Although it can safely be said that not all progress equals improvement, generally, over time, society as a whole walks toward the light. We may in the end find that the light we’re walking toward is the glowing fires of hell – or more likely that extra bright patch of sky where the ozone used to be, but at least we’ll have the comfort of knowing that our hearts were in the right place. Faced with the prospect of an uncertain future, many people pine for the road already taken. They look back fondly on the simpler days of yore, especially those who didn’t have to live in them. Their understanding of yore is more conceptual than visceral – which may explain certain unpleasant fashion trends: Trucker hats, leg warmers, low-rise jeans, nearly anything involving rabbit fur or spandex. As the poet George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Well spoken…but there are times when we must repeat the past in order to remember it. Think about it: Renaissance faires, Civil War re-enactments, Star Trek conventions, roller derbies…and there’s a lot of good stuff too: The Asylum Street Spankers for instance. The Spankers are so old timey they don’t even use microphones. They’re so old timey they don’t even plug in their instruments. They’re so old timey one of them probably has typhoid, but rest assured they all have balls – at least metaphorically, because that’s what it takes to bring it without the juice. Saturday night they’ve invited back a group of former member like Guy Forsyth and Mysterious John to help celebrate the release of their new DVD. Matt the Electrician opens. Bring some cash and a sense of irony.
This article appears in February 24 • 2006.
