Graz

I think every game.. for the past 5 games.. has been 'the biggest game of our year' for us... mostly because if we lose then we're out of the playoffs and they don't pay us our last paycheck... 'it'll cost you more for a lawyer anyways, guys, and they know this'... and so in the most amazing way we won the thing.. and this meant that our coach was in a good mood.. and so he gave us 3 days off.. which is a lot, but still so little, since we don't have a game until next, next Thursday because of National Team Break...

My mind was set on going south.. South... was Milan... a spa... fashion models... and culture..

But somehow we ended up going north.. North... to Graz... cold... and... hockey?... (only while watching the game did I realize that hockey in the middle of hockey is just a whole lot of overkill)

WHY?

But, ya, Graz.. to see a former class-mate.. see Austria.. and also to see if I could ever compete at that level.. in case some miracle happens and I sign..

WHERE??

I guess a few years ago Graz was a 'Cultural Center' of Europe and so they built 3 buildings to commemorate it all.. A museum, a coffee shop, and a Jewish Temple... The museum and the coffee shop were both closed and the Temple was on the other side of the city... and no way was I driving through the city because the roads were laid out like a SpiderWeb on Crack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

WHAT?

(This next part works better if you can imagine the voice of the guy from Vlogbrothers saying it all - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7GvstxiH-M)

We paid 95 Euros for a hair cut.. 'This shampoo makes my hair feel good'... watched Bourne Ultimatum.. debated over whether or not Michaelangelo made the 'Thinking Man' or if both artists merely used the same inspired torso that is shown in the Vatican... 'No.. no.. you already owe me an elephant and a lion... I'll bet you a Tiger that it's the same guy'... Got put in my place for thinking the radio religion was the Phillipines when it was actually Papua New Guineau (watch yourself around other Harvard students)... USED actual German since no one could speak any English... 'Ich Mochte ein...'... Had McDonalds... went to a decent and classy Hooters where the food was amazing and the waitresses sported baggy shirts and jeans... Almost died from Smoke still being allowed in the bar... watched Graz win in a Shootout... Saw real refs that know the meaning of Offside... or... I guess... the meaning of onside... And then made up some long story in my head to stay awake the long drive home with no Ipod, radio, or coherent passenger... IF I ever own a yacht and sail the Mediterranean then I'll start believing in 'The Secret'...

Verse 4

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
(This is where my knowledge of history fails and where, I think, my Dad's begins... For some reason I thought this was just a mixture of Politics, Music, Protests, Weather... Not knowing that Helter Skelter was a Charles Manson rip off of the Beatles for describing a rising race war within America... and Yellow Submarine was his description of what they should do while it was going on... Lay Low... and killing people was his idea of how he would do it?)
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
(The next few lines can't help but spring images of Nuclear War... The Simpsons did a fallout shelter episode where Homer built a shelter, and everyone made fun of it until, an asteroid was to hit Springfield and they all wanted in... he barred the door... but eventually he unlocked it and came out to die with the others... and then the asteroid ended up being really small and no one died and Bart put it in his pocket... But also... The Byrds and the Ladybirds were song groups that are important because...)
Eight miles high and falling fast
(... in happier times this line could reference The Byrds song called Eight Miles High about psychadellic drugs... the highs and the crashing lows, and the stealing from everyone who trusts you to get money to buy more drugs to get that high again, but 'nothing will ever be as good as that first one' they always say... Eminem did a movie called Eight Mile about the race war that's still going on even today... And where does Obama fit into it all?... anyone a little scared that he's trying to copy a President that did a lot of amazing things but eventually was assassinated...?)
It landed foul on the grass
(On the Byrds return flight from a tour of England they were arrested at security for possession of Marijuana... in Game 6 of the NLCS Bartman interfered with Moises Alou catching the foul ball and supposedly eventually cost them the game and the series... lows always seem worse and last longer than highs...)
The players tried for a forward pass
(all I and Wikipedia know is football, so I'm going to tell you that the forward pass was instituted in 1906 after a season of 18 on-field deaths in 1905... Doug Flutie threw the greatest forward pass in history in 1984 for Boston College to beat Miami... and if you type 'best football pass' into google the first match it comes up with is about the Saskatchewan Roughriders...)
With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast
(The only Jester I know of is Broadway Joe... And with multiple knee surguries you can bet he was sidelines in a cast, rocking a full length fur coat and white sneaks, drunk, and trying ot kiss 'cute' TV reporters...)
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
(I think smoke could be a defining part the entire history of the 60s... War, and Drugs, and a War on Drugs...)
While the Sergeants played a marching tune
(Welcome to the 60s... Now March... move... along... your friends are fighting a war they were never a part of.. others are doing everything they can to forget it... you never had a choice over it... even Sergeants (as non-commissioned-officers where the word Sergeant literally means 'to serve') just follow orders... like cops (see 'The Grapes of Wrath') and they make you do what you are told... so deal... fall in line... march... and cheer up...)
We all got up to dance, Oh but we never got the chance'
(Miles Davis was so cool he would play with his back to the stage if the people didn't deserve to see him play... he was so cool he referred to Louis Armstron as 'Uncle Tom', even though in an interview years later he said he likes the guy and his music... And he was so cool that people weren't allowed to dance at his concerts.. when they tried, they got made fun of until they stopped...)
Cause the players tried to take the field, The marching band refused to yield
(In 1982.. Stanford is leading 20-19 after kicking a field goal.. and there's 4 seconds left on the clock.. at kickoff the Stanford band thought the game was over and went on the field... But it wasn't... the Golden Bears completed 5 laterals and scored a touchdown in a mess of batons, tubas, players, and snare drums... 2 of the lateral passes and all of the bands stupid looking hats are still up for protest...)
Do you recall what was revealed, The day the music died
(Playboy went from nothing in '55 to huge by '72... That's gotta say something about the '60s)
We started singing {Refrain}

Verse 3

Now for ten years we've been on our own
(Independence is an awesome scary thing... but what do you do with all that responsibility?... ...)
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
(I just said this not 3 blogs ago... when you're alone and have no other motivation or responsibility greater than yourself.. you get lazy... and you also get fat I think)
But that's not how it used to be
(Into a 'back when I was your age' speech... this probably includes some sort of walking uphill both ways section... and if you're any kind of a good storyteller at all then you realize the truth is not so much fabricated as it is stretched...)
When the Jester sang for the King and Queen
(No one merits the title 'jester'.. Bob Dylan maybe for 15 minutes... but this archetype is too big and too wild to have any real person fill the shoes... It's the weak of the world, through wit alone, holding the power of life and death, of fear and love... and then the spell is broken when the lights come on... or when your song gets overplayed on the radio)
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
(James Dean, a rebel without a cause James Dean... was surprisingly shy in real life... doesn't matter tho because all people ever see is what they want to see...)
With a voice that came from you and me
(People tend to remember insults and forget compliments... so even though a president enters office speaking for all the people... he leaves with almost none... like... such as... if he did 90 things for you in his term... it's that 91st decision you disagree with that makes you turn... for example.. by the end Bush definitely did not speak for you and me... FYI Hitler entered with a 98% approval rating...)
Oh, and while the King was looking down The Jester stole his thorny crown
(On the cross Jesus looked down to the disciple he loved and gave him the care of His mother... In the 60s Elvis Presley's popularity was going down and Bob Dylan took over as the voice of the people... these two things are completely unrelated although somehow they're supposed to be... at best it hints at the hazards of celebrity... in a mo' money, mo' problems kinda way...)
The courtroom was adjourned, No verdict was returned
(I cheated on this one and found out that Lee Harvey Oswald was killed before he could stand trial for the assassination of John F Kennedy, so then technically the court would be adjourned without ever having a verdict... conspiracy theorists all say that Oswald never did it, but he could not stand trial because it would expose how flimsy the evidence was, so they killed him to put an end to public scrutiny...
... but who?... he had many enemies...
... the mafia... Cuba... the CIA... the Federal Reserve and executive order 11110... but I guess since building #7 fell we'll never know)
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
(Vladimir Lenin read a book on Karl Marx and then led the Russian Revolution in 1917... John Lennon's unconfirmed favorite comedian was Groucho Marx and he led the British rock invasion in 1964... this is actually more related than the Jesus/Bob Dylan metaphor from a few lines back..)
The quartet practiced in the park
(This might be a slam to the Beatles 1966 concert at Candlestick Park that sold barely half the tickets... lasted 33 minutes... and with awful music and off-key voices could have been mistaken for a shoddy mic test... it was their last concert as a group... ever)
And we sang dirges in the dark
(It could be anti-war protests... it could be mourning assassinations... the Kennedy's (1963, 1968) and Martin Luther King (1968)... Or it could be making fun of Saskatchewan.. who alone with Alabama were the only places in North America not to adopt daylight savings time (1966) and were 'in the dark' an hour earlier than everyone else...)
The day the music died, We were singin'

Verse 2

Did you write the Book of Love
(Cassanova wrote the book of love... and he wrote that if you get a person, any person, in a certain situation, a certain atmosphere, and a certain mood... they will do anything you want... and that got him rich, and then arrested, and then broke, and then rich again... and now famous)
And do you have faith in God above
(Faith... often misunderstood... is usually connected with some sort of mystical dogma based on nothing but a combination of pride and hope... but faith, according to a writer like CS Lewis is sticking to your reasonable ideas despite moods to the contrary...)
If the Bible tells you so
(Sola Scriptura... 'Scriptures alone'... The age-old circular reasoning... why do you believe?... because the bible tells me so... why do you believe the bible?... because the... bible... tells... me... so...? It's the kind of faith needed by cult leaders and mocked by Richard Dawkins)
Do you believe in rock n' roll
(Yes... keeping the faith of rebelling against your parents until you eventually become just like them... and now the history of rock... taking roots in everything from the back beat in jazz, to the rhythm of blues, to country music... it got huge in the 50s... and while it's roots are mostly African American it was white singers like Holly, Presley, and Lennon that dominated the scene... Kinda like Eminem with rap music just a little...)
Can music save your mortal soul
(I hope so... maybe Soul music can.. and maybe it did save a few as it got big in the... 50s?.. and so did blues and gospel for that matter within the 'black experience' in America... finding themselves in the midst of a country that didn't want them... to create a culture once destroyed by slavery...)
And can you teach me how to dance real slow
(According to movies I watch, slow dancing means people falling in love... but in real life I've learned that they're actually a test to see if you can be witty and interesting for the course of an entire song... heaven help you if the song is 'I would do anything for love' by Meatloaf..)
Well, I know that you're in love with him
(On the outside looking in is never an easy place to be... but trying to force something that's just not there is even worse)
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
(Dance as if no one is watching... I read this on a fridge magnet)
You both kicked off your shoes
(The only sockhop I've ever been to in my life was in grade 8 Wilfred Hunt Halloween Dance... girls on one side and guys on the other the whole night... well... almost the whole night... and then the third last song... the Macarena... and then Achy Breaky Heart... and then a slow dance... but don't worry, we made sure there was at least 2 bible lengths between us...)
Man, I dig those rhythm & blues
I was a lonely, teenage broncin' buck
(Saddle bronc is trying to stay on a horse that doesn't want you on it... independent... fierce... and probably why it's lonely... but still much safer than bull-riding where the bull tries to kill you after you fall off)
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
(If this guy was from the south he would probably have his girl sit in the middle seat right beside him in the truck... and have a shotgun hanging in the back window)
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died... I started singin'
(Buddy Holly may not have been the best looking guy in the world... but he made it possible for everyone else like him to be cool by association... the tragedy of his death meant girls could no longer associate skinny with glasses with incredibly cool and awesome... so poor Don was suddenly out of luck)
-Refrain- So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
(This time around Miss America is the high school crush that he probably creeped on but she never really loved him in return... modern day this would take the form of poking a girl on facebook and then trying to add them as a friend even though you've never actually met them ever in real life)
Drove my chevy to the levee But the levee was dry
(He probably lived in a flat area and the levee was the make-out place... and it's dry because he's lonely)
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
(Alcohol is almost always the solution to losing a girl... Casablanca, in my opinion, portrays this agony best... 'of all the bars in all the cities in all the world... she walks into mine..')
Singin' this'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die
(Teenagers look at most every situation as life or death... especially dating and friends... and not until they graduate or start taking prozac do they realize that almost nothing is actually a life or death situation...)

Miss American Pie

A long long time ago
(This is Star Wars, fairy tales, and every disney movie I've ever seen... So this means idealism... Larger than life characters... And celebrity voice-overs...)
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
(The music, I don't even know, was probably rock and roll... it's freedom... it's rebellion... and like every other rebellion it's eventual movement into the establishment)
And I knew if I had my chance
(The American Dream... everyone has a chance... and the fact that he is now on stage is.. I guess... some sort of retroactive confirmation)
That I could make those people dance
(Conspiracy... music is also a form of social control... 'make them dance to his tune'... 'let me write the music for a nation, and I care not who makes it's laws'...)
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
(A false sense of happiness that lulls the populace from rebellion like an opiate... Give music to the shattered and downtrodden so they can forget their sorrows... It doesn't actually say music, it says alcohol.. but it could have said music... or TV... or even religion for that matter according to K. Marx...)
But February made me shiver
(It's the coldest month of the winter next to January... even though the shortest day is back in December)
With every paper I'd deliver
(he was a paperboy?... I was a paperboy until delivery hours changed from after school to early morning... and yes, there is more to this story)
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step
(First of all, a terrible rhyme.. on the 'doorstep', he can't even 'take a step'?... step, STEP... it doesn't really rhyme it just repeats... but whatever has happened... if my math is correct... happened in February)
I can't remember if I cried, When I read about his widowed bride
(Way better rhyme... and the line sells itself... there's nothing more powerful than death and love... and some dreadfully cold February back in history brought death... killed love... and America teetered for an instant...)
But something touched me deep inside, The day the music died
(Music, except for hard core and Miley Cyrus, is almost always a good thing... musical interest is almost the sole defininition of who you are according to facebook... And back on a certain day it died... America's identity is gone... Buddy Holly died February 2, 1959 in a plane crash just minutes after takeoff. It left his wife of 6 months a widow.. shortly after she miscarried her expecting child.. that same day another plane crashed near Boston killing another 65 people... It doesn't get more tragic than this for a nation... safety and identity all in one day...)
-Refrain-
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
(Miss America and American Pie... Or as they're commonly known... eating disorders and pesticides... Are two ideals that have come to define a part of the nation... So does this mean, like, and such as... the Iraq?)
Drove my chevy to the levee But the levee was dry
(The chevrolet is an American icon... ergo America... And a levee is a stored up source that sustains life... so money... Clearly he's talking about his fears of deficit spending, rampant inflation, and the future of social security when it's his turn to dip...)
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
(The Dukes of Hazard were good ol' boys... they never meant no harm... always in trouble since the day they were born... just tried to get along in a corrupt system... and when they couldn't they fought it like two modern day Robin Hoods... This is not part of a story this is a statement of a way of life... Good old boys are from the South... they drink a lot... they defy a corrupt north trying to come down and impose their way of life... and they jump their car over gorges at least once an episode...)
Singin' this'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die
(Probably referring to the constant state of fear in the US over the Cold War... you just never know when the world will go up in flames... So 'eat, drink, and be merry...')

Sign Language

It's amazing how little things slip in your life... without any responsibility higher than yourself... motivation becomes hard... making you just a little bit more lazy each day... each week... each month... until eventually... dishes dirty... cupboards bare... your dreams of becoming a world-renouned master chef have transformed themselves into discount dinners at the Hofer...
... but it really is the best food you could ever possibly have... 2 courses... plus salad... plus dessert... plus water... for 8 euros... you couldn't make the same meal at home as cheap...
... and usually the waitresses can speak a semi-understandable Ger-Ital-English that can at least get you through... 'ciao... alles good?... Menu?... Danke... Was es questo?... ok... Ein bitte... niet salad... gracie..."... but one particular waitress, bless her heart, has got nothing... and so when I'm like... 'filetto de maiale... es ist beef? chicken??'... and she stares blandly at me... we then resort to sign language... flap your arms like a chicken... fingers into horns like a bull...
... and?... and??...
... she...
... looks at the menu... looks around... points at the menu... looks around... scrunches her nose... and oinks...
... haha... really she did... it was awesome...

It was a good experience...

... and by good experience I mean that I've learned I never want to do it again...
... The Italian all-star game was today, and sadly I didn't make the cut first time around... never being one to take a loss well, I went anyways... the official version was that one of the real all-star was hurt, and I was next on the list of votes, so I was asked to go... this is the reason I was so excited about today... it wasn't even a damper that I started to realize my coach was organizing the event so he might have just been scrambling for a guy... or when I had to wear my teammates' jersey with white tape over his name...
... the unofficial version is it was a 2 hour drive, an 8 hour wait, a signing of 3 autographs, a lot of wasting time drinking cappuccinos, around 40 fans, a drawn out skills competition (2nd in puck control), a 50 minute interlude fan competition with 2 ice-cleanings, a 20 minute all-star game, a 5 minute overtime, a shootout... and a loss... and then a 20 minute awards presentation... ... ... we got there at 11 (and in the rush had to skip lunch at Mcdonalds to make the most pointless important meeting of my life) but didn't need to be there until 5:30... the free lunch was one tray of lazagna split between 30+ hockey players and was all the food we got all day... but it's over and I have few regrets... because... it's something... different... as an... experience... that I have now...
... The second best part of the day was after the fastest skater competition this old guy on a bike with 2 inch spike tires raced around the track to try to beat the time... I've never seen anything quite as cool in quite a while... he leaned almost sideways around the turns and went a way too fast on the straightaways... and I've also never seen anything chop up the ice as quickly as 2 inch spike tires... which is the reason for the 50 minute break until our game... and almost the reason we missed Mcdonald's on the drive home...
... The best part of the day was after the game... our whole team rushing out of the rink trying to make it to the Mcdonald's in Bolzano before it closed for the night.... and showing up five minutes late only to realize that it didn't close at 10 on Sundays... but 11...