Lost in the Supermarket

I’m all lost in the supermarket

I can no longer shop happily

~~ “Lost in the Supermarket” by the Clash

I spotted this at the grocery store today and of course, I had to have it. While I’m looking forward to reading it and I’m sure the articles will be excellent, I think there is an element of wanting to hold on to him and never let him go. I find myself feeling increasingly bereft as his time in office nears its close. There is also a sense of impending doom as the next administration nears, and I know I’m not alone in that feeling.

I feel fortunate to have lived during the eight years of Obama’s presidency. We have had our ups and downs but there is no denying (at least among the rational) that he is a good, decent, extremely intelligent man who has the best interests of the country at heart. So buying this special issue was my little way of falling to the ground, grabbing him around the knees and wailing, “NO! Please don’t go! Don’t leave me this way!”

::sigh::

But since it looks like he’s not going to declare martial law in order to set himself up in the Oval Office for life, I know he has to say goodbye.

It seems that I’m not the only one who is experiencing this feeling of loss. At the checkout line, the clerk rang it up and slid it to the end of the lane for the bagboy to put into a bag. As she did it, she glanced at it and read the headline: “The Obama Years.” The bagboy looked sad and said, “I’m going to miss him.”

The clerk said, “Me, too.”

Naturally, I chimed in with, “Me, too!”

Here is where it gets really interesting. The clerk, who is an older lady I see there often (I won’t mention her name for privacy reasons), seems to be close to retirement age. She is sometimes a little gruff, but mostly just all business. She seemed in a good mood today and was quite a bit more talkative than usual. She said to me, “I fear for my life now,” and flashed me a little smile that didn’t seem to quite reach her eyes. The bagboy, a youngster who could possibly have been of Hispanic heritage, murmured, “Yeah,” and I said, “I think a lot of us are concerned.”

The bagboy put the magazine into a bag and said, “He’s been great.”

The clerk wasn’t done. She said, “Like my daughter says, grab your picture ID and run for your life!”

At that point, we all did chuckle a little bit, but I would describe it as “rueful chuckling.” As in, “We have to kind of laugh about this, right? Even though we are scared and sickened by what is happening?”

I found this encounter intriguing on several levels and it has stuck with me all day.

First, not everyone in the Midwest is onboard the Yam Express to Hell. There are plenty of us right here in Indiana who are unhappy about this.

Second, it goes beyond just being unhappy. I’ve been unhappy with election outcomes before. We are now in the Fear Zone. Here were three disparate people: an older woman close to retirement, a young man of uncertain ethnic origin (I don’t mean that in a bad way...I just have no idea what his ethnicity was, but I could tell he wasn’t total whitebread like me) who is just starting his life’s journey, and middle-aged me who worries about erosions of civil liberties and about setbacks in all the progress that has been made in the last several decades.

Three very different circumstances, but a common sentiment: we are all afraid.

Afraid of what is going to happen to retirement funds and Medicare; afraid of what is going to happen to our gay friends and family; afraid of what is going to happen to women’s reproductive rights; afraid of what kind of life is going to be waiting for any young person when they get out of college—if they can even afford to go to college. We were all feeling afraid enough that we actually talked about this a bit in a place of business. I think we all are trying to find comfort where we can, and perhaps my purchase of this magazine reassured the clerk and the bagboy that there are people out there who are feeling the same way. I hope so. I hope that gave them a little boost today. Hearing their words sure gave me one!

It also made me feel angry. Because we shouldn’t have to feel afraid of the leader of our government and what he is going to do to our country and to the world. None of us. I’m not going to say that it’s unfair, because I know that life isn’t fair. I think it’s reasonable to say that it is unjust, though. It is unjust that a significant portion of our population is now living in fear. I remember being afraid of nuclear war a few decades ago. I feel that same pall over my life now and it seems that my compadres at the supermarket are feeling it, too.

Finally, it makes me think that the coalition is still there. The Democrats just need to figure out how to bring us all together so that we can work on progress for all, not just a select few.

I just hope that by the time they figure it out, it’s not too late.

This song is going out to the current Commander-In-Chief. You may not be in the Oval Office soon, sir, but you’ll always command my heart...and my respect.

More Stones stuff

Last week, I saw on Twitter that the Rolling Stones were teaming up with Crystal Head vodka for a limited edition Stones 50th anniversary package.

Well, I was on that like milk on cereal, let me tell ya!

My friend Stephen knows how much I love the Stones and sent me a link to a UK shop that was selling it, but I figured the shipping costs would be crazy. So I did a little searching and found a place here that was selling it for a good price and ordered it immediately. I love their name, too: Liquorama! It was not cheap, but the package is just beautiful.

It’s a little box with a zipper on the front (sadly, it is not a working zipper...*pout*), harkening back to the famous Andy Warhol “Sticky Fingers” cover. The glass skull-shaped bottle is nestled inside, with a Stones tongue logo behind it. The little pull-out drawer beneath the skull contains a double disc of Stones songs. Also included is a glass stopper with the tongue logo embedded within.

Stones Crystal Skull VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This baby really is gorgeous. Even Ken had to admit that yeah, that was worth the price.

If anyone comes over, you’ll know you’re special if I crack open the Crystal Head. For now, I plan on just tucking it away as a collectible. It makes it extra-special that we actually went to one of the shows on the 50 and Counting tour!

Incidentally, Crystal Head vodka is Dan Aykroyd’s baby. I’d heard of it before, but had never bought a bottle. I couldn’t resist this one with the Stones tie-in!

Also, about an hour before we headed up to the show on Friday, I saw that I had an email from Rolling Stone magazine. I had sent in a comment on their Rolling Stones cover article, and they said they planned on publishing it and wanted to confirm that I was who I said I was and that I am from where I said I was from. Sure enough, I just got the latest issue, and there I am! So I got an email from Rolling Stone just before I headed up for a Rolling Stones concert because they wanted to publish my letter about the Rolling Stones in Rolling Stone.

So meta!

Beth’s Music Moment: Rolling Stone Archives

Boy, I’m sure doing a lot of Music Moments lately! That’s because I’m having a lot of really good music moments these days!

Today’s came when I was sitting out on the deck catching some rays and catching up on some back issues of Rolling Stone that I hadn’t gotten to yet. Lots of good stuff. One of my favorite features is the back page, where they list the top 40 albums and a few other charts. The part I love the best on that page is the “From the Vault” box, where they show a past cover, a brief quote from whoever was on it, and the top ten singles at the time. Today’s just slayed me. Since I’m a subscriber, I get full access to their online archives, and I spent a brief time there today. I have to be careful there because I could easily get lost in reading old articles!

The issue in “From the Vault” was RS 250, from October 20th, 1977, and it was Johnny Rotten on the cover, with the headline “Rock is Sick.” But what really made me grin was seeing the top ten singles from that week:

1. Debby Boone “You Light Up My Life”
   
2. Carly Simon “Nobody Does It Better”
   
3. Shaun Cassidy “That’s Rock ‘N Roll”
   
4. KC & the Sunshine Band “Keep It Comin’ Love”
   
5. Heatwave “Boogie Nights”
   
6. Foreigner “Cold As Ice”
   
7. Commodores “Brick House”
   
8. Donna Summer “I Feel Love”
   
9. Meco “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band”
   
10. Johnny Rivers “Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancin’)”
    

Now, I don’t hate all of the songs on that list. I think I even had a couple of the records (and “Brick House” is still a blast!). But all in all, it’s a pretty anemic list, and it brought back memories of how boring much of the radio was at that time, and how excited Shane and I were by punk rock and New Wave. We felt like, “YES, this is IT!” Punk was and is always my first love in music, and part of it is because of how exciting it felt to be caught up in it. That is the music of my young adulthood and college years, and they say that’s always what you love the best. That makes sense, because it sort of helps form who you are. Man, I remember that freakin’ Debby Boone song being at the top of the charts for weeks, and it was just so sappy and gagworthy. Shane and I were like, “Screw it, play the Clash and blow the pictures off the walls!” (We really did that once...”Death Or Glory” was the song, and we still laugh about it.)

I won’t argue that it was the most revolutionary change in music ever, because I’m sure people have said that about rap, hip hop, many other genres, and probably even Mozart, for that matter. But it was certainly revolutionary for me, and opened my eyes to a whole different world, one far beyond my small town. I think it’s fair to say that it changed my life. The juxtaposition of that cover and the top ten list brought all that back to me in a flash. Shane and I and our friend Steve were very much in the “Disco sucks!” crowd, although there weren’t too many of us at our school. In fact, I think we might have been it!

Also interesting and pertinent was this quote from Sid Vicious:

“The Stones should have quit in 1965. You never see [them] walkin’ down the street. If it gets so you can’t see us that way, then I don’t want it. But the entire American music industry is poised to turn you into the next big thing. They’ll suck out any integrity the band has.”

The Pistols were essentially a band manufactured by Malcolm McLaren, sort of the Monkees of the punk era. Sid couldn’t play for shit, although Steve Jones, the guitarist, could. The band flamed out in almost record time. But the music still stands up and it still rocks. Of course, Sid is long gone, and Mick and Keith and the guys are still out there making music. There might be a lesson there, but I’m not sure what it is. It’s more than a little ironic, though. Don’tcha think?