The first month of summer is in the books... and the past four weeks have been a whirlwind. Since the last day of school, I've driven over 2,500 miles and vacationed in Ashland (Oregon), Las Vegas, and San Luis Obispo. I went to three flea markets and hung out with a fellow blogger at a local card show. Plus I got a chance to spend quality time with my close friend and two nieces... as well as bond with my dad on an epic road trip. It's been a great ride, but I'm pretty exhausted. My real summer break begins today.
Not sure of this song's actual meaning... but on the surface I feel like I'm channeling my inner David Byrne:
YouTube Link to Official Video
This is one of my favorite Talking Head songs off all-time. Back in late May... it called out to me. I knew that as soon as my summer break began, this song would kick it off. I began seeking one of their trading cards. Unfortunately I didn't find them in the typical music card sets like AGI Rock Star Concert Cards or Pro Set MusiCards. But eventually I stumbled across a set of cards I had never heard of: J2 Cards New Wave. It's a 242 card set featuring just about every new wave group you can think of. $34.99 (+ $8 shipping) and a week or two later, this card arrived at my doorstep:
J2 New Wave #29
I realize this set isn't for everyone, but if you're interested... here's a list of the bands in this massive card set:
Jim hooked up a few other Gwynns and Suzukis for my collection:
Here's a link to the company's website if you're interested in purchasing this set or seeing the other card sets they produce.
Okay... let's show off some baseball cards. Today's cards were sent by Jim over at cards as i see them back in early May. There were two cards that made me regret not opening it up a week or two earlier...
2021 Topps 70 Years of Topps #70YT-68
This Gwynn would have been perfect for my BBA submission last week. And this card of Kurt Suzuki would have complimented the Mark Ellis refractor in my 4th of July post:
2020 Topps Gold Star #89
1999 Invincible Seismic Force #16
2014 Topps Walmart Blue #104
2014 Topps Target Red #104
2014 Topps Update Walmart Blue #US-230
2010 Heritage #438
2013 Topps Mini Pink #208
2022 Topps #171
When I finally get around to adding my 2nd player collection to TCDB... Kurt Suzuki will likely be the player. The 2022 Topps base card is the only confirmed duplicate, so the other five should help me climb into the Top 5 leaderboard. By the way... the Heritage is a short print... and the pink mini is #'d 15/25.
Here are the other A's cards he included in the bubble mailer:
There were also a bunch of cards for my Japanese Athlete PC:
1985 Topps #450
This card and note is going straight into my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder which houses a few sentimental cards from fellow bloggers. Why is this card special? Well... Jim is the cardboard connoisseur when it comes to both Steve Garvey and memorial patches. The RAK patch was added to San Diego Padres jersey from 1984 to 1986 as a tribute to Ray Krok. But the addition to my binder will remind me of Jim's random act of kindness.
I'll round out this post with one more card from him, which reminds me of "home":
2009 UD A Piece of History Green #174 (#'d 059/150)
Thank you Jim for this very generous care package! You might notice that I left out one specific card. Don't worry. It gets its very own post later next week.
And for the rest of you who took the time to read this post...
Are you a Talking Heads fan? Favorite song?
Where do you consider "home"?
I look forward to reading your responses. Happy Saturday and sayonara!
18 comments:
Wow, that New Wave set is amazing. I can't believe there are cards out there of Roman Holiday (their first album is absolute perfection), The Records, and Marshall Crenshaw.
I'm not as big a fan of Talking Heads as I am of some of the other bands on that list, but I like them fine. "Don't Worry About The Government" is my favorite of theirs. Or possibly "Genius Of Love" if that counts.
"Home" is kind of nebulous for me. It's northern New Jersey, but it's also Singapore. I think I've been moving more to thinking of Singapore as home.
Home is Kalamazoo/Portage, Michigan, moved back here 6 years ago...and, Burning Down the House is the best of The Talking Heads.
Having just spent 6 weeks in another country, Poland for work, and also having spent most of my life here, Chesapeake Viriginia will probably always be the "home" I think of first. Having been born there, I do consider myself a son of Philadelphia.
That looks like a fun set, I would love to see card #159, Oingo Boingo is my all-wime favorite band. Danny Elfman is beyond talented!
Favorite Talking Heads song, one that gets a lot of airtime, is Once in a Lifetime. They are not a "go to" band for me.
So far, this summer has been very musical though. Back in April I won tickets to see Jimmy Buffett which knocks a bucket-list item off!! While I was overseas, I learned that a small club in Gdansk, Klub B90 to be exact, was hosting the Dropkick Murphy's on the 11th of June. It was a show well worth attending.
Then last week, good friends of ours offered my wife and I to join them for Luke Bryan this past Thursday!!
And we have tix for the Zac Brown Band coming up in September!!
...as for current "tastes" I have been listening to alot of Panic! At the Disco lately. and I really enjoy anything by Abney Park. Highly recommend them, "Strip Polka" is one of my favorites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkBOjjtikOw
hope the rest of your summer is restful my friend!
I was born in ATL, split my childhood in Ocala, FL and GA. Home for me is Ocala. Other than my time in the service (and the last 6 years) my entire adulthood has been Ocala, yep that's home.
Midland/Odessa area been my home for almost my entire life. I left and spent 7 years in Austin before I boomerang back here. Funny how things work if you are west Texas lifer. They always say in this area you can leave home, but something you find yourself back here. I know plenty that have left the area for a while only to return. Even with the heat, gusty winds, and flying dirt something about it that makes it home here. We don't get major musical guests here at times but when they come expect a good time. I went to see Everclear, Fastball, and Nixons here last month.
Gotta love Talking Heads and "Once In a Lifetime". I've worked at plenty of concerts but never one featuring Talking Heads...hmmm.
Home for me has always been LA County.
Wow, that New Wave set has an amazingly deep checklist. I've got most of the Talking Heads albums, but I've actually gotten pretty tired of the bigger songs and I prefer the album tracks. My favorite song is "Making Flippy Floppy" off of the "Speaking In Tongues" album.
Shawn Colvin does a good cover of "This Must Be The Place"; I like it because she makes the song her own and it isn't just a "bar band" cover that sounds like the original
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FZI5EWiME4
I'm not a big Talking Heads fan, although I feel like I should be because they came out of probably my favorite time/place in music history (1977 CBGBs). I've lived in the Chicago suburbs all my life, so I have a feeling that'll always be home to me.
Road to Nowhere.
i was hoping to deliver these cards in person, but this is the next best thing - glad you enjoy them.
i do like the talking heads - psycho killer, once in a lifetime, flowers, wild wild life, and she was, and stay up late are all great songs. burning down the house will always take me back to junior high school.
for me, home is california's central coast. can't beat the 805.
Not really a fan. Not really a hater though.
Once in a Lifetime is probably my favorite by them.
I was watching the '84 NLCS on TV with my Cubs fan cousin when Garvey hit the homer.
Totally interested in that set! That is my era of music! How did this slip under my radar?
Like the Talking Heads quite a bit, it's the one group from my time that I can discuss with my daughter's boyfriend, do you know how difficult it is to share a common music bond with the next generation? "This Must Be The Place" is known as the Talking Heads' "only" love song, so it's a bit weird to me as it's so unlike their other work. But I do like it.
For me, home is Buffalo, N.Y. and its suburbs. ... I'll be traveling there this summer, don't have nearly as ambitious a traveling schedule as you.
Sure,"Burning down the house".Since I have lived in Sacramento County since 1972,I guess I will call Sacramento my home.
I visited my home recently. Was a sad site to see as it had been 15 years. My childhood home was destroyed and the property i had all of my memories on was grown up
Love the Talking Heads. Several favorites, but as a band I listen to with some regularity, my answer is flexible. Right now, I am going with Memories Can't Wait and She Was. Ask the question again in a month, it might be different. Where is home? That's a toughie. I guess Raleigh, but I also claim St. Louis.
I still call where my parents live "home" in upstate NY. For my current little family, "home" is our NJ suburb.
Talking Heads were probably the hippest band my mom was into when I was a kid, with the Little Creatures album getting a lot of play at home. I'd probably have to go with "Once in a Lifetime" as my favorite song of theirs, with a sleeper pick of "Television Man".
brett alan - i'd love to one day make it out to singapore. actually... there's a lot of places i want to eventually visit.
john sharp - burning down the house is the first song of theirs i fell in love with
dawgbones - oh man. never knew danny elfman was in oingo boingo. thanks for that tidbit. i have a good friend who introduced me to modern country... so i have songs of luke bryan and zac brown band on my spotify playlist. abney park is very unique. thanks for the link
johnnys trading spot - i think i always shoot you an email asking where you'll be when i prepare to ship a package, because both of those places come to mind when i think of you.
rebel coyote - i've only been to texas once, but i had a lot of fun swimming there (until i heard about water moccasins). i was little... so they kinda freaked me out
bbcardz - once in a lifetime is a classic indeed. was planning a trip down to la county this summer, but the plans got cancelled at the last minute
shlabotnik report - wasn't familiar with making flippy floppy, but i listened to it and like it. that's an interesting cover. i like colvin's voice.
nick - based on photos, chicago is very beautiful. hope to one day get out there.
sean - such a great video
gcrl - if i could afford to retire in the 805, i would. i'll have to settle for vacationing and taking road trips there. thanks again for the cards.
elliptical man - next to burning down the house, once in a lifetime is the song i associate with them. that home run happened before i became a padres fan. the first time i rooted for them was when they faced the tigers in the world series
night owl - search online for coupon codes. i can't remember which one i used, but it saved me a few bucks. as for love songs, i always seem to end up being a fan of group's ballads
sg488 - hope you're able to stay cool this summer. i've passed through sacramento a lot over the years, but will only stop there during the cooler months. that might change in the next few years b/c my brother plans to retire there
matt - oh man. that's so sad. sorry to hear that.
the snorting bull - wasn't familiar with memories can wait, but i like it. st. louis is another place i'd like to make it out to at some point
the lost collector - i'd love to visit upstate ny at some point. one of my former students went to syracuse and the photos she sent me were gorgeous
defgav - didn't know television man, but i like it. this post has opened my eyes to several of their songs.
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