SECRET OKTOBER

Tis that time of year again!

Last year at this time your humble blogger was going through a li’l bout of the sadz over what I saw as the sorry state of things, and I can’t say that things are much better this year, especially since I just had to spend a fortune to replace my commuter car. I am in higher spirits, though; perhaps I’ve made peace with the chaos, or perhaps we just ain’t seen nothing yet and I’ve elected to enjoy life while there is still food in the grocery stores. So, welcome to my favorite time of the year, and the beginning of the fall racing season at Drag City!

The bad news is that racing will not commence until late in the evening on Saturday October 1^st due to my having to get some work done during the day. The good news is that the staff at the track is busy in the paddock helping the drivers prepare for that first evening brawl by shuffling some competitors around the Muscle Car fleet and making room for some newcomers! “Freestyle” Ferguson and his big-block ’67 Corvette “Ko-Motion” and “Earthquake” Eisenberg and his ’41 Willys “US Customs” are sitting it out this season for full rebuilds, while rotating in are Grant “Green Hell” Grennell with his ’68 Firebird 400 “Valedictory” and Joe “Honey Badger” Haddon with his ’74 Pro-Street Chevy Vega “Plum Fizz.” This season will also see only the second runs of other relative newcomers to the pack, including Cletus “Catfish” Carter in the ’64 Dodge 330 Hemi “Boneshaker” and Monte “Jackhammer” Jackson in the black ’71 Buick GS-X “Dark Horse.” The competition is going to be fiercer than ever!

An excerpt from one of my many unpublished novels, “The Terror of Darktone Abbey” from 1990, described October’s arrival thus:

“When the rain ceases, and the soft purple-blue wind begins to whisk its way around the plume colored trees, those brightly colored leaves flutter around in small whirlpools, making scratching noises against the ground, crunching beneath feet as they settle in yards. The trees begin to go bare, and the grass begins to resemble hay. Something changes about the land as well; the ground-not only the soil of the woods and forests but even the streets and alleys of the city-are covered with a tangible look of black along with an intangible hint of orange and yellow. The air abounds with the scents of fresh crunchy red apples, warm pies, crackling seeds, cooking oil, salt, and chocolate. There, too, are the faintly musty odors of wet asphalt, rotting wood, and rusty farm tools.”

Hyperbolic? Well, maybe that’s why it’s unpublished, but I still see the same transformation in my aging eyes at this time of year! At right is my original picture sleeve US (Capitol label) release of “Union of the Snake” by Duran Duran, which I’ve owned since it was released in October of 1983 shortly before the band’s superb 3^rd album “Seven And The Ragged Tiger.” Probably most people the world over have heard this song owing to its being a world-wide mega-hit, but the same cannot be said of the single’s mysterious B-side, a non-album cut called “Secret Oktober.” I well remember flipping the record over and hearing it for the first time at the age of 12; I was more intrigued by this short, slow ballad than by the A-side cut, due primarily to its melancholy minor-key pace and its mysterious and impenetrable lyrics. Clearly I’m not the only one: through the years it seems to have become something of a “fan favorite”, and over the last decade or so the band has taken to playing it live, something they rarely did “back in the day.” Yet, even today, they seem determined not to reveal its secrets…and that’s fine by me! For years I’ve had a personal tradition of playing this song at least once every October 1, and where possible I try to play it from this original vinyl record.

Now admittedly, this slow, atmospheric track is not a “racing song,” but there will be plenty of racing music in the tournaments to come; now, in the early hours of October 1, the track is quiet while the drivers tune their cars and contemplate their moves. As for your humble blogger: I’m throwing this post up in the morning before I leave for work, but I have to make time to fire up the old turntable and spin this classic once before I head over the mountain to comtemplate my own moves! When I return this evening, the action begins!

Stay tuned for updates and track reports as we kick off the fall racing season with the “SECRET OKTOBER” series of events!

Wise on a birthday party in a world full of surprising fireworks….and sudden silence

Shhh…
Lying on a strangers bed, the new day breaks like a speeding train Or an old friend, ever expected but never knocking
Holding your own in a battered car, all night parties, cocktail bars,
And smile when the butterfly escapes the killing jar

Sure eyes awake before the dancing is over, wise or naked in Secret Oktober

Freefall on a windy morning shore, nothing but a fading track of footsteps could prove that you’d ever been there
Spoken on a cotton cloud, like the sound of gunshot taken by the wind
And lost in distant thunder

Racing on a shining plain, tomorrow you’ll be content to watch as the lightning plays along the wires and you’ll wonder

Sure eyes awake before the dancing is over, wise or naked in Secret Oktober