There is no doubt to anyone who is a parent, that it is a lifelong responsibility. Speak to your grandparents about the evolution of worries that occur throughout your life when it comes to the care for your kids. The dynamic of letting your kids go and be adults has it’s own fears, separate from the fears you hold trying to get them though the first 18 years of their lives. There is a responsibility we hold and I hold the responsibility to turn 4 four young men into great men in this world.
I am blessed to have 4 boys in my life, 2 that I helped create and 2 that I’m luck that they have come into my life through their amazing mom. They have a great dad in their life too but being the younger siblings in a larger family changes the dynamic for them here. They are learning and absorbing from the older boys, good or bad, in every situation. As the father in this house I have to navigate the difficult situations that arise daily in this place, I don’t always make the right decision but I make the best one I can.
With an age range of 23 down to 11 years old, there are some varying levels of conversation in the course. Here are my simple (really is anything simple with boys) rules of engagement with these knuckleheads:
The Older Boys need to respect the Younger ones
This has been easy as they have enough of an age gap that they have different interests at this point. They aren’t competing against each other for anything and don’t cross over with one another. They all play basketball now and have that bond but don’t need to prove they are better than each other. In their own way, they respect each other.
Be Who you Are
They have many common interests and many that are diverse. Some are driving, some are learning and some are no where near that. Some have girlfriends and others do not. They all are different in their ways and you have to encourage that to come out.
Respect one Another and your Parents
This one is a tough one for me. There is ALOT of man talk in this house and it is dripping with attitude and bravado. I like to encourage their freedom of communication, no matter how aggressive it has to be expressed. It leads to confrontation with Mary and I and often feelings get hurt between parents and kids but expression is the best way to get feelings out and sometimes we just need to take one on the chin for it. I try to make sure that respect stays within the context but it’s pretty free-flowing when it happens.
Do Your Part to Contribute
Mary is the master of this one as she has found ways to keep these guys doing their own work around the house. They should help more than they do and I still seem to be the only one who knows how to use a lawnmower but they do their part. Fold your laundry or do your own. Make dinner once a week for everyone. Walk the dogs. Put your damn dishes in the dishwasher! Every once in awhile they even help each other with basketball, schoolwork or even life advice.
Find common interests
There are 2 big ones in this house: basketball and video games. The first one is easy as they get outside and play, with or against each other. There is some cross-training and a lot of shit-talking to each other is they make a mistake. There is no mercy if you are young or old (in my case) so figure it out. Video games is more fascinating as they all play roughly the same games and they are all a different “rank” in the games. Age means nothing here and they are constantly picking each other’s minds on what works. We have 2 separate internet providers in this house for a reason as 4 Xboxes and 4 streaming phones (at the same time!) crews through a bunch of gigs of data.
Curb your Bad Influences
We have all done it and are all guilty of it. We ask of each other that we curb those bad influences around one another. No drugs, no excessive drinking, limit the swearing and no girls sleeping over. No small task with these guys around but we try very hard to live to this.
So what does it all mean?
We are not your typical family. We are a blended family that works very hard to make this one family, even too exhaustion for Mary and myself. As the oldest man in this house, I have a responsibility to be the best of them all and I am no bowl of peaches some days. I struggle to bring the energy to the boys that they need, to teach them and guide them. That energy has to come from somewhere and there is only so much to go around. What I have learned is that you don’t need to make big impacts in their lives when it’s really the small ones that make up the fabric of who they are. Talking to them about their day at school, a small congratulations for something they did, a recognition for putting their dishes away, or giving them an extra 15 minutes to play their game before shut down makes the bigger impact. Above all, boys are an emotional sort and you have to allow that expression, even at the peril of what you get from it. I need to be the main referee of those event and often I have to step in and be the lightning rod for their madness.
That’s the role a dad plays the lives of their sons. We teach and coach, lecture and referee, argue and listen, yell and wrestle. Above all, try to hug your boys and tell them what they mean to you as this will go the furthest towards turning them into the kind of men who will become future great fathers.
It was some of the darkest days in baseball. The sport was coming out of the 1994 lockout and had lost millions of fans from that debacle. Baseball was looking for something to rejuvenate interest in the sport and was desperate for anything positive to latch onto. Cal Ripkin and his iron man streak gave the sport a small boost in 1995 but it was short lived. This ESPN 30 for 30 documentary-story weaves us through the period of time where baseball overlooked the devil within to put baseball back on the map.
Before we look at the positives, you have to at least acknowledge the underlying issue built around the chase for the single season home run record. To that point, the record was held by Roger Maris who famously hit 61 home runs in 1961 and had his own challenges in surpassing the legend of Babe Ruth. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa went toe to toe in the summer of 1998 and looked to be a sure thing to surpass the record despite the speculation about steroids being the impetus for the power surge. Years after the record was broken, it was proven that steroids riddles the statistics and records of that era but did anyone really care. Those who hold the records in hallowed grounds have never accepted that McGwire held the record at 70 (until Barry Bonds broke the record under his own cloud of steroids in 2001 with 73). Those who were riveted by the chase that year choose not to care and simply describe it as a magical summer. Here are our winners for the Rewatchables Long Gone Summer.
Most Rewindable moment – the moment where you are flipping the channels and you catch this part only to be sucked into rewinding to the start of the movie.
The “Did you touch my drum kit” award – not necessarily the quote that the world remembers but the one that someone who has seen the movie 25 times would know exactly what movie this is from. Bonus points if you know which show this quote is from.
Best “microwave” actor – the actor who hits the screen with their hair on fire and owns their scenes in such a dominating fashion. Small scenes, big value.
Best “Over the Top” acting moment – the actor who dials it up like this is the moment that he/she wants on the “In Memoriam” snippet at the 2044 Oscars.
The “What show have I seen him/her in before” award – you know, the actor who you’ve seen in 100 shows and never know their name. Every movie has that person.
The “That makes no sense moment” – You know what I mean when you see something that makes no logical sense. That moment.
Bonus category – Unanswerable questions – I love this stuff where the movie ends but the questions linger on. I have no answers but lots of questions.
Most Rewindable Moment – Mark McGwire Batting Practice
The documentary was clearly focused on showing you what you came here for, the home run. Throughout the 2 hours, it shows you all of the major milestone dingers of the year for all players involved and those moments Bring you right back to where you were in 1998.
To me the rewindable moment came in the 30 seconds where it focused on McGwire hitting bombs in batting practice and having thousands of fans oohing and ahhhhing along with every laser off his bat. The sheer magnitude of the way he hit these baseballs and the length of distance was jaw dropping and sucks you in for the rest of the show.
The “Did you touch my drum kit” award – Sammy Sosa
There were some great quotes throughout this documentary.
“You would have 5,000 people at batting practice just there to watch McGwire hit”, Chip Carey, broadcaster
“No-one talks to me about getting to 50 homers, everyone wants to talk about 60 or 61 but you have no idea how hard it is just to get to 50.” McGwire press conference.
“Dad always regretted hitting 61 homers that year and was labelled as a on-hit wonder after that. He just dealt with it after he did it”. Maris’ son
The quote that struck me the greatest was the one that Sammy Sosa doesn’t actually answer. Sosa has repeatedly been asked about the rumour that he too took steroids throughout that era. It has haunted he and McGwire so much that neither one of them has been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Sosa has taken a particularly large beating over the speculation and because he has not even acknowledged the issue, he was dropped from the HOF ballot. In the documentary, he is asked the question again around whether he took steroids during that season and his answer was more more confusing than ever, answering a question with a question.
Why do they focus on me when everyone in that era [took steroids]? I’m not a bad guy.”
True but has the lesson of telling the truth not taught these guys anything? Pete Rose is paying the piper for 20 years of denial and is still not in the Hall while others who float the truth have been exonerated.
Best “microwave” actor – Roger Maris & the Maris family
I have always had an amazing amount of respect for Roger Maris. He was the epitome of class throughout his career and being an understated gentlemen, the chase of the Babe’s HR record took its toll on him. His son told the story how Roger was losing his hair in clumps under the undying pressure from the fans and media haunting him daily. On top of the chase, he has the added pressure that the Commissioner of Baseball, Ford Frick, claimed that the record would no be considered broken unless he did it in the same or less number of games than the Bambino did it in (154 games).
There are snippets of interviews with Maris laced into the documentary along with several interviews with Maris’ son. The Maris family was actively involved in the backdrop of that summer, following the frontrunner, McGwire around the country as he approached the number. They too said all the right things and showed their class when McGwire hit number 62. Deep down, they must also wonder whether the record was broken legitimately, or under the premise of drugs that you couldn’t fathom in 1961. No matter what, they never cracked and still haven’t and baseball is better for Roger Maris.
Best “Over the Top” acting moment – Jack Buck broadcaster
In fairness, it can’t be easy being the broadcaster who has the responsibility to tell the world that you have just seen something that you have never seen before. Many a great broadcaster has spent hours off microphone, crafting the perfect message for just that moment. Jack Buck was the St Louis Cardinals broadcaster for the previous 40 seasons and had seen it all. He had never seen anything like this travelling circus and the hype that followed these guys. As McGwire climbed the HR ladder 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, Buck needed to continue to weave the story for folks at home.
Buck was no stranger to baseball history. He has some of the greatest calls in the history of the game (You Tube Kirby Puckett Game 6 and Kirk Gibson 1988 for nostalgic purposes). When he called the 62nd homer, he literally had tears streaming down his face. If that’s not the most moving moment of the doc, you have no heart. Take a listen. It’s a worthwhile couple of minutes of one of the greatest broadcasters in sports history.
The “What show have I seen him/her in before” award – The 1998 Montreal Expos
One of the things that struck me greatly was the impact that the now defunct, Montreal Expos played in the race to the HR lead. They were a party to the best sequence in the documentary starting with Sammy Sosa overtaking McGwire for the HR lead on September 25, 1998. Sosa hits his 66th dinger that afternoon to take the lead leaving the exhausted McGwire wondering whether the record would be out of reach, with only a handful of games left in the season. Sosa had been in the groove to catch the leader and McGwire had been flagging in previous games. He needed a response and the poor Expos were the victim for his rebuttal. Take a look at the barrage that Les Expos endured once McGwire felt the heat to keep the record:
After Sosa hits a 462 foot bomb vs the Astros, McGwire tortures the Expos for 5 homers in 3 games against a “where are they now” list of former Montreal Expos pitchers. Unfortunately for Canadian baseball fans, this may have been the last time that the Expos were playing in relevant baseball games with a national audience before they moved to Washington in 2002.
The “That makes no sense moment” – Tim Fornaris Cardinals groundskeeper
This was a part of the epilogue that I had forgotten about and has totally blocked out of my memory. The baseball’s that each of the men had hit for homers leading up to the record were worth thousands to the lucky patrons who caught them. The world speculated that the ball that eventually would break the record, could be worth $1 million dollars to the person who possessed it. Little would the world know that that September day, McGwire would hit his shortest homer of the season, basely clearing the 361 foot mark of the left field fence. This meant that it would not be a fan that would hold the ball, it would be someone in the Cardinals bullpen. That person, Tim Fornaris was a groundskeeper who was responsible to collect the falling streamers from the raucous Busch Stadium crowd. While sprinting to the field, he picked up the the rolling ball and stuck it in his pocket. The amazing part of the story; days later, he presents the ball to McGwire in a on-field ceremony and forgoing the potential riches he held in his hand. He will never know what it was worth but Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane purchased the 70th homer ball for $3 million months later.
Unanswerable Questions and Conclusions
Here is what I am left wondering:
Would McGwire and Sosa both be Hall of Famers by now, if they had admitted to the steroids? I say No here as the fate of the HOF ballot is left to the writers, many of whom still hold these two responsible for selling the game. They may both be on the ballot still but I think they are still on the outside looking in.
Would the season have as many warm feelings if Sosa had been the Home Run champion? Again, I say No here. The fact that Sosa was a Latin American born player with limited command of English (especially when he was under scrutiny), makes me doubt that the American audience would have soaked this in the same way.
Would Ken Griffey Jr. have been a better foe for McGwire in the chase? I say Yes as KGJ was America’s baseball sweetheart in this era. He was a 5 tool player who would go onto hit over 600 homers lifetime and become a first ballot Hall of Famer. He was in the race until August when he went on a horrendous slump and ended up with 56 dingers.
What event would have brought fans back if this never happened? The easy answer is Barry Bonds breaking this record a few years later in 2002 but I will say the first games after 9/11 would have bonded fans to coming back. What’s more patriotic than Lee Greenwood in a leather US flag jacket singing “God Bless the USA”. before a game?
Some will say that this season ruined the game for years to come. Baseball and the powers at hand, ignored the steroid issue during the year and reaped the reward of TV audiences and crowds not seen since. The documentary wasn’t hard hitting enough for my liking, eventually letting both combatants off the hook from telling the truth about their abuse of steroids. That was the true story here and an opportunity to set the record straight but ESPN missed the mark. MLB reaped the reward for the ignorance and sometimes you just need to take advantage of a positive situation when it happens. MLB certainly benefitted by the frantic chase these two put on and the game moved into the new century stronger than it left the old one. McGwire and Sosa should be in the Hall if for no other reason than they saved the game.
Let us know what you thought of the documentary at www.reppinthe403.com.
There are definitely more deserving sports movies in the pantheon of great sports flicks but in a recent watch of Draft Day, it got my attention enough to make it Rewindable #2. It’s a flawed movie that entertains while it plays to the strengths of it’s main star, Kevin Costner, and overlooks some of the nuances that the NFL draft entails. The plot follows Sonny Weaver Jr, the GM of the Cleveland Browns on draft day and stitches an arc of his conversation and emotions around one of the busiest days in the NFL calendar. We see the trials in his relationship, his family life, the respect of his work colleagues and mostly the personal demons he faces. You can get a full review of the movie here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_Day if you want he blow by blow.
I had the pleasure of watching this with Mary and my older boys and I came away with a few immediate observations from them:
Mary was surprisingly entertained. She doesn’t know the nuances of the NFL draft process so the football parts needed a few pauses to explain the back story but she stayed with it. She likely wouldn’t sit through many other sports related movies.
My boys loved the drama of the draft day wheeling and dealing because it’s how they function in their fantasy football lives. They are always trying to trade some ball bag for a superstar, including future draft picks and no trade is too radical for them.
It resonates well with younger football audiences because they dream to draft their own team and do so in their Xbox Madden experiences. Trading players is their favourite part of the game really.
As always, we will use a similar methodology in breaking down the highlights of the movie.
Our categories for the golden Rewindables include:
Most Rewindable moment – the moment where you are flipping the channels and you catch this part only to be sucked into rewinding to the start of the movie.
The “Did you touch my drum kit” award – not necessarily the quote that the world remembers but the one that someone who has seen the movie 25 times would know exactly what movie this is from. Bonus points if you know which show this quote is from.
Best “microwave” actor – the actor who hits the screen with their hair on fire and owns their scenes in such a dominating fashion. Small scenes, big value.
Best “Over the Top” acting moment – the actor who dials it up like this is the moment that he/she wants on the “In Memoriam” snippet at the 2044 Oscars.
The “What show have I seen him/her in before” award – you know, the actor who you’ve seen in 100 shows and never know their name. Every movie has that person.
The “That makes no sense moment” – You know what I mean when you see something that makes no logical sense. That moment.
Bonus category – Unanswerable questions – I love this stuff where the movie ends but the questions linger on. I have no answers but lots of questions.
Most Rewindable Moment
This is a hard one to peg. The indelible scene is likely the draft day sequence where Sonny makes a sequence of trades that would blow the minds of the most seasoned NFL veteran. We’ll save that for later as you will definitely stop and watch that last 20 minutes but would you rewind it?
The real moment that sucks you in is when Sonny walks into the Cleveland war room and tells the front office that he has acquired the #1 overall pick and likely prospective draftee Bo Callahan. The banter between he and Coach Vince Penn (played by Dennis Leary) is classic dick-swinging material and it sets up the chaos of the remainder of the movie. Sonny is a flawed man. making flawed decisions without the advice or backing of his team and it’s here that you realize that the countdown to the draft is going to be memorable.
The “Did you touch my drum kit” award
The most memorable quote comes at the end of the movie where after baiting the Seattle GM into trading his 3 – first round picks back to Cleveland, he caps off the baiting with the classic “trade me back my picks, you pancake-eater motherfucker”. It’s a reference to an earlier scene with that same Seattle GM was prioritizing his breakfast over the discussion with Sonny.
I also enjoyed the part where Sonny educates Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman) on the reasons he should get off social media. It goes something like this:
The best quote happens between Ali Parker (Jennifer Garner, cap specialist) while spitting barbs at Coach Penn. She stops him dead in his tracks and asks:
Fair question and something that really had never occurred to me before. Leave it to the Salary Cap specialist to blow your mind.
Best “microwave” actor
There is zero question that the person who lights the fire under this movie is Dennis Leary playing Coach Vince Penn. Even his back story is full of awesome:
Inherited the Cowboys on their ascension, coached them to a Super Bowl win, let go a couple of years later, wife hates Cleveland compared to Dallas, took the Browns job to prove he could build a team.
The fact is, he adds the confrontation that football represents, directly into every scene. He is an asshole, brazen and sure that everyone around him is inferior. Pure awesomeness as a coach and he is electric in this scene:
Best “Over the Top” acting moment
Well the end of the movie could fit into several categories in the Rewindables but it fits best here. It’s somewhat implausible but intriguing while the drama of what gets pulled off is fascinating. It starts with him convincing the rookie GM of the Jaguars to trade out of the number 6 pick by sweating him through the options he faces:
Once that manipulation is sealed, he then leverages the position of the Seahawks, who want to draft the stud QB, by trading them back for their original 3 first round picks capped by the “pancake-eating MFer” crescendo.
And to cap it off, he then sticks to the smug Seattle GM with the now infamous “I want all my picks back and David Goddamn Putney, just because I want to.” Classic dick swinging at its best. Enjoy the bravado.
The “What show have I seen him/her in before” award
This one has to go to my man Patrick St. Esprit who gamely plays the Seattle General Manager and one of the main antagonists in the show. Backed in discussion by another “who’s that guy?” Chi McBride, the two make a formidable team in maneuvering the draft day wars. This ultimately was the best role he has played on the silver screen but he has played other key roles in TV and movies such as Hunger Games, Smokin Aces, and War Dogs. Take some pride in this role Patrick, you made this movie flow and provided some sage experience up against Costner’s Sonny Weaver.
The “That makes no sense moment”
Where do you start here? Let me rattles some off for recap.
You wouldn’t take a linebacker with the number 1 pick, ever, ever, ever. You also rarely see a team take a running back in the top 10 (which they do at number 7)The Browns owner, after being embarrassed at the draft in not drafting Bo Callahan, flies back to Cleveland and arrives back BEFORE they have made 5 picks in the draft. The trading of picks through the last 10 minutes are equally improbable and indefensible but there was one glaring error in the film.
It is a well documented tradition that when the Commissioner of the NFL walks across the stage to kick off the event, he walks to a resounding boo. Does this sound like a boo to you? Forward to the 1:52 moment in this clip.
Unanswerable Questions and Wrap up
Who gets fired after this mess of trades is sorted out? – Sonny appears to have avenged himself here and will get a chance for the next few seasons. The Jacksonville GM is too green in his job and will get a pass for dumping the pick. Seattle’s GM did the right thing in the end and probably drafted the best player in the draft. He survives. Let’s go with Coach Penn getting canned first. He continues to shoot his mouth off and eventually Sonny swings the axe on him and his act.
Is Bo Callahan the franchise player everyone predicted? – Yes he was. He has too much going for him and the weaknesses that Sonny exposes, although it takes him time to work through the yips. $ Pro Bowls and he takes his team to a couple of Championship games before he’s done.
Do Sonny and Ali make it as a couple and as parents? – No chance. Sonny is too headstrong and won’t allow for her to take full control of his heart and family. It ends bad for Sonny, losing his girl, his child and eventually his job when he turns to the bottle after blaming his parents for his messed up life.
Draft Day is a flawed but amazingly enjoyable sports themed drama. There is something for everyone and even more if you like the football parts. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone watching the movie who can explain the nuances of football and the NFL Draft as it certainly overtakes the end of the movie. If you have football fans in the house, it’s got to be on your short list of movies to take in.
Let me know what you think. Message us back on Facebook or Twitter if you agree or disagree here.
There is only one way to describe the incredible song and lyrics of Baby Come Back from Player. Pure Gold. When this song hit the charts in 1977, it not only established Player as the newest member of the 70’s soft rock era, it brought us a song that would span the decades in the category of absolute smooth music. This song keeps coming back, generation after generation. Ask your kids, they will know this one. You can’t help singing the falsetto portions while in the car and you know all the words. Pure Gold.
The song hit the charts in later 1977 and by January 1978 it was the #1 hit on the US Billboard charts and the Canadian charts. The group had one more Yacht Rock classic, This Time I’m in it For Love (which deserves it’s own review at some point) but almost nothing else. The song speaks to the pain that someone feels after a breakup with their love. It speaks to people and touches them lyrically. Who needs more than a #1 smash hit that spans the decades and will live forever?
The group split up by 1982 and never was to be seen again, and they haven’t been touring the casinos of the US keeping the dream alive. The song keeps “coming back” in the form of commercials and in movies in dramatic relationship moments. You may recall it being used in the first Transformer movie and in a classic Swiffer Wetjet commercial. Listen to it in it’s original studio form and try to not sing the chorus.
Comment along and let me know what your favourite Yacht Rock song is. Agree or disagree but either way we will rewind some great soft rock.
This song was truly made for the Yacht Rock high seas. Bertie Higgins hit the scene and dropped an instant classic upon us and one that once you hear it, you can forget the lyrics. On top of the fact that Bertie has no idea that he was the man in 1981 rolling around with his high collar, bare chested, gold chained machoism. Not only did he write great Yacht Rock songs, he lived them. Soak this in:
The song revolves around the setting for the 1948 film Casablanca filmed in Key Largo and his previous failed romance in the same area. He says that the songs was a plea for her to return to him and his report was that it was successful. The song hit #8 on the US Billboard charts in 1981 and was #3 in the Canadian charts. It was ranked one of the greatest “One-hit Wonders” of the 1980’s even though his other hit Just Another Day in Paradise also hit #10 on the US charts the following year.
Fun fact: Bertie became fast friends with Burt Reynolds who loved his music (and likely his swagger) and groomed him for screen writing movies. They remained lifelong friends.He has become a well covered artist with many popular artists including Tina Turner adopting his songs into their concert repertoire. The greatest compliment of all is that you can’t think of a another song that rings the names “just like Bogie and Bacall….” into a song. Listen to it in it’s original form and don’t be afraid to admit you love it. Here’s looking’ at you kid…
If you just love Bertie Higgins or his hit Key Largo, let us know. We are looking for classic Yacht Rock songs to rewind for your enjoyment.
The next episode of Yacht Rock Rewindables brings us another of my absolute favourites. There are Yacht Rock songs and then there are songs that stop you in your tracks. Robbie Dupree’s singular hit, Steal Away is one of those songs to me.
One of my favourite topics is around the Greatest one hit Yacht Rock wonders. Here’s where I place them:
Steal Away – Robbie Dupree
Magnet and Steel – Walter Egan
Who’ll be the Fool Tonight – Larsen-Feiten Band
Chevy Van – Sammy Johns
Who’s Right Who’s Wrong – Pages
Somewhere along the path, they will all end up rewinded here but today let’s hit Steal Away.
Dupree’s one Billboard hit reached #6 on the US charts and #14 on the Canadian charts in 1980. The song represents a proposition from him towards a girl. He asks her to steal away into the night after he catches a glance at her. Of interest, Dupree did not have a recording contract when he made the song. He sent in a demo tape of 5 songs and a studio liked what they heard and offered him a contract. That was a big improvement from his job of hauling carpet around Los Angeles.
The song was ranked #64 in the top 100 one-hit wonders of the 80’s. It upbeat melody helps it bolt along and resonates with you after it’s done. He continues to roam the country playing his song with Yacht Rock Revue and it continues to bring audiences to the show. Enjoy the song the way it was played in the studio.
Let us know what you think here. Yacht Rock classic or not? We love to hear what you think and what you would like to hear us review in upcoming episodes.
I had some good feedback on other favourite Yacht Rock songs that people have adopted in the past years. I look forward to reviewing them all at some point. For today, I needed to get one of my personal favourites on the board. The rock group Ambrosia was formed in 1970 in Los Angeles and over the late 70’s and early 80’s they hit the Billboard charts hard with 5 top 40 hits and 2 that went into the top 5. These guys are one of my favourite Yacht Rock staple groups and expect to see other hits reviewed along the way. Today we rewind their smash hit Biggest Part of Me from April 1980 and played live on The Midnight Special in June of 1980.
Ambrosia hit it big with their 1980 album One Eighty and Biggest Part of Me was the 9th song on that album. This singled a 180 degree turn for the band from its previous style and set them off into the new decade of music. The sweet sounds come from the 4 man band made up from David Pack – vocalist, Joe Puerta – bassist, Christopher North – keyboardist and Burleigh Drummond – drummer. In the groups later years, Bruce Hornsby joined the band to add a second keyboardist and background vocals, before he started his own band called The Range.
The song rose on the US Billboard all the way to #3 in mid-1980 while it hit #18 on the Canadian charts. The song is about a guy who adores a woman in his life and is prepared to give her everything. What better way to create a syrupy Ballard than to tell his girl that he in incomplete without her and pledge himself to her onwards. David Pack wrote the framework for this song while waiting for his family to get ready for a vacation and hammered out most of the work in 10 minutes as inspiration hit him.
This song was a staple at early 80’s weddings and is still widely regarded as one of the classic Yacht Rock songs in any playlist. It’s one of my top 5 and I choose to enjoy it in its studio form here. Enjoy Biggest Part of Me in its studio form.
Those who know me, know about my sick addiction for the soft, sticky hits of the late 70’s and early 80’s renamed “Yacht Rock”. I always had a deep seeded love for this music but until JD Ryznar, Hunter Stair, Dave Lyons and Lane Farnham dubbed this genre of music as Yacht Rock, I had never pulled it all together. When this music is played together in a sequence on on a channel (like on SiriusXM) it becomes pure gold. Before we explore the genre, we need to establish what my parameters are for this music:
The music has to come from the years 1975-1983. There are a few exceptions to this rule but largely after 1983 the music became more pop and synthetic.
It must be smooth sounding. Easy to say but hard to do but there is no need for synthesizers and yelling.
The lyrics carry the song and tell the story. No exception to the rule.
The songs are catchy and have tempo but ultimately must feel like a song you could listen to while riding the waves.
There are scales that rate and rank these songs (like Yacht or Nyacht) and do a great job of it but ultimately you should just enjoy the music and learn to love the genre. In Yacht Rock Rewindables, we will hit on my favourites and look forward to your comments.
I Keep Forgettin’ – Michael McDonald 1982
Years later, the Doobie Brothers have become the quintessential 70’s groove music and after its lead singer went solo in the early 80’s he turned out this Yacht Rock gem. The song hit #4 on the US Billboard charts that year and #5 on the Canadian charts and was a bona fide chart topper.
The song is amazing, hits the right groove and epitomizes who Michael McDonald was to become. It’s a song that tells the story of a man who refuses to accept that his relationship is over and the pain that it causes him. He added the song to his solo debut album If That’s What it Takes and his sister Maureen sings background vocals on the song. Enjoy it in its true sound from You Tube:
Tell us what you think here and add your suggestions for more Yacht Rock songs to be added to this channel. Follow along at www.reppinthe403.com
It’s hard to believe that we collectively have been isolating for the past 10 weeks. In many ways, it has been the shortest 10 weeks of my life. In so many ways, I have pissed away an opportunity to do so many things that I should have done. Rest assured, it’s not like nothing got accomplished in the past weeks considering work kept rolling along and was extremely consuming for most of the day. Between some evenings and the weekend days, this family did make some headway on some long-standing issues around the ole’ Casa.
Re-stain a deck, organize the mechanical room, clean out closets and cupboards, move an un-Godly amount of rocks to the backyard, re-bark mulch the back, re-seed the lawn, paint the house, try new cocktail drinks, set up the patio furniture, explore Fish Creek Park, re-border the flowerbeds, build some plant stands for Mary, change the headlights in my truck, watch parts of several Netflix series and a million 80’s movies and complete around a dozen puzzles. It sounds like a lot of things got done but all I can think about are the things that never got done.
I did spend a ton of quality time with my Mary and our collective of boys also made for some spicy dinners and evenings but when this is all over, I will still be left with some missed opportunities:
I should have made some time for the webpage
I really enjoy writing, even though I have a lot to learn about the craft. Somehow I ran out of time for this stuff a few years ago and I don’t know what got so complicated in my life. These past weeks would have been a great time to get some work done on the site, clean it up and add some bells and whistles that I would like. More importantly, I should have crafted a bunch of plans for future work. I didn’t do any of that and only stumbled back into this world while I was cleaning up files for tax season.
I have new goals for myself with the site and really would like to try some new things with new topics. I would also like to try and support small businesses by writing about what makes them great. Business in the 403 needs all the help it can get.
We should have found some new restaurants through Take Out
We really hunkered down, so much that we virtually ate nothing but at home. In many ways, that was a refreshing change for us and I know Mary enjoyed finding new recipes for us to try. Really, it was a good experience for us to bring the boys back to the dinner table for family dinner. Mary also convinced each of them to select and make a dinner for the family, every week. Those were amazing feats that would never have happened without the family lockdown.
We did miss the chance to try local restaurants and find new food choices. I swear, one of our neighbours ordered from Skip the Dishes every day of the quarantine and I was intrigued every time the car rolled up. What was in that glorious red bag? Could it be a game-changer in the household? What mystery hole in the wall could be sending the greatest supper ever to their home? Missed opportunity for sure.
I should have listened to more music
Music makes me happy. People who know me, know my sick addiction for classic 70’s music, particularly the sweet, smooth sounds of Yacht Rock. There were days where I would have the music on while doing some work in the yard or while I was doing some work in the evenings. It’s not that I wanted to branch out with my musical choices into Country or Rap or even the top hits of today. I really should have just listened to my music, more contently. I’m sure that over the next few weeks, I will express some of that love for music in my writing.
I should have sat around on the deck more
It’s hard to remember back to the start of COVID but the weather really was not very good. We had a cold and snowy start for an interminable amount of time, right into April. Although, that was not exactly deck weather it turned around quite quickly afterwards and I didn’t really grasp the opportunity enough.
There were chances to do it. We had some really nice weather as we moved into May and the chairs were sitting there waiting for my ass but I just couldn’t stop doing stuff. I feel accomplished by the number of things we accomplished at work and home but missed a glorious chance to rest.
I should have tried to find sports in my life even though professional sports stopped.
Let’s be clear, the pro sports leagues did the right thing in shutting down in mid-March. In many ways, I credit the NBA in creating the needed awareness about the virus, when they shut the doors. The collapse of the remaining sports leagues was fast and those that were getting started, were halted. For a family like ours, this was a devastating blow as the nightly sports event was the bonding moment for the boys. We would gather and watch and talk. I miss that.
At the same time, youth sports was an instant casualty of the pandemic and the season for basketball, never really got off the ground. Nic, Cam and myself were poised to coach teams with Rian and Liam on them and all of that was shelved, fast. We will never know what could have been with the spring basketball season, and I feel for those kids who have lost an entire year of development in the sport. We are lucky to have a hoop outside on the street and short of a few days, I didn’t do enough to get outside and shoot some hoops with the boys. They went out pretty often and I missed that chance.
I should have exercised with more creativity to stay fit
My daily trip for to the gym was the biggest immediate impact on my life and it took me a whole week to get my act together. We were certainly one of the luckier families because we had access to some weights and a treadmill to allow the family to have a fitness routine. It was certainly more limited than my gym but not a disaster. My issue was that I didn’t find anything creative to do with the equipment or without it.
As the weather improved, I had even more options available like walking and biking and should have looked harder for alternatives. Mary and I did get out most evening for a walk with the pups but that doesn’t replace the challenge of getting your heart rate pumping for some exercise. I often long for the spring and summer to come, if for no other reason than to get some exercise in the evenings. The grind during the day and the responsibilities during the evenings took its toll and it just never happened. The summer isn’t over yet and I will have to get re-focused and re-energized.
I should have completed at least one TV series along the weeks
Mary and I have this terrible habit of starting a series and not committing to see it through. We have a litany of titles that we have seen 3-5 episodes of and never to be completed. Part of the issue is that I need to be attached to the theme and the characters and most importantly, the theme has to be completely plausible if it’s going to be fictional. Here’s a few series that we started and are TBD on its completion:
Ozark – we liked it a lot but only got midway through season 1. I think we will get back to it and see it through at some point.
The Crown – an honest depiction of the Royals and their screwed up worlds. We are in season 2 (which is a miracle in our world) and it seems to be chugging along. We will complete it one day.
Sex Education – a fictional depiction of high school in England with the twist being that the main character decides to provide sex education advice for the other students. Got to season 2 and it lost me.
The Kominsky Method – fun show about old dudes who are trying to stay young as they advance through the latter years. I was entertained through season 1 but season 2 became repetitive.
We did make it through a couple of mini-documentaries with some mixed success:
Tiger King – basically unwatchable but a fascinating train wreck that we powered through in the early weeks. The fact that I had trouble figuring out what the most screwed up part of the series was, tells you all you need to know.
Waco – it had been out previously but we finally saw it through and it was great. I highly recommend the back story on David Koresh and his cast of followers.
My biggest regret was that I was following the latest season of the Walking Dead and the final episode didn’t get completed prior to the outbreak and it has yet to be completed. I was into it and wished to have some conclusion to this season.
I should have done a deep clean of the garage and shed
No complaints here as we did tackle several rooms and closets in the house but we left the grand daddy of them all. I was out there a lot and looked at strategies even more. I started to clean the tools and gave up. I cleaned the corner out when we swapped the winter tires off and got frustrated. We even took a load to the dump early on and I thought we had traction but nope. The garage in this house has always been a catch all for the stuff that has no home in the closets and rooms. I will get there before the summer is done.
I should have started to plan out where we should vacation to next
I love to travel and I know I am not a good “staycation” candidate so when the world of travel dried up, it took its toll on my mind. We had a plan to go to Palm Springs for our anniversary in June and that was cancelled. We usually plot out a plan for November and we can’t even think that far out yet. We normally would have some Western Canada travel wrapped into the boys club basketball and that went by the wayside. We have ended up in Vegas most of the past few July’s and it’s out of the question.
I’m open to suggestions for what to do this year. I now have 2 travel companion vouchers to use and our friends at Westjet are holding my money ransom. I should have put some work into this as I can’t survive until 2021 before I get to feel the heat of the Caribbean or the culture of Europe.
I should have told Mary how thankful that I am that she chose me in life and dealt with my ups and downs through the lockdown.
I did tell her but probably not enough. She basically locked herself in the home for 7- starlight days, making sure that the kids did what they should and kept the wheel on out bus moving. When I got home, she listened to me drone on about COVID related issues at the pharmacies and kept me motivated and healthy. She also stepped aside when she needed to, to let me work on a puzzle or keep slugging away at work issues into the late evening. Mostly, she was just there with me and for me. There were a lot of people stuck without the one you care about the most but that was never my issue. She sacrificed herself for the family and for me and I will make sure the knows how important that was for me.
Those were the biggies on my list. There were so many positive things along the way too and I am choosing to focus on the great things that happened along the past 3 months.Take a minute and formulate your own list of things you did or didn’t do. The outbreak is far from over and there is still time to wrong those rights. Seize the opportunity.
