Minions

    Minion: a servile underling, sycophant or crony to someone powerful or, put more crudely, an ass-kisser, toady or suck-up.

Originally from Middle French meaning darling, it was adopted by the English in naming filet mignon. Appearing in Shakespeare’s MacBeth,it came to refer to a subordinate favored due to his cloying loyalty. Merriam-Webster.com uses this quote from Boston Globecorrespondent John Powers to illustrate: “Rocky Marciano came into his prime and popularity in the early 1950s when boxing, now both televised and controlled by mobster Frankie Carbo and his minions, hadn’t had a white champion since James Braddock in 1937.”

 “Minions” (2015) is a prequel to the “Despicable Me” animated movies.  Evolving from single-celled organisms, the diminutive yellow creatures, according to the premise, have been at the service of villains throughout history and in 1968 follow the bidding of Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) until they get on her bad side and end up following a scoundrel called young Gru (Steve Carell).

Barbara Walter, representative for The Papers, picked up the camera-ready files for volume 48 of Steel Shavingson a DVD-R plus a print-out of the 324 pages.  A big Bob Seeger fan like me, she will soon turn 65 and retire but may keep a few favorite clients, me included. My final 2018 blog entry contains these words: “Trump has shut down the government over his damned wall.  So many senior Republican Senators have retired, the only one apparently left with half a spine seems to be Utah’s Mitt Romney, perhaps hoping, like Ike 70 years ago, to save the GOP from extremists.”

On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, following a long telephone conversation with Trump, announced that the president would reluctantly sign the compromise Congressional legislation funding border security but then declare a national emergency in order to expedite construction of his wall.  McConnell has been against this tactic, believing it would set a terrible precedent, but caved rather than stand up to the White House bully. Perhaps he’s hoping the judicial branch has more guts in stopping this fiasco than his Republican colleagues.  On “Morning Joe” a New York Times analyst compared to McConnell’s performance to one of the yellow-bellied creatures in “Minions.” Here’s Ray Smock’s take on these troubling events:

    President Trump just snatched Nancy Pelosi’s purse. Over on the Senate side, Mitch McConnell handed over the Senate’s wallet without a struggle. If the president gets away with this constitutional grand theft, you can kiss the American Republic goodbye. The only thing standing between a Banana Republic president and rule by presidential decree is the power of the purse, which belongs to Congress, not to any president.

    In one of the most rambling and embarrassing performances of an American president, Donald Trump spoke for 53 minutes about his declaration of a state of emergency on our border with Mexico. His stream of unconsciousness in the Rose Garden today undermined his own case when this gets to the courts. He said on several occasions that he had more money than he knew what to do with. He lamented the small amount Congress appropriated for wall building and repair, but readily admitted Congress gave him more than he asked for in other parts of border security, including funds for better monitoring of ports of entry.     

    Virtually every member of Congress and the officials of the executive branch know that drugs are smuggled mainly through ports of entry and that it is a huge multi-billion-dollar enterprise conducted by sophisticated criminals, not families seeking asylum. Just this week the most notorious drug kingpin of recent times, El Chapo, was sentenced to life in prison. And just last week two large shipments of drugs were stopped at ports of entry. Trump fails mention such things.

    In questioning from the press, Trump said, in effect, that he is declaring a national emergency to deliver on a campaign promise. That is his emergency, not the nation’s. He will use this national emergency declaration, win or lose, to show why he needs to be re-elected. He deserves another term so he can continue to fight for the wall. The wall is the symbol for stopping the browning of America. It is an appeal to racism and fear, which were the hallmarks of his campaign and his presidency.

 John Dowd

Bob Woodward’s “Fear,” about Trump’s first year in office, concludes with loyal attorney John Dowd resigning from the Mueller probe defense team.  Even though Dowd believed that the president had not colluded with Russia nor obstructed justice, he knew that if he agreed to be interviewed by the special counsel under oath, he’s likely end up in “an orange jump suit.”  Woodward, whose 1999 book “Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate,” dealt with past abuses by special prosecutors, wrote:

After 47 years, Dowd knew the game, knew prosecutors look for the perjury trap.  They built cases, could string things together, something that would look bad. And in Trump he had seen the tragic flaw.  In the political back-and-forth, the evasions, the denials, the tweeting, the obscuring, crying “Fake news,”the indignation, Trump had one overriding problem that Dowd knew he could not bring himself to say to the president: “You’re a fucking liar.”

“Fear” rings true even though Dowd and other Trump advisers have denied saying things attributed to them.  John Kelley, for instance, claims he never called Trump an idiot. Rightwing past Trump supporter Ann Coulter recently did just that, quite publicly.

 Mark McPhail

Former IUN administrator Mark McPhail spoke at Miller’s Gardner Center about his upcoming book “Shades of Crimson and Cream: A Diverse People’s History of Indiana University.” A couple years ago, he resigned as Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs when frustrated at every turn by an Old Boys network of senior faculty anxious to hold on to their power.  It will be interesting to see if he takes his revenge out on them in print.  On the program with Mark was the South Shore Dance Alliance.

At bowling a woman was giving away cookies topped with heart-shaped icing, and several others were exchanging Happy Valentine’s Day hugs, including Sheryl Burrill and Mikey Wardell. “Giving away hugs?”I asked Sheryl.  After a slight hesitation, she opened her arms and gave me a squeeze. Even though the Engineers bowled above average, we only won a single game from We’re Here, as Steve Huffman rolled a 632 series with 2 games well over 200.

 James and Deborah Snyder

Portage has a new acting mayor, Sue Lynch.  A jury found Jim Snyder not guilty of accepting a bribe in return for putting a company on the towing list, the originally rationale behind the federal government probe at a time when their main target was Lake County sheriff John Buncich.  The jury did find Snyder guilty of receiving $13,000 that he claimed was a consultant’s fee from a company that sold the city five garbage trucks.  At the time Snyder was financially strapped, owing back taxes, and did not adequately report the income, hence a second conviction for obstructing the IRS.  Snyder is facing up to ten years in prison for something that normally would have resulted in a fine had not the U.S. Attorney chosen to go after him with both barrels and coerced others, including his own brother, to testify against him or face stiff penalties themselves.  The government paid informants to secretly record conversations where they tried to get Snyder to make incriminating statements.  Perhaps Snyder’s being a Republican entered the equation so the prosecutor could not be accused of partisanship. 

I only met Mayor Snyder once, at a Portage Historical Society banquet, and was not impressed but figured the guy, not yet 35 years old, must have had something to offer the voters. While I admired Snyder for supporting steelworkers during a 2015 dispute with management and volunteering Portage snow plows to clear streets in Gary’s Miller neighborhood after a huge storm (they shop in Portage was his retort to critics), I would not have voted for him.  Still I resent the U.S. Attorney having the power to pick and choose whom to go after regarding political fundraising methods that are virtually universal. Compared to consultant fees paid Republican law firms downstate or bribes Trump paid Hoosier lawmakers in order to secure a casino boat in Gary, $13,000 is chump change.  Snyder may have been a scumbag and acted ill-advisedly, but I admire his decision, foolhardy in retrospect, to defend his reputation even though the odds were stacked against him. U.S. Attorneys, after all, win over 95% of cases that go to trial.   I took it as a bad sign when Snyder did not take the stand to defend himself.  He could have vigorously rebutted the main charges and admitted misrepresenting his income to the IRS while under great duress, to which he sincerely regrets. After the trial, one juror indicated that Snyder mishandling the $13,000 consultant fee caused them to conclude that he really didn’t earn it.  The jurors admitted having trouble getting used to not being able to use their iPhones.  

A full weekend.  Friday Dave’s family arrived with Wing Wah carry-out and a cake to celebrate Toni’s 75th birthday; later we played Bananagrams and dice games.  Saturday after dining at Craft House we hosted our four-couple bridge group.  Sunday I had breakfast with Anne Balay at Sunrise Restaurant up the street from our condo, which was very crowded but handled the rush with great efficiency. Anne is a finalist for a teaching position in St. Louis, where older daughter Emma lives.  Like Anne, Avi (whom I first knew as Leah and Anne refers to as they) lives in Philadelphia. According to several sources, “they” applies when someone has adopted a non-binary gender identity rather than identifying exclusively with either gender.

We saw “Shrek: The Musical” at Memorial Opera House, which I loved, much to my surprise. Based on the 2001 movie, “Shrek: The Musical” opened on Broadway a decade ago.  The acting was terrific, from Jonathan Owens as Shrek and Robert Starks as the donkey to the many young folks who played Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and other characters from childhood tales.    

above, Alex Voeller; below, Emmie Reigel, photo by Ray Gapinski

Alex Voeller, who played 3-foot-tall Lord Farquaad on his knees, turned out to be the tallest cast member.  Emmie Reigel as the Wicked Witch danced with such abandon, reminding me of Tanice Foltz, that I could hardly take my eyes off her during the production numbers.  The Sunday matinee was a sell-out, with many youngsters were in the audience.  The musical numbers were delightful, culminating in the Monkees hit “I’m a Believer” by the 33-member cast.  At Presto’s Restaurant afterwards, I noticed former Geology professor Bob Votaw at the next table with three young people who turned out to be his grandchildren.  I recall a Votaw cast member being in a previous play, so they must have come from the theater.  Bob taught until age 75 and was in great shape; in fact, he gave me a big hug that almost took my breath away. My lasagna entrée was delicious and so huge I barely made a dent in it.

 Bob Votaw

Prior to book club at Gino’s I reread parts of British author Helen Rappaport’s “The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra.” The Czarina’s refusal to split up the family or consider fleeing into exile proved to be a tragic one: according to Rappaport, Alexandra’s “abiding virtue – and one that, perversely, destroyed them all in the end – was a fatal excess of mother love.”  Here’s how “The Romanov Sisters” begins:

  They day they sent the Romanovs away the Alexander Palace became forlorn and forgotten – a palace of ghosts.  All 40 doors of the rooms inside had been sealed, the palace kitchens were closed, everything was locked.  Only the 3 cats remained in a deserted Alexander Park, the last remnants of a family now heading hundreds of miles east into Siberia.

Here’s how the book ends:

  In 2007 after considerable and protracted legal wrangling, the Russian Prosecutor General’s office finally saw fit to rehabilitate Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Romanov, their parents and brother, as “victims of political repression.”

Helen Rappaport has written about Russia during the last days of the Romanovs in “Caught in the Revolution” and “The Race to Save the Romanovs.”  Thus it was understandable, albeit disappointing, that “The Romanov Sisters” did not go much into detail about events that caused the Czar to be called “Nicholas the Bloody” (anti-Jewish pogroms, the  Khodynka stampede killing 1,300 at his coronation, and the mass shooting of peaceful demonstrators during the 1905 revolution). Speaker Nancy Kevorkyan provided information about these tragic events.  Severe losses during the Great War precipitated the forced abdication of Czar Nicholas and a subsequent civil war that compelled the Bolsheviks to liquidate the entire royal family.  Lecherous faith healer Grigory Rasputin figures prominently in the narrative, as the Czarina became convinced that his alleged powers were essential in treating son Alexey’s hemophilia.  The Observerreviewer Lara Feigel wrote:

 What is most surprising in this story is quite how unsuited the family is to power. They all live chiefly for each other. Alexandra finds the business of state “a horrid bore”that keeps her husband away from her. Nicholas comes home for the children's bath-time every night and records episodes of teething and weaning in his diary. When Nicholas abdicates, his first thought is that now he can “fulfil my life's desire – to have a farm, somewhere in England.”

  Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia are bright, willful girls who are devoted to their parents and to their precious little brother Alexey. For all four sisters, the ideal life would be one of quiet middle-class domesticity with a soldier husband. Infantilized by Alexandra, they are allowed to run wild with the soldiers who escort them on their annual holiday to Crimea. Even as teenagers, they play boisterous games of hide and seek with the handsome young officers; at one stage 10 people crammed into a wardrobe. Everything changes in the first world war when Alexandra, Olga and Tatiana train as nurses (typically modest, they take the titles of Sister Romanova numbers 1, 2 and 3). Now at last the girls have the contact with the outside world they have longed for as they change dressings and help with operations. But again it's the ordinariness they most love. “It's only at our hospital that we feel comfortable and at ease,” Olga tells one of her patients.

Former History major Marcel Gonzalez aspires to attend grad school at Indiana State and sought advice on possible thesis topics and a letter of recommendation.  He took a seminar I taught on the history of police in America after Ed Escobar left for a job in Arizona.  Marcel recalled that becoming a cop was a path to upward mobility for the Irish and other immigrant groups.  He took most History offerings from Rhiman Rotz but asked about Fred Chary, Ron Cohen, Paul Kern, and Diana Chen-Lin.  I suggested he do a family history and gave him a copy of Ramon and Trisha Arredondo’s “Maria’s Journey.” He presently is a ballroom dance instructor.
  

Into the Woods

“I was raised to be charming, not sincere.” Prince Charming, in “Into the Woods”

Lisa Woodruff Hedin, Michael Glorioso and Colleen Peluso; below, Troy Wendell

Dick and Cheryl Hagelberg, back from a Baltic Sea cruise, drove us to Memorial Opera House in Valpo for the presentation of “Into the Woods.”  Last year I saw James and Becca (as the Baker and the Witch) in a one-act version of the Stephen Sondheim musical, which had a happy ending that suited me just fine.  In Act II we learn that the characters are not as good or evil as they seem.  Prince Charming (played by John Peluso), for instance, seduces the Baker’s wife (Colleen Peluso).  The beanstalk giant’s widow kills several characters, seeking revenge on Jack.  The main point, I gathered, was be careful what you wish for.  My favorite character was Little Red Riding Hood (Danielle Scampini-Linn), a tough cookie who wore a cape made from the wolf’s skin.  She sang, “Do not put your faith in a cape and a hood, they will not protect you the way that they should. And take extra care with strangers, even flowers have their dangers, and though scary is exciting, nice is different than good.”  From the third row I saw from time to time the baton of Maestro Troy Webdell, conducting a 14-piece orchestra in the pit.  As I gradually lost interest in following the dialogue, I came to enjoy the music more and more.

At West Beach a “Dunes Blowout” commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the National Park Service’s centennial.  Among the performers were singer Patti Shaffner, the Emerson Jazz Tornadoes, and the South Shore Dance Alliance.  When we lived not far from West Beach I’d to go into the woods to collect firewood. The plentiful sassafras trees only survived a few years in the sandy soil and their logs gave off a pleasant aroma as well as little sparks.  Unfortunately, poison ivy was also plentiful and not always avoidable.  Terry Jenkins and I had a fort in the woods across the street from his house, where I first took a drag on a cigarette and almost choked.   I’ve been wary of woods since attacked and bitten by yellow jackets as a kid stumbling across their hive. When Toni and I were in the Poconos years ago, she enjoyed being temporarily lost in the woods while it made me uncomfortable.

Granddaughter Becca went to Chesterton’s football game (a loss to Portage) and then on Saturday to the homecoming dance.  Her date’s mother arranged for a photo shoot on Ogden Dunes beach beforehand.  When a high school senior, my job was to introduce the homecoming court during halftime of Upper Dublin’s football game.  I knew in advance that Wendy Henry had been elected queen and would be riding in the last convertible.  Unable to see very well, I jumped the gun.  Does anyone still remember – or care?

 Door Prairie Barn

Kaske House

Sunday’s Post-Trib highlighted Chicagoland suburban landmarks, including a half-dozen in Northwest Indiana: the Michigan City lighthouse, Lake County Courthouse in Crown Point, Valparaiso University’s Heritage Hall, Door Prairie Barn in LaPorte, Collier Lodge in Kouts (the only one not refurbished), and Kaske House in Munster, originally an inn and now a museum. It was acquired in 1986 by the Munster Park Board. Built in 1845 and originally named the Brass Tavern, it had six bedrooms, the tap room, a dining room and a sitting room.  Philip Potempa wrote:

  In 1864 the property, called, was sold by Allan and Julia Watkins Brass to Johann an Wilhelmina Stallbohm and renamed Stallbohm’s Inn, which featured the addition of a wire telegraph service.  The first news of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was delivered to residents of the area after sent by wire to Stallbohm’s Inn.

  In the 1890s, when the business, and the health of the owners, declined, the inn closed.  Johann died in 1899 and Wilhelmina in 1901.  Their daughter, Wilhelmina Kaske, moved in with her husband and converted it into the family home.  In 1909, much of the original structure was destroyed by fire and had to be rebuilt.

Golf legend Arnold Palmer passed away at age 87, and Miami Marlons ace José Fernandez died from a boating accident.  The Cubs beat the Cardinals for win number 99 on a David Ross home run after Wrigley Field fans had given the 39 year-old catcher a standing ovation on his final regular season home game of his stellar career.  The Eagles surprisingly are 3-0 after trouncing the Steelers, while the Bears not surprisingly are 0-3.  The former made me a winner in the CBS office pool.  Also I won my Fantasy Football game despite zero points from tight end Rob Gronkowski while my backup, Zach Miller, garnered 19.  In fact, my bench outscored the Jimbo Jammer starters 110 to 89 despite being without a kicker or defense.

Rolling Stone ranked the top 100 TV shows of all time.  Runnerup, behind “The Sopranos,” was “The Wire,” which I had never seen.  The next four: “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “Seinfeld,” and “The Simpsons.”  “Curb Your Enthusiasm” made the list but not “The Big Bang Theory.”  I’d have put “Saturday Night Live” in the top five rather than ninth, as well as “Sesame Street,” just 31st. “The Wire,” I discovered, examined the flawed law enforcement system in Baltimore, where almost everyone was out to protect his ass, and the drug trade flourished in the inner city. The most interesting character is a black lesbian cop.  The series premier soundtrack included “Way Down in the Hole” by Tom Waits and “Love Is Strange’ by Mickey and Sylvia, a 1956 hit with a calypso beat.

By the end of 1956 Rock and Roll was here to stay.  Elvis Presley was churning out number 1 hits such as “Hound Dog,” a cover of “Big Mama” Thornton’s blues saga about a cheating man, not a hunting dog.  Teenagers were starting to prefer black singers such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Ray Charles and groups such as the Spaniels, the Cadillacs, the Five Satins, and Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers over lame cover artists like the Crewcuts, the McGuire sisters and Pat Boone (shudder).  The novelty hit of 1956, “Stranded in the Jungle,” was first recorded by a black doo wop group, the Jayhawks, and then covered by another black group, the Cadets.  As Shirley and Lee put it in their hit record, “Let the Good Times Roll.”  Long live Rock and Roll.

 Louis VII, Conrad III, and Baldwin III at Jerusalem Council

After examining the Crusades from the Byzantine perspective, this week David Parnell concentrated on the Muslim point of view, using the twelfth century “Book of Contemplation” by Usama ibn Munqidh.  Muslim fragmentation enabled the First Crusaders to seize control of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Edessa, but mistreatment of their non-Christian subjects led to the rise of a defender of Islam, Imad ad-Din Zengi.  Forces loyal to Zengi recaptured Edessa, which in turn caused Pope Eugenius to call for another Crusade. King Louis VII and Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III enlisted.  Accompanying Louis was his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose uncle was Prince Raymond of Antioch. Conrad’s army was annihilated at Dorylaeum in 1147 and the French army a year later at Damascus.  While in Antioch, Queen Eleanor evidently became overly intimate with Raymond, precipitating a rupture in her marriage to Louis. She wed the future English King Henry II and bore him eight children.  Imprisoned 16 years for plotting with her eldest son against her husband, Eleanor was England’s regent while son Richard I went off on the Third Crusade. Katherine Hepburn played Eleanor in “The Lion in Winter” (1968).

Robert Arnaud of Swiss radio interviewed me about the history of Gary after meeting with Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chuck Hughes.  For the program Robert plans to dub my voice in French.  He promised to send me a copy.  I gave him “Gary’s First Hundred Years” and told him to watch Blandine Huk and Frederic Cousseau’s 2014 film “My Name Is Gary.”

I bought a 14-pound Columbia 300 Nitrous bowling ball at Ray’s Lanes.  The pro shop owner gave me good deal. He suggested a fingertip grip, but I stayed with what I was familiar with.  I plan to keep my 30 year-old, 15-pound polyurethane dinosaur in case I need it to pick up ten-pins.

Hillary Clinton took it to The Donald in the first presidential debate and, as Chris Matthews put it, “cleaned Trump’s clock.” Here’s what Ray Smock wrote:

  I have watched all the presidential debates since Nixon/Kennedy [but] have never seen anything like what I witnessed tonight.  [As] Steve Schmidt, the former campaign director for Republican John McCain, said, Donald Trump ran out of gas and degenerated into “incoherence and babble,” especially on national security. He was totally unprepared on the issues. He uttered nothing but campaign slogans and statements that said how bad off America is. The fact checkers will have a field day with his lies and misstatements of fact. He is totally in his own head and could not stop talking about himself and how successful he is. You could feel and taste his egomania. 


Hillary was Hillary. She was prepared. She studied up for the debate. She came with vast experience that Trump tried to denigrate. She did not cower before the bully who kept interrupting her. She smiled. But she also showed she could dish it out as well as take it. We don't expect our presidents to be shrinking violets. We expect them to have resolve, judgment, temperament, and confidence in their ability. She demonstrated all these qualities.

Cara Kelly wrote about her step-dad Brian Saule (above), who grew up in St. John.  He smoked his first joint in woods down from his house and hid bottles of liquor there that cops later confiscated.  Kelly wrote:

In 1981 Brian’s mother forced him to attend Andrean.  The 14-year-old freshman arrived with a home-made bull cut and Colorado work boots.  He tried several times to get expelled by fighting so he could be at Lake Central with his friends.  The first time he smoked marijuana was with his older brother, who had a fort in the woods.  The joint made him so messed up, he went home and started cooking meatloaf.  His mother and sister sat in the kitchen laughing at him; they knew something was wrong but weren’t sure what.  Instead of using the oven, he cooked on the stovetop. The meatloaf turned out very bad, but he still ate it.  When his step-dad got home, he was not pleased.

In 1982 Brian went to a sock hop in Andrean’s gym.  His friend Andy told the DJ it was his birthday, so the guy told all the women to form a circle and dance with hi, including the homecoming queen, Jackie. In fact, he and Jackie became friends because of this.  Brian told me, “I didn’t drive until I was 17 but my sister gave me my first car when I was 16, a 1977 Camaro. It mainly sat in the yard until I got my driver’s license, but I would sneak it out occasionally.  I used to have to take the bus to school.  They’d pick me up at St. Michaels Church in Schererville, and we’d take old Seventy-Third and cross a bridge.  It actually went down, and the road dipped down pretty far.  One day it was raining hard and water built up on the bridge.  The brakes failed and the bus went in the water.  A car was totally submerged next to us.  We ended up having to swim out; my cigarettes got wet, which was the most disturbing thing to me during this experience.  In the year book we were dubbed the Andrean swim team.”                                                                                     

1984, Brian’s senior year, he got his license, started dating, and went to the prom.  He had gotten over not being able to go to Lake Central but usually didn’t shrink from a fight.  He got into a confrontation with a new guy named Darren, who ended up his best friend.  He recalled: “Darren was talking bad about my friend Mike so I decided I was going to confront him but got nervous and backed down.  I tried to look intimidating, but he said, ‘You have something on your face’ and wiped off my face.  That very same day I missed my bus and asked Darren for a ride home.  He eventually said yes and that’s how we became best friends.” 

Miller kids from Andrean knew of a liquor store that had burned down, but tons of booze remained inside.  Brian and two friends loaded up a big Suburban with bottles whose labels were slightly burned and on the way home got pulled over by a police officer, but they didn’t get caught.  They hid the bottles in the woods near Brian’s house.  Cops found the booze and kept it for themselves.  Years later when he was friends with a St. John police officer, Brian noticed a liquor bottle on a shelf with a burnt label.  He put two and two together.  The booze was never reported missing, so nobody got into trouble.

In 1985, after graduating from high school, Brian went to Purdue Cal in Hammond but got sick and couldn’t finish the semester.  He worked at Marciano’s Pizza in St. John.  Across the street was a K-Mart.  On day 32 year-old James Koslow entered the store with a large gun and killed three people and wounded others before police officer Richard Conaway gunned him down

St. John in the 80’s was very rural.  There wasn’t much to do except go to a strip mall and then nothing but corn fields. Everyone wanted to be in everyone else’s business. In 1986 Brian had a shirt that said, “New Kids Suck,” a reference to the boy band New Kids on the Block.  That year Brian went to his first concert to see Pete Gabriel.

  In 1986 he turned 19 and his favorite pastime was going to Omni 41, the rolling rink, which my parents also hung out there a lot but had never met Brian.  “We all went to Omni 41. Tuesdays was ladies night and Saturdays was all night skate," Brian recalled.

  In an about face, Brian now claims he wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else, but when he sees people from the past they remind him of the stupid things he did with his friends.  Iit does make him feel nostalgic in a bittersweet way.