Long Days, Long Months: 12 August

Reminiscences..

1/
During our visits to La Push, part of a native reservation occupying a narrow strip of land on the Pacific coast of Washington, we'd sometimes visit other beaches in the area. Most of them had far less visitors than the La Push beach, which was always populated because of the very lodges and hotel we were staying in; though some town folk hung out there too. One of these other beaches was a favorite. The sea cliffs were especially large, and a large rock stood in the middle, a sort of mini-sea cliff that had gotten lost. One year, the beach was covered with fog thick enough that one had difficulty seeing more than a few feet in front. Another year, a starfish sat by itself on the beach, presumably left behind with the passing of high tide; our dad threw it back in the water. Often, one would pass campers and feel guilty about spoiling the relative isolation they usually enjoyed. One had to walk a trail through the rain forest to get there. On this occasion, our mom was not with us, but our aunt and a cousin were. Going back up, our dad and aunt lagged behind, catching up, as they live on opposite sides of the country and rarely talk either way. Arriving back at the road, my brother and I and our cousin decide to begin walking back. Actually, our cousin, who was considerably older than us - and a girl - decided; we followed. Eventually, our aunt and dad came along in the car and picked us up, surprisingly not too upset.

2/
Customarily, students of Clarke Central did not to return to school the days they took A P exams; since they checked in with the teacher of the A P class at the exam site (the Navy Supply Corps school soon to close) they thus by some strange logic were excused for the entire day. Sophomore year, a friend and I got a ride with his mother to Guthrie's to get lunch, but then returned to school. Next year, I was determined to avoid that fate. So I went downtown, as did several others. I ate lunch at The Grill with three kids, two of which were part of the Punk/Industrial crowd that would loiter in College Square. Afterward, we went to Peppino's to play pool and video games.

Peppino's was quite the local institution in its original location. Using up the entire space of the bottom floor of what was once a department store, a large counter greeted the customer to the left, while immediately in front and to the right was the cavernous seating area. One game room was in the back, while the smaller of the two was to one's left if you kept walking straight after entering the restaurant, after the bathrooms.

The son of the owner of Peppino's went to St. Joseph's; now, he owns Little Italy. Before one of the dances, we all met at Peppino's to eat dinner. The original plan was to walk from there to St. Joseph's... not a long walk, but eventually someone's parents gave us a ride in their van. Before that though, an awkward moment: I ran into the pastor of the Lutheran church which my mom forced my brother and I to attend. The pastor was there with a group of church kids, part of some sort of "lock-in" churches have to encourage like-minded kids to mingle, sharing their piety or lack thereof. The pastor said hello, then whispered in my ears something to the effect that he hoped he knew what kind of crowd I was hanging out with. I suppose he saw that some of the girls wore dresses - the kind of dresses teenagers and adults would wear; I still remember the black dress one of them wore. I suppose also he might have thought weren't acting appropriately enough for eighth-graders.

3/
We're sitting by a radiator heather. I'm wearing a green button-up shirt with a thickness to it and a pattern I remember somewhat fondly. Jeff says, "I don't like to eat my animal friends." A human friend walks in, greets us. Overall, the house is dark, but enough lights are on to forever give the scene an aura of Christmas time, which it was. A year prior, I had first heard Jeff's music, again around Christmas time. It snowed that year in December. I told Cary while at Low Yo Yo Stuff the day the snow and ice coated the ground that such weather made me nostalgic. He thought it was a little overwrought for such a young person to be nostalgic.

4/
At the V 96 Festival in Chelmsford, England, August 1996, Pulp headlined. It was their last gig promoting Different Class, and they premiered a new song, "Help the Aged," which would end up on their next record, This Is Hardcore, released nearly two years later. As I stood among thousands of Englishmen and -women, a large video-screen told us Elastica were playing on the second stage. They were the last act there, but if one wanted a good spot to see Pulp, you had to be here, waiting. The bounty was too much for me: Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci both played on the second stage, but the one time I made it over there, I'm not sure who was playing. I had the impression that I would have greater difficulty getting near the front there than at the main stage - who knows why! I was correct though.

I was eager to see Stereolab, who played the main stage earlier in the day. They were followed by Jonathan Richman, who asked for the volume to be turned down. Gary Numan was there too, but he and his band played heavy Rock far removed from the sound that made him famous. Supergrass and Cast were the two big acts leading up to Pulp. Cast were forgettable, and have been forgotten. Supergrass were good, and still are today. The masses started singing along a lot during Cast's and Supergrass's sets. And when Pulp was on stage, the hundreds of people who were within ear- and eye-shot were singing along to every single line of their hits like "Common People" and "Disco 2000." They were great, and sadly I would never get a chance to see them play again. They toured the U S rarely, and when they did came nowhere near Atlanta/Athens. More important, I've never been to another British pop festival; are they as fun now, that the Brit-Pop moment has passed?

Indeed, when I had arrived in London, the weeklies New Musical Express and Melody Maker featured reports on the massive mini-festivals Oasis had just put on. They had purposefully tried to beat the attendance record for a music concert held by Led Zeppelin and their 1979 Knebworth shows. And they did. But the weeklies, despite their effusive praise for all sorts of awful groups, were already turning against Oasis and their excessive desire to the biggest band ever, and did not have many nice things to say about the just-past concerts.

Anyway... I bought a Pulp t-shirt; and the Blur t-shirt I had on turned out not to be an especially inspired choice: another kid had the same shirt on. I still have the program I purchased, and my ticket.

5/
Nikki the dog spent most of his days on the basement steps. When Ervin was home, he would occasionally go to rest on Ervin's lap, especially when called; in such cases, Ervin was usually watching professional wrestling. Upstairs, Elsie sat talking with her younger friend Virginia, who always seemed to know what was best for Elsie, and brought copies of The National Enquirer and similar newspapers when she was done reading them. Elsie didn't read them, and kept them in a stack in the closet that was immediately to one's left when entering the house. Immediately in front of you was the upstairs staircase, the carpet over them so thin that the hardwood floors under it defined how they felt: one always felt a little surprised by how hard a carpeted floor could be; it was uncomfortable to walk on. I always feared the prospect of falling on them.