The snow here Tuesday sacked my plan to hit Toronto for the night but that’s the way it goes in the wintertime. Airlines are quick to gut schedules in the Northeast when there’s snow in the forecast. This latest weather event kinda came out of left field. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that the weather man revealed the six to ten inch snow punch that would come Tuesday. Once I saw that, I called the hotel up in Toronto and asked if they’d cancel the rez and not charge me. They were cool about it. No prob said the woman working the desk, as long as I was using weather to excuse my no-show.
So with the off day to kill, I tromped over to Williamsburg to see if I could pick up the just-released Pangea record. I stopped by the new Rough Trade shop near the river on north 9th. They had what I was looking for but I was disappointed with the store in general. There are no quirks or pleasant surprises. It’s arranged inefficiently with racks at weird angles. Maybe the place needs to be broken in. Based on what I’d read in advance, I was expecting a serious record store but this is more of a generic Tower-like experience. Dull. Almost glum. Expensive. No used stuff that I could see. No surprise gems or fun bins. I’d predict they don’t survive. I bought a couple records and the clerk had zero spunk during the transaction. Vinyl is back but this place isn’t gonna cash in long term charging $20 for a LP you could get delivered direct from the label to your apartment for 15 bucks. That visit to Amoeba in SF about four months ago messed me up because now nothing compares. Rough Trade is trying to use part of its space for rock shows so maybe I’ll be back but I don’t think it’ll be to look at records.
As long as I’m complaining, let me just say that people who use umbrellas to shield themselves from the snow when it’s 15 degrees are jackasses. The snow won’t hurt you. It won’t get you wet. Forget the umbrella. People in other, less crowded cities don’t do this. When it’s cold and snowing, the flakes bounce off you. Unburden yourself and those who are walking opposite you – and leave the umbrellas at home. Dress warmly. Enjoy the snow. Allow it to make it contact with you. You will survive.
On the way to work Monday, I saw Congressman Charlie Rangel get arrested on the 94th Street bridge. I soured on Rangel after house ethics committee proceedings ended with his 2010 censure. But now I have this image forever locked in my head of a 83-year-old lawmaker from Harlem getting cuffed in front of the place of my employ. Rangel was ushered into a NYPD school bus being used as a paddy wagon at about 1 PM Monday. The mostly union crowd that occupied/shut down the bridge chose the MLK holiday to engage in civil disobedience as a way of highlighting the scores of outsourced airport workers who are badly underpaid. I’d expect the movement seeking economic justice for airplane cleaners, wheelchair attendants and non-federal security-related personnel to gain traction. But I think the quickest way to see wage fairness is through some kind of targeted legislation through the city council rather than a Port Authority bylaw.
As for what happened in Vancouver last weekend with Torts, the opening faceoff brawl and his subsequent spazz-out in the hallway near the visiting locker room, I just want to say the NHL is way off base in fining Calgary coach Bob Hartley 25-grand for his part in what happened. The NHL is over-reaching when it blames a road coach for starting a so-called “tough-guy” lineup without knowing for sure what the intent of that coach is. If a fourth line of players is deemed fit and legal to be included on a NHL roster, a coach can’t be penalized simply for starting said group if a brawl breaks out. The home coach has full control over matchups and can instruct a line with superior talent to play hockey, score goals and avoid fisticuffs. Yes, Hartley may have known what he was getting into with that group but it’s an unfair leap by the League to hold him responsible for the actions of others.