Ramsayings

Helen and I are going on our honeymoon! Yes, we’ve been married nearly four years and are just two months away from welcoming our first baby into the world, but we finally have the time and money so we figured, “Why not!?” It’s long overdue.

Where are we headed? Denmark, naturligvis! I spent a year in lovely Skanderborg, Denmark from 1995 to 1996 as a Rotary exchange student. It was an amazing experience that I’ve cherished since I returned from my exchange. I’ve never totally forgotten Danish, but I haven’t been back since a quick jaunt to visit my second host family in 1999 after rowing at Henley Royal Regatta with the Saint Joseph’s University lightweight crew. I can’t believe ten years have passed already!

We’ll be on the ground in Copenhagen at 7 a.m. local time tomorrow, visiting old friends and my second host family, whom I’ve managed to stay in touch without every really writing as often as I ought. Now my host siblings are all on Facebook, which is hilarious when you consider that the Internet was just a baby when I was on exchange. Heck, my eldest host sister just got married!

Helen and I will be posting pictures and videos in case you’re interested in following our comings and goings while we’re overseas. What’s on tap? Everything from a canal tour of Copenhagen — something I’ve never done — to a trip back to my old stomping ground in Skanderborg, which I may not recognize, to all the standard tourist destinations like Den Lille Halvfrue, Frederiksborg Slot, Amalienborg, and others. I can’t wait to share this wonderful country with Helen!

I’ve had a love affair with music for most of my life. It’s meant spending money I didn’t have just to get a particular album, lest it sell out and not be restocked. It meant running to Repo Records from Haverford College in the middle of my high school track meets. It meant secret trips to Young Ones in Kutztown when I was supposed to be headed to the pool to lifeguard. Later, it meant lunch break pilgrimages to Spaceboy Music when I worked at TLA Video. It meant spending hours at AKA Music just soaking in new and unfamiliar sounds.

The affair ended unexpectedly. I’d been going to record stores since I was a teenager, whether it was the aforementioned Young Ones, or just asking the hapless clerk at Sam Goody in the Coventry Mall in Pottstown if they had any Fugazi. I pestered the guys at Spaceboy as they migrated west on South St. right up until the store closed. I mourned the loss of Repo Records on Lancaster Avenue even after it had been completely picked over and left for dead long before they shut the doors for good. I still cared about the allegedly obsolete ritual that we nostalgics will struggle to explain to our children; “Once upon a time, we went to record stores, argued with clerks, and bought music, face to face.”

Then one day I just stopped going. I tried to tell myself it was a passing thing and that I would find myself browsing the racks at AKA again soon enough, but a few months quickly became two years. I’d walk by the store sometimes and remember that I helped them move twice as they drifted up 2nd St. to their present location.

Now I’ve fallen in love all over again, head over heels. I wandered back into AKA on Record Store Day and picked up Pavement’s Live in Koln LP, along with two Sonic Youth split 7″. I’ve been hunting down R.E.M. on vinyl, too. It’s felt great to get back into the swing of things and to really enjoy the lush sounds of heavy vinyl warming up the house. The whole experience is so much more satisfying for me, speaking as someone who found that I listened to music less at home since the advent of the iPod.

I’m happy to be back in the habit of looking for old and new favorites on LP. I’ve resolved to buy any album I recommend over the course of the year, and I’ve been doing due diligence to pick up those I considered favorites during the past two years. In short, I’ve been giving Insound and eBay an awful lot of business lately, which puts a smile on my face.

My turntable
Originally uploaded by J T. Ramsay

One of the things that makes me laugh is the slew of articles that have been written lately about the resurgence of vinyl. I laugh mainly because I felt that the vinyl resurgence had come and gone. I associated the trend with Matador’s renewed commitment to reissuing some of their back catalogue on 180 gram vinyl, something they did four or five years ago.

I chew my friend Mark’s ear off all the time whenever I read a new story declaring that the vinyl LP — the vehicle that brought rock ‘n’ roll into garages, living rooms, and basements across America — would rise like a Phoenix, carrying the music industry on its back. It’s a lovely, romantic thought to which I say, “Fat chance.”

Me? I’ve been see-sawing back and forth between loving the medium and loving it but having no room for the cumbersome equipment that can dominate any Philadelphia apartment or rowhome easily if you’re not careful. (more…)

My first Troegs Sunshine Pils @ CBP

Originally uploaded by J T. Ramsay

The Phillies start their title defense as they play host tonight to the visiting Atlanta Braves in the season opener at Citizen’s Bank Park. Helen and I didn’t get tickets to tonight’s game, so we decided to catch the first of two On Deck preseason matchups against last year’s World Series runners-up, the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was an amazing, if blustery, night. We sat under the overhang in section 137 and watched Pat Burrell warm up on his old left field stomping grounds. It was an emotional moment for Helen and me. We both felt that we really got to “know” Pat in his last season as a Phillie, and supported him in our customary seats in section 143 with raucous cheers. We did the same for him last Friday, even though he now wears a Rays uniform.

The Phillies honored Pat’s career with a pre-game montage that started when he signed with the team in 1998 right up until he spoke at last fall’s World Series celebration. It was chock full of great memories, both good and bad. Pat walked out of the dugout and doffed his cap at the Phillies faithful. Pat may not have the greatest reputation, but on the field, he’s a true class act.

On a lighter note, I was able to enjoy one of three new additions to the Citizen’s Bank Park beer selection, pairing a Troegs Sunshine Pils with one of Hatfield’s finest processed meat products. Delicious! I figure if you’re either paying nearly double for Budweiser swill, or you can get one of Pennsylvania’s finest craft brews for $6.75. I figure it’s a great rationale for choosing the good stuff when you’re out at the ballpark!

The World Series Trophy
Originally uploaded by J T. Ramsay

As a new baseball season approaches (Helen and I are headed to the ballpark this Friday, as well as twice next week), I just happened to find a recorded snippet I gave to WHYY outside of Johnny Brenda’s on WHYY’s Unobstructed View blog.

If I sound like a complete doofus, it’s probably because I was overcome with joy when the Phillies won, and sad that Helen was in sunny San Diego on business. (Trust me: she was sad, too. After all, she changed her travel plans so we could go to World Series Game 4 together. We’ll never forget Blastin’ Joe Blanton slamming a homer over the left field wall in Citizen’s Bank Park.)

It feels like it was only yesterday that I was literally racing down Frankford Avenue as I ran from Memphis Taproom to celebrate with friends at Frankford and Girard. I can’t wait for the Phillies to begin their 2009 campaign to defend their well-deserved World Champion title.

Let’s go, Phils!