As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)
TENNESSEE — Stunned by the tidal
wave of teenagers receiving accurate health information and possibly even being
vaccinated against communicable diseases, legislators here have rallied to put
a halt to the startling mania that has swept from high school to high school.
…
“Don’t they have any idea what
we’re doing to the earth?” asked another adult. “They won’t want to be alive in
seven or eight decades, a terrifying fate that getting vaccinated now will make
all the more likely. By then, the planet might well be ravaged by heat and
scarcity!”
"I don’t want the teenagers to
die decades from now because of my utter recklessness with the planet,” the
adult noted. “I want them to die right away, from preventable diseases, as God
intended.”
#3 – Catcher Tres Barrera, 2 for 4 with an RBI single in the
third, and another single in the ninth that sparked the game-winning rally.
#2 – Juan Soto. 3 for 4 plus a walk, including a double in
the third and a two-run homer in the eighth to (temporarily) put the Nats
ahead.
#1 – Alcides Escobar. The recent acquisition homered in the
eighth, and knocked in the winning run an inning later.
Given the shooting just outside Nationals Park the previous
evening, this was not exactly an ordinary day. Instead of the
regularly-scheduled game beginning at 1:05 with the usual ceremonies, the
suspended game from Saturday night resumed with no fanfare, in the bottom of
the 6th inning with the home team already trailing 8-4. San Diego
gave the hometown fans nothing to cheer about for the next hour or so, tacking
on two more runs for a 10-4 defeat, adding to the Nats’ recent woes.
The anticipated Scherzer-Musgrove matchup finally got
underway two hours later than originally scheduled. Max started out like
gangbusters, striking out the side in the first. Washington finally broke
things open in the bottom of the third, scoring their first run on Josh Bell’s
infield grounder with one out, then notching two-out RBI hits by Harrison,
Stevenson, and Barrera. For the second game in a row – both against the Padres –
Scherzer couldn’t put together a shutdown 4th frame, giving up two
singles in front of a massive homer by Eric Hosmer that cut the lead to a
single run. Max recovered nicely in the 5th and 6th,
while the Nats continued to get runners on base but could not get any insurance
runs across. Jurickson Profar, however, led off the top of the 7th
with another homer to tie the score, and the Padres further quieted the crowd
when Daniel Hudson gave up a two-run shot to Manny Machado in the top of the 8th.
The home team came right back, however, regaining the lead on an Alcides
Escobar HR, followed immediately by a Turner double and then Juan Soto’s third
homer of the series.
But closer Brad Hand couldn’t hold the lead, when after a
one-out walk pinch-runner Jorge Mateo easily swiped second and third base and
scored on Trent Grisham’s single to tie the score. Hand dug another hole when,
after giving Fernando Tatis Jr. an intentional pass to face the
left-handed-hitting Jake Cronenworth, he walked him as well, loading the bases
for the dangerous Manny Machado. Fortunately, Machado took a called third
strike to maintain the tie.
The Nats, however, had one final answer: after a Tres
Barrera single, San Diego closer Mark Melancon hit human pincushion Victor
Robles with a pitch, and Escobar drove a ball into the outfield to score
Barrera with the game-winner.
Aside from the result of the game, the weather was great,
traffic wasn’t bad either way, and we wound up getting free parking. (The lot
was open, but an attendant was nowhere to be found.)
Loge Center, Row L, Seats 101-103 (upper level, our own
three-seat pod AND row, at the very top so we could stand up and/or dance
whenever we wanted to without blocking anyone else’s view)
Given the difficulty in predicting the covid-19 situation in
terms of both risk and government restrictions, Wolf Trap opted to offer a
slate of in-person June and July shows with limited capacity, with pods of
various sizes both inside the Filene Center and on the lawn. Since every other
row was left vacant and there was plenty of space between pods in the same row,
I’d estimate that capacity was no more than 20% of normal. This certainly had
some advantages – concession lines were short, and it took almost no time to
get out of the parking lot. We did encounter an unexpected (for a Saturday)
amount of traffic on a stretch of the Maryland beltway on our trip getting
there.
The “jukebox” consists of a scrolling video screen, listing
in apparently random order 50-some songs that audience members can request
(shout-outs, Max asking individual audience members, whatever). The repertoire
was heavy on British-invasion and classic rock tracks; I’m not sure what the
most recent song was, but I only noticed two that predated 1964.
Max started things off with “White Room” and “Rebel Rebel”
before getting to the first audience request, which wound up being “Jumpin’
Jack Flash” (the first of three Stones numbers to appear in the set). About
halfway through, Max brought up his daughter, PBS news producer Ali Rogin, who
provided lead vocals on “Piece Of My Heart” and “Somebody To Love”. The band
concluded with “Glory Days”, as Max invited the audience (or as much of it as
could fit, apparently) to join them on stage. Unfortunately, it proved to be a
LONG way between Row L of the loge and the stage, particularly for someone
encumbered by a walking boot.
It was definitely an enjoyable show, with great musicianship
from Max and the other three members of his band. We were agitating for “Pink
Cadillac” from our far-distant seats, and eventually were joined by some other
folks in our neighborhood. He may or may not have heard our shouts, but he did
get to the Springsteen classic towards the end of the show, to our delight. I
was particularly pleased to hear them do “Louie Louie”, “Dead Flowers”, and “American
Girl”. My podmates and I also agreed that Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” was a
standout.
