Sunday, June 01, 2014

History Is Where You Find It


June 1, 2014
   This isn't news, but I save everything. Kathy says I'm a hoarder but I prefer the less offensive moniker: Archivist. Unfortunately, for me, an archivist knows where to find things because they have "archived" their materials. I have a little different approach. Here is an example:


The BBB Garage Archives, June 1, 2014, 6:40 a.m.

   Believe it or not, it was in these very files I found all the supporting materials for my homage to Kingman and my parents, for my recently completed project, "The 66 Kid." True, there were several gems I could not put my hands on, and, of course, this morning I found two of them as I was filling a garbage container to get ready for the 500 hardbound books arriving in the next several weeks on a pallet from the publisher.

   I also found other things, like this newspaper from 1997:


I had forgotten that the University of Arizona Wildcats beat four No. 1 seeds AND they won the final championship game against Kentucky, in overtime—84-79.


The Fourth Avenue spill out party, which turned ugly a few years later when the Cats lost, sort of the Altamont to '97's Woodstock.

   Today, the pressing concern is—virtually all of this is one-ciick away on Google and probably You Tube, so why even save it? I called Tom Bell to see if he wanted it but he's on his way to a teaching job in Thailand and is chucking most of the stuff he has in Baltimore.

   I also found a long lost photo of the two Steves shaking hands with the two Bobs when we bought True West magazine way back in 1999. I had Robert Ray do a server search for this photo when we celebrated our ten year anniversary in the magazine, but he could only find a black and white scan of it. I fretted and fretted because I knew I had the damn color photo somewhere in my "archives" and, well, I found it yesterday in a box of "other" stuff (I'll post it tomorrow).

Watched the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last night with a mixture of joy and dread. Great songs, but all my favorite babes are looking long in the tooth! However, loved The Boss's oft-delivered live intro for his band:

"The heart-stopping, pants-dropping, earth-shocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, Viagara-taking, history-making, legendary E Street Band."
—Bruce Springsteen