Thursday, September 01, 2005

Gone and never gonna come again

How strange to feel nostalgic for a place I've never been to--and now, never will.

Heard on BlondeChampagne Radio:

"You Never Used To Need a Reservation At the Preservation Hall": Jimmy Buffett

You never used to need a reservation at the Preservation Hall
Now it's just a restaurant
It's got paintings all over the walls
I used to walk home late at night
And I could hear sweet Emma call
You never used to need a reservation at the Preservation Hall

Well now old Bill Baxter he played the bass
And people'd throw money all over the place
A dollar for a request
Five dollars for "The Saint's Go Marchin' In"
Oh, and the ceiling fans they would flutter
And those old benches sure would shudder
But it seems like those things
Gone and never gonna come again

Chorus

It was the kind of place I'd say
A little informal you might think
Everybody came from miles around
And it didn't matter who you were
When you got there you took the cure
All it took it was a little of good Sweet Emma
And the old boys' sound

You never used to need a reservation at the Preservation Hall
Now it's some kinda silly restaurant
It's got paintings all over the walls
I used to walk home every morning
And I could hear sweet Emma call
Yeah, you never used to need a reservation at the Preservation Hall

Before the buildings all got tall
You never used to need a reservation
I used sweat some prespiration
And I got some good vibrations from the Preservation Hall



Jimmy lived and played in New Orleans prior to his "Key West Period." The website of his Margaritaville restaurant in the French Quarter is begging employees to check in.


"Darkness on the Delta": Notre Dame Glee Club

When it's darkness on the delta that's the time my heart is light,
When it's darkness on the delta let me linger in the shelter of the night;
Fields of cotton all around me, voices singin' soft and low,
Lord I'm lucky that you found me
Where the muddy Mississippi waters flow.

Lounging on the levee, Listenin' to the nightingale way up above,
Laughter on the levee, no one's heart is heavy,
All God's children got someone to love.

When it's darkness on the delta, Only heaven is in sight,
When it's darkness on the delta, let me linger in the shelter of the night.
Oh let me linger in the shelter of the night.

Please donate to the hurricane victims.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Cartilage

It seems I have torn my left meniscus, which is a part of the knee and not some form of breakfast food as I previously thought.

People injure their meniscuses (meniscii? It’s one in the morning. Not caring) for one of these two reasons:

1) they are very very old

2) they are very very active athletes

I am closer to Number One, if you want to know the truth, considering that the freshmen I am teaching were born in 1987 and would look at me with great pity if I asked them to take out their TrapperKeepers.

But most twenty-eight year olds do not sustain the injury unless they are highly athletic, which... yeah. The doctor thinks it came about when I started teaching and began wearing big-girl high heels and standing for a long time, which is awesome, because now I can claim a bona fide athletic injury that was in reality sustained while leaning against a podium, speaking earnestly about comma splices. I await the call from Nike with quiet confidence.

I’m enjoying this, frankly, since the pain comes and goes, enabling me to suddenly wince in a most footbally fashion and grab for a bag of ice, saying, “Oh, man, the knee.” The downfall is that I can be engaged in moderate activities that I undertake every day—climbing steps, rising from a chair, running from a hoard of feral zebras—and suddenly the knee will buckle.

This is especially impressive if I happen to be lecturing at the time. Last month I turned from the chalkboard all, “And as you can see, the thesis st---aaaaauuuuuuuggghhhhhhh” and it was probably the most interesting thing I said all semester.

I also seem to have trouble remembering the name of the injury. Here is how I have referred to my meniscus since the diagnosis:

-metacarpal
-Metamucil
-manalope
-marsupial

It is worth it to concentrate just enough to get it right. You can’t pick up guys in bars by informing them that you have just torn your koala bear.

will also advertise for Qantas at: mb@blondechampagne.com

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