45RPM: Jump

Where I match a song to a specific memory.

I was in eighth grade and had just discovered music the year before.  And when I say, “discovered music” I mean music that people were releasing just then, the music that would become “my” music.  Until mid-seventh grade, aside from an infatuation with Michael Jackson and a flirtation with Huey Lewis and the News, I preferred music from the oldies stations which were, at that time, playing music from the late 50s and early 60s.  But when I decided I did like modern music, I took to it like a duck to water and formed strong opinions about a lot of things.  I came home one day after school to find my brother watching this video, which at that point was about four years old.

“I just figured out who Eddie Van Halen is,” my twelve-year-old brother announced.
“He’s the lead singer.” I, the music expert announced.
“Nope.  That’s David Lee Roth.  Eddie Van Halen is the guitarist.”
Huh.  Outsmarted by an elementary school student, I filed that information away: “note to self, Van Halen is named for the guitarist, not the singer.”  Of course, by 1988, David Lee Roth wasn’t even the leader singer of Van Halen anymore.  But I would find that out on another day.

Gas Station

I love the look of this building, run down though it may be.  For the five-plus years I’ve lived in North Portland, this has been a rough-around-the-edges car repair place.  From the looks of the RV parked on the lot, I surmised that the owner lived on site.  The whole lot was always full of rusted out cars.
 
So imagine my surprise one day when I noticed that everything was gone.  What happened?  Did the owner die?  Run out of money?  Decide to see the world?  Retire?  Also, what happened to all those non-working cars?

There’s a for-rent sign, so maybe something new will appear there.  I doubt it though.  I see a tear-down in the cards for this lot.