Frank Gutch Jr: Thank You, Vancouver! We Love You! Be Sure To Tip Your Waitress!

My brother-in-law kept telling me about New York but all I could see was the tall buildings popping out of the ground of downtown Vancouver.  It wasn’t the massiveness of the city.  It was the feel!  And make no mistake, Vancouver is a city.  A big one with a big downtown and all of the pluses and minuses which go with it.  Sirens all night, a large homeless contingent, people walking with rolling suitcases everywhere.  Restaurants— my God, there were so many restaurants— every kind of food you could possibly imagine.

Frank Gutch Jr: No Small Children, More Fun With 45s, Notes and Maybe A Few Other Things… Maybe

A couple of years ago— well, maybe a few now— I spent a summer reading and hearing about how this Sheryl Crow track (I can’t think of the title at the moment) was the anthem of the summer and captured everything good about the season.  When I finally heard it, my mental jaw dropped.  I could not believe that anyone could hear anything inspiring about the song or the performance.  It was decent enough, I suppose, but it didn’t make me want to sing or dance or hit the freeway with the top down and sing along at the top of my voice.  That’s what an anthem is supposed to do, right?  Inspire?