My Music Journal: February 9, 2025

 

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Time: 1:30 PM
Song: Bang a Gong
Artist: T-Rex
Mode of Consumption: Playing on speakers at Blackhawk Bowling Alley during 10^th frame of second and final game of Super Bowling 2025. 

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/6FsQrRpBLgsrFeAeiQqytm?si=a32aa6df9ae04a11

Every year, a handful of our family gathers at Blackhawk Lanes in Sterling on the day of the Super Bowl at noon for a couple games that we call Super Bowling. We’re an amateur bunch that’s for sure. The majority of the crew only bowl this once every year.

Sometimes Jodi and I will make it out another time, but this year we hadn’t. The most accomplished bowler of the bunch is my Dad, who during the winter months bowls with a senior group at Plum Hollow in Dixon twice a week. 

A few years ago, Jodi found an old bowling trophy at a thrift shop so now the high score gets to keep this as a traveling trophy. 

Every year, Dad has won the trophy, usually by a lot. 

Before I go any farther, I must admit that I bowled in a league for three years after college (I think I have a post about that already) but I wasn’t very good. Well, since we started Super Bowling, I have become more consistent. My average is probably getting into the 140s, maybe 150s. 

The first game today I hit a few strikes early, but struggled to pick up spares to push my score higher. I finished strong with a pair of strikes in the tenth frame that pushed my score to 153, besting Dad by seven pins. 

I started the second game strong with three consecutive strikes and four in the first five frames. Yet, Dad stayed in there. I left a couple frames open in the second half of the second game, and Dad made up ground with strikes and spares. 

Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” played as the tenth frame opened. Randy Bachman appeared on the screen at the end of the lane, donned in a blue shirt with white stitching and an Afro. I was the first bowler on our lane. I threw a strike. Then I left two pins (6 & 10) on my second throw, both on the right side of the lane. I eased the bowl down the lane for my final throw, it glided to the corner of the lane and knocked down those two pins for a spare. 

My second game was a 177. My two-game score was a 330. 

Marc Bolan and T-Rex popped onto the screen, “Bang a Gong” played as the trophy came down to my Dad’s last frame.

Dad was filling frames left and right in the second game, and opened the tenth frame with a strike. He then left a 5-10 split on his second throw. If he picked it up, he’d pass me. His ball floated to the right edge of the lane, but flattened out, knocking down one pin, but not both. 

He finished with a 181, and a 327 for the two games. 

I won the trophy (my first time winning) by three pins. Bang a Gong!

My Music Journal 2025: February 8, 2025

 

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Time: 2 PM
Song: M+M’s
Artist: Blink-182
Mode of Consumption: Listening to MP3s on my phone while cleaning our bathroom.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/2jAIkqtB15hDyJUeYxsWTO?si=fd3c55ad71cd418a

I spent the morning working on a flash fiction piece for a contest. In this case, the story could not consist of more than one thousand words. Meaning this story was less than half and closer to a third in length of the other two contests I have participated in this year. I also only have the weekend to complete the story, the deadline being 10 p.m. on Sunday. 

So, on one hand, it’s a bit easier than the last two. I only have to come up with a thousand words. But, I also only have two days as opposed to eight days as the other two contests. Also, with the Super Bowl tomorrow, much of our day is being consumed by church, bowling and then watching the game. Mostly then, I have today.

The other part of this challenge is telling a compelling story in a short span. I can’t spend too much time on character development or setting. Each word has to carry more weight.

When this Blink-182 came on while I was taking a break from writing and trying to do something constructive and needed like cleaning the bathroom, I came up for my analogy for flash fiction. 

It’s a pop song. Something Blink-182 excelled at to the point that I think most people dismiss them as serious musicians. 

I understand that. They are a three-chord band, their humor is sophomoric, and even there more somber efforts have a pop beat and simplistic lyrics. 

I think the argument made against them is that anyone can write a three-minute pop song. It’s one thing to do it once or twice to make some money, it’s another for that to be the entire catalog. 

Well, first, if it’s so easy to write a three-minute pop song, why doesn’t everyone do it? I have never done it. I doubt I ever could. Maybe I could cobble some lyrics together, but I am clueless when it comes to chord structure, rhythm and melody. 

The reality is it’s not easy. It’s hard. It sometimes much easier to delve into the more complex and over complicate songs to the point that they just aren’t that enjoyable to listen to. Have you created something with more artistic merit? Maybe, but it may not reach nearly as many people Sometime editing and simplifying is the right path, and the result can still be more powerful. 

This song is an early attempt by Blink-182, as they improved, their songs became better and bigger. 

That’s why I tackle flash fiction. I know I can’t overwrite too much. I have to get to the point. I have to create a problem, and get the characters through it as quickly and sensibly as possible. 

Maybe it will turn out shallow, but I’ve discovered as I’ve done it more that the potential for good stories is very much there. 

Plus, I can always expand the story once the contest is finished if I think there is more meat on the bone than a flash fiction piece allows. 

My Music Journal 2025: February 7, 2025

 

Friday, February 7, 2025

Time: 11 A.M.
Song: The Heat of the Moment
Artist: Asia
Mode of Consumption: Jukebox Selection at Arcadia in McLean, Illinois

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/1nmZ8yqKkfooOuYvtFctDp?si=937a3f349d384292

About fifteen minutes from Bloomington, there’s a little town named McLean. It’s your average midwestern village tucked along an interstate (I-55 which runs between Springfield and Chicago) with the truck stop seemingly being the modern hub.

The past century hub is a small town square a few blocks from the interstate. There’s a little park in the middle of the roadway and building on the outside of the square.

One of the buildings is now filled with another memory of days gone by. Arcadia is a museum filled with retro arcade games and pinball machines. The best part – this isn’t a museum where you can only look at the artifacts. The games are operation, and for a quarter or maybe 50 cents, you can be transported back in time to the late 1980s or early 1990s.

My colleague Ty and I decided to take a short detour today on our journey home from a conference in Springfield. It had been a busy couple of days with extra hours, so we took an hour to step back in time.

Part of that journey included a jukebox that still played 45s. Since we were the only ones Arcadia at the time, I decided to use a few of my quarters to play a few songs. I mean, a quiet arcade is just a bit weird. Plus, I always loved pickings songs on Jukeboxes. It’s a chance to be a DJ. To set the mood, and the music always seems to sound great blasting from their speakers.

I picked five songs, and one of them was “The Heat of the Moment” by Asia for a couple reasons.

1. It’s a high-energy rocker that fits the era of the museum.
2. It’s fun.
3. And, when you’re playing an intense game, you are very much in “The Heat of the Moment.” Har. Har.

Anyways, if you’re looking for a fun day trip, check out Arcadia in McLean. Heck, maybe even go to the truck stop for lunch.

My Music Journal 2025: February 6, 2025

 

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Time: 3:24 PM
Song: Rattlesnakes
Artists: Jack Van Cleaf, Zach Bryan
Mode of consumption: Listening to Release Radar on Spotify at the IPLSA conference in Springfield.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/5yzAaKGdD6HwTxeXcdyNxY?si=35025140f2074d87

Every year I man a booth for ASE at the IPLSA conference in Springfield. For professional services like surveying, the professionals must obtain continuing education points every year, and the conference offers classes and seminars for this. Our company also supports the association by having a booth.

Usually, one sets up a booth to get business, but most of the people that attend the conference offer similar services as we do. So, manning the booth doesn’t require a lot of attention. Just the occasional conversation with industry peers to gauge possible future projects that might hit the streets.

So, I spend the day doing similar work on my laptop that I do from my normal desk in Dixon. I prepare proposals. Answer emails. Basically, do whatever needs to be done from a marketing and proposal standpoint. Sometimes, like earlier this morning, that’s a lot. It was a juggling match between incoming requests and existing duties.

About noon, the emails slowed down, and I had satisfied the most urgent of the requests.

Now, most of the attendees are at a class, so I slip on the headphones. Listen to music and review my to-do list.

With the song playing, it’s a bit like a music video. People walk by. Nod their heads. Grab a snack from the table of refreshments.

A couple of guys chat about politics the next booth over, and I am glad to have the music to cover it. The next intelligent political conversation I hear will be the first intelligent political conversation I’ve heard.

I am sure everyone is thinking about getting through the remaining hours of this show. Maybe they consider who they want to talk to, or who they need to talk to. Other exhibitors probably have big fish they want to snag to sell equipment. My company is probably one of those fish, but I am not the guy they need to talk to.

Hotel workers staff the minifridge with soda, and another one is getting alcohol ready for the evening’s social event.

All of it is to the beat and lyrics of this song. Some of it fits. Some of it doesn’t.

My Music Journal - February 5, 2025

 

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Time: 1:30 PM
Song: If You Could Read My Mind
Artist: Gordon Lightfoot
Mode of Consumption: Listening to MP3s on the way to Springfield for the IPLSA Conference

Link to Song: https://open.spotify.com/track/57ct8jKi6trntXiRV0NnXi?si=411132a3e0dc4107

Our vinyl collection started as Jodi’s vinyl collection, and sometimes I wonder if she regrets having ever started me down that path.

Early in our marriage, she mentioned wanting a Gordon Lightfoot record with “If You Could Read My Mind” on it. I thought, well good, that’ll be something I could look for when shopping for Christmas or Birthday presents. The only problem was that I could never remember the name of the song.

So fast forward a year or two, and I am covering a local softball team in a tournament in Indianapolis. It was shortly after my Dad had retired, so I invited him along because I knew he liked softball, and it would be a rare chance for us to spend a week together.

On one of the off days of the tournament, we ventured down to an antique store south of Indianapolis and spent the morning wandering around. We came to a booth that was loaded with vinyl records, and I mentioned to my Dad that Jodi wanted a Gordon Lightfoot record with a certain song on it.

Which song? I couldn’t remember. This was before flip phones and neither Jodi and I believed in texting. So, I thought we could wing it.

So, Dad picked out three albums and he bought all of them as presents for her upcoming birthday. Of course, it turned out the song wasn’t on any of three including one which was a greatest hits album. At that point, our collection was fairly meager, but the folk singer from Canada was well-represented.

Now, I never forget the name of this song.

 

My Music Journal 2025: February 4, 2025

 

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Time: Noon
Song: Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird
Artist Will to Power
Mode of Consumption: Music playing at the dentist’s office.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/7zMMs6D2XAx1kPlM2ibFc8?si=166f8d0c9d854668

It’s not always easy to think when someone has their hands in your mouth. I mean, in any other context other than the dentist’s office, it doesn’t happen right. A doctor might put a thermometer in your mouth or shine a light into it to see your throat, but rarely are they stuffing their fingers in there.

I suppose there are people who enjoy such things during intimate times with those they are intimate with, but it’s certainly not something that I desire.

So, while sitting in the dentist chair with the technician scraping plaque from my mostly pearly whites, “Baby, I Love Your Way” covered by Will to Power comes one, and I think a few things.

The first is that this was possibly the first version of both “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and “Freebird” that I knew. It was released in 1988, and I remember it being in the rotation of the pop music channels out of the Quad Cities.

Second, I imagine fans of both Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd hate this cover. It’s the sort of overproduced, glimmery sound that rock fans loathe. Again, I probably heard this version first, so while I wouldn’t say I am fond of it, my dislike doesn’t cut so deep. It’s just something I could live without hearing. I don’t consider it sacrilege.

Third, this cover had to be made with the thought that it would be a staple for dentist offices for the rest of time. In fact, as I was thinking this, I began to wonder if I had heard this song every time that I had been to the dentist. It just felt right. Not to overshare, but in my youth, I wasn’t the best at caring for my teeth. That has resulted in some extensive work. While that’s subsided, I have spent a copious amount of time at the dentist, my mouth open, and drills whizzing along with the dulcet tones of this cover.

To cap the morning, I could overhear one of the other technicians talking to a patient in one of the other rooms about how she thought they played about 10 songs in rotation on the station the office played. I couldn’t make out the whole conversation, but she admitted the songs even made it to her personal playlists simply because they are so imbedded in her subconscious. Not because she liked them that much.

My Music Journal 2025 - February 3, 2025

 

Monday, February 3, 2025

Time: 7:50 AM
Song: Truckin’
Artist: Grateful Dead
Mode of Consumption: MP3s on Phone on the way to work

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/1I6l01BaBgBCVkfQCpIlR6?si=121ffc2a49bd4974

Probably ten years ago or so, Jodi and I were at home, having a discussion, maybe even dancing around to the radio while we did dishes. Basically, being silly young married people while doing adult chores.

Well, I asked her what that thing all the kids were doing?

“What’s that?”

“Oh, you know…”

I couldn’t think of the name. I wasn’t really all that connected to young people’s culture even though I was probably only in my early 30s. Working at the paper was long hours, and while I spent most of the time covering high school athletes, the interviews usually stayed the course of the usual athletic banter. Yet, I had heard the term somewhere, probably even seen it on TV. Who knows where?

What I was thinking of was twerking.

What I said was: “Truckin’.”

Well, needless to say, I haven’t lived that one down.

So, now anytime this song comes on, I think about that time. If we are together, we both tend to yell, “Hey, this is what all those kids are doing!”

Usually that follows with us singing the chorus: “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

Yes, yes it has, Jerry.