I treat Spotify like the radio--I set it to a vibe I'm feeling and let it spin the tunes. A few days ago it spun up "Certain Kinds of Trash" by Chain and the Gang, a song I'd never heard from a band I'd never heard, and when I saw it pop up on the nav screen I assumed they would use the word "trash" in a New York Dolls sort of way.
But no! They use it in a literal Mad Men sort of way.
In something like a spoken word approach, they reminisce about all the garbage you don't see anymore like cigarette holders, magnetic tape stuck in a tree, typewriter ribbons and so on.
I became wistful when, at the very end, the second to last kind of trash they enumerate is porno mags, because I remember in fifth grade when my friend Chris found an exceedingly waterlogged issue of Hustler in the gutter during a rain storm, and he brought it home and nurtured it like a wounded bird until it dried out, at which point it became the size of a phone book and the ink flaked off the pages in some spots but it was still his pride and joy, his dirty magazine that he rescued from becoming trash. Sure, our friend Jesse's father had a huge stack of pristine noodie books in the basement,
but this battered copy of Hustler was like manna from heaven for Chris.
I've found some pretty gnarly garbage in my day and I don't miss the filthy sidewalks of the 70's and 80's, littered with dogshit, gum, broken glass and all the other flotsam and jetsam one encountered on urban walkways. Unfortunately I don't recall finding anything as personally meaningful as Chris's Hustler, but maybe you do. Join me in the comments--what trash do you miss and what's the most important trash you rescued?
Nearly 10 years ago we grabbed a table someone had put by the curb to use temporarily. It's still our dining room table today.
ReplyDeletei lost an entire bag of clothes on the trip from williamsburg to nags head for the summer in 1991. left it on the side of the road during a pit stop. i like to think some country kid in northeastern north carolina got some good mileage out of my favorite party shirt.
ReplyDeleteWas it a "SL,UT CITY" shirt?
ReplyDeletelook at z, cross platform posting and confusing the hell out of all but four of us
ReplyDeleteit was a greasetruck "dirty girls" t-shirt
ReplyDeleteDon't know how many of you are late night TV denizens, but tonight and tomorrow are last nights of Stephen Colbert before CBS pulls the plug. Worth a look. Or maybe On Demand or stream or whatevs.
ReplyDeletewhit, you'll be pleased to know that irascible pain-in-the-ass when aggrieved guy still lives within me, just deeper down than he used to be. he came out today to have a discussion with a high school athletic director with no willingness to hear an appeal to reason nor color slightly outside the lines.
ReplyDeleteThat does indeed please me, except for the part where it pissed you off. A little throwback fire now and again is good.
ReplyDeleteOne of my dogs (Steve) is a basenji and very high energy so he likes to play outside a lot. Recently our across the street neighbor got a German Shepherd (Jack) and fenced in her front yard. Now she asks for Steve to come over for regular play dates. We almost always accept. First, because Steve loves it. Second, because Steve is fucking toast by the time he comes home. He’s been laying on me for over two hours this evening. With no sign of movement imminent.
ReplyDelete