Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Mod Life: Overrated

You probably thought I gave this blog up, but the reality is that I've been way too busy with a miserable, overbearing task: moving.

Seriously. My wife and I just finished moving and the largest lesson I've learned from this whole thing is that this Mod thing sucks. I'm done with it.

I understand now why many 1960s Mods splintered off into more spartan, hippie lifestyles. I'm trading in my suits for target t-shirts and jeans, trading in all my shoes for a single pair of Adidas trainers, trading in all my vinyl for a single iPod, and trading in the books for a library card.

Of course, 18 years of accumulation is a hard thing to just pack up and move. We're dealing with boxes & boxes of shoes and bags & bags of clothing... and let's not get into my wife's collection of shoes and clothes! We couldn't have done it without the help of a moving company and our friends Jon Burchard, Karen Finlay, Syd Wayman, and Mari Corella. (Thanks guys!)

A few things I came across during our packing included an old pair of original 1960s Denson 'Chisel Poynters' I wore once long ago, before the tongue fell out. At the time that I got these, I didn't appreciate the fact that they were original Densons!

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I also found my old pair of Jam stage shoes.

A few other clothing pieces I came across included a beat-up pair of Cuban-heeled pointed boots...

some madras jackets...

my old houndstooth suit jacket...

and my paisley 2-button jacket (thanks Sean C.!).

Also came across some old paperbacks with great covers:

Oh yeah, and I found my old scooter!

Now, I  lived in that last place for almost 18 years, believe it or not. I moved in, as a couch-surfing student, with my friends Susan and Mike Therieau. At the time, The Beatles were celebrating their Anthology and local brit-pop club, Popscene, had just debuted at the Cat Club.

A month later, I had my own apartment in that same building with my roommate DJ Sean Cavanaugh. 4 years or so after that, while riding high on the dot-com craze, I had enough money to rent my very own apartment with no roommate in the very same building. Unfortunately, a month later, the dot-com craze died, but I survived and held on to that apartment! About 6 years later, my future wife moved in with me and now, 7 years later, we're off to a bigger place. Sigh... sad leaving that place behind.

Many Mod friends passed through as residents of that building over the years including Mike Therieau, Sean Cavanaugh, Dennis (Denny) Winston, Jason Ringgold (New Untouchables), Jon Burchard (ex-The Idea), and more. Many good times of BBQs, parties, and late-night hangouts.

And now, it's over. Time to move on.

As we cleaned out the last bit and prepared to close the door for one last time, my wife wanted me to take photos of the old place. 
And as we shut the door, I just had to play this last song (as I reminded myself to stop watching so many sitcoms):


Now it's time to give the spartan life a chance... a-a-a-and that's over. I feel like book-shopping.

*

17 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. There are those who shout 'mod for life!' and there are those who just live it.

      And I don't like shouting.

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    2. Well said. I always thought that actions speak lounder then words anyway.

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  2. Noooo how could you be giving up the wonderful mod lifestyle whilst I (a fifteen year old girl who's started watching Quadrophenia and wanting a Lambretta and wearing mod dresses) introduce myself to it and try to bury myself in it. You just can't!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Helen, I couldn't give this up no matter how hard I tried. And who in the heck wants to try giving it up in the first place??

      Stick with it! You are at the perfect age to start off... Enjoy every new thing you learn about this whole culture!

      Delete
  3. Sounds like a wonderful building with spirits that could carry on the memories for generations of tenants --let's hope the next tenants can feed off that vibe!

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    Replies
    1. It really was a great building in a great neighborhood. Luckily, we're only about 4 blocks away so can still enjoy the shopping and restaurants.

      But last night my wife and I sat on our couch and though about how lonely our old apartment must be at the moment.

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  4. Replies
    1. Gah! It hurts just to think about it. I'm still keeping most of my clothes, but yeah, maybe it's time to start parting with the items that fit me 20 years ago. Sigh...

      Delete
    2. If you think you are done with a piece of mod clothing, i.e. never going to wear it again, there is nothing wrong then passing it along to the next generation who will really appreciate it. Some of this stuff is 50 years old and is much rarer than it was in the 1980s!

      Delete
  5. Lots of memories in the Mod Retirement Home, can't wait to make new memories in the new place. Hope you guys are settling in well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mrs Kay! Hopefully, we'll get a housewarming together soon!

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  6. A wise modernist once said, "less is more."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always say this about overdone lights on scooters. Maybe I should follow these words when it comes to 'stuff'...

      Delete
  7. Good luck on your downsizing endeavors, sir. You're a pretty cool man on your own terms to begin with and it's nice that you decided to follow your heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much! Honestly, I'm letting my wife make the first step toward downsizing... which means nothing's ever leavin'!

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  8. If you ever want to "downsize" that striped Madras jacket and it fits a size 40-42, please drop me a line at agent00soul_10012@yahoo.com

    ;)

    ReplyDelete