An electrifying tribute to Prince

I write my blog for many reasons, but at the bottom of it all I like having a place to go with a story like this one. It will be gone in the morning unless I capture it now, so here goes. Chicago, very early Sunday Morning I had picked up my teenager from a

Rockers are mortal, after all

It wasn’t always this way for me, but within the past couple of years the deaths of people I don’t know have taken on a whole new dimension. Whether I knew the person or not–and particularly if they were somebody famous for one reason or another– the first thing I want to know is how

What else can we do now?

An old song on the radio can recall memories of an earlier time in life. I was a far different person in the 80s than I am today, but I always like to hear music from that period. Makes me realize how different things can become, I suppose. But this is not about a piece

Two baseball pieces as the offseason winds down

I’ve been doing some thinking about why baseball matters so much to me. It’s one of the few constants in my life, dating all the way back to when I saw my first live baseball game in 1975. Things change–for better and for worse–but baseball is always there. The game changes, too, but it’s always

A bittersweet day

There are some things in life that I truly enjoy, and writing is at or near the top of the list. While I’ve written things all my life, putting them into a form where they can be read by other people has been a relatively new development for me. And today offered some reminders of

Jersey Shore 2013 (Sandy)

One year ago today, Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey and New York with a force that I never thought possible. I hope that the people who were impacted have found a way to move on with their lives, because there isn’t another choice for any of us. On my honeymoon, many years ago, I took

Capturing the magic

I’ve written about Bruce Springsteen here many times. And I’ve said, and firmly believe, that Springsteen takes on a whole new meaning if you’ve seen him play live. I, for one, listened to the albums, but I didn’t really get it until I saw him play at the United Center in 2007. And then it

Waist deep in the Big Muddy

I’ve been on a Springsteen bender for the last 48 hours, after I grabbed his Lucky Town CD on my way out the door yesterday morning. I bought it when it was released more than 20 years ago, but haven’t listened to it very much until yesterday morning. The songs on this CD didn’t speak

Those were the days

Some people are of the opinion that a penny on the sidewalk can only be picked up when it’s facing heads up. I, however, will take them any way I can find them. This morning I found a heads-down penny in a parking lot. I nearly passed it by, but then I stopped, picked it

Submitted for the Cubs’ consideration

Dear Chicago Cubs, I welcome the news that you will be turning away from random celebrities, in favor of giving the seventh-inning stretch more of a Chicago feel. To honor your decision, I want to kick off a campaign to secure myself an invite for one of the celebrity-vacated spots, for the 2013 season or whenever

How about it, Sandy?

If you want to know what “irony” is, you can’t do any better than realizing the hurricane that devastated New Jersey and its boardwalk bore the same name as a Bruce Springsteen song about leaving the boardwalk behind. The storm’s name was chosen well before it ever formed, and it could have gone anywhere at

It starts with an idea

Earlier in the week, I met with some of the senior leadership in the company that I work for. You would probably know the company’s name, and be familiar with our products, but I’m going to leave all of that out here. That information is beside the larger point that I want to make. The

99 Cubsballoons go by

There’s something about the number 99. Maybe it was because I grew up watching reruns of Get Smart, and Barbara Feldon’s Agent 99 was always so much easier on the eyes—and the ears—than Don Adams’ abrasive 86. The Cubs, for their part, are closing in on 99 losses for a season, which is something they

Gave proof through the night

The piece I wrote yesterday about Jimi Hendrix and the anniversary of his death set me on a mission to find my Hendrix CD. It was purchased sometime in the 1990s, back when CDs still needed to be purchased in order to acquire music. I still have lots of old CDs, and fortunately I was

Wrigley, Ronny and the Boss

ChicagoSideSports is a new website in town, and it focuses on topics that mean a lot to me. Chicago is a great sports town, and ChicagoSide presents angles on it that national outlets like ESPN never could. I was thrilled when my first piece for them was published a couple of weeks ago, and even

Mission Accomplished

If there’s a piece of advice I would give to someone going to a Bruce Springsteen concert (other than to go in the first place), it would be don’t be disappointed if he doesn’t play a particular song, unless it’s “Born to Run.” With hundreds of songs on his albums, and fans who bring signs

Bruce Springsteen and the power of rock and roll

For several years, I waited for a chance to see my next Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert. Then it was announced he would play at Wrigley Field, and I bought tickets to the show . For many months, I lived my life knowing that the Springsteen show was off in the distance,

Out on the edge

In just about 48 hours from when I’m writing this, the Bruce Springsteen show at Wrigley Field will be wrapping up. When the tickets went on sale, it seemed like a long time away. And now it’s almost here. The passage of time isn’t always something I like, but in this case I’ll take it.

One week to go

It’s Friday night, and at this time next week Bruce Springsteen will be onstage at Wrigley Field. September once seemed far away, and now it’s almost here. It promises to be a rockin’ good time. Earlier this week I had a piece published on ChicagoSideSports about how Springsteen will be the first artist to play

Come on up for the risin’

Bruce Springsteen played Fenway Park the last two nights, and by all accounts they were blockbuster shows: three and a half hours, new music, old favorites, cover songs, and a Johnny Pesky tribute. What more can anybody ask for? My iPod is going to be shuffling Springsteen songs–and probably nothing else–between now and September 7.

Rich man wanna be king

Bruce Springsteen and his music have been recurring themes since I started this blog last summer. Clarence Clemons was the impetus for one of my first pieces, and I’ve written about Springsteen here and here and here (and in other posts too, if you care to find them). But tonight I realized how prescient one of

A sort-of homecoming on Chicago’s North side

The upcoming Bruce Springsteen concerts in Wrigley Field in September promise to be a good time. But it’s not widely-known that Springsteen’s first show that wasn’t on the East coast came way, way back in early 1973, at a Chicago club known as the Quiet Knight. I wasn’t in Chicago back then, but if I

Freebird!

Tonight, to celebrate my daughter’s birthday, my family and I went out to a supper club-type of a restaurant. It’s the kind of a place where, leaving the servers and waitstaff aside, my presence in the place brought the average age down considerably. But they wouldn’t still be in business if the food wasn’t good,

Jake-on-the-spot

It’s now two months away from the Bruce Springsteen show at Wrigley Field. Now that my much-anticipated trip to Cape Cod is over, that’s the next big thing I have to look forward to. The Cubs are usually how I mark my time in the summer, and that won’t work this year. The heat wave

Appreciating American music

As I was returning home from a long and most enjoyable vacation today, I commenced the battle of finding something on the radio. I wrote about this once before, and it makes me appreciate the concept of satellite radio. You pick a station you like, and never have to worry about whether it comes in