You changed my mind, Paul

I collect music. Always have. The first recording I remember owning was a 45 of Elvis singing Love Me Tender. To this day I still have over eight hundred 45s; there are hundreds of vinyl LPs downstairs and our CD collection numbers close to four thousand.

Being a collector sometimes means just that: collecting, not playing. So it was that I bought Paul McCartney’s Good Evening New York City almost three years ago (Dec 9, 2009) but only now watched it – it’s a 2-CD/1-DVD set. In truth I was a bit embarrassed that I owned it. I mean, Paul was the schlocky one, the master of pleasant sounding, shallow sweetness. The real talent had been John and the soul of the Beatles was George.

But, for whatever reason, I had ordered the McCartney set. Then I let it sit on my desk for all this time.

What a mistake that was! Over the last two nights I watched this amazing, two and-a-half hour, thirty-four song set and was simply blown away. From the opening Drive My Car to the closing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End, this was one amazing show. Paul’s band (Rusty Anderson, Brian Ray, Paul Wickens and Abe Laboriel Jr) was at the top of its game and it was clear they had spent hours honing their sound to match the original Beatles or Wings recordings. (Check this out as a good example).

Watching this concert is the closest thing to watching a Beatles concert that one can have – in some ways, it was better: at least you could hear the music! I can only imagine how exciting it must have been to be there in the flesh. (Note: the concerts took place July 17, 18 and 21, 2009 at Citi Field, inaugurating the New York Mets new home).

John and George’s spirits hovered over the stadium; perhaps the most poignant moments of the show were when Paul sang Something, Harrison's immortal classic from Abbey Road, with images of George projected on the huge screens behind the band; or A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance, evoking memories of the gentle pacifist, John Lennon.

For me though, equally emotional were Let It Be and Hey Jude -- I cried during both. Just as exciting were Jet, Got To Get You Into My Life, Let Me Roll It, Back In The USSR, I'm Down, Paperback Writer, Day Tripper, I Saw Her Standing There, Yesterday, Helter Skelter and Get Back. The kick-ass, OMG moment was this rendition of Live And Let Die with pyrotechnics and fireworks galore. It was intense.

This story started for me on August 15, 1966, at Washington Stadium, now known as RFK Stadium. That was the day I saw the Beatles, though to say I heard the Beatles would be a stretch. Paul McCartney’s dazzling performance in New York in 2009 brought back wonderful memories of that concert, of Ed Sullivan Sunday nights, of the summer of 1967 when Sgt. Pepper was released, of the wonderfully fun films A Hard Day’s Night and Help, of the brilliance of Abbey Road and the poignant sadness of the end, the Let It Be album and documentary.

The Rolling Stones may in fact be the "World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" but I would argue that the Beatles were the most beloved. Thank you, Paul, for being such a diligent keeper of the flame. And forgive me for doubting you.

Apocalypse Dodged

From today's New York Times

So Mitt Romney remains Citizen Romney and the anti-women, anti-gay, anti-change Republican Party does not win the White House but instead licks its wounds and mumbles about 2016. It’s a good day in the neighborhood.

Here in Connecticut Chris Murphy will soon be Senator Murphy, defeating Linda McMahon, in spite of her spending another fifty million of her own dollars for a failed campaign – as she did two years ago. CT’s Congressional delegation will once again be solidly, totally, Democratic.

The news in Virginia is of course not as blue, but the state did go for Obama by 3% and elected Tim Kaine to the Senate by 5%. (The House races, not surprisingly, were won by Republicans eight to three.) Elizabeth Warren won in Massachusetts, where Obama led Romney 61% to 38% in Romney’s home state. Democrat Joe Donnelly took Richard Lugar’s longtime Republican seat in Indiana, beating Richard “conception by rape is God’s will” Mourdock, whose soul mate Todd “legitimate rape victims don’t get pregnant” Akin lost to Democrat Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

And, in the best news of the night, Wisconsin Representative Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay candidate to win a Senate seat, defeating former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, and gay marriage initiatives won at least three out of four referendums. In Maine, by almost 7%, and in Maryland, by 4%, voters approved same-sex marriage; in Minnesota an amendment to define marriage as male/female was defeated; the results in Washington state are not yet known, but the pro-gay marriage side seems to be winning by perhaps 4%.

As I said, it was a great day in the neighborhood.

But eat, drink and be merry today, for tomorrow – or, in December, according to the Mayans – we all die. 

Sweetest thing I've seen all week

You Got Power?

The above has replaced “How are you?” as the greeting of choice these days, at least here in the New Haven area. While in the city itself only 4,100 customers are without power, in Milford it’s 12,000 (nearly half of UI’s customers); in Trumbull, 9,700 (70%) and in Woodbridge, where we live, 1,800, or 48%. UI is also reporting that in Orange, CT, 6,421 customers out of 6,203 are without power. They say 103.5% of their customers are without power.

One only hopes their power restoration ability is better than their math skills.

Metro North is now running trains into New York, but not from New Haven. Trains are originating in Stamford, about halfway to the city. Ransom’s plan is to drive to SUNY Purchase -- where he teaches conducting -- leave his car there and then catch a train into the city for tonight’s rehearsal – a rehearsal for an opera that may be canceled as singers and musicians find it impossible to get to work.

At home I keep buying ice and bringing water from work. The nights are very quiet and the novelty has long ago worn off. I like candles, but only to a point.

When I finish this post I will head over to the gym again for a shower; I am grateful for Yale’s generosity but it sure aint as easy as turning a lever in my own bathroom.

All of this is of course small stuff; plenty of people have it far worse.

One thing is perfectly clear though: the earth’s climate is changing. Three so called 100-year storms have come through CT in the past year. The idiots who still deny the facts and say that climate change is a hoax or a theory need to gather in convention and look over the data. I’d suggest they meet on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

Just down the road from Atlantic City