Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2004)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" video begins with the gentlemen of Green Day dealing with car trouble. If your car overheated, what's the first thing you would do to remedy the situation?

Pull over and turn off the engine. And then wait. And then add water to the radiator. Most likely, I'd be calling either Beast (if it was local) or AAA.

2) Thinking of cars, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong has had his share of trouble behind the wheel and was busted for driving well beyond the speed limit. Was your last ticket for parking, or was it a moving violation?

Moving violation. I can't remember exactly but it was either for plowing into my neighbor's work truck due to inattentiveness or for going 46 in a 40 zone in a nearby community known for ticketing for EVERYTHING. Those two things happened fairly close together.

3) Billie Joe says "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was inspired by the Edward Hopper painting, "Nighthawks." Tell us about a piece of artwork that you enjoy. (Yes, the macaroni picture frame created for you by your nephew counts.)

My dad's cousin Bill's career was in advertising, doing the artwork and design, but did a lot of painting and drawing on the side for fun. He drew all his own Christmas cards every year--we still have those--and for our wedding present he presented us with a framed watercolor painting he did of Canyon de Chelly which continues to hang in a place of prominence in our house nearly 30 years later. It's absolutely delightful, and it reminds me regularly that a) I need to go to Canyon de Chelly someday, and b) the weird things that connect families together. I only met him once, when my parents were taking me off to college orientation. We drove through Des Moines and stopped for the afternoon and evening at Bill's home and then some random restaurant for dinner. My memories of the visit consist of sitting in his living room and then bathroom in an agony of anxiety-induced GI distress, and then having a similar problem at the restaurant. Apparently, however, I impressed him with my ... something. Dad & Mom said he raved about what a great kid I was whenever they spoke after that. And then he painted a picture for me. You never know, do you?

4) Let's go back to childhood. Was the home where you grew up located on a boulevard, an avenue, a street, a lane or a road?

Street. I was in the Indian Tribe range of names. Denver does (did, historically, anyway) this awesome thing where all the streets are alphabetized by theme. So there are the Indian Tribes, the Trees, the Flowers, the Universities, etc, etc. Sometimes, it's doubled, so A-word, A-word, B-word, B-word, and so on. I grew up in the list of Acoma, Bannock, Cherokee, Delaware, Elati, Fox, Galapago, Huron, Inca, Jason, Kalamath, Lipan, Mariposa, Navajo ... run. And yes, as a matter of fact I do still have them all memorized. :-)

5) This song won Green Day a Grammy for Record of the Year. What positive feedback have you received recently?

My therapist is adamant that the switch of medications has changed my entire affect. I can't tell, but I'll take it as a compliment.

6) Green Day uses their Facebook page to let more than 32 millions know what the group is doing. What's the last thing you posted to social media?

The last thing I wrote myself on Facebook was last night's (daily) Gun Violence posting about the previous day's toll: 75 total incidents involving gunfire, 28 of which did not result in injury or death, but in the others, 25 people were killed and 37 more were injured. I've been doing those posts for about two months now, and in that time there've been nearly 4,000 gun incidents, nearly 1,100 people killed, and over 2,500 people injured. Call me crazy, but that seems ... high.

7) In 2004, when this song was popular, Ken Jennings had a still unbeaten string of 74 wins on Jeopardy! What game show do you think you'd do well on?

I'd do ok on Jeopardy! Actually, I watched enough game shows as a child that I'd probably do well on most of them, except perhaps The Price is Right. I'm not hyper enough or price-conscious enough to do that one.

8) Also in 2004, Lance Armstrong was in the midst of his own Tour de France winning streak. Now we know he cheated. Tell us about a time you broke the rules.

The times I've broken the rules have been comparatively minor. I break rules semi-regularly at work in terms of cataloging, but again not the big rules. I'm just not that kind of person.

9) 2004 is when Morgan Spurlock released Super Size Me, his documentary about eating nothing but McDonald's for a month. What's the last fast food restaurant you visited?

Heh, that would be Mickey D's yesterday for breakfast. I literally ate all my meals out yesterday though only one fast-food stop.