Raindrops

“Ride at night we ride all day
Looking out for a sunny day.”
“Southside,” Moby

Born in a Harlem neighborhood, Moby recorded “Southside in 1999 for the album “Play.” It evokes young people riding around at night in a desolate, perhaps futuristic, urban neighborhood reminiscent of areas of Detroit, New York or Gary, Indiana. Heard it on WXRT on the way to school. Born Richard Melville Hall, Moby took his stage name because he believes he is a descendant of the author of “Moby Dick.” In an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” after Cheryl leaves Larry, he becomes so depressed that Leon calls him “Mopey Dick.”

Had a full house at the Archives, including a woman working on a pictorial history of Cedar Lake who praised my Shavings issue. I told her that most of our Cedar Lake photos came from town historian Beatrice Horner. Others are in the museum (the old Lassen’s Hotel, which unfortunately has no heat or air-conditioning.

At lunch Bill Dorin mentioned watching a documentary on radio deejays featuring Dick Biondi, who he listened to as a kid and who is still on the air. We talked about the payola scandal that ruined some jocks including Allen Freed while others just as culpable, such as Dick Clark, emerged unscathed. After we moved to Gary, I listened to Larry Lujack, who played Top Fifty hits sprinkled in with Oldies before switching mainly to the FM station WMET, which played album-oriented rock ‘n’ roll.

Darcey, who did our tax returns, stopped by the condo with Brady, first time either had seen the place. Toni made a delicious meal of scallops, pan fried potatoes, lima beans, and cooked tomatoes with cheese on top. By the time I turned on the Blackhawks they were down 3-0. The closest they could get was 3-2, and their winning streak ended at eight.

There’s flooding on the East Coast, civil war in Libya, and a budget deadlock in Congress as Republicans try to gut Planned Parenthood, NPR, the IRS, and regulatory agencies. Warner Brothers fired “Two and a Half Men” star Charlie Sheen after his behavior got weird even by Hollywood standards. What a colossal mistake; ratings for new shows would go through the roof. Miami Heat lost again (boo hoo), and Phil Jackson ridiculed players allegedly crying in the locker room, saying, “This is the NBA: No Boys Allowed. Big boys don’t cry. But if you’re going to cry, do it in the toilet where no one can see.” In the 1961 smash hit “Raindrops” Dee Clark imagined his tears were raindrops “falling from my eye-eyes” since “a man ain’t supposed to cry.”

On Facebook Angie posted a James and Becca performance of “The People’s Song” from “Les Miserables” at the Towle Theater in Hammond.

Against the Dingbats, a friendly group featuring the McCann brothers Fred and Bobby, the Engineers won five of seven points. I rolled a 472, slightly below my average. I won two of the quarters pots, striking on my last ball. Frank and his wife are both in a quilt show on Saturday.

Hearing the Portland, Oregon, band Dandy Warhols on the radio always picks me up. “Bohemian Like You” was part of the soundtrack to “Igby Goes Down.” After Terry Lukas helped me lay out a Shavings, I gave him a Dandys CD because I heard they were an “in” group with gays. Turned out he hadn’t heard of them and didn’t like their music. So much for stereotypes.