Brave Men Run Podcast - Episode Five Chapts. 15 - 17
Things are heating up! Let’s take a look behind the scenes…
Chapter Fifteen:
A little transitional chapter, devoid of pop culture references or buried treasure. Just the treasure of golden prose, I’m sure you’ll agree..!
Chapter Sixteen
– “Romita Park bordered the playground field of Romita Elementary, with a little hillock between them.”
This place, and the elementary school, is based entirely on my memory of my own elementary school and the park next door to it. I went back there when I did some “location” research for BMR, and found that the park is very different. No more picnic tables, for one thing!
– “His blonde spiky hair was tucked under an Angels baseball cap.”
Back in the eighties, they were the Anaheim Angles. Now they’re the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Note that Los Angeles and Anaheim are, like, thirty miles apart.
– “His eyes darted around like he expected the Candid Camera crew to leap out of the bushes.”
Candid Camera bills itself as “TV’s Longest Running Comedy Show.” In one form or another, it’s been around since the forties! For the few people who’ve never seen it, it’s a gag show where the hosts set up ridiculous situations for unwitting, gullible strangers.
Chapter Seventeen:
– “…you didn’t need my hearing to hear the Psychedelic Furs blasting from Mel’s upstairs bedroom window.”
The Psychedelic Furs formed in 1976 and continued making intelligent music that danced between post-punk and new romantic into the 1990’s.
– “He opened the door before the first verse of “Here Come Cowboys” was over.”
Mel’s listening to what was arguably the Psych Furs’ best record, or at least their most commercially viable: “Mirror Moves.”
– “Mel scooped a U2 concert shirt off the floor.”
Probably for “The Unforgettable Fire.” tour, which lasted from August of 1984 to July of 1985. Chances are he went to this show, since that’s the one I saw (okay, the first one I saw.)
– “Mel was already pulling black Creepers on his feet.”
Creepers were popular shoes among punks and mods in the eighties, and continue to sell to hipster kids today.
