Loading Zones

“I park for free

One stop shop life for the quick fix

Before you get a ticket

That’s the way I live my life

I park for free.”

Kurt Vile

 Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile, 38, was born in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and like members of the War on Drugs, my favorite band,  has spent most of his career in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia near where Toni grew up.  In fact, along with Adam Granduciel, he was a founder of the War on Drugs but parted ways after the release of their first album, “Wagonwheel Blues” (2008). The two remained friends, however, and Granduciel continued to play with Vile’s backing band, the Violators, for another five years. “Loading Zones,” my current favorite song, is on the album “Bottle It In.”  Vile explained: “The original inspiration to this song was me literally driving around my own town of Philadelphia, thinking about how, in your mind, or in real life, you own your town once you’ve lived there long enough.”  After complaining how difficult it is to park legally in the “City of Brotherly Love,” he added: “[But] there’s all kinds of loading zones you can creep around in. And it’s also sort of just a way of life. It’s sort of like a ‘Sopranos,’ gettin by on the back streets–except no murder.”  Vile’s previous hit, “Pretty Pimpin’,” begins:“I woke up this morning and didn’t recognize the man in the mirror.”  

At my emeritus office in the new Arts and Sciences building I picked up a week’s accumulation of mail, something I do infrequently.  There is no elevator in the south end of the two-block long building, where my room is, and the 30 steps to the second floor are tough on the knee.  In addition, there is no parking anywhere near the north entrance except for a loading zone. I do occasionally park there on quick stops, popping the trunk of the Corolla as if I’ll be loading something into it when I return.   Awaiting for me in my office were four pieces of mail: a permission slip from former trustee James Dye that allows access to our recent interview; two copies from John Cain of South Shore Arts of the “Gary Haunts” exhibit booklet that contains my historical essay; an announcement and thank you note from Scott Bocock of the Cedar Lake Historical Society (I evidently became a member automatically when I spoke to the group); and a package containing Steel Shavings, volume 47, that I had sent to Steven High at Concordia University in Montreal.  The post office returned it because it didn’t contain a required customs form.  WTF?

above, Joe Petras; below, Dick Hagelberg, Jimbo, Steve Spicer (photo by Jim Spicer) 

On Saturday I took James bowling and to Culver’s.  His English class is reading “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, not a book I’d recommend for teenagers.  At noon I attended Big Joe Petras’ Marquette Park Playground fundraiser at Miller Bakery Café, an event that has previously been held at Arman’s and Miller Pizza.  Over the years Big Joe has raised thousands of dollars.  I ran into many old Miller friends, including Jim and Steve Spicer, Jack Tonk, Dan Simon, Ron Cohen, Rich Gonzalez, and Dick Hagelberg, who treated me to a pint draft from Eighteenth Street Brewery, first located in Miller but now in Hammond. I was home in time for the IU victory over Butler, 71 to 68, in the Crossroads Classic on a last-second 30-foot miracle shot by freshman Rob Phinisee (below).  The Hoosiers trailed until the final two minutes, but Juwan Morgan kept them in the game with 35 points, a career high.

Sunday I made French toast and bacon, watched the morning news shows, addressed about 70 Christmas cards, and watched my two favorite NFL teams the Chicago and the Philadelphia, win important games from Green Bay and the L.A. Rams respectively, the Bears to clinch the NFC Central and the Eagles to keep their playoff hopes alive.  The only fly in the ointment: I got eliminated in the Fantasy semi-finals as Houston running back Lamar Miller was injured early in his game with the Jets, my starting QB Carson Wentz didn’t play, and backup Nick Foles hardly ever threw to my tight end Zach Ertz.  Had I played either Dalvin Cook of Minnesota or Chris Carson of Seattle in place of Miller, I’d have won.  As it was, I’d have beaten any of the other semi-finalists.

At the Archives two Ball State grad students, Carrie Vachon and Nick Miller, were working on a grant project to create a virtual museum on the history of civil rights in Indiana.  They were very interested in my publications, especially the Gary pictorial history and my Tracesarticle on Reverend L.K. Jackson.  I suggested several sources on Mexican Americans and referred them to these documentaries: an “Eyes on the Prize II” episode highlighting the 1972 National Civil Rights Convention at Gary West Side High School; “Hoosiers: The Story of Indiana,” based on Jim Madison’s book; John Hmurovich’s “History of Gary”; and an episode of the WFYI series “Across Indiana” on Mexican Repatriation.

 left, Alex Karras; below, Dick the Bruiser

I ran into Mike Chirich, a Lew Wallace grad, and we talked about Gary sports history. He played junior varsity football and recalled legendary Coach Eddie Herbert.  We traded stories about Alex Karras, whom I wrote about for a Traces article and whom I interviewed by telephone shortly before he died.  Suffering from Alzheimer’s, he joked that I could call him the next day and we could have the same conversation since he wouldn’t remember the one we just had. Chirich knew about the Detroit sports bar that Karras had a financial interest in, where he evidently placed bets on games, causing the NFL commissioner in 1963 to suspend him from playing for a year.  During that time he became a professional wrestler and supposedly got into a bar fight with Dick the Bruiser (William Afflis, a former Green Bay Packers lineman) shortly before their scheduled match. According to Chirich, Dick the Bruiser was taken to jail supposedly bleeding from the head due to being struck by a pool stick.  Karras visited him, and “The Bruiser” bragged that the publicity should bring about a full house for the match.

 Janet Jackson, Robert Smith of The Cure, Stevie Nicks

2019 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include Gary’s own Janet Jackson as well as The Cure and Radiohead, all deserving.  Others include Def Leppard, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, and the Zombies, a Sixties British band whose hits include “She’s Not There” and “Time of the Season.”  

The Concept

“She wears denim wherever she goes
Says she’s gonna get some records by the Status Quo.”
“The Concept,” Teenage Fanclub

On the sleazy reality show “Jersey Shore,” a hit with many young adults, there’s a character that calls himself The Situation. With that precedent I should call myself The Concept.

Friday an apparently homeless man was sitting outside the IUN library wrapped in two blankets. A half hour later, the blankets remained but he was gone. In contrast to cities like Chicago and Boston, you rarely see such scenes locally. About a year ago a beggar came into the cafeteria, but a campus cop quickly whisked him out. Former Chancellor Peggy Elliott told me this anecdote from the early 1980s: “One night I got a call from security around two a.m. An officer making his rounds had discovered two young children in the shadows near the fountain. They had been abandoned. The boy remembered he had been to a friendly place and somehow found his way, with his little sister, to the campus. A desperate child saw our campus as a refuge. Our investment in beauty and security brought us returns in ways we never could have imagined.” Could the man wrapped in blankets have been the same person 30 years later?

Fred McColly stopped by my “cage” after checking on his Native American garden. He needs a ground cover of four inches of snow to insure the survival of his winter wheat seeds. Daughter Sarah, one of my best former students and on the cover of my Nineties issue, is about to give birth.

I ate free courtesy of IUN for the third time in as many days: fried chicken and the trimmings, including Cole slaw and scallions with just the right texture and bite, at the Arts and Sciences Holiday party. Dean Hoyert gave a witty poetry recitation that began, “Twas the week of the finals,” a take-off on the 1823 Clement C. Moore poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” better known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” He devoted a stanza to excuses used by students petitioning for an incomplete: “My brother’s in jail and I have the flu, I had to work and grandma died too,” followed by the dean’s advice to “fail the transgressors” and “ignore the complaints, the whines, the begging.” He ends on this note:

“While most of our students are the best of our youth
There are some that can drive you to gin and vermouth!
In the end, teaching’s a calling, it’s honored, it’s right
Happy end of the semester and to all a good night.”

I sat with historian Chris Young, Vice Chancellor David Malik, and Fine Arts faculty Jennifer Greenburg, who has produced a unique photography book called “The Rockabillies.” At first glance the representations appear to be from the postwar period, but they depict modern day emulators of Fifties styles, from the pompadour haircuts and slicked back hair to the sounds of Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins. Prominent are tattoos, classic cars, period furniture, radios, comics and albums and, most striking, clothes styles harkening back to my high school days, including white bucks and saddle shoes. Curator Karen Irvine wrote: “By making photographs worthy of a glossy fashion magazine, Greenburg places the rockabilly’s nostalgia in a contemporary context, revealing a tension between the traditionalism and rebelliousness of their subculture.” Jennifer mentioned that a recent trend in museums is deleting explanations about the work. In an experiment for an Aesthetics class at Bucknell I showed a painting to different groups, telling some the piece was untitled, as was the case, and then making up titles. Except for art majors, most preferred a title.

Suzanna Murphy sent me a self-published book entitled “Stories from the Old Stone House” about her “grama,” who lived to be well over 100. She rode a horse, Old Sam, to her one-room schoolhouse. Old Sam returned to his stable on his own after dropping her off.

Charlize Theron in “Young Adult” plays Mavis Gary, a self-absorbed writer of books designed for teenagers who returns to her “hick” hometown hoping to lure old boyfriend Buddy Slade into leaving his wife and young baby. Diablo Cody, responsible for “Juno,” wrote the excellent screenplay and, so far as I know, coined the word “Ken-taco-hut.” Mavis hangs out in such places in order to pick up the latest “young adult” dialogue. On the drive from Minneapolis Mavis puts on a Teenage Fanclub tape, including her and Buddy’s song “The Concept,” which makes reference to the English “boogie band” Status Quo, whose number one UK hit in 1975 was “Down, Down.” At a bar Buddy’s wife sings “The Concept” with her band Nipple Confusion, sending Mavis into a jealous fit. After her inevitable comeuppance she goes back to Mini-Apple (as local wannabes still call the Twin city) sadder but wiser.

Saturday at Miller Pizza Joe Petras hosted the annual Men and Boys Holiday Benefit Brunch. Proceeds help maintain the Marquette Park playground. I sat with Tom Eaton, Ted Prettyman, and the Spicer brothers. Years ago, Prettyman ran for Miller Beach precinct committeeman against Dick Hagelberg and Mike Chirich and lost to Chirich by a single vote. Mike has remained in the post ever since. Purdue fan Jack Tonk and IU booster Matt Diltz were razzing each other, and George Rogge talked about getting all groups interested in the future of Miller Beach together. I invited Melvin Nelson, thinking Joe’s brother-in-law Jim Walton, on our bowling team years ago, would be there, but he was in Kentucky due to a family emergency. Joe announced that total donations in 21 years reached $5,000.

In an all-Indiana doubleheader Purdue lost to Butler on a last-second tip-in, while IU defeated Notre Dame in a grinder. Evening at the Hagelbergs featured southwestern chicken and two rounds of bridge.

Sunday I went two for four gaming, winning Acquire and Viking, then watched Seattle slaughter the Bears in another abysmal performance by their backup quarterback Caleb Hanie. If only they had Kyle Orton, cut from Denver earlier in the year, who led Kansas City to a win over previously unbeaten Green Bay. Dave and Angie teased me about going to Hawaii without them. I called Seattle Joe while listening to an Accept CD he had given me and talked about the awesome time ahead on the Big Island.

Monday I picked up macadamia nuts at Albanese in Merrillville and stopped at the Lake County Library. I gobbled up a rare copy of my Sports Shavings issue that was on sale for a quarter. A label on the inside of the front cover identified James Mulloy as the former owner.

Lunched at Gino’s with lawyer Tim Sendak, whose dad was Indiana attorney general for eight years. He provided me with great anecdotes about grandparents Jack and Annette, whom I will be writing about in “On Their Shoulders.” Annette was evidently a pool shark in London who paid for her fare to America from her winnings. When Jack wouldn’t buy her a car, she started a fur company and bought a Buick once she saved enough money of her own. At their summer place on the St. Joseph River, Tim recalled, Annette had a massive clock collection set at different times so that one chimed every few minutes. Apparently she didn’t like a quiet house. I ordered a delicious steak and portabella sandwich, half of which I took home.

Grandkids were in a school Christmas program. James played the xylophone and drums, and Rebecca sang with her fourth grade class. It was a mob scene getting in and out but fun seeing the kids shine.

Steelers-49ers contest in San Francisco was delayed due to a power outage (reminiscent of the 1989 earthquake during a Cubs-Giants playoff game), so I put on a Decembrists CD.

Time’s Person of the Year is The Protestor, a fine choice given Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. Among its year-old RIP tributes are essays about actor Peter Falk (I loved “Columbo”) and “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney, who was on the show 31 years, starting when he was 61. Like Walter Cronkite, he had been an ace World War II correspondent. His longevity reminded me of newsman Tom Cannon, who came to Gary in his 60s and commenced a new 30-year career highlighted by his “Flue Dust” column.

Republican officeholders, realizing that Newt would be a disastrous party standard bearer, are flocking to Mitt, who helped Letterman do the Top Ten list of things he’d like to say to the American people (number 9 was, “What’s up gangstas, it’s the M-i-double tizzle”). Newt’s 1994 Contract with America got him elected Speaker of the House, but his downfall was causing a government shutdown and impeaching Clinton for receiving a blow job when he was guilty of much greater moral lapses. Number 2 on Mitt’s list was, “Newt Gingrich, really?”