Cryin' by Aerosmith

Like most in my generation, I am sure the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this song is the video with Alicia Silverstone bungy jumping off a bridge while flipping the bird.  That does come to mind when I hear it and there is actually a funny story there.  This song hit it big in 1993 when I was in Germany and I watched the video frequently on MTV.  Upon returning to US, I saw a Wayne's World sketch on SNL and it was something about looking behind the censor and instead of her finger, it was a leprechaun that freaked Garth out.  I remember wondering why they censored it for SNL and what the big mystery was.  I realized that the video was always censored for my US friends, however it was NOT censored on MTV Europe so I saw that oh so scandolous finger every single time.  

That is only one of my memories associated with that song.  

Flash to early January 1994, we are going to another outstanding party at Niels H's house.  It was my first party there and it did not disappoint.  I had finally figured out french kissing and boy did I put in a lot of practice with my new (first!) boyfriend during that party.  Maybe I was naive or possibly weird, but the first couple times I'd been french kissed I honestly thought it was kind of slimy and gross.  Don't worry, I quickly changed my mind about the experience!  It was a rocking house party with good friends and plenty of alcohol.  There may have even been an embarrassing knocking over and breaking of a sekt glass.  Maybe.  At some point I noticed that I was the only girl left at the party.  This became a common thing after I started dated Bastian and subsequently, my German began to resemble that of a 16 year old boy with a lot of inappropriate jokes and way too much slang.  I wonder if I still sound that way speaking German?  The party continued into the wee hours, in fact, I spent the night.  Aside from the aforementioned kissing, it was an innocent overnight.  

How does Cryin' fit into the evening?  I remember being just delighted that after talking to Uli G about music, he offered to loan me his Aerosmith Get a Grip CD.  It must be noted that Uli was later crowned the Cutest Boy in the Class in the class superlatives and furthermore, someone the prior Turlock iteration of myself would have been way too shy and embarrassed to even approach, let alone talk to and borrow a CD.  Let's just say it was a big deal for my self esteem and nothing to cry about!

Ricemix by Joe Helgeson

It was the middle of the summer of '00, a truly epic summer.  I had received an email (or call) from my Barcelona roommate Jordi.  He said he was flying into LAX at the end of the month and could I pick him up at the airport?  I was living in San Francisco at the time, a mere 8 hour drive from Los Angeles.  So I made a trip out of it.  I had 2 dear friends living in So Cal at the time and one of them had actually stayed with Jordi while she was visiting me in Barcelona.  I booked a flight to LA and Pam picked me up in her red Mustang.  It was a totally LA kind of trip, if I do say so.  Trip to the beach?  Check!  Laying out by the pool?  Check!  A trip to Hollywood and Venice Beach?  Check! Pink Floyd Laser Light Show at the Griffith Observatory? Check!  We also visited the Getty, the Huntington Botanical Gardens, and Japantown, where Jordi got to try sushi for the first time.

There are so many fun memories and we jammed an insane amount of good times into Jordi's and my visit.  I suppose I should just expand on a few, including of course, the impetus for today's post. You've got to be curious about Ricemix, right?  

• Alex only had a car with a manual transmission and some kind of funky engine, if I remember right.  I did not drive a stick.  In fact, I had scant driving experience at that point.  I was nowhere close to confident enough to brave the 405 and the 5 and the 10 to Cahuenga (don't correct me as I am definitely poking fun).  Alex's boyfriend Joe had a car that we later borrowed and Jordi, yes, the Spaniard, drove all over LA.  But in the meantime, we decided to take the bus and train to Hollywood.  There we were, sitting at the bus stop in fancy pants San Marino.  The cops pull over and start grilling us.  Where are you going?  Why are you here?  Can we see some ID?  I finally asked them what the problem was and I don't remember what they said, but obviously, it was highly unusual to be taking the bus in that neighborhood.  We made it the rest of the way to Hollywood with no incident! 
• We had a little dinner party on Jordi's last night.  Jordi did the cooking and we all enjoyed the food, the drink, and possibly even some other refreshment, if memory serves.  Alex's parent's house has this great interior patio. It was very pleasant.  We later got to listening to music in the living room.  Joe is a composer of electronic music and Alex played some of his stuff.  Ricemix is amazing.  I was amazed that he created it, thrilled to be hearing it.  I love how it starts off  naked, just drums, until a very 90s techno beat kicks in, and then it keeps building up with awesome crescendos and phrasing, and finally just kind of explodes!  I still listen to it on occasion today.  It is by far my favorite of his creations, but track #2 is a close second.  There may have been some teasing, as Track #2 has a section where it sounds like you can almost hear the clubgoers cheering for the DJ up there, spinning away, like Joe giving himself a little credit.  Ok, there was a lot of teasing.  But honestly, I kind of dug that he was owning it, owning the awesome that is his music. 

If there is a place to stream Ricemix, I will post it here for you.  It's a must hear.  

Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger

It was Moms Night Out, specifically my last Moms Night Out in Fresno.  I was about to move back to the Bay Area and quite frankly, a bit torn about it.  I had made some wonderful friends in Fresno and I was going to miss them desperately.  In fact, as I sit here today, I do!

I planned the perfect night at the perfect venue.  Englemann Cellars hosted a Friday night event with live music, 21 and over.  It sounded perfect - no "scene", wine, music?  Yes, Please!  Logan T, Heather R, Allyson S, Kristin J, Cassandra W, and Sarah W were in attendance and we all brought an impressive array of sweets and savories.  Heather even brought a tiny princess folding table.  We were all in fantastic spirits, as we were away from the kiddos, enjoying the wine and the company.  The band was excellent, playing a mix of 70s, 80s, and 90s.  After about a half an hour, they announced that the lead singer had gone home with heatstroke.  We found this odd, as the band is native to Fresno and we figured he should've known better, but regardless, the show must go on.  The band continued and they still sounded great to our ears.

Later still, the band announced that they were just making do and if anyone cared to sing, they would welcome it.  Well I am hardly one to turn down an opportunity to be onstage, so I asked to peruse the set list.  Cassandra and Heather joined me for the first number.  We had a blast and the band was ever so grateful.  They welcomed us to sing more. So we did.  By then I was hooked on the energy and adrenaline of a live audience.  It was so much different than karaoke, I found out, as I started singing the chorus and realized I had backup singers!  I was really starting to get my groove on and requested to sing Flagpole Sitta.  It's a one-hit number from the late 90's and a good one.  It's not the easiest song to sing as it is pretty quick-paced, but I had the lyrics up on my phone and I totally pulled it off, if I do say so myself.  Heather said that I might not be the best singer (I wholeheartedly agree), but I have a ton of stage presence and energy.  There was jumping.  There was gesturing.  There was grabbing of the mic.  And I even got to yell "a 1, 2, 3, 4!" which is always fun to do.  This is totally my new karaoke song, by the way, although how can I go back now?  Afterwards my friends were blown away, which I found funny because anyone else wouldn't be surprised by my performance at all.  My Fresno friends only knew me as a stay-at-home mom and our kids usually steal the show.  It was fun to show them the real me before I left and now we have a song to remind us of that epic night.

Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin

I can't very well write about Ramble On without following up with Immigrant Song.  Remember that friend I told you about who clued me in to the awesome LOTR reference in the third verse?  Kevin agreed with me that Ramble On is a great song.  He then shared with me that Immigrant Song is even better.  And you know?  He was right.  This wasn't the first time he had done that...taken something I liked and professed to know something even better....and was right, dammit!  He had this maddening way of usually being right!  And then once I got hooked on whatever he recommended, such as Dawson's Creek, Sex and the City (getting him back a little, clearly), Dave Matthews Band, etc....he would no longer be into that particular thing and on to the next coolest greatest thing like the Sopranos or Ben Folds Five.  I wonder what he is into now?

Kevin and I met in the dorms freshman year and we had a lot in common. He had been in the band in high school, but was over it (of course) by college.  We hung out a lot in the dorms and stayed friends throughout and into the first few years after college.  We attended a lot of concerts together, talked late into the night, drank a lot of beers, shared a lot of laughs, frustrations, and stories.  I always appreciated Kevin because he is genuine and known for keeping things real.  He always gave me the straight story on how guys think and act.  I will never forget the weekend I found out that all guys are totally content to spend an entire Sunday in their sweats on the couch.  I couldn't believe that someone would be content to do so very little, but he assured me that this is what guys do.  And sure enough, I have yet to find an exception to this.  Right again, Kevin, right again.

Ramble On by Led Zeppelin

Remember that 1998 Basses Bus heading down to the U$C game that I spoke about?  No?  That's ok. Turns out I don't remember much of it either! Regardless, once it got to LA, we performed the Led Zeppelin show.  I have to admit, I hadn't listened to much Zeppelin prior to playing this show, but I was an insta-convert.  The show was pretty amazing, if I do say so.  It started out with a couple bars from Heartbreaker and then went right into Good Times Bad Times.  Followed by Kashmir, Dancing Days, Ramble On, and finally Stairway.  Stairway started off as a solo by Shuichi, joined by 4 more trumpets, and finally the rest of the band joined in.  The show concluded by fading out to just Shuichi again...and she's buying a stairway to heaven.  I thought it was brilliant.  I was super excited to perform against U$C and I thought we would bring the house down.  I was wrong.

It was received badly.  Really badly.  There was some booing.  There was some really nasty talk by their band.  It's not like we stunk up the joint, but that's just kind of how it goes when you are in U$C's house. It left such an impression on me I may have even brought up their treatment of us to some random dad at Dexter's school who was wearing a U$C shirt this weekend at the pumpkin patch.  Maybe.  But those U$C folks really do kind of suck!

Luckily we reprised the show at home against fUCLA later that month.  I had to look it up, but it seems that we had an away game to UDub between U$C and fUCLA and I don't really remember why we repeated a show.  I think it was the only time we had done so in my 4 years in the band. However, it gave us a chance to perform for a receptive, appreciative audience.

Ramble On is one of my favorite Zeppelin songs now.  I still picture it, when we switched from....and I am totally drawing a blank here....but from one style of marching to another that totally worked with the music, right as the chorus kicked in. It was awesome. Years later still, a friend told me to listen carefully, as the third verse has a reference to the Lord of the Rings.  Fond memories and a LOTR reference in one song?  Can't beat that.  What can and should be beat? Both U$C and fUCLA, this month, one right after the other!

....Baby One More Time by Britney Spears

At the risk of embarrassing him, and although he is very comfortable in his skin, I'm just going to say it.  Vince used to really like this song!  To be honest, I think he probably saw the video, which let's face it, schoolgirl outfit, sultry voice, that's hot stuff.  In any case, it seemed more than appropriate to make sure this song factored into their wedding party somehow.

Vince and Tammy were married in a very small ceremony (I believe) at the court.  They later hosted a gathering in their apartment in Fremont.  It was nothing fancy, just their close friends and family together celebrating the two of them.  It was actually pretty great.  My wedding was beautiful, but I don't remember a lot of it, I definitely didn't get a chance to talk to everyone there, and in spite of careful planning, the DJ STILL played a couple songs off of my DO NOT PLAY list.  Simple and do-it-yourself has its merits! But I digress.  Back to Fremont.  After realizing that Mitch was not in attendance, I took it upon myself to step into the Best Man role.  I was not necessarily assigned to the role or asked to do it.  I just did it.  I took it very seriously and decided that there should be some wedding-y stuff, whether they wanted it or not!  I think I remember we had them recreate a wedding march down the hallway into the apartment. I recruited Vince's sister and brother-in-law and we organized speeches, toasts, and even a getaway car. Let's not forget, Vince and Tammy weren't getting away to anywhere.  They lived there.  But we thought it would be fun to decorate their car with shaving cream, tin cans, etc.  And boy was Vince mad when he found out I used (up) his shaving cream.  Sorry Vince!

To be honest, I am not sure if we really played Britney Spears, but the song reminds me of Vince and it was a good reason to share this story.  I am still honored to have been included in the celebration and looking forward to celebrating many more occasions with the two of them!

Smooth Operator by Sade

This is the story about misheard lyrics.  I don't think that we ever even listened to the song in our teeny tiny dorm room.  Somehow it came up in conversation that Sara's little sister (I think) used to sing the following lyric:  "Smoooooooth Operator!  In Chi-Cago! (big emphasis on the Chi, pronounced with a hard ch-)  I thought that was pretty funny and to this day, that's what comes to mind if I hear the phrase or the song.  And of course, I think of sweet Sarah.

Sarah and I actually didn't have a ton in common, but we somehow made great roommates.  I remember being super jealous because she was clever and picked a super cool email address (a play on her last name), whereas I went with the boring first initial + last name combination.  She had hair so long she could just about sit on it.  She was tiny and cute, soft spoken, sweet natured.  At the same time, she did not hesitate to speak her mind.  I seem to remember some incident with her throwing a chip or something at someone.  The point being that the projectile did not fly well whatsoever and the end result being hilarious.  Maybe Kat can help me out on this!  Sarah didn't often come out with me, the party animal of our room.  It was a huge accomplishment when we finally convinced her to come out with us to a fraternity party.  I want to say it wasn't until Spring semester when this happened, but it was an epic party.  The fraternity had somehow flooded its basement and lined it with stepping stones to the bar. Copious drinking, dancing, and of course someone flirted with Sarah, because of course they did. Like I said, she was adorable.  And not at all a smooth operator in Chicago or Berkeley or anywhere else!

United States of Whatever by Liam Lynch

It was the summer of 2003, which is in the top 5 of my all around best summers.  I was in great shape, looking and feeling great.  I was dating.  I was in transition, finishing up my job and getting ready to move to Monterey to start a 2 year full time MBA program.  I was busy, busy, busy doing tons of fun things, all the time.  That summer, this totally ridiculous song was getting a lot of play time.  It epitomizes the absolute worst parts of kids today.  Let's take "whatever".  If you say it to someone, it is pretty much the most dismissive thing you can say.  Super rude.  The entire "song" is this compilation of encounters that the guy has throughout the day.  For example:  I went down to the beach and saw Kiki and she was all like, Eehhhhh.  And I was like, WHATEVER! It is so spot on and exactly how kids today talk.  It is the worst!

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I liked the song, but in fact, lots of people liked it.  If they didn't like it, they'd at least heard of it and could sing the chorus.  Curiously, everyone that is, except Liam Lynch.  I was in the middle of the orientation activities with my MBA class and one of my classmates was named Liam Lynch.  Now the odds of this singer attending graduate school in Monterey were pretty low.  I might have even googled him to see if it could be him. Regardless I decided it would be a clever ice breaker to introduce myself and ask him.  Knowing Liam, I am still unsure to this day if he actually knew the song and was messing with me, or if he genuinely didn't know what I was talking about.  He is definitely not the singer of that ridiculous song.  What he definitely is, is a generous friend who is a ton of fun to hang out with, even though I never quite know what he is thinking!  I hope to hang out with him in New York someday, sooner rather than later!

The Walker by Fitz and the Tantrums

I love that Dexter enjoys and appreciates my music.  It makes things so much nicer when we get to hear a song I like on repeat, rather than I've Been Working on the Railroad, for example.  About a year ago, I heard The Walker for the first time on the radio and I just loved it.  It is so catchy, starting with whistling ... Doo doo do doo.  In fact, Dexter calls it the Doo Doo Doo song.  It is so catchy, in fact, that it went totally mainstream, appearing in commercials, movies, and TV shows.  But we heard it early on :)

We'd be driving around somewhere and it would come on the radio.  That first Doo Doo whistle would start up and Dexter's face would light up and he would get so excited.  It was the cutest thing.  Sometimes I would play it just to see his face.  He also figured out how to find it on my phone and whenever he had the chance he would play it and bop around.  The week Lila was born, we were in the hospital getting pre-registered.  He excitedly asked the staff if they knew the song and then found it on my phone and played it for them.  It reminds of those last few months when it was just me and Dexter, before Lila arrived.  Those were special, fun filled months with my first and only child, full of laughter, cuddles, and Doo Doo Doo.

Connected by Stereo MCs

A couple kids, sitting in the car in the Safeway parking lot in the outer Richmond district, listening to Manuela B's latest mix tape.  Connected is playing, following by Sabotage by the Beastie Boys which Bastian said was an inappropriate song for my mom to overhear.  We were in the middle of an epic day in San Francisco.

It was Bastian's first ever trip to the US, to California, to visit me. It was me, Bastian, my Mom, Uncle Bill, and my sister Catherine and we were likely all crammed into my mom's Honda Civic.  I don't remember the exact order, but we drove through Golden Gate Park, stopped to see the bison and windmill, then stopped into the Safeway for lunch provisions.  It was the same store my mom used to shop at when she and my dad lived on 48th and Balboa.  We went to the beach for lunch and it was my favorite kind of lunch - a bunch of yummy this and that.  Bread and cheese and meat for sandwiches, fruit, cookies, drinks....the perfect picnic, a little something for everyone.  It was late December, just after Christmas, but it's never too cold (or too hot) in San Francisco.  We walked partway across the Golden Gate Bridge and took turns spitting off the bridge.  There is a great picture with only my sister spitting in the background and you can't tell if she is spitting or possibly barfing.  No trip would be complete without a ride on the cable car and ice cream at Ghirardelli Square.  To top it all off, I was with my boyfriend and I looked super cute - vintage corduroy blazer, super cute hat, perfect boot cut jeans, good hair day... Definition of a perfect day!

You'll have to trust the "super cute" claim, but this picture is a classic!

Sexyback by Justin Timberlake

Call it six degrees of separation.  Call it a small world.  I love finding out I know someone because of someone else or I was in the same place at the same time as someone.  It delights me to no end.  Cue 2007.  Remember that neighbor of ours?  It turned out that he worked with this guy who was married to this girl who was Nick's neighbor.  Not only was she Nick's neighbor, but she roomed with a girl from my high school at camp.  SMALL WORLD!  Heidi U. (nee T.) was a really fun girl, full of personality and a lot like me.  We hit it off right away and had a fun little dinner party with our neighbor and Heidi. 
A few months later, after moving into our new home, we invited Heidi and her husband over for dinner.  I remember making fancy burgers (from the Rachael Ray cookbook) and we had appetizers and drinks.  Her husband had been at work that morning and he arrived separately.  When he arrived, he barely had time to say hello before immediately bee-lining it to the apps and started shoveling them into his mouth as fast as possible.  It was bizarre, but I know it happened because Nick still talks about it, too!
We enjoyed a nice lunch and when her husband said he had to get back to work, we invited Heidi to stay awhile.  Over lunch, we talked about having watched the Justin Timberlake concert on TV and Heidi really wanted to see it, so the 3 of us cozied up on the couch to watch it.  It was a great show, just as good the second time around.  Heidi shared with us her misheard lyric.  When the backup singers say "go ahead be gone with it", apparently Heidi hears "go hippie go!"  Nonsensical?  Sure.  As the best of all misheard lyrics are.  Thank you to Heidi for completely changing the way I hear the song. 

Always With Me, Always With You by Joe Satriani

I appear to be stuck at work at Allegiance Telecom, for here we are again.  For a change, let's go back to the (short amount of ) time when I was successful at work.  During the summer of 2000, I was hitting my quota, getting my name called during national conference calls, and generally having a blast at work.  I loved my boss and my team.  I had a window seat next to my cubicle facing the Transamerica Tower and I was one of the lucky few who got their own computer.
We had a lot of fun in the office that summer with tons of contests and activities to drive everyone to exceed their monthly quota.  In August we kicked off with a scavenger hunt of sorts, cold calling until we set our appointments.  The reward was a big reveal that we were all meeting at Pier 23 for lots of drinks and food.  It was a gorgeous day, to boot, and I was in a great mood.  We all had to take a picture and the following Monday, we learned we were all on Telecom Survivor.  At the end of each day we would gather in the conference room.  If you set an appointment that day, you improved your chances of staying on the island.  A name would be drawn and some trivia was read.  One day I proudly correctly guessed my teammate Don H.  He was very new to Allegiance and to my team and he was just a great guy!  Friendly, funny, smart.  I think he gave me one of my most favorite nicknames ever that summer (Stouty). 
Later that month, during one of my marathon downloading sessions, I asked Don for some song ideas.  He enjoyed techno as much as I did, but that day he suggested a song by Joe Satriani.  It came out that this was his seduction song, used to romance the ladies.  I think someone said that Don had mad game with the ladies and I scoffed at this, which totally hurt his feelings.  What I was trying to impart was that Don didn't seem like this love 'em and leave 'em ladies man....a Mr. Big...a douchebag.  He didn't seem like a game player to me and I meant it as a good thing!  I don't remember if I ever got my point across or if it just got awkward.  It probably just got awkward.  So sorry Don!  I wonder what he is up to now?

Lady Marmalade by Christina Aguilera, Li'l Kim, Mya, and P!nk

So after experiencing a moderate amount of success in my telecom sales career, back in 2000, I promptly spiraled into a deep, dark whole of depression and funk.  Once again, there is no reason why I shouldn't have been fired, but someone saw something in me and instead promoted me to National Accounts Manager.  Yep - I was rewarded with a raise and an even higher sales quota.  Gulp.  It was a complete disaster and I don't think I ever came close to landing a national account or coming close to meeting my quota.  You'll be as surprised as I was to learn I STILL managed to keep my job after that, but today's story is about not about that.

After a long recovery from a devastating breakup, I was embracing what I envisioned to be my own version of Sex and the City.  I had cultivated a nice group of girlfriends and was mostly avoiding men and dating.  My boss had put together a group that was almost all female and we all got along fairly well.  For a short time, we ended our workday by playing Lady Marmalade and having a mini dance party in our area.  All that positive girl power energy quickly lent into to Jen N's great idea of starting the Cosmo Club (as in the very popular drink of the time, natch!).  The concept is simple: each person pitches in $10 and there is a drawing.  The winner receives the pot (between $60-100!) with 2 conditions:  the money could only be spent on something frivolous, not for bills; the winner had to plan the next event and share how they spent their spoils.

The Cosmo Club was so much fun and was really important to me and helped me through some difficult times.  It was a diverse group of ladies and everyone enjoyed and looked forward to the monthly event.  We did some really cool stuff, from candlemaking to a ferry ride across the Bay for cocktails to dinner at Asia SF where drag queens dance on the bar to Cocktails and Manis at the Beauty Bar.  There was a later iteration of the Cosmo Club years later when I moved to Oakland, but it just wasn't the same as the original.

Who Let the Dogs Out by Baja Men

It was December 1999 and I was very excited to be going to my first ever company holiday party.  It was being held at Scott's Seafood on Jack London Square so I made plans to take BART with my co-worker Todd L so we could change at his house and drive to the party together.  Todd was super nice and we spent a lot of time walking around San Francisco together "working" because we both agreed that outside sales for Allegiance Telecom was about the worst job of all time.  For about the first 9 months, I was a terrible salesperson.  I never came close to meeting my quota and in fact, I have no idea how I stayed employed for as long as I did!  I eventually hit my groove for a couple months, but in December, I was about 4 months into it and absolutely awful!  I was however very social and observant and funny.  I kept a diary of the funny comments people made during meetings or in the break room or around the water cooler.  The RVP got wind of this and asked me if I might like to give a little talk at the party.  WOULD I EVER?!?!

I remember feeling pretty cute in a slim fitting black skirt with a slit and a red, form fitting top with a very in, very flattering neckline.  All 3 offices in the Bay Area were at the party, San Francisco (where I worked), Oakland, and San Jose.  I was a little nervous, but I quickly got into the groove and I killed it.  There was much laughter.  I closed the speech with something I had worked out with the DJ.  And now....with no further ado.... (queue the DJ)... Who Let the Dogs Out!!  Several people jumped up and the dance portion of the evening began.  Being December 1999, there was no way the evening could go by without dancing to Mambo No. 5, especially considering the line "a little bit of Rita" which we loved singing loudly because of our very own Rita J.

This pictures perfectly showcases my signature dance move.

I'd like to say that evening was the turning point in my career....but it wasn't until April when I finally made my quota and really started making the big bucks....for a couple of months at lease. 

Footloose by Kenny Loggins

It strikes me that I seem to have several childhood dancing memories with Lauren Y which is funny because we have never once gone dancing as adults!  Last year when we attended a concert together, I barely remember us so much as moving our hips (well maybe we moved them just a little). 

When Footloose came out in theaters, it was a huge hit, as was the soundtrack.  We listened to it a lot at my house.  I loved so many of the songs, especially the title track Footloose.  I remember that I begged and pleaded to see the movie, but it was rated R and appropriately so.  In other words, a completely inappropriate movie for 7 year old me.  My parents finally gave in and let me watch ... the opening credits.  The opening credits are actually pretty awesome, just a bunch of feet dancing to Footloose.  Years later I finally did watch the movie and it is.... ok.  There are some great parts, it's definite an 80's classic, but also some not so great parts.  For the record I'm not at all sure why they felt the need to remake it.  The original was definitely better than the remake.

I can't remember if it was before or after I saw the opening credits, but in any case, one day Lauren and I were at her house and we decided to make up a little dance to Footloose.  There is a line in the song about kicking off our Sunday shoes.  So of course, the most important part of our little routine was kicking off our shoes at the moment when Kenny Loggins sings the line.  Easier said than done, so we practiced that fun move a lot! 

Santeria by Sublime

Before walking down today's memory lane, I decided to make sure I wasn't sharing any secret society-type information.  In fact, the Cal Band Alumni Association's website details it all pretty well.  Too well, actually, and I am not so sure this is a good thing.  Back in my day....I am clearly getting old....there was none of this highly documented, easily accessible wealth of information on the "internet".  The majority of my first month or so in the Cal Band was spent going along for the ride, doing what I was told and going where I was told.  In fact, what made today's memory so special was the element of surprise.  When I received the invitation inviting me to attend the Silent Walk, wearing something dressy (I was dubious about this and thought it might be a mean trick, considering our last "secret" outing involved paint and climbing hills), the Oldmen's lips were sealed and they wouldn't share anything with us, other than it was going to be a special night.  They were right.  Without keeping you in further suspense, here goes. 

The Silent Walk was held the evening after the first show at the first home game.  Tonight's memory actually took place during my Senior year.  I felt super sophisticated, first of all, being a senior, and second of all because I was wearing an outfit that I had purchased in Barcelona.  It was this lacy, strappy, barely there, top with some light grey slacks.  I probably also had my gorgeous suede, belted jacket with a faux fur collar.  I was obsessed with it.  The Oldmen's role during the Silent Walk is to meet at Memorial Stadium.  The Newmen are already in a circle and we file around them.  They turn around to see us and we then pin them, making them official members of the Band.  It is pretty special for both sides.  Following the pinning, we watch the footage of the show and then attend the first big party of the season.  My Newman year was at the Greek Theater which cannot be topped, but that was not repeated during my tenure.  Senior year we went up to TH to dance, drink, carry out traditions, and celebrate the night away. 

Now I had been away for an entire year and while I may have been wearing a very Barcelona outfit, I had also lost out on a year of American culture and of course, all the events of the prior year in the Cal Band.   A fun song came on and my dear friend Marek A invited me out to the dance floor.  He explained that it was Sublime, THE band of the year.  He just couldn't believe I had never heard them.  I had a lot of catching up to do.

I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine by Patti Page

2 girls, driving down Highway 80 after a day playing hooky on the slopes.  This is one of the very few positive memories I have of my first adult roommate. She and I had decided to join Mitch C, Jenny T, and Vince J on a spontaneous weekday ski adventure at Northstar.  It was not a terrible drive up there, probably about 3 hours from San Francisco, and not a ton of traffic considering it was reverse commute on a weekday.  We spent the day skiing and boarding, enjoying a midday beer and lunch in the sun at the top of the mountain.  In the pictures we aren't even wearing coats, so I am guessing it was spring skiing.  We probably stopped at the Chevy's in Auburn on the way home, as was the tradition. 

On the way home, Lydia was driving, it was her car after all, and we were really into this song off the Priscilla, Queen of the Desert soundtrack.  We liked it so much that we sang it over and over (and over) at the top of our lungs, improving our harmonies, getting in tune, sounding better every time.  There was gesturing, smiling, laughing.  In fact, when I saw the How I Met Your Mother episode with the Fiero (500 Miles), I thought it was a lot like that.  I remember being very impressed with ourselves by how great we sounded.  It was a fun end to a very fun day. 

Brass Monkey by the Beastie Boys

It was one day after school at the Rec Center.  Trudi L. was teaching Colleen B. a dance routine she had learned in dance class.  For some reason, I wasn't taught the dance.  I remember really wanting to learn, but for some reason I was delegated to pushing play and rewinding over and over so they could practice.  It was totally the song of the moment and I loved it, but I had no idea what on earth they were singing about.  A brass monkey?  What could that be?  Cool dance, cool song, cool by association (I hoped).  The following track, Slow and Low, begins almost immediately after Brass Monkey, almost like the song continues with a part 2, so I always heard the beginning of it, but we never listened to it.

At the time, my mom was living with her cousin Joan.  Joan was dating Reuben who had 2 teenage sons.  They were just about the coolest embodiment of what you would picture today when you picture a teenage boy in the late 80s.  Pegged pant leg acid washed jeans?  Check!  Neon?  Check!  Awesome hair?  Check!  The older son had this super cool, long on top, flip kind of thing going on and the younger had a perfect flat top.  Name brand high tops?  Check!  I am sure they thought I was totally annoying, but I definitely wanted to share (read: show off) that I listened to the Beastie Boys and of course, they did, too.  When I said that I had never heard Slow and Low, they played it for me.  They also played Time to Get Ill which they liked and I remember when I first heard the Mr Ed sample in the middle of the song.  That put me over the top.  I couldn't think of a more clever, creative thing for a band to do. I agreed with them that it was a great song.

For the record, years later...an embarrassing number of years later...I did finally figure out that Brass Monkey is a cocktail.  

Rodeo by Garth Brooks

Even though I lived in Turlock for 7+ years, country music never really grew on me.  I tried from time to time, but it never really took.  It was too twangy, too whiny, too cowboy.  Ok, too Turlock.  I was in 4H, but I didn't raise livestock or animals of any sort.  I was in Leadership, the Newsletter, Cooking, Mini Gardens, and Music.  During awards season, everyone else was wearing white Wranglers and Roper boots....and I was in white slacks and sandals.  Kind of dorky to tell the truth.

In high school, I started to notice that I actually lived in a "cow town" because a significant percentage of the kids at school wore boots and wranglers and even cowboy hats to school.  One of my best friends sophomore year, Maline W (fondly known as Beany) was a real cowgirl.  She lived on a farm and she raised horses.  She wore the gear, walked the walk, talked the talk.  Her favorite thing to do on the weekends was hang out at the Auction.  To be clear, we're talking about a Livestock Auction.  Not a black tie, cocktails, fancy paddles thing.  A smelly, dirty, outdoor auction of pigs and sheep and cows.  And lots and lots of cowboys, which was the real reason she liked going.  I think I went with her all of ONCE and once was enough for me. 

During this time, I was giving country another go because Garth Brooks was all the rage.  I really liked him, just like everyone else did.  He sang about country stuff and he was twangy, but man, was he popular.  Whether he likes it or not, he was basically mainstream, appealing to the masses.  Country music for people who don't like country.  Everyone in school knew the words to Friends in Low Places and Rodeo.  Rodeo reminds me of trying out the country thing for a while and when going to back to Turlock used to be more of a culture shock after being the Bay Area, I'd play it in the car to get in the mood.