What does Trumbull mean, some people have asked? What’s the deal with those posters all over the town?1 Why is your magazine/website/sticker named after a town in Connecticut? Or are you just big Detroit Tigers fans? Though it may not seem so, there’s a reason. Hopefully this sheds some light on what we are going for. If it doesn’t, then that’s cool too, you can always refer to our family tree.
James “Jimmy” Trimble III, born 1926, died in February 1945 a legend and a Marine private at the Battle of Iwo Jima, in a foxhole. Alternately known as a can’t-miss pitching prospect and the lost love of American novelist Gore Vidal, Trimble’s truncated life was the stuff of dreams. (Vidal, a schoolmate of Trimble’s at St. Albans, referred to him as the only person he had ever loved. Baseball Hall of Famer Heinie Manush called him “one of the finest prospects he had ever seen.”) A three-sport star in high school, at 17 he won a $5,000 contract with his hometown Washington Senators, the terms of which let him matriculate at Duke per his mother’s wishes. A bad eye disqualified him from entering the service through Duke, so he instead enlisted in the Marines, in the Third Division, where the new Private was stationed in Guam. With a standing offer to play baseball through his military service, Trimble instead volunteered for front line combat, motivated by a sense of duty which one U.S. General Graves Erskine would refer to as “unswerving.” Trimble had high morals, was kind, well-liked, and dedicated to his fiancée, his high school sweetheart, Christine White, who would later star on TV’s “Magnum Force.” He was survived by Christine and her parents, who were divorced.
This is perhaps the saddest and crappiest love song ever written. “Yesterday, I was one of the lonely people/ Now you’re lying next to me, making love to me.” … So, to understand this correctly, she’s just lying like crazy while they get it on? Is that something this guy is into? I supposed he could be a lousy lover, and she’s just telling him how great he is, and this of course is a lie. Or maybe he means to say that this woman is “laying” next to him, making love to him. But that means she’s just laying there! That doesn’t sound very exciting either. Neither of these options sounds very hot, to say nothing of “miraculous.” Nonetheless, yesterday he was one of the lonely people, so this dude doesn’t give a fuck about the details. This much is clear. And this will be his undoing.
What’s more, it’s pretty obvious that he just met this woman. Psssst… song’s narrator: chill out dude! You don’t even know this person, and most often people are not nearly as cool as they seem at first, especially when you’ve been sitting on the bench for a little while. And that’s the thing: you’re obviously desperate, but you’re supposed to keep that a secret, and not let it cloud your judgment. Pretend you have a lot going on in your life. Make up some names of other women in your life; she’s not going to want to meet them, so you’re good. And wait until at least the second date to write, perform, and record a God-damned song about how your miserable life will be redeemed by this person you just met. Generally, people don’t like hearing that. A simple “Hey, you’re cool,” will suffice. And the ones who want to be your reason for living are probably worse off than you, and you have to be extra careful with them. Either way: just chill, my friend, chill!
Newbridge Raiders Junior Vice President in Charge of Community Affairs, Drafting and Lineup Sentencing discusses Post-Week Seven Results
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
MANHATTAN – Newbridge Raiders Football Club Vice President in Charge of Community Affairs, Team Spirit and Towel Rationing Clay Trumbull joins LOC Fantasy Football 2010 Commissioner Jason Barreau and Bombadil’s Beard Water-boy/GM Greg Lamotte, both in absentia, at a LOC Fantasy Football 2010 News Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at approx. 4:30 p.m. ET.
Coming off four straight losses and facing a surging 5-1 Bombadil’s Beard team in front of 34,440 semi-nude fans, the Raiders tallied 75.90 points to Bombadil’s 80.90, dropping the club to 2-5, despite strong showings from new addition Hines Ward and lineup staple Joe Flacco. The game marked the fourth straight in which Raiders contributors were held to under 80 points, despite a strong start.
Newbridge pulled out to an early lead, though with the majority of player-minutes coming at early Sunday, only a wide points margin would have vouchsafed success.
“We looked good at the beginning,” said Trumbull, who confirmed that he received an expletive-filled text from Lamotte after waking up from a mid-afternoon nap.
Leaf-balls have flown their arcs, discount pumpkins have been carved to resemble Snow White and Batman, hippies have turned to scratchy wool sweaters and beard shampoos. Young skinheads, having all upon the fly, among rhythmic slaps of Derek Wade of Angelic Upstarts on the drums, prepared their davenports and foot-rests in a comfortable corner of the room for watching the preliminary games leading up to baseball’s World Series. We caught up with one of these skinheads and gave him some reader mail about the baseball playoffs so that he might occupy himself with it, while listening to The Last Resort over Karl Ravech‘s ministrations over the Yankees‘ middle relief, as is his wont.
Hey Skinhead. I was really impressed by the Phillies rotation in the NLDS. Can it withstand San Francisco? Also, can I wear Sta-Prests to a job interview? – Bruiser, Olney, Pa.
Hey Bruiser, thanks for writing. As my friend Proud Gary would say, you hit the nail on the skinhead. Joe Blanton notwithstanding, Philly holds the best rotation of the four teams left. Their 1-2-3 reminds me, at times, of the 1990s Braves, as well as “Out Tonight/My Land/Trendy Punks” by The Glory Boys. In other words: dominant.
Die Antwoord has been dropping little videos on their site as it counts down to the release of $O$, now available worldwide. The latest one, “$copie,” played backwards, so we flipped it.
Latent images surface in new hardcover from Abrams
Friday, October 8, 2010
It’s been a pretty hardcore week in Trumbull Town — that’s a good week. We pored through a recently uploaded video of “punks outside The Rat” in Boston from 1996 which sourcist P pointed out includes an incredibly Scorcese-esque shot at the end, following his older brother down a flight of stairs into the belly of the Rat, past VIPs and fine ales, finally emerging into the fray of an in-progress Sunday matinee played by TheTrouble and DuckyBoys, plus others.
Then we hit the Clic Gallery for an exhibition of Lyle Owerko’s work from his new book “The Boombox Project.” The book serves as a visual history and tribute to the jambox, with quotes from many famous people who either owned one or knew someone who owned one back in the day. Here’s a good line, courtesy of Pras from The Fugees:
Skinheads evolve in Shane Meadows's powerful Channel 4 miniseries
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Today, the fourth and final episode of Shane Meadows’ “This is England ’86″ will air on Channel 4. The series picks up three years to the day after the first shot in Meadows’ BAFTA-winning “This is England” (2006), and the subjects have gone through some changes. Combo is not hanging out any more, Banjo and Meggie are off the racist tip and Shaun is trying to stick in the workforce. The crew’s different fashions are immediately noticeable. Meadows had this to say to GQ (UK)’s Andy Morris when he broached the subject:
Strangely it’s just about the people now. The characters have earned their right to not be part of the fashion. They’re not just skinheads in a gang. Woody is still into his scooters, Milky is still into being a skinhead but they’ve all moved on. The reality was that by 1986 the important thing is the World Cup. It’s strange how we hang our memories on national events. 1986 was quite a wishy washy time. Hip-hop was still being born, the punk and skinhead thing had kind of died but was still there, there were casuals as well — but the one thing that sticks in my mind was Maradona’s “Hand of God“. I’ve been listening to a lot of archive stuff and what people forget is there were lines and lines of soldiers and tanks at the match. It was like they could have blown the whole thing up!
Shaun – Thomas Turgoose
We find Shaun to be a bit of a loner at the beginning of summer ’86. He quit hanging out with the crew in ’83, after Combo beat the shit out of Milky. Shaun now sports shaggy locks — that’s post-skinhead to you — and after a disagreement with his mum, he leaves home to sleep down by the docks. To round out his new homeless style, Smell hooks him up with some pieces from her 71-year-old father’s wardrobe. Nothing fits and everything is old. That’s real.
In February I spent some time in Kingston, Jamaica. We were there to work out licensing deals for our vinyl distribution company, look for old records,1 and see some of the musical landmarks as it was my first time there. Here are some snapshots taken on a Blackberry, mostly from the car, as we drove thru the streets of Kingston. Caveat, we are not professional (or even amateur!) photographers by any means, so please take that into consideration with regards to the quality of the photos.
Cutting Lathe
This is the old cutting lathe at Randy’s Studio 17. Randy’s was the most famous record store in Jamaica, and Studio 17 was the recording studio they operated upstairs from the store, at 17 North Parade, downtown Kingston. What was the studio is now the record store, and what was the record store, below, is now a different store. All the recording equipment from the 1960s is sitting there still, covered. This lathe cut the lacquers for thousands of Jamaican 7″ singles in the 1970s. Countless classic tunes were recorded, mixed, and cut here.
Today on Slate, critic Tom Scocca took Peter King, Sports Illustrated football big cheese, to task for bullying Andrew Barron for his late holding penalty that cost Dallas a division game. King called Barron a “disgrace” on Twitter, and further in his column where he noted the athlete did not even make “a semblance” at a kosher hold during that fourth quarter. For those who didn’t watch, Barron committed something close to a horse collar on Andrew Orapko, the Pro Bowl linebacker he was charged to block, which nullified Tony Romo’s would-be touchdown pass. Washington held on to win. It was Barron’s third (!) holding penalty that game — and, King noted, his league-leading 78th in the past five-plus seasons.
RECKLESS DRIVING, BACK BAY: Two eyewitnesses, one tall, one short but wearing “stage shoes,” reported that someone had forced a dog at gunpoint to drive a Model T into the van of Drew Bledsoe (retired) on Sept. 9. The dog did not understand and drove into the nearest Audi. The Audi’s driver was later confirmed as Tom Brady, ponytail seeker and quarterback of the New England Patriots.
The victim (quarterback) told police that he had been listening to Stern in the car when he heard a loud non-diegetic bark. He looked outside his window but only saw a squat man in stage shoes chatting with a taller man with a leash.
Police said the dog was arrested on sight, despite a previous claim by his owner, Jeff, that he was “a good boy.”
The Patriots said in an official tweet and on their Facebook page on Thursday that Brady “reports that he’s OK.”
The damage to Brady’s car was estimated, by a vagrant, at less than $500. Actual damages were more severe.
Magazines rise and fall on a monthly basis here in New York City. That issue of Mass Appeal with The Clipse on the cover is still in our magazine rack next to the john, along with countless issues of The Source, GIANT, American Helicopter Society, Cookie, VIBE, 02138, Play, and Chief. Now, in the place of each of these periodicals, warped and bloated from years of steam and other forms of éther de toilette, two or three smaller zineforms have sprung forth. Like baby eagles they cry out, hungry for more readers, ignorant to the dangers and financial ruin that await them beyond their nest of bro-ship and bar party hook-ups. But perhaps this generation of publications will redefine what a magazine is, and how it works. This is a review of one of these magazines.
Trumbull hooked me up with a press pass to the release party for Death Panel Magazine’s second issue, which is at least twice as hype as the last issue of Death Panel, and printed on a finer stock of paper than most blogs would dare. It was shortly after returning home from this soiree that I lost my issue of Death Panel. I paid for it, mind you — I believe it cost $2. Well, I had no more money, and I felt embarrassed about my predicament, so with a deadline looming I decided to push on with the review with what was available to me.
I closed my eyes and thought back to the party. There were a series of readings by some of the Death Panel contributors. They were all-right guys and girls. One of them wasn’t all-right, but his reading was the best. Austin Lemieux. Here are some other names emerging from the murk: Andy Spano? Richard Thomas? Niina Pollari? And despite the fact that Death Panel is by and large a printed affair, one of the night’s readers joined us via satellite from a far-flung corner of the globe — not too shabby.
Insofar as Summer 2010 skinhead, graffiti, and Puerto Rican biker gang activity (good, old-fashioned fun) is concerned.
Cocolo refers to Spanish-speaking Caribbean people beholden to Afro-Latino culture, especially Salsa music, as opposed to the "rockeros," a group who emerged in the 1970s and 80s in Puerto Rico, favoring rock music and the English language instead.
