Let's see, let's start at the very beginning ... a very good place to start. Before heading to Yankee Stadium for the last time in the REAL Yankee Stadium's history, gotta eat. Now in NYC, there is a tourist trap known as Dallas BBQ. Now I ask you, why would you go to Dal-las BBQ in New-Yawk? (Seriously the food there is OK, and they do deliver to work so I can't belabor it too much.)
But where you really should go ... and this is just mere storefronts away from one of the franchise Dallasees, is the Rub! Aye, that's the Rub! BBQ that'll blow your mind while hopefully keeping your colon intact.
Now on to the game. Ark had never been to a game, let alone Yankee Stadium. So I got him ready by watching 61*, Billy Crystal's charmer of a film about Maris and Mantle's home run race in 1961. Then we went off to the ballpark. It really is amazing, you can still feel the history. The stands have changed, but you can see the short porch into which Maris delivered that record-contested homer. You can look at the area behind home plate and remember Thurman Munson sacrificing his body to make a play. You can look at shortstop and see slim, trim Derek Jeter. (I digress.)
For the ladies and the metrosexual men:
I was hoping that the game would stay close so that Ark could have the Mo experience. Meaning Rivera's run in from the bullpen to the strains of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and a rousing standing ovation from the crowd. And that's just what happened. The game got a little tooooo close, but future Hall-of-Fame Iceman handled it.
And the Yankees win! (For a change.) I admit leaving that ballpark for the last time was a sad moment. Our next trip to Yankee Stadium, the field will be facing some other (wrong) way.
So one might think that Park would take it a little easy on Saturday. Not quite so... The plan was to see The Dark Knight in Imax, but thanks to some computer subterfuge and a packed house in the regular-screen version, Park decided to go elsewhere. After a quick peruse of Tkts (the half-price same-day Broadway ticket sale line), we decided to go to BB King's to see The Motels!
Ark kept confusing The Motels' 80s hit "Only the Lonely" with Roy Orbison's classic "Only the Lonely," so he pretty much went into the show without any expectations. I was a little wary but grew more and more excited. Puppethead (OK, Fun Puppet actually, but either way a really dumb name) opened and they were serviceable. And then The Motels. Now VH-1 got the 80s band back together for Bands Reunited, but this incarnation is just Martha Davis and a bunch of kids. Still they rocked it!
Some fans had the gall to protest the reworking of classic Motels songs (uh, go home and listen to the albums if that's all you want) and even though I had trouble digesting the reconstituted "Take the L," I still appreciated the effort. After the show, I snagged a copy of the setlist and Martha and a couple members of the band signed it!
and the piece de resistance...
And the best part... as you can see by the setlist -- Martha signed it to "Park" and even required an explanation as to what that meant. So I pointed out Ark and she said "Hi Ark!" to our favorite camera-wielding man. Way cool, the first celebrity recognition of Park. We'll have to work on that.
Got some great and tiring things planned for September. In a couple weeks there's a Robert Randolph show in Virginia followed the next day by a Dana Fuchs show in NYC. Also on the calendar: Squeeze at Radio City Music Hall the next week and Popa Chubby and ... all hail the return of hockey! ... Ark's first Devils game -- throwing him right into the fire with a preseason contest between the Devs and the most valiantly hated Rangers.
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