Musings: On Poll Results and First Weeks of Teaching

So the poll results are in for August. Apparently nobody (but me) gives a rat's ass whether the Tigers win the World Series or whether Barry Sonnefield makes the right casting choice for Jack Gladney in White Noise or if Philip Roth gets his Nobel laureate due. But you do care about fixing that mess down in D.C. that's contributed to our world getting progressively more miserable since early in 2001. (Not to mention that some of you think I'm underpaid. I am. Criminally.)

Meanwhile, your old pal, The Whining Stranger, survived his first week of teaching without too many public speaking panic attacks or confrontations with water-balloon-toting or vodka-swilling hyenas. I was a bit put off by one student in one of my classes who confidently announced to me in his introduction that he doesn't like using intelligent words to discuss literature nor does he find much joy in sitting around talking about books. I told him I expect plenty of both, so hopefully there won't be too much trouble there. Otherwise, the student population in my classes seems eager so far, though my jokes are only earning resounding laughter about 62% of the time thus far. The generation gap is widening, I fear. I need to incorporate more physical comedy into my schtick. Nothing goes better with a good literary discussion than a well-timed pratfall.

And Mom called this morning to say that she scored free tickets to see Steely Dan and Michael McDonald. I'm happy for her. She was envious when she heard my glowing review back in July.

The Whining Stranger on Music: "No, we can't dance together." (But it's fun to watch you go to it, MJ.)

I found this on YouTube last night, while trying to assuage my post-SD concert longing with some Steely Dan video action. After laughing so hard my stomach ached, I had to post it here.

The Whining Stranger on Music: "They Got Their Steely Dan T-Shirts," Part 2

So this is the new one, wrinkled from wear yesterday.

The Whining Stranger on Music: "They Got Their Steely Dan T-Shirts," or, A Midsummer Evening Well Spent with the Dan of Steel

Ah, bliss. The Year of Fagen continued, perhaps rose to its crescendo for me, with a lovely summer night, and two hours of Steely Dandom. We arrived at the venue early, found a perfect seat, front and center, on the lawn. We drank seven dollar Budweisers (ah, the liminal space of the concert--or the ballpark, or the airport--that allows you to suspend all notion of acceptable prices for everyday goods!), and ate cheesy pizza. I bought another Steely Dan t-shirt. (Photo to follow at some point when I'm not feeling lazy). We sat in excited anticipation.

Michael McDonald opened the show. He played for an hour and was formidable. (Indeed, MM's voice has held up way better than Donald Fagen's over the decades...) I'm not a huge McDonald or Doobie Bros. fan, though I will admit that I will usually sing along loudly with "Takin' in to the Streets" or "Minute by Minute" when they show up on my car radio. My mom loves McDonald though, and I love my mom, so I was happy to bob my head and think good thoughts about my mom during tunes about which I otherwise wasn't stoked. The biggest crowd response that MM earned was likely for "What a Fool Believes." I got chills--as I always do--at that big noisy rush of crowd appreciation.

At about 9pm, the Steely Dan Orchestra took the stage and played an old Stan Kenton instrumental jazz number ("Turtle Talk"). A nice warm-up, charmingly hip. Its post-WWII jazzy appeal helped defuse some of the annoying local marketing blitz (you know, barking classic rock radio DJs just inside the venue gates, jockeying on the microphone for some Becker-Fagen affiliation). Towards the end of the number Becker and Fagen took the stage. Donald--even admitting that I have no critical distance--was uber-cool for the night: dressed in black, with a tight buzzcut, and dark shades over his eyes. Becker is looking more and more like a calculus teacher on summer break, but Steely Dan are nerd champions, so I won't fault him for that.

What followed was a splendid mix of Steely Dan favorites. No solo material from either WB or DF this time around, and unfortunately, from my perspective, no music from the Steely Dan renaissance efforts, Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go. There are a few chestnuts that have found their way on to the setlist this time around (like, say, "Time Out of Mind," and "I Got the News"), but mostly it's a cornucopia of popular favorites. The highlights for me were "Hey 19" (the second verse of which, in which aging hipster has to explain to 19 year old who Aretha Franklin is, seems more eerily appropriate to me with every passing semester); "Show Biz Kids" (reconfigured as a James Brown-ish funk number); and the two encore tunes, "My Old School" and "FM." Seriously, is there a more fun song to sing along with than "My Old School?" The answer is no, (though "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" perhaps comes closest) and Guadalajara still won't do, child.

In all, a totally satisfying evening out. The Fagen show we caught in Vegas in March was definitely tighter and more polished, but this concert was a good one given the loose, get-your-ya-yas-out feel of outdoor summer concert venues.

If I were rich, I would totally hit the road and follow them around for another handful of concerts before Labor Day rains on all our summer fun.