Rush
No, not the radio talkshow guy who seems to take twenty minutes to make one point. When we were on our trip to the National Parks, one morning Steve was napping after getting up to photograph the dawn, and Luke was busy updating his LiveJournal. I took a drive by myself to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, fifteen miles or so from our hotel. Scanning the radio waves for something local to listen to, it turns out Mount Carmel Junction, UT, has four options on the AM dial. Three of them were broadcasting Rush Limbaugh, the fourth Golden Oldies. I listened to Rush for a while. He was talking about the days when radio stations were required to ascertain listener interests and allocate time for topics accordingly, leading to broadcasts on animal husbandry in farm communities that they ran at 2 a.m. because the station owners didn’t think most people really wanted to hear about it. Interesting …. the first time he said it. But the next fifteen minutes, it was the same point repeated over and over. I left him to it and switched to Barry Manilow.
Anyway, the heroes of my title are Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart, and Geddy Lee – the three men of the Canadian rock band, Rush. They’re playing tonight at the Clark County Amphitheater. I can never hear or write those last three words without feeling a huge sense of satisfaction that I’m not saying “the North Portland Amphitheater”. During my time on the Planning Commission, I was one of the majority in a 4-3 vote recommending to City Council against plans to change the Portland International Raceway into a concert amphitheater. I’m still proud of that vote.
Steve and I have been Rush fans since our teenage years. Steve hosted a Friday evening rock music show on his college radio station, and I read the news on the hour in my best BBC accent. We studied Ayn Rand thanks to Rush. Steve’s bands played covers of their songs, and he still practices the solos at full volume even though he’s not currently with a group. We’ve seen them live in Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Cleveland, and in Portland both at Memorial Coliseum and at the Amphitheater. I thought we saw them in their hometown of Toronto, too, but Steve says not.
My favorite Rush song of all time? Hard to say, because it depends on the situation. The Trees is a good one for all code geeks to remember. Something for Nothing when things don’t go as hoped. Red Barchetta when rushing from one meeting to the next in my red Dodge Intrepid (hey, it’s close).
But overall, especially for this blog, I have to go with
Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight
Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights…
(Subdivisions)
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
(Subdivisions)
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out
Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth.
One thing that makes me very happy, as I conclude this post, is to find the official Rush website, the band’s, is number one on the Google search for “Rush”. That other guy is in second place. I can’t go tonight, as it’s my weekend to work at OHSU and we’re already down a nurse since one of my colleagues is out for several weeks after being injured by a patient. Steve will be there, hoping it doesn’t rain since he has a General Admission lawn ticket. I admit it, I’m envious, rain or no rain.