First Post: Sunday, February 13, 2022

No Subpar Ball analysis here. Regrets! Good song here, and more about it after the lede.

Back from Aspen now, and the only way to get past this 85°F weather here in La-La Land is to throw all the windows wide open and spin the ceiling fan at maximum power. The Big Cartel of ’murrikan Gridiron Throwball is having its ultimate game in this city in a couple of hours from now, and it makes little sense. This Throwball sport is supposedly an autumn/winter competition, with outdoor temps over 60°F not befitting the contests beyond October. Gridiron! Commerce!

Speaking of temps below 60°F, the weather in Aspen this past week was quite pleasant, nighttime lows in the teens, with daytime highs nearing 35-40°F mostly. The wind was nonexistent, and the snow held off. 

But the snow was firmly packed on the ground everywhere, and the Sorel boots were a Godsend, both for warmth and dryness. So too the idea of the skintight base layer insulating the skin. 

Learning how to ski was enjoyable. A little intimidation from the faster, more experienced skiers & snowboarders even on the green runs. Nevertheless, the turns and the stopping were becoming second nature after the end of the ninth hour of private instruction. The mild and pedestrian Panda Peak at Buttermilk became no big deal. 

Anyway, back to this song at the top of the post. We were sitting there outside at the Aspen Pie Company enjoying our — for that city — bargain-priced slice & beer. A nice thick square slice and a cold can of Coors. Then the song in the lede came on, and at first it was just another nondescript song for the apres ski crowd.

Then a word in the lyrics jumped out the speakers and deep into our ear canals: ‘FILIPINO’. So we kept listening. 

Did not do any Shazaming of the song, or asking one of the patrons or servers what the song was, but we had enough of the lyrics to be able to do a Duck Duck Go search on it this morning. The song is ‘Ordinary Guy’ by Toro y Moi. (Yep, the guy singing the song is half-Filipino.)

But, on close inspection, the lyrics of the song sum up the whole trip nicely. While we have had more than a few 1-percenter-adjacent experiences in our life, we still know our role:

I don’t drive a beautiful car
And I don’t own an elegant home
I don’t have thousands to spend
Or a seaside cottage for the weekend

I’m just an ordinary, ordinary guy
Afro-Filipino
Average sort of guy
That’s what I am
Ordinary man you left behind

Exclusive nightclubs are out of style with me
‘Cause I don’t associate with high society
I don’t hang around playboy millionaires
I’m just an ordinary guy you left behind

I’m just an ordinary, ordinary guy
Afro-Filipino
Average sort of guy
Ordinary, ordinary guy
Afro-Filipino
Average sort of guy
That’s what I am
Ordinary man you left behind

So while the whole ultra-elite vibe of Aspen — beauty, elegance, exclusivity, high society, playboy millionaires — went about its blithe and oblivious way, haughtily swirling around and not looking back, here was this song and its lyrics consoling us and our pizza and can of Coors at the Aspen Pie Company. 

Serendipity. If you let it into your life, you’ll know there’s a Yahweh / Allah / Buddha / Godhead out there hoping to touch you toward enlightenment. Really. 

F the algorithm.