Met-Lovin' Big Shots

[Guest Edgy DC]

Larry Kirwan, reading about Rey Ordoñez when the world changed..

TALKING PICTURES: TOO MANY MEMORIES

by David Templeton
(2006-08-24)

World Trade Center, the new film by director Oliver Stone, would�on the surface�seem to be the perfect cinematic subject for a ripe and chewy�and emotionally powerful, post-film conversation. The film, set during and just after the events of September 11, 2001, tells the gripping tale of Port Authority officers Will Jimeno (Michael Pe�a) and John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage), two of only twenty real-life survivors to be pulled alive from the rubble of the Twin Towers. It�s the story of regular folks forced by extraordinary circumstances to reach beyond their fears and frailties in order to help total strangers. It also recreates a defining moment in American history, the event that led semi-directly to the spectacularly unsuccessful war currently whimpering and sputtering along in Iraq.

What could be richer fodder for conversation than that?

It doesn�t matter, ultimately, because after weeks of making inquiries, I haven�t found one person who will agree to go out and see World Trade Center. A long string of writers and experts have turned me down, from Dennis Smith, author of the book Report From Ground Zero: the Story of the Rescue Efforts at the World Trade Center to Lee Templeton, my sister-in-law, whose popular McSorley�s Pub Radio (www.onenightatmcsorleys.com) was directly inspired by the events of 9-11. The disinclined all have good reasons, summed up in Lee�s concise reply, �It�s just too soon.� Perhaps the most moving refusal comes from author-playwright-musician Larry Kirwan, the lead-singer and guitarist for the gritty New York-based Irish-rock band Black 47, whose downtown Manhattan pub appearances have always been heavily attended by members of the New York Fire Department, a huge fan-base that was cut in half when the World Trade Center came down.

�I have no interest in the world in seeing that movie,� says the Ireland-born Kirwan, speaking by phone from New York. �It�s been five years, and I'm thinking the initial shock and hurt of 9-11 has worn off a bit, but there�s still a deep scar underneath the surface, especially if you knew people who died in the World Trade Center, or if you saw it fall with your own eyes. It�s a very personal subject to a lot of people.�

Kirwan�s moving 2005 memoir, Green Suede Shoes, ends just after September 11, a day that has subtly, and not-so-subtly, affected the music of Black 47 ever since. Known for the raw intelligence and wry wit of their songs, Black 47 (who will be visitng the Bay Area this Fall) have always celebrated the actions of un-extraordinary people, working-class folks whose primary act of heroism is getting out of bed and going on with their lives. Their 2004 album, New York Town, is a stirring collection of tracks that subtly tell the story of pre-and-post-9-11 New Yorkers. Presented in a gorgeous series of loosely-un-connected songs, the album tells the story of how New York was transformed that day, and how that change continues to affect the people who live there.

�Moments like 9-11,� he says, �those are both our worst and our finest moments. They show what we human beings can be capable of, those moments when we rise up and do unthinkably heroic things for one another. At those times, we glimpse a view of what we can be like all the rest of the time, instead of just rising to the occasion when there�s a big, terrible tragedy. But tragedies do show us what we are really made of.�

Kirwan lives about a quarter-mile away from the World Trade Center, and he was home�reading about the New York Mets, he recalls�when the attacks began.

�The plane came so close over my building I actually ducked my head under the table,� he says. �I thought it was coming into my building. The plane, the first plane, came so close over. It was like, �Holy shit!� I remember going up to roof right afterward, instantly, and I watched the whole thing from there.

�There�s no question that New York changed, in a matter of seconds, on September 11,� Kirwan continues, �and the change isn�t just that two important buildings went down and that three-thousand people died. A certain spirit left the city at that point. Those three-thousand people were young, they were go-getters, out there living the dream of New York. That particular zest that they had, the feeling of adventure and that belief that nothing could curtail them, that spirit had been felt all over New York City�until those planes hit those buildings. When their collective spirit was snuffed out, there was a huge void left behind. I still feel it.�

Immediately following the collapse of the towers, as armies of rescue workers replaced the throngs of day-workers that once filled the streets, Black 47�who normally don�t begin their downtown gigs at Connelly�s Pub until Winter�began to play every Saturday night. At night, while the rest of area was deserted and all the shops and caf�s were dark, word spread that there was one show still bringing some life to the devastated downtown. Crowds made up of surviving fire-fighters, cops and rescue workers packed Connelly�s whenever Black 47 played.

�It was really strange,� says Kirwan, �because crossing Times Square was like walking across one of those old west towns where the tumbleweed rolls through it. There was nobody there. So those shows on Saturday nights, they were intense, because people really needed to let their hair down, they needed to try and breathe a little. At the same time, those first few weeks, we didn�t know who was dead and who was alive. We had so many fans who were in the Police Department and the Fire Department. It was just incredibly, incredibly hard, but it was like a mission for us, it was something we felt we had to do. We didn�t know all of our fans names, but we knew a lot of the faces of the regulars who had always come to our shows before 9-11. So the band, we sort of put it together, face by face, and that�s how we eventually figured out which of the regulars were dead. We started paying attention to those people who didn�t show up, and we eventually figured out who was gone.

�And then,� he continues, �as more and more bodies began to be identified and the Times started printing 30 or 40 pictures a day of people who�d been killed, we�d suddenly play these gigs wherre people would come up to us with pictures from the paper and ask us to play James Connelly or Banks of the Hudson, saying, �This was my friend�s favorite song. Would you play it?��

�You know what the worst part was?� Kirwan asks. �The worst part was when we didn�t recognize the face. These were people who had had a really visceral connection with our band, and now they were dead�and we didn�t know who they were. It didn�t feel right. I suppose that�s part of why I won�t see the movie. It�s not that I�m avoiding reliving those days. I don�t need to re-live them. They�re still right here.�

There�s one other reason Kirwan says he will not bring himself to see World Trade Center�and why so many other people seem similarly disinclined to see the film: the war in Iraq.

Explains Kirwan, �One of the awful things about 9-11 is that the opportunity we were given at that moment, the opportunity to change the world for the better, that opportunity was lost�all because we had a venal, unimaginative person as President at that time. Think about that. Right after 9-11, the United States would have done anything to change itself. We would have given up driving one or two days a week. We would have willingly rid ourselves of our complete dependence on foreign oil. We would have changed the way we view and communicate with the rest of the world. A Winston Churchill-type person, had he been in charge of that moment, could have changed the world.

�Those kinds of opportunities come along every 30 or 40 years, and we lost it,� Kirwan says. �That is the true tragedy of 9-11. Our opportunity to turn the world upside down for the better was squandered, because we let this evil person lead us into a war in Iraq, and he used the memory of the victims and heroes of 9-11 to take us there.�

David Templeton takes interesting people to interesting movies in his ongoing quest for the ultimate post-film conversation. This is not a review; rather, it�s a freewheeling, tangential discussion of life, alternative ideas, and popular culture.

[Guest Edgy DC]

James Blake, takin' cuts at Shea.

[Frayed Knot]

Actor/Simpon's voiceover man Hank Azaria participating in 'The World Series of Poker'
wearing a Mets cap.

Poker, for actors and other celebs, is the new cocaine.

[metirish]

That's a good one FK, reminds of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

[MFS62]

Blake likes Beltran:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/450209p-378915c.html

Later

[soupcan]

="metirish"]Glen Close

="SteveJRogers"]I wonder why Glenn was wearing a 1994 uni and not a retro 86 one? Only thing I can figure is that she wanted the 69 team to have some measure of reconigtion Hmmm...

This was because it was given to her on Openening Day '94 and has her name on it.

She's a chick - what does she know (exemption to that statement granted to SK, cooby and silver)? To her a Mets jersey is a Mets jersey

Any more questions, class?

[Guest cooby]

Okay, a question:

Who are some of these people? (Glen Close I know). They are not big shotty enough for me to know who they are.

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Poker, for actors and other celebs, is the new cocaine.

Both are excellent ways to blow (you should excuse the expression) a lot of money.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bigger than me, anyhoo.

James Blake is supposedly the African-American tennis player in the men's top ten since Arthur Ashe.

Larry Kirwan is the frontman for Black 47, an Irish-American themed Celto-rock-reggae band based in New York that plays Irish Night at Shea most years. He's also a playwright of some note.

Joe Nathan is an All-Star closer in the other Major League.

[Guest cooby]

Thanks! I feel so sheltered out here in the woods

[Willets Point]

]This was because it was given to her on Openening Day '94 and has her name on it.

I think its nice that she kept the jersey.

[Guest cooby]

Wouldn't you?

[Willets Point]

Yeah. I guess I mean that it's nice that she kept it and remembered it to wear again on a return visit 12 years (and it still fit).

[Guest cooby]

With her big bucks maybe she just had another one made just like it that fits her now

[Frayed Knot]

Howie Rose reporting that singer Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople, plus solo work) is a big Willie Randolph fan and has followed his career for a long time now.

I guess he thinks, he thinks, he thinks, he thinks, he thinks, Willie's the best

[Guest Edgy DC]

You've got to be crazy, to root for a Yankee
But Willie Randolph's the best

[Guest old original jb]

="metirish"]That's a good one FK, reminds of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

"What do you say we take a relaxed attitude towards work and watch the
baseball game? The nye Mets are my favorite squadron."

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Matt Groening does like picking on the Mets.



-Sorry for the small image, but I'm sure at least a few here have seen the episode.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yo La Tengo:
The Sporting Life
By Hal Bienstock

Yo La Tengo is known for its encyclopedic knowledge of music. Just about any song from the last 50 years is fair game to be performed at one of its shows. What�s not as well known is that the band members have an almost-as-encyclopedic knowledge of sports.

The name Yo La Tengo comes from a story about miscommunication between Latin and American outfielders from the 1962 New York Mets. And the title of the band�s latest album�I Am Not Afraid of You And I Will Beat Your Ass�wouldn�t sound out of place on the gridiron, on the hardwood or in the middle of a hockey fight. Harp joined singer/guitarist Ira Kaplan and bassist James McNew to watch a Mets game and talk about sports memories and the places where sports and music intersect.

THE JOCK YEARS

�I have so few positive memories of playing sports that I remember every one of them,� says Kaplan. �I once scored a basket in Saturday rec league where I was alone under the basket. My teammates screamed in horror as I took the uncontested lay up.�

�I left sports for rock music at about 15,� remembers McNew. �I think it had something to do with the emergence of jocks. I liked sports, but at some point I just didn�t have much in common with anyone I was playing with. But I think the Revenge of the Nerd-style jock is prevalent in popular music, too. I think of Limp Bizkit and Staind as the jocks.�

TEAM SPIRIT

�I think there are parallels between being a band and being a sports team,� says Kaplan. �Athletic comparisons and metaphors come up within the band a lot.�

�I had World Cup fever this year,� says McNew. �The whole game is a broken play. It�s all improvisation and guys trying to figure things out while they�re running as fast as they can. I like when we improvise like that when we play music.�

JOCK JAMS

�The first time I heard the Ramones at a stadium, it was a crisis for me because it was so wrong,� says McNew. �But maybe for the first person who played �Blitzkreig Bop� at a sporting event, it was an act of subversion, but it caught on. Maybe he committed suicide over that because he couldn�t believe what he had done.�

�TBS once used our song �Moby Octopad� on its NBA pre-season show,� remembers Kaplan, a die-hard New York Knicks fan. �But they used it as part of a Chicago Bulls montage.�

�The agony!� laughs McNew.

MAKE SOME NOISE!

�The audience reaction for music and sports is different,� explains McNew. �The roar of the crowd in sports literally is a roar. The entertainment roar is more like a �Wooo!�

�I appreciate the �Woo!� but I like the roar a lot more,� he says with a smile. �We played a show at the Fillmore in San Francisco where we came out really strong, and when we stopped after the third song, there was something like a roar. I almost started crying. That was a good moment.�

First printed in Sep/Oct 2006

[Willets Point]

I think I could totally go for a beer with Yo La Tengo.

[Guest Mr. Zero]

My favorite t shirt of all time is a Yo La Tengo shirt with an image of a Mr Met-like (very much like) character on it. His uniform says NJ instead of NY.

I wouldn't be surprised if they covered "Meet The Mets" at some point. I seem to remember hearing such a thing...

[Guest Edgy DC]

They cut it on a public radio fundraiser.

Not so great, actually.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

="Frayed Knot"]Howie Rose reporting that singer Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople, plus solo work) is a big Willie Randolph fan and has followed his career for a long time now.

That's outstanding. That adds to the list of Important Things About Ian Hunter:

1. Whenever I go to the barber I say "Short Back n' Sides."


2. Long before Drew Carey ever discovered him, Jon Datz went to a T-shirt place and had a shirt made up with iron-on letters spelling C-L-E-A-V-E-L-A-N-D R-O-C-K-S. They wouldn't refund his money when he discovered they spelled it wrong.

3. The song most associated with him, "All the Young Dudes" wasn't written by him, but a song he did write but nobody knows about "Once Bitten Twice Shy" got a Grammy nomination for Great White.

4. Lisa Liotta proved her worthiness to attend the 9th grade dinner dance with me because she was possibly the only chick in Oldfield Junior High who knew who Ian Hunter was.

5. He digs the Mets.>

[Willets Point]

Let the googling of Lisa Liotta begin!

[Guest Mr. Zero]

]They cut it on a public radio fundraiser. Not so great, actually.

no doubt one of those WFMU stump the band appearances. they can be forgiven.

if Ian Hunter and band come to your town, do yourself a favor and check'em out. you will not be disappointed. and the dude's like 67 years old. though his core audience tends to skew a wee bit younger, its still kind of interesting to watch a roomful of 50 year old guys singing along with "All The Young Dudes".

had no idea he was a Mets fan, though he resides in Connecticut somewhere.

[Frayed Knot]

Well Howie - who claims to be a big Ian fan - didn't necc say that Hunter was a Met fan per se so much as a Willie fan for a long while now.
So I guess he's now a Met fan by extension. And, yes, he mentioned the living in Connecticut part.

Willie wasn't all that certain who I. H. was when Howie explained all this to him.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We've met Lisa before.

[Frayed Knot]

I know Lisa likes Rock and Roll









I was gonna use that one if I were around when the chix thread hit L

[Frayed Knot]

So, what the hell, I'll run it now:

There's a wango-tango, at the peppermint inn
I'm gonna be there, Shakin' my thing
be bop a lula, little Peggy Sue
we both got company, don't know what to do

But that's alright ... yeah that's OK
In the middle of the night
Heeeeeeere's LISA!!!

Lisa likes rock 'n' roll, she plays it every day.
Down by the drugstore, everybody play
She turnin' on the radio, she's shootin' up the stereo.
Puttin' on a video, she's sayin' let's go let's go
Lisa won't marry me, she says she's only four.
Her mum don't like me, she says I'm too mature.
Down at the disco, I go solo
and the girls don't wanna know, I've been too slow.

And that's alright, and that's OK,
in the middle of the night.
Heeeeeere's LISA!!!

And when you see her, you wish you could be her.
Ain't no one can beat her.
She goes yeah, yeah, yeah
yeah, yeah, "You're my daddy.

I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
I know Lisa likes rock 'n' roll
Yeah!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Ian also wrote Barry Manilow's last hit single, "Ships"

He sings it here with the MTV (unplugged, blue lights) treatment:



Here he remakes "Arthur" in one of those videos with a "send me all your non-working models" casting calls.



I believe the actor who plays the butler is the guy with the beautiful voice from Stir Crazy and Running Man.