more ODD oddcoupling...

I have a massive headache so we'll see how far I actually get into
this before I quit for the night, but we sat down with some "Friday
Pizza" from Safeway (because I was craving pepperoni) and rootbeer
tonight to watch the second debate. I missed the vice presidential
debate the other night because of church, but being as big a political
junkie as I am, I couldn't bear the thought of missing another debate.

When I got out of high school and started working at the public access
station, I think I became even more of a political junkie than I HAD
been because we would do extensive local election coverage culminating
in live election results on the air. There's always something electric
about live television, and everything that went into getting the
election night show on the air from running to city halls to find out
where the results are, to coordinating candidates to interviews, to
communicating with the field locations made for a lot of excitement.

I still remember the 1997 election night. I didn't need to be at the
station right away that night so I had the chance to go and see
Sixpence None the Richer do a little acoustic set at a local bookstore
and pick up their album that had just come out on Steve Taylor's
SQUINT label. They were in the midst of flying from Columbus (I think)
on a whirlwind promotional tour. I found this from a press release on
rec.music.christian

During the first week of Sixpence None the Richer's album release, the band
embarked on a 6 day, 12 city promotional tour, making appearances at Christian
retail outlets, radio stations and colleges. Cities visited included Chicago,
Minneapolis, Green Bay, Columbus (Ohio), Chattanooga, Atlanta and Dallas, among
others.

"I'd always wanted to ride in a Lear Jet, so it was quite a thrill flying with
the band to six cities in the first two days," reflects Taylor, who joined the
group for the tour's intense launch. "Whether it was meeting 80 people
in-store for a 6:30 'Breakfast with Sixpence,' or joining the band in taking
listener calls at radio, it's evident that Sixpence's fans are loyal and they
are many."

Before they played the show, I seem to remember that they had dinner
at the Old Chicago on the other side of the mall. Almost a year later,
while in Chicago on a trip to bring my sister to school, I'd see them
play the coffee shop of a Borders and then have dinner a table away
from them after meeting up with my friends Beki and Randy. They
weren't big yet then, but it was coming. A few months prior to the
Chicago show, they actually led me to get into my first show at the
Fine Line Music Cafe (a club that was VERY 21+ and which I had gotten
thrown out of when I was 15 and trying to get into an Over the Rhine
show by convincing them that I was a Russian Immigrant. Don't knock
it, the girl I was with actually WAS a Russian immigrant. Pulling out
my permit though wasn't a smart move) My friend Terry was the guy to
go to for portable sound equipment so we dragged a system out to the
mall of america to do an instore at Sam Goody and then Pegtop (my
friend Terry's band) opened for them that night at the Fine Line. I
was psyched that no one carded me.

But back to the night in November of 97. By early November in
Minnesota, the nights can be especially crisp. That night was no
exception. 20 or 30 people gathered for the short set and we all
bought CDs to take with us. I remember being a bit confused by the
fact that the main artwork for the CD was actually on the back of the
disc, but that was something Squint tried doing to give more room for
artwork. I was in charge of the graphics that election night, so after
everything was done that night (1-2am?) I was chugging away listening
to the Sixpence disc at my desk finishing up everything I needed to
do. I don't think at that point I had my BLAZING FAST blue and white
G3 400 yet, so I was probably designing on a 233 beige G3 and doing
some sort of weird conversion so that I could load all of the graphics
into Scala on an even MORE ancient Amiga. Anyway, the gist of the
story is that on top of the adrenaline of doing live election night
coverage, you had a cool little concert mixed on top of things ( I
feel a little bit like Tony in the 24 Hour Party People
movie.

So tonight we were watching the debate. It goes without saying that
everyone on Echo thought that Bush was HORRENDOUS and SCARY and VILE
and EVIL which still bothers me a bit I guess, I don't understand the
shrillness, but that's a post for another day. But I thought Bush did
a nice job. He wasn't flashy, but he kept his facial expression to
himself and point after point I thought he was fairly solid. I
appreciated seeing him take pictures with people in the audience after
the debate. He looked genuinely happy to be with the people that were
there. Kerry on the other hand was talking to Theresa and Charley
Gibson, not really doing any interacting at all. I think that that
simple observation very clearly defines who these two candidates are.
Bush for all the vile stuff thrown at him, still really loves to talk
to people and kerry doesn't want to talk to anyone who can't do
something for him.

How do I tie this into The Rookie though? A few simple things...

1) Both the debate and the movie featured prominent Texans
2) Both president Bush and the movie have a tie to the Texas Rangers
(Jimmy Morris pitches his first game for the Devil Rays against the
Rangers)
and
3) I'll paraphrase because I don't completely remember the quote, but
it was something along the lines of "Sometimes we have to give up the
things we wish for to do the things we were meant for" I don't know
that Bush really wished to be in the presidency, but I think it was
something he was meant for. This could get me into trouble with a lot
of people, but like I wrote in my posting a day or so ago, I think
Bush is one of those people who didn't get any choice in the matter.
He was chosen to be in the presidency for some greater purpose. Maybe
that was in making the right response to September 11th, maybe it
wasn't. I don't know that I'd go any farther than that, lest I stray
into Christimericanism (Is that a new word?)but I think there's a
reason why Bush is where he is.

At points, Morris really didn't want to get into the majors, going to
Fort Worth would have been the safe move, and he thought that that's
what he was supposed to do, but it could be construed from the movie
that he was "meant" to be in the big leagues. Like I started to say
above, Bush would probably rather be on his ranch mountain biking and
chopping down wood, but sometimes bigger things need to be
accomplished and once they're done, he'll have time for the small
things.

I think that's about as close as I'll get in trying to make
connections. The Rookie was definitely worth our $5, and I can
understand why my friend Zech makes it required viewing before the
baseball season starts every year, but I don't think I'd rank it at
the top of my favorite baseball movies. Maybe top 5. I think my
favorite baseball movie is still Field of Dreams. I remember seeing it
with my dad at Roseville 4 (the cheap little discount theatre I grew
up going to with the amazingly comfortable yet ancinet rocking theatre
seats) and tearing up a bit when Costner's character meets his dad on
the field. Major League (which I remember being so excited to see once
again at Roseville 4 because I was underage) would rank up there too.
I'm not saying it's a GOOD movie, but in the hierarchy of baseball
movies it's right up there. Another Roseville 4 baseball movie that
needs to rank somewhere would be The Sandlot, but I don't know if that
would make the top five.

I haven't really gotten into baseball since I've been out in Colorado.
Keeping up with the Twinkies isn't as easy as flipping on CCO and the
Rockies haven't exactly been a team to keep your eye out for. But
watching the Rookie tonight reminded me what I love about the game,
even if I did suck at it when I played. I might need to rent For the
Love of the Game some time soon to see how well it holds up. Yes, I
DID see that one at Roseville 4 with my dad as well. I'm blathering on
and it's 12:30 here, so I should wrap this stream of consciousness
post up, but I promise I'll post more later.


-Brian the headachey.