Originally Pencil Storm wanted to run a Saturday Night Special this evening concerning the defeat of Donald J. Trump, but you're not gonna see us jump the gun and be known as the blog that jinxed the process and screwed up Joe Biden's win. Check this space NEXT Saturday night. For now, let’s take a look back at the 2016 election and Colin coming to grips with Donald Trump becoming President of the United States of America. Originally published January 2017.
LATE-BREAKING UPDATE! FORGET EVERYTHING WE SAID, ALL BETS ARE OFF: TUNE IN NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT FOR OUR 46TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES - JOE BIDEN - SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL CELEBRATION FROM THE PENCIL STORM EDITORIAL BOARD.
Click here for TV Party Tonight! Part Two: Fridays
Pencilstorm is not a political website. But the personal is political and all that, so it's fair to say that I was disappointed in the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. I gave my viewpoint last November in our once every four years political manifesto column you can read here. Many of those feelings came to a head, inside my head, the Friday night of the new President's inauguration.
Before you haters start hating, hear me out. I'm not telling people they shouldn't be excited about the new President. If that is your bag, as an American citizen, it is your right to celebrate. Lord knows I partied the past two elections and the past eight years were wonderful for me. I feel so fortunate to have lived under a President I admired so much. Everybody should be so lucky. It was a great run but the Constitution says after eight years of winning, it's time for two new candidates. Now that I think about it, the NCAA should think about a form of this rule concerning Alabama football and Kentucky basketball.
Along those lines, in the interest of my own sanity, I turned to my trusty "Painful Sporting Loss Playbook," most recently used this past New Year's Day (following OSU v Clemson).
Colin Gawel's Two Rules for Surviving Painful Sports Losses (and/or elections).
1) Don't comment through social media. Let the other side have their time to celebrate. And it comes across as "loser talk." See: Jim Harbaugh
2) Drink beer and watch rock n roll clips until falling asleep with headphones on.
Ok, let's get this depressing party started.
TV Party Tonight! Part Three: My Inauguration Rabbit Hole.
I was never much of a Rage fan until I stumbled onto this concert airing on VH1 classic. There is some sort of back story concerning Simon Cowell and some righteous reason for this free show I can can't really explain. What needs no explanation is how hard this rocks and how jacked up everybody is. To be honest, I have no idea what this song is about, but everybody seems pretty pissed off at "The Man" so that's good enough for me. (Note to self: don't riot in your own house.)
You know who else knows a thing or two about protest music? Bob Dylan. I never get tired of this song and the line, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows". In my mind it means, you can spin things however you want, but your gut always knows what's going on. And no, I'm not heading towards Marvin Gaye. That song is way too sexy for the least sexy election of my lifetime.
I'll admit I'm shallow and pretty much a one issue voter. When I heard "Maggie's Farm" was Barack Obama's favorite song before the 2008 primary started, he had my vote. Additionally, on the rare occasions my wife and I fight I like to drive around and crank the studio version of this song at 11. Though this version is kinda cool, don't cha think?
I don't smoke but Tom Petty looks pretty damn cool smoking in the above clip. You know who else looks cool smoking and playing guitar?
Ok, there isn't any smoking in that clip from Keith but I was looking for the Some Girls version and decided to watch this instead. Do you see how the Stones decided to knock down a wall? They could have built a wall, but instead they knocked it down. Jolly Ole England. Got me thinking about another wall being torn down..
Rock and Rap and Black and White and Rick Rubin's bank account all come together in this video, a high point in race relations. Back in high school there were two things I was always doing: 1) Listening to Aerosmith 2) Not kissing girls. Mind you, this was Joe Perry-sleeping-on his-friends'-sofas-era-Aerosmith. They were over. And I had missed it. Before Permanent Vacation came out, I remember praying, "Please God, can't your forgive Aerosmith just a little bit so their new video might get played one time on Headbanger's Ball and I can see it?"
God took that ball and ran with it. In fact, I soon started praying for MTV to stop playing Aerosmith. "God, thanks & all, but you can call off the dogs now. I appreciate it, but it's a little too MUCH Aerosmith now."
It all came to a crashing low in Super Bowl whatever roman numeral this is....
"Hey Gawel, aren't those your boys Aerosmith? Pretty rockin....." Said by various High Street hipsters for the next 12 months. Ha. Ha.
I say Super Bowl... You think..
I can't remember if I wrote this or just said it at a bar but Prince was so good why not just let him do the halftime show every year? In fact, it could be billed "Prince's Annual Halftime Show w/ Special Guest Football Game." But Prince is dead. And so is this beer.
Wide River to Cross is one of my "go to" work-myself-into-depression-mode songs. Along with Your Long Journey and songs from that Warren Zevon album when he was dying of cancer.
I remember being a teenager living in my parents suburban basement when I heard Bruce shout out the book Woody Guthrie - A Life, by Joe Klein. A picked up a copy and slowly it dawned on me I was just lucky to born into a nice situation. Lots of people were smarter and working harder than me yet had much less success due to no fault of their own. I broke politically from family ranks, hit the road touring in a van with Watershed and never looked back.
Ok, way too serious. Shifting gears.... (trip to fridge - bathroom)
The Hives mock me for my fancy talk about something as trivial as politics.
And I mock Three Doors Down for playing at the Inauguration Party and looking like my high school band The Wire playing the "Worthington Pool Party Pajama Jammy Jam." Somebody call Karl Rove. These WEAK optics would not be tolerated by past Republican Presidents. WEAK. I can only assume this performance wasn't aired in Russia or they would have invaded the USA by the end of the set Red Dawn style. Having to sit through this "party" I bet Lincoln was actually envious of the Jefferson Memorial for the first time in history.
What kind of asshole paints a swastika on MCA's grave?
Ok, I'm getting pissed again. In more than one sense.
At least Johnny Ramone would have wanted to play the Trump inauguration party. Though I suppose he would have to pay somebody to beat Joey into doing it. Also odd to see the Ramones under God's lighting rig. I remember reading somewhere that Marky was so hungover for this gig he was puking when the camera wasn't on him. It was really hot. And from the looks of this the monitors sucked too.
When I say "US Festival" you think.... Van Halen. I'll never make it to the end of this concert but I'm going to try. Hope you enjoyed my Inauguration rabbit hole. - Colin G.