I’ve been at work for a couple of hours already but I’ve not had my coffee. I have a three hour drive to a game in a couple hours. Coffee dehydrates me so I avoid it on game day. This game is my first center whistle at a level that is most likely my career maximum. It is between two teams whose schools some people on this blog who are not on the academic job market may be generally aware of.
I’m excited as I am working with a good crew that I’ve done a score of USSF matches with and half a dozen NCAA games. I am also slightly nervous as an assessor who I don’t find that useful will be watching today. The last time he assessed a game I was an assistant referee on, he dinged me and the center for not communicating about an odd-ball play despite the fact that we had specifically talked about that scenario in the pre-game and I followed the center’s directions to the T. He thought it looked bad from 70 yards away so we lost points on the assessment. Other assessors would have either listened to the pregame or allowed us to explain that we had discussed that scenario in the pre-game. Oh well, he once was a good referee before his knees went, so let me see what valuable nugget I can get from him.
So what should be on my playlist — I have Ride the Lightening for the drive home as I will be out of radio range of anything beyond “Christian” “Rock” and reactionary talk radio for a good chunk of the drive.
esc
Don’t know about your preferences, but my husband and I got a lot of mileage, literally, out of the How Did This Get Made? podcast when we moved cross country. It’s comedians talking about terrible movies.
David Koch
What’s Megan Rapinoe like in person?
Elizabelle
FWIW, and it may be more quiet than you want: friend gave me Beck’s latest album, Morning Phase, and it’s terrific. Not so fond of the first track, but the rest is excellent. Middle tracks remind me of Simon and Garfunckel. Won a Grammy or two, not that that’s a reliable standard.
Ray Charles is always good road music.
Elizabelle
@esc: What fun. Never heard of that.
How Did This Get Made? re movies.
Elizabelle
The Pretenders first album. That held up really well. Still listen to it at least monthly in the car.
ETA: Also their third album, Learn to Crawl, from 1984. First one came out in 1980.
Chrissie Hynde been in the news lately re her memoir.
Lee Rudolph
Why scare-quotes around “‘Christian’ ‘Rock'”? One day when I was driving, I heard some on my radio, and you better believe my immediate reaction was “Jesus Christ!”.
raven
@Elizabelle: Live at the Isle of View is awesome. The strings really add to it.
raven
My brother had to take the AYSO soccer officials test Sunday morning after his Floyd cover band that had played the night before. Apparently teams have to have so many officiating “points” to be able to advance so he does it.
rikyrah
Good luck with your drive.
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
She’s also been in the news for what she said about rape victims.
Richard Mayhew
@David Koch: Never reffed her — I’ve been lucky enough to ref a couple of the WNT players when they played USSF amateur ball as older teens — it was always fun to watch at an “elite” showcare tournament that one player who is just playing a different game than everyone else on the field even when everyone else on the field is getting scholarship money to play D-1/D-2.
There were two local teens who have a good shot on for the WNT assuming their ACLs hold up, and getting that high school game when they faced each other was always the highlight of my season.
Snoopy
A commonly misheld belief…
NPR
If someone doesn’t stand up for coffee, no-one would drink it.
Wag
The greatest live album of all time is “The Name of This Band is Talking Heads” which chronicles their early years. In vinyl the first record is the early days as a quartet in small clubs. The second record is David and the Large Band on the RiL tour.
It is finally available in iTunes, and is worth a listen. A diverse collection that makes sense.
Wag
@Snoopy: this scientifically proven. This.
MattF
I like the ‘Americana’ genre myself. Some people might say that Iris Dement singing ‘Let The Mystery Be’ isn’t Christian, but that’s merely ridiculous.
WaterGirl
It’s probably too late for you to see this, Richard, but I have always liked Jackson Brown’s Running on Empty for road trips.
raven
@MattF: It’s great as the opening to Little Buddha!
jake the antisoshul soshulist
In Hynde’s defense she clarified her remarks to mean that it was a mistake on her part to think she was safe hanging out with
a bunch of drunk and stoned bikers. In retrospect, she should not have put herself in that position.
re music:
something by the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
cintibud
Some newer music I like for driving:
War on Drugs – lost in the dream. Rather “dreamy”
Entire album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59mDoc8vZj0
Whitehorse – Leave no Bridge Unburned.
Acoustic version of “Tame as the Wild Ones” Check around for more songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXSrBajv-O0
Honoré De Ballsack
I have Ride the Lightening for the drive home…
The favorite album of peroxide blonds everywhere.
m.
“Graceland” first and always. My college-age kids have been singing every word … often hilariously wrong … for years. Don’t leave home without it!
raven
Petty
p.a.
@Wag: so close. :-). It’s too Late to Stop Now (V Morrison) is the best live album. T Heads is, however, in the conversation. Wasn’t The Name of… also released as a video disc? I never owned one, but I know people who think it’s still the best combo of audio & video except MAYBE blu-ray.
Gin & Tonic
@Wag: I’m sorry, but you are mistaken. The greatest live album of all time is “The Last Waltz.”
Richard Mayhew
@Honoré De Ballsack: After an intense game, I need to mentally wind down and power chords for the first half hour helps get the tension out.
pre-game, my heart rate is probably hanging out at 140 BPM, during the game, I baseline in the 150s/low 160s, with peaks up above 200 BPM and I warm down to hopefully the 120s after the game. I need something that moves until my heart rate gets back into the 50s.
RSA
It’s only recently that a friend has helped drag my listening habits into the new century. One new-to-me band I’ve liked is the Shins, with their album Wincing the Night Away.
On Christian rock, the only time I hear it is in my car, which is old enough not to have an aux jack for the radio. My bluetooth FM transmitter is set to 107.3, which just happens to be a Christian rock station, and I hear it for a few seconds before my phone synchs up. Take that, derivative music!
Mack
Steely Dan/Sade/Dada/Petty all good choices.
weavrmom
My whole family loves the BBC comedy “Cabin Pressure”. Great acting, laughs galore, and also has Benedict Cumberbatch. There’s an actual story arc to the series, so it’s satisfying, as you come to really love the goofy characters. Cabin Pressure makes the miles fly by, and you won’t want to get out of the car once you get where you’re going!
Of course, we tend to go for J-Pop and K-Pop for the rest, which may not be your cup of tea. Although “Fantastic Baby” will raise anyone’s adrenaline.
Scott S.
I’m probably the only metalhead in the universe who thinks this — but “Ride the Lightning” was Metallica’s best album.
Tommy
@Elizabelle: So glad to hear you call out Beck. He is just amazing IMHO. Many years ago I might have driven around and throw much of Texas. Allman Brothers was always the soundtrack.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Hank Hill from the old Mike Judge written/animated King of the Hill had the ultimate assessment of Christian Rock: You’re not making Jesus cooler, you’re just making rock and roll worse.
I like Moonlight Mile by the Rolling Stones for drives. Actually the whole album that song is on – Sticky Fingers – is great for driving if’n you like the Stones.
The Jayhawks kind of disappeared after their 90s heyday (if you can call what they had big enough to be a heyday) but they’re great to drive to also.
Anything by Johnny Cash from the Sun label is great to drive to. Also some of his American Recordings albums.
Also, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys – great driving music.
Yatsuno
I have friends who I road trip with on occasion, and somehow the Savage Garden CD always makes it into the player. None of us complain and sometimes I think it’s their excuse to get me to sing the whole thing.
p.a.
Or was it Stop Making Sense on vid disc?
JCJ
Rage Against the Machine. Nine Inch Nails. Can’t go wrong with either.
Keith G
Do you use Spotify Prime?
If so, make a playlist of everything by The Strypes. Not a lot of songs, yet, as they are a young band playing blues rock – better than almost anyone else.
There is what could be a companion playlist already put together. Some 90 songs long, 6 hours. It’s Blues, Rock, created by Joshua Chu. Everything from Howling Wolf to Jimi Hendrix, from Aretha Franklin to Allman Brothers Band.
Tommy
@
: Anything by Johnny Cash from the Sun label is great to drive to.
I like to joke I wasn’t supposed to be in my father’s study as a kid. I’d steal in there and listen to 8-tracks on his head phones. He had three 8-tracks. Jim Croce. John Denver. The “Man in Black.” Last year I gave him the Cash box set.
Cash is not normally the kind of music I listen to but the dude is just a flat out a stud.
p.a.
Sub-heading: road songs to avoid. So good you will be tempted to go leadfoot.
JR & Modern Lovers Roadrunner
Deep Purple Highway Star
Creedence Travelin’ Band
E Costello Pump it Up
Ramones everything fast
Tommy
@Keith G: Do you use Spotify Prime?
Just went to Spotify from Pandora and at some levels I love it. Others not so much. I find it hard to get around.
Elizabelle
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Moonlight Mile! Yesssssh!
And Sway.
Keith G
@Tommy: Yes I do.
RSR
Not sure if you can stream this on the road, but there’s a live broadcast of a performance and interview with Glen Hansard at 12:15 today. I’m lucky enough to be taking my wife to the recording, but anyone can watch it live here: http://www.vuhaus.com/live/glen-hansard-2015-09-15
MazeDancer
May this experience be filled with greatness, Richard. Please let us know how it works out with Mr. Assessor.
You are a careful, yet open, person, who wants the best for all in your work you share with us, which have to be excellent qualities in a ref. So who knows what your top game will be.
Music wise: Lux Lisbon, a young and peppy British Band is offering download of their music for free. This song has a great combo of meaningful lyrics and fun beat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769pUebPW2E
Serious and fun could be a good pregame combo. Free download link at the YT. (Free=you have to give a “nom de web” email) Here’s link for 11 of their tunes for same free http://shop.luxlisbon.com/album/get-some-scars-ep-special-edition
Tommy
Lived in Texas as a kid. Not fun. But many years later I explored the state. We wondered what was in Lubbock TX, in a song, so we drove there. Just curious. Not much there BTW. I mean we wondered Texas, which I realize is a bold statement!
As I said in another comment the Allman Brothers were all that played most days. I tend to hit repeat on a CD or let it play.
Keith G
@Tommy: I used Pandora in it’s earlier days and I liked it a lot. Then I began using Spotify Free. I really appreciated the ability to drill down into an artist’s collection of work. I used a Prime promotional deal (3 mos @ 99 cents) and not only loved the no ads, but the ability to download playlists to phone or tablet
Many playlists are thoughtfully curated and are excellent in scope, like my 357 song playlist New Romantics & Synth Pop – and a bit more.
I think you will get used to the Spotify user interface soon enough and not look back.
The Golux
@Gin & Tonic:
I would agree, but a voice keeps whispering “Waiting For Columbus” in my ear.
burnspbesq
@Wag:
Not in any universe where “Waiting for Columbus” has been released.
More to the point: Richard, if you have Spotify, check out the new releases from Gary Clark, Jr., Lizz Wright, and Cecile McLorin Salvant.
Knucklhead Smiff
Arrrgh!! It’s LIGHTNING.
Jimbo
@Snoopy: Obviously you are correct about the science, but different athletes handle things on a very personal level. Personally I drink coffee before a long run (or eat caffeinated sports beans), but my wife gets way to jumpy and dry mouthed. It’s probable that Richard isn’t getting physically dehydrated, but it’s also probable that the caffeine has a different affect on his system than on yours or mine.
As a runner in his 50’s I can’t tell you science, but I can tell you what works and doesn’t for me ;-) Cheers.
The Golux
@burnspbesq: Great minds…
Elizabelle
@Tommy: I love Johnny Cash.
His is the best version ever of Nine Inch Nails “Hurt.” I remember where I was when I first heard it.
And the video is one of the best.
JCJ
@Elizabelle:
I think it is interesting how it seems the majority of people prefer Johnny Cash to Trent Reznor for “Hurt” (apparently including Mr Reznor.) While I Like the Johnny Cash version I prefer the original. While the Cash version to me seems despondent with the feeling of having given up I think Trent Reznor’s version is in such desperate pain I feel more power. YMMV.
Richard Mayhew
@Jimbo: yep, coffee and a hard work out just does not feel right for me. The gallon plus of water in past 18 hours precludes dehydration
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@JCJ:
I feel the opposite way. For me, the line “everyone I know goes away in the end” has far more power coming from a 60-year-old than a 30-year-old. Age strips it of the self-pity and turns it into a bleak fact of life.
Plus Cash himself was a (recovering) addict, so he knew that place Reznor was writing about.
jacel
@p.a.: The film and “soundtrack” Stop Making Sense are separate from “The Name Of The Band Is The Talking Heads”, though there’s overlap of repertoire. I remember seeing one of the concerts on the tour leading up to the Stop Making Sense movie. A few minutes before the 8:00 start, there wasn’t any equipment on the stage. I thought there was some terrible problem, and we’d be there all night, assuming the band and their equipment had arrived at all. Then at the stroke of 8:00, David walked onto the stage with a boombox and guitar, and it’s off to the races.
ThresherK
@esc: I miss Roger Ebert, especially his dissection of bad movie-making. So when I discovered HDTGM a part of me leapt for joy.
That I was already a fan of Paul Scheer from “NTSF:SD:SUV” got me to try it, but it stands on its own.
benw
@Scott S.:
Tied with “Master of Puppets”. But “Kill Em All” has been making a strong showing for me lately.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
No love for the Who? Going Mobile (3:43).
Have fun.
Cheers,
Scott.
p.a.
@jacel: Wasn’t that the ‘supersized suit’ tour? I saw a show, I’m pretty sure. Think I was on a percocet buzz.
Prescott Cactus
Pearl Jam:
Sirens, Got Some, Amongst the Waves, Wasted Life…
jacel
@p.a.: Yes, Byrne’s “Why A Big Suit?” outfit was part of those shows.
Richard Mayhew
@benw: I will go with Master of Puppets as my #1