The Explorers Club
№ CCXXXIII - Ayrton Senna (1960-1994), three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion & the last driver to perish in an F1 race, seventeen years ago to the day, 1 May 1994. Requiescat in pace.









The previous episode of "The Explorers Club," № CCXXXII (The Antikythera Mechanism), was meant to be a transition from March & April's series on the history of computing to May's intended series on Greek mythology. However, with the Grand Prix de Monaco coming up at the end of the month & a great deal of discussion lately around the anniversary of the death of Senna, the moment was ripe for a few episodes on the sometimes very high price of glory in motorsport.

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Fountains of Wayne, "Troubled Times" from Utopia Parkway (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: As great as ska is, it is all too easy to lose sight of the splendid variety of brilliant music available to us. Few better reminders of this than the entire catalog of Fountains of Wayne. Lyrics! which were infrequently quoted during SKApril:

"Pining away every hour in your room,
Rolling with the motion, waiting 'til it's opportune,
Sitting there watching time fly past you,
Why do tomorrow what you could never do?"

SKApril
Samstag, 30 April
The Loose Ties, "Awesomer Than You" from the The Loose Ties E.P. (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: There are several (more than a few, less than a lot) ska bands for whom room just could not be found during this first annual celebration of SKApril, quality bands like Dance Hall Crashers & The Ninjas for whom thirty days just were not enough. Fear not, though, all you ska kids, you rude boys & rude girls, SKApril 2012 is only eleven months away; in other words, SKApril will return… with a vengeance! But I could not let this first SKApril draw to a close without shining our spotlight on that most gloriously improbable of discoveries, a local ska band, specifically my local ska band, The Loose Ties. I wish they had time to add some new songs to their set list, wish they had a few more originals, but make no mistake, I have no complaints about the band without whom Project MERCATOR would have been dead in the water following the collapse of the '09-'10 "Econ. Club" social circle. I like The Loose Ties as a band & I like The Loose Ties as people. There wouldn't be a SKApril without kids like them carrying the ska torch through these lean years, waiting & yearning for the fourth wave of ska to arrive from no one knows where. I hope you've enjoyed SKApril, I certainly have. Ska!

Freitag, 29 April
Desmond Dekker, "007 (Shanty Town)" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: On the penultimate day of SKApril, we go back to the beginning, back to the late '50s/early '60s, back to Jamaica. Desmond Dekker was one of the originals & remains one of the greats.

Donnerstag, 28 April
The Pietasters, "Something Better" from Oolooloo (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: In the good old days, none of my other ska friends—a group that overlaps heavily with Blue Tree Whacking—were into The Pietasters, at least not to my recollection; so, they just didn't figure into my golden age of the third wave of ska. I have since discovered that this was rather a shame, as they would have been a welcome addition to that era. Better late than never, I say, & I am glad to now be able to recognize their contribution as part & parcel of SKApril.

Bier!
'Tis the first of May, May Day, & even in Michigan, where the winters are interminable, May is the springtime, with the summertime just 'round the corner. But a single Grolsch remains & I say the time has come for the Red Stripe. "It's beer! Hooray, beer!"



I have just celebrated SKApril, an entire month of R.D.B.S.O.T.D. dedicated to ska music, which originated on the island of Jamaica. I like Red Stripe, clearly described on its own label as "Jamaican Lager." I adore the James Bond films, & like the books; Ian Fleming, Bond's creator, wrote the books at Goldeneye, his vacation home on Jamaica, & several of the novels take place on or around the island, then still in the British Empire. Please alert me if I am becoming or have become some twit who thinks he's Jamaican or "understands" Jamaica. Bash me over the head if necessary, I pray thee.