Bostonist: National Public Mystery Solver

jon

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 14:14:12 -0500

Ms. Lime, good catch and update. I did miss that Globe Sunday story back in May. I think Stephanie Vosk has every right to be pissed off after I read her story. (btw: your link is bad, I looked it up on lexisnexis). Last couple of times I was at Fenway they didn't do God Bless America, it was all root-root-root-for the Red Sox in a rendition of take me out to the ballgame.

Rose's Lime

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:50:18 -0500

Caught the story and it sounded like a re-tread of the Globe story from back in May. Not quite news. I thought Orleans was famous for her research. If I were Stephanie Vosk, I'd be wicked pissed off. I've always been amazed that nobody's made the connection between the song's popularity and the popularity of Beautiful Girls, which came out two years before they started playing it at Fenway and was in heavy rotation on cable right around 1998 when "Sweet Caroline" made it into the starting lineup. Also, while I'm in rant mode, can we drop "God Bless America" from the seventh inning stretch? It's not a good song. It's not our national anthem. You don't have to take your cap off. What is it for? Is it for 9/11? Is it for the War on Terrorism? Is it for the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism? Why? Why? Why? This is a bigger mystery to me. Write about that Susan Orleans.

Katharine

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 21:39:12 -0500

Susan Orlean is actually a long-time Boston expert. She used to live around here and write for the phoenix and had a column in the Boston Globe in the eighties. She even published a compilation of stuff called "Red Sox and Bluefish and other things that make New England New England" in '87. It's out of print, though, and if you can find a copy for under fifty dollars I'll give you my firstborn...

honey bunny

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:01:40 -0500

man, i've got a soft spot for neil. and the sox, of course. i'd be at fenway in a sec if neil was to play there. but please, don't tell anyone. i can't risk losing my street cred, ok?