Can Someone Please Do His Homework? Please!

I know…many of you will tell me to just shut up and enjoy the show, but I just can't.

Over the weekend, D and I saw Pirate Radio. I enjoyed the show, but I was a little distracted by timeline discrepancies. The movie takes place in 1966 and ends on New Year's Day 1967. This is kind of the important bit.

As it is a story about a radio station, the music plays a very key role in the story. Some of the musical selections seemed a little odd with me. So with some good old fashioned research, I looked up most of the songs that were on the soundtrack of the movie (and prominently displayed). It took me about a half hour to look up these songs to check when they were released. This is what I found.

"All Day and All of the Night" - The Kinks - 1964
"Elenore" - The Turtles - 1968
"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" - John Fred and His Playboy Band – January 1969
"Dancing in the Street" - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - 1964
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" - The Beach Boys - 1966
"Ooo Baby Baby" - Smokey Robinson - 1965
"This Guy's in Love with You" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - 1969
"Crimson and Clover" - Tommy James & The Shondells – November 1968
"Hi Ho Silver Lining" - Jeff Beck – March 1967
"I Can See for Miles" - The Who – October 1967
"With a Girl Like You" - The Troggs - 1966
"The Letter" - The Box Tops – August 1967
"I'm Alive" - The Hollies – May 1965
"Yesterday Man" - Chris Andrews - 1965
"Silence Is Golden" - The Tremeloes - 1964
"The End of the World" - Skeeter Davis - 1962
"Friday on My Mind" - The Easybeats – November 1966
"My Generation" - The Who – October 1965
"I Feel Free" - Cream – December 1966
"The Wind Cries Mary" - Jimi Hendrix – May 1967
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" - Procol Harum – June 1967
"These Arms of Mine" - Otis Redding - 1962
"The Happening" - The Supremes – March 1967
"Sunny Afternoon" - The Kinks – June 1966
"Father and Son" - Cat Stevens – November 1970
"Nights in White Satin" - The Moody Blues – November 1967
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" - Dusty Springfield – March 1966
"Stay with Me, Baby" - Lorraine Ellison – October 1966
"Hang On Sloopy" - The McCoys - 1965
"This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" - The Isley Brothers – January 1966
"So Long, Marianne" – Leonard Cohen – December 1967

A whopping 42% of the songs that I found would not have been available to any radio station on the very last day of the movie. To bring it home another way, it was a higher percentage of songs than people who voted for Walter Mondale in 1984 (40.6%...something else that I found from this research). As we all know, 42 is the answer to everything concerning life, the universe and everything, but this is pretty ridiculous. Yes, this is nitpicky, but the music IS the backbone of the story. Don't you think that the producers could have taken the time to figure this out before they released the movie? Remember, it only took me a half hour, and I'm not one of them smart Hollywood types. I'm just a smart ass from Indiana.

Only one movie a year can screw up the whole time space continuum concept a year, and unfortunately for Pirate Radio, Star Trek already did it in May.

Hail to the Victors

Before the Michigan/Indiana game, there was a lot of buzz around Indiana that this would be the weekend that they would snap their 42 year winless streak at Ann Arbor. Why not, even though it was a road game against a ranked Big Ten (11) opponent, Michigan hasn't really been the world beaters that we expect them to be. A win at the Big House didn't seem to be that impossible. Minnesota did it. Hell, Appalachian State has done it. No biggie. Why not IU?

At the end of the Michigan's 36-33 win over the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday, I feel that there are a lot of things that I have learned about the Indiana Hoosiers.

1. Indiana is better than I thought. They gave Michigan everything that they wanted, and gave a nationally televised audience a great game.
   
2. Kellen Lewis would not have done well in the "Pistol" offense. But I would have paid a lot of money to watch him run the triple option against this Michigan defense.
   
3. Indiana at its almost best can't beat Michigan at their almost worst.
   

Now, that last one may not seem fair. IU dominated Michigan in the second half. They kept Michigan in check for the first three series of the last 24, and made the Wolverines look a bit like a MAC team. Michigan's two true freshmen quarterbacks looked like freshman quarterbacks, and the second string playing showed why they aren't first string. It started to look like Indiana might have pulled it off.

But Michigan showed that great teams with a good effort will usually beat a good team with a great effort. Michigan pulled together a game winning drive and (allegedly) picked off Ben Chappell's first attempt in Indiana's "two minute drill".

But don't kid yourself; the controversial interception didn't do in the Hoosiers. Indiana failed to convert four red zone trips into touchdowns and didn't take advantage of Michigan's obvious weakness in the middle of the offensive line. The Hoosiers gave it their best, but it just wasn't good enough.

Now Indiana has to take on the Ohio State University at home. Maybe the Hoosiers can make a game of this one too, but it's going to take a better effort than they showed today. They have to be perfect.

Night Swimming

Originally posted on the Indianapolis Star Blog "Tales of a Hoosier Ex-Pat"

When you're a kid, there are certain benchmarks that define the year. For me, the summer always had an ebb and flow with some major annual events.

Memorial Day Weekend – Indy 500 and the unofficial start of summer
Last Week of June – Thunder on the Ohio
Fourth of July – Midpoint of summer
Last week of July/First Week of August – Family Vacation
August 17 – My Birthday
Labor Day Weekend – Frog Follies and the unofficial end of summer

As I have gotten older and moved away from Indiana, Thunder and the Follies have become more of a nostalgic concept rather than a seasonal marking of time, and I haven't had a full family vacation since 1987. However, I still view my birthday as the white flag for summertime. This summer was a lot like watching Casino, I sat around and waited for it to start and then it was over. Don't get me wrong. In my old age, and living in an apartment that lacks air conditioning, I'm not overjoyed by sweltering days with 1000% humidity. I'm not really ready to let go of this summer. Not just yet. I really like the fall, but I can put it on hold for a little bit. It's not like my 35^th year was not all roses. D and I had to push back the wedding again, and I became victim 3, 593, 293 of the economy. I really need a fresh start to a new year.

Since I first got Automatic for the People, I have always equated the song "Night Swimming" to my birthday. It's a sentimental song about the end of an era. The song, and the day never used to hit me that hard until about 4 years ago.

There are many things that I am going to miss. I'm going to miss riding my bike in decent weather. I'm going to miss the smell of sun screen. I'm going to miss trying to figure out when the Cubs are going to blow it again. I'm going to miss not hearing from the blowhards in this state go on and on about the stinkin' Vikings. The unbelievable feeling of drinking a cold glass of water will be lost soon, and I'm going to deal with space heaters and frozen cars.

Now, my major events run like this.

October 15 – The average date of the first day of snow
May 3^rd – The latest day of snow in my 7 years in Minnesota
June 1^st – The first of a maximum of 115 days where doing something outside doesn't suck

As REM said in that song "September's coming soon." Happy Birthday to me.