: 1819

"Why?" you may ask. "Why on earth do you have a song by Hulk Hogan in your collection?"

"First of all," I reply, "Let's not forget The Wrestling Boot Band. Second, I like professional wrestling and grew up at least a little bit of a Hulkamaniac."

That being said, I find this particular song terrifying. Between The Hulkster's faux-rap and the mindless drone of the background singers, I feel like the point of this song is to indoctrinate me into the cult of Hulk. On the plus side, I hear membership privileges include your very own tear away yellow muscle shirt. On the minus, at this point Hulk Hogan is frightening. The fact that I believe Hulk Hogan to be the type of guy who would try to lead a cult only scares me more. (This fear did not stop me from watching the first episode of Hulk Hogan's celebrity wrestling reality show. It was awful. (Also, I was disappointed Tiffany (yes the 80's pop star) was eliminated and I'll probably watch it again.))

Give this a listen if for no other reason than to have a good laugh:
I Want to be a Hulkamaniac - Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band

(If that doesn't succeed in inducting you into the cult of Hulk, try this to the Batman theme: "nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, Hulk-ster.")

Now from the better music department I bring you this song from friend of the blog Josh Joplin:
I Shall See - Josh Joplin

I feature this particular song for 3 reasons:
1) I love that it sounds like something that would have been recorded in the 1960's.
II) Josh and Garrison Starr (you may remember them from this) have announced that they will now be performing together as Among The Oak & Ash. This is great news for fans of both singers as they're great individual musicians and when I saw them in Chicago they showed a fantastic chemistry when they shared the stage. A new album is in the works and I'm sure I mention it here once I have more information. For now, you can hear streaming versions of 4 songs on their new web page.
C) The heretofore unheard from Australian contingent has checked in. Emma is another big Josh Joplin fan who, like me, has spent a lot of time trying to track down the first two Josh Joplin Band cds. Per her request I've made my early Josh stuff available for a limited time here. I also encourage you to check out Emma's site, Imaginary Dinosaur. I learned quite a lot about crabs there.

Have good weekends everybody. If you get a chance, please send some good thoughts the way of the Philadelphia Phillies. My hometown has gone 100 consecutive seasons in the 4 major sports without getting to celebrate a title. In the words of Marty from Delaware, "Boston did it. The White Sox did it. Why can't us? Why can't us?!?"

Why Can't Us?

from Giving It Back to Gold

Day 577, Session 106:
When/Where: Friday January 18th - In the living room.
First song: Giving It Back by Matthew Sweet
Last full song: Gold by Interference
Progress: 1606-1635 of 5652
Total Songs Heard: 1299

Why would a man need a version of God Bless America on his ipod? The first reason of course would be if he were a great patriot. The second reason, and the one that applies here, is if he's a Philadelphia Flyers fan. Kate Smith was an American singer and radio performer who did most of her work in the 1930s and 40s. This version of God Bless America was recorded for the 1943 movie "This Is The Army," but found its place in the hearts of Flyers fans when the team began playing it before big games. The Flyers had an unbelievable record when kicking things off with Kate Smith. The high point of this pre-game tradition came in 1974 when the Flyers were playing the Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals. Kate Smith appeared live and thus inspired, the Flyers went on to win the game and their first Stanley Cup title.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, you can actually see the performance. It's not the greatest version of the song ever, but check out the crowd reaction. The ovation the crowd gives before a note is even sung captures the true bat-shit insane electricity of the moment. I've been in the crowd for some pretty exciting moments, but I don't think anything compares to this:

Goose bump city.

The original version of the song isn't bad either:
God Bless America - Kate Smith

Warning: Stop right here if you want a avoid a big sticky pile of sap.

I kind of have issues with "home." I grew up outside of Philadelphia and since that's where I grew up, that's where I've thought of as home for most of my life. One problem though, I don't live there anymore (and neither do my parents, so I'm almost never there.) It's been almost 14 years since Philly actually was home even though it still sometimes feels that way.

Even though I've been in Chicago for almost 7 years now, the first 5 and a half of those years were spent moving from apartment to apartment, never really settling down. Now The Wife and I own a house and 18 months into that experience we're really starting to make the place ours. When I got to the Barenaked Ladies song Go Home I started thinking that maybe this place is it. This feeling has been enhanced recently by our attempts to tackle some home improvement projects. If you know me, you know I'm not exactly a handyman, so several of the projects have been much harder than they should be. This is mostly due to my ineptness. For example, yesterday I broke off a drill bit and couldn't find where the broken bit piece ended up. This leads me to believe that it may be embedded somewhere on my body (possibly in my eye because safety glasses are for suckers.) My ineptness makes me feel kind of useless, and it's hard to feel at home in a place where you feel useless.

Through a quirk in scheduling I barely saw The Wife yesterday. I got home late last night and tried to sneak my way into bed. As I slipped under the covers The Wife, still 90% asleep, rolled over and wrapped an arm around me and said "There you are."

And there I was. That was home.

Go Home - Barenaked Ladies

I am lucky to be one of the few who has found somebody who can tolerate me.

Finally, if you were wondering how many different versions of Go Your Own Way one guy needs, the answer is three (original and live version by Fleetwood Mac, cover by The Cranberries.) I bet you thought the answer was less than 1.

from Don't Fade to Don't Know What You've Got

Day 209, Session 70:
When/Where: Wednesday January 17th - Heading from home to the office.
First song: Don't Fade by Toad the Wet Sprocket
Last full song: Don't Know What You Got by Cinderella
Progress: 980-987 of 4802
Total Songs Heard: 837

8 more tracks telling me things I should not do:

Fade - When I ran track in 8th grade they put me in the distance events, where my lack of speed in the sprints was well hidden by my lack of endurance. I would routinely begin to fade with about a lap and a half to go.

Forget to breathe - This has, luckily, never been a problem. When I was younger I would often marvel at the things your body will unconsciously do for you. I would sometimes sit and think about how difficult it would be to live if you had to think "breathe" every time you wanted to draw a breath or "beat" every time you wanted your heart to pump. When I was really bored (often at church) I would try to see how long I could keep these two thoughts going. I would have died pretty quickly.

Give that girl a gun - I have never handed a gun to a girl.

Give up - I give up constantly. I think this goes hand in hand with being a Philadelphia sports fan. Knowing you're never ever going to win means sometimes it's just a lot easier to give up. There are a few things I will probably never give up: Smoking, since I never plan to start, and drinking, cause I loves me some beer.

Give up on me - I don't believe anyone has ever asked me to not give up on them.

Go - Oh, I've gone... and then she started crying, so I turned around and went back.

Go Away - I went away for college. That seemed to work out.

Know what you got - Cinderella. Man, who doesn't love Cinderella? (Seriously, I was very happy to hear this. Late one night I decided it would be a good idea to download "Metal Ballads." All 4 volumes! I gotta tell you, most of these metal ballads suck! I definitely should have gone with "Monster Ballads." But this song... this song is good.

On a completely unrelated note, if you're reading this blog, you should know that we're having people over tomorrow night for beer and burgers. You're invited.