Day 2 – July 4, 2002
At 9:14 am, we’re back on the road. Showered and full of Waffle House omelettes, we are ready for another 10 hours of driving and mix tape listening. We finish out Mix 7, which includes Louis Prima’s "Sing, Sing, Sing," another in a long line of classics that Jeremy was obviously unfamiliar with at the time and Dan had to hip him to. That’s what happens when you grow up listening to nothing but Weird ‘Al’ Yankovic I guess.
Mix #8 I’m Lost Without You
Maker: Jeremy Date: 1995 Begun: 10:03am Ended: 11:43am Miles Covered: 102
Morrow/Lebanon, OH – Bleary eyed and tired, this tape is a blessing. During Jeremy’s first semester at college, he discovered several sets of jazz cds and old time radio shows at his school’s library. Enthralled with the new sounds, he embarked upon making a tape for Dan consisting mainly of songs from these compilations. Dan always liked it but thought, "Bring back the rock." After 90 minutes of similar sounding swing-era jazz instrumentals we were both ready to get back to some guitars and screaming but boy did Basie and Duke help ease us into another long drive under the hot summer sun.
Mix #9 Jeremy’s Jungle Adventure
Maker: Dan Date: 1995 Begun: 11:46am Ended: 2:37pm Miles Covered: 122
Sligo, KY – Another Franklin Bruno song makes us realise that the man just isn’t that talented. This tape features "California" by Joni Mitchell, part 2 in Dan’s planned California Trilogy. Part 1 was Liz Phair and Part 3 was to be Sexual Milkshake but Jeremy already had that song. Thwarted again! From Jeremy’s report card, commenting on Belt Buckle: "Imagine my dad singing this song on the second stage of Lollapalooza in a tank top." Go on, imagine it.
Mix #10 R2D2 Is an Indie Rocker
Maker: Jeremy Date: 1995 Begun: 2:38pm Ended: 4:24pm Miles Covered: 111
Park City, KY - Road fatigue already begins to set in today. We worry about how many 10 hour drives in a row we are going to have this trip. Too much highway, not enough to look at. Dan frets out loud, "So tired – so tired. I need my ass kicked with rhythm." Hooray! Shellac to the rescue. No band has made us more excited on this trip than Shellac. Who would have thought that Steve Albini, that fucker, could cause us to punch the roof of the car with glee?
Mix #11 You Have a Deep Interest in All That is Artistic
Maker: Dan Date: 1995 Begun: 4:27pm Ended: 6:01pm Miles Covered: 125
20 miles past Nashville, TN – The first appearance of Elvis Costello, probably the artist who has appeared on Dan’s mixes more times than anyone else. Dan remembers that somewhere along this trip, we are going to come across a Spike Priggen song on one of his mix tapes, possibly the only song to ever get an F on a report card. "I can’t wait," says Dan. "We don’t even know when it is exactly," Jeremy worries, "it’ll be like a sneak attack."
While approaching the 20th hour of driving, Dan comments on how all of our friends are currently moving on with their lives in a normal fashion while we are stuck in this weird time continuum of passing trees and listening to mix tapes. It’s as if we have managed to stop time to a certain extent. Our lives have become the mix tapes and the mix tapes have become our lives.
Mix #12 Lesbian Musicians Are Ruining Indie Rock
Maker: Jeremy Date: Winter 95/96 Begun: 6:04pm Ended: 9:00am Miles Covered: 72
1 Hour from Memphis, TN – 6:00 passes and we are depressed that we’re missing the start of the Triple A Game we were rushing to see. We’ll still get to see the post-game fireworks but we had hoped to arrive in time to see the first pitch and relax while eating a delicious meal of chili dogs and overpriced Lite Beer. Oh well, we tried.
But wait, we screwed up. As we pass a bank, the blinking roadside clock reads, "4:41" but our dashboard clock reads 6:41. In our driving coma, we had decided that since we were going west we had to add an hour when we entered the Central Time Zone instead of subtracting an hour. We can still make it to the game! With renewed vigor, Jeremy hits the gas. Now if only we had some Shellac to listen to.
Memphis
Memphis is a lawless town. Upon our arrival we search for a phone to call Eric and get directions to his place. We end up lost in a grimy part of town where Dan uses a midget phone booth that didn’t work. Bad omen.
After the game and the Über-patriotic fireworks, we head to a house party. On the drive over we witness the local firemen shooting off some rockets outside of the firehouse. Fireworks are illegal inside the city limits but if the firemen aren’t going to abide by the law, why should anyone else?
The party was the perfect antidote to 20+ hours of driving. Cajun Sausage, Alice Cooper on the record player and the coldest Budweisers we have ever had. Add to that over four bags full of fireworks, courtesy of Mr. Memphis, Jerry Lawler. There were several mishaps but surprisingly nobody lost any limbs amidst all the smoke and sparks and explosions. That’s how they do it down in the dirty dirty.
