A Power Tool Is Not a Toy

Well, last night “Thirsty” Dave Hansen, having spoken to us between sets, dedicated his song “A Power Tool Is Not a Toy” to me and Scott Nybakken, the two guys in the audience at the Rodeo Bar who knew of him from our days in Rhode Island when he was with the novelty rock act Young Adults instead of the Western-swing band Western Caravan, as he was last night.

For reasons difficult to explain to outsiders, now I could die happy. I’d die happier if the movie A Complex World, featuring Young Adults and set in the Providence bar Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, were on DVD, though.

To ease the pain of its absence, I will attend a Brown alumni bar event this Thursday (between a free screening of the likely-abominable 10,000 B.C. and a Bobby Yang violin performance) and see if making jokes about the Ratty cafeteria feels like time travel, or at least impresses recent graduates. (Similarly, I wittily told Hansen that Providence seems to have moved the river six feet to the right a few years ago, which makes it all seem relevant again.)

ADDENDUM: Nope, I’m definitely obsolete and uncool — coincidentally overheard one of the interns at work today mocking a recent American Idol contestant for singing “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” which strikes her as the sort of laughable song one does in karaoke.  And indeed I often do.