In the fall of 1967, the building that was at the time called the Civic Center in Pittsburgh hosted its first hockey game. The combatants that night were the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens. Over four decades later, on the night of the last hockey game to be played in that building, the same teams faced off against each other. Montreal won both games, in a nice piece of historical symmetry. In winning 5-2 last night, they eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions and moved on to the next round against either Philadelphia or Boston, whichever team triumphs tomorrow night. Montreal is playing the part of the giant slayer this year. They barely squeaked into the playoffs at the twelfth hour, and now they’re toppling teams left and right.
I was in that building once, back in August 1992. I was in Pittsburgh for a scientific conference and we had a day off in the middle. We were returning to the city after a trip out to Falling Water, the Frank Lloyd Wright house built over a waterfall, when we heard that Eric Clapton had a concert that evening. We went straight to the arena and got tickets. The seats were interesting, sort of press box jump seats at the edge of a railing overlooking the stage. Excellent concert, as I recall. The only time I’ve ever seen Clapton. Ray Cooper, the percussionist who often plays with Elton John, was with him that night.
I think I figured out one of the problems with Happy Town. Laura Palmer’s murder affected everyone in town in Twin Peaks. The grisley murder that disrupts the status quo at the beginning of the first episode of Happy Town doesn’t have the same resonance. Most people in town are going about their normal affairs as if nothing of consequence has happened. The acting chief has to work on the case (which he solved in the second episode, so no ongoing crisis there), of course, but it’s not occupying people’s minds like it should. There’s lots of other drama going on in town, but the real status quo shifter didn’t happen until the end of last night’s episode, with a mysterious disappearance. They’re pushing us really hard to believe that it is the Sam Neill/Leland Gaunt character who is responsible, which means it probably isn’t. At least, I hope it isn’t, otherwise what’s the point?
I was oblivious until recently to the series Sons of Anarchy. I probably heard the title bandied around, but I had no idea what it was about. I picked up the first season and started watching it last night. Cool show. Ron Perlman is the leader of a group of bikers who run everything illicit that happens in a small town called Charming in California. The gang is made up of a motley crew, including his stepson, whose mother (Katey Sagal) is the den mother. Her teeth are a lot sharper than you expect them to be when you first meet her. There’s another father/son pair in the group, too. The father in this case smokes copious pot and wears a nasal cannula to get oxygen. At the beginning of the series, a rival group has just stolen a bunch of weapons and burned down their warehouse, which puts a serious dent in business. There are several rival gangs, mostly divided along racial lines. The focal character is Jax, Sagal’s son and the son of the group’s founder. Jax recently found a manuscript written by his father that explores his thoughts about how the Sons of Anarchy have gone astray from his original intent. Jax’s mother and Perlman’s character are heavily invested in making sure that Jax remains strong and lethal. Jax is conflicted in part because his junkie ex-wife just delivered (prematurely) their son, a boy who has congenital and drug-related defects. The town cops are on the take–but not all of them. Fascinating dynamics. I look forward to catching up with the two seasons before season three begins in September.
