Forty years ago today-- the Sex Pistols release "God Save The Queen"

Sometime during the 1979-80 school year, when I was eleven or twelve, my older brother returned home from college in Colorado, where he was a freshman and hating it. When he’d gone off in the fall, Clark had had shoulder-length hair and was listening to the Marshall Tucker Band, the Eagles, and the Who; when he came back home, his hair was half an inch long, and he was wearing cracked mirrored sunglasses and an amused snarl. One day during his visit, Clark told me I needed to call the KSHE Radio request line and ask for a particular song to be played. At the time (and probably to this day), KSHE played “Real Rock Radio” and was where white St. Louis went to hear Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Charlie Daniels, Steely Dan, and Yes—it was, at my brother’s insistence throughout high school, the only radio station we ever listened to on family car trips. Now here was Clark wanting me to call up these arbiters of dinosaur rock taste and request some song with bad words in it he'd heard about while away at college. As the younger brother who always wanted to be included in any mischief and mayhem, I was eager to comply.

I’m not sure I actually remember placing the phone call, so I always imagine my fingers shaking as I dialed and my voice cracking as I asked the man who answered the phone on the other end of the line, “Can you play ‘God Save the Queen’ by the Sex Pistols?” But I have no trouble recalling his response— he quickly shouted “Fuck you!” and crashed the phone down. Needless to say, I was thrilled—what powers had I just unleashed? What was this music that made grown men cuss out little kids over the phone just for requesting it? I hadn’t even heard the song yet, but I knew was hooked.

I saw the St. Louis Cardinals play the Seattle Mariners, Part Two

What I saw: the St. Louis Cardinals play the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. The Cardinals were down 5-0 after two innings, mounted a comeback, but ultimately lost 5-4.

 

What I wore: black Nike sneakers (comfortable but old), grey Levi's jeans, red Cardinals Busch Stadium 1966-2005 commemorative t-shirt, black Champion warm-up jacket that doesn't fit very well, faded blue Cardinals hat.

What I did beforehand: went for dinner to the Phnom Penh Noodle House in the International District. I had the Tender Duck Noodle Soup and my friend had the Foursome Beef Noodle Soup, both of which we enjoyed. This restaurant is owned by the family of former students at my school, so I spent some time reminiscing and catching up with the mom of two boys who will now be going into 8th and 11th grade.

Who went with me: my friend/fellow teacher/fellow union activist Michael. 

How I got tickets: bought them several weeks ago at the Safeco Field ticket office. Details are here.

Why I saw this game: I have traveled thousands of miles just to see a Cardinals game-- it would be ridiculous to not see every Cardinals game on one of their rare visits to Seattle.

Where I sat: section 116, row 20, seat 1. These seats were in the outfield down the first base side, and, because of that, were in prime foul ball territory. The view was quite good, but it was actually somewhat terrifying-- several line drives came into the general area of where we were sitting, one of which ricocheted and hit a man in the face, giving him a bloody nose. I regretted forgetting to bring my glove.

Things that were sad: the man getting hit in the face by the ball; the Cardinals losing for the second night in a row by a single run; how slow Yadier Molina runs.

Things that were funny: in the middle of the fifth inning, a shoeless fan wearing an American flag draped over his shoulders ran out onto the field and almost interfered with a fly ball being caught. 

The fan being escorted off the field after being tackled by security

Things that were not funny: we were sitting directly in front of a very loud and entertaining older Black Cardinals fan from St. Louis. When the Cardinals did well, she would celebrate very boisterously by dancing, hollering, and waving her Cardinals blanket around. At one point during one of her celebrations, someone in the almost all-white crowd behind us started throwing popcorn at her. She then proceeded to pretty loudly announce to those around us that she's from St. Louis and not to be messed with. The popcorn throwing stopped after that. Remember-- racism is real folks, even out here in "liberal" Seattle.

What it is: an expression of loyalty that I would gladly make again and again to waste this much time and money watching my favorite baseball team lose two nights in a row.

Who should see it: anyone who enjoys sitting outside on a beautiful summer night watching grown men run around playing a game. Also anyone who enjoys remembering 1980s baseball uniforms, movies, music, and computer graphics-- it was Throwback Night and everything was 1980s-related.

What I saw on the way home: a young adult on the light rail with what appeared to be either his mother or his much-older girlfriend returning home from the game; several glum-looking Cardinals fans; junk mail in my mailbox when I got back to my building.

(Thanks to How Way Leads On To Way for inspiration.)

Baseball season is on its way

Baseball season starts less than a month from now. Here is a video to help get you ready. Make sure to watch all the way to the end.

Cars parked in my neighborhood #1

This Chrysler New Yorker was parked less than two blocks from my house this morning. I do not recall ever having seen it before. I am not completely sure which model year this would be from, but clearly it is some time in the mid- to late-1980s. I especially like the vinyl roof-- this particular roof is officially known as the Landau style.

Best of all, however, it's a turbo.