Ghost Light

[Gustav 6,430]

An actual ghost light.

 

One of the more intriguing, and one of the more recently forgotten, bands of my side of music (and apparently my #5 artist on Spotify last year) was called Turkuaz. They had nine members, put out one of my favorite albums ever, were also pretty solid live, and had some massive shit go down after their Halloween show in 2021 that led to seven of those members leaving the group in the middle of its tour. And that was that.

 

Bassist Taylor Shell was the only one of the group who didn't make what was apparently a decision to get away fast from its frontman, but everyone knew it was over, and the next year he'd committed full-time to the band Ghost Light (who I finally got around to looking at today, and they're not bad either). I tried looking them up and in turn learned what a ghost light is actually supposed to be--a lightbulb that's left to burn by itself on stage in an empty theatre. Maybe it's old and it hums a little. A bit creepy, right? Gives you that large, dark, liminal space type of feeling where you can almost sense the people who you feel are supposed to be there with you and you can only imagine the huge amounts of sights and sounds that have come across that space over the years.

 

In the wake of Vandelay's retirement, and impending VHL nonexistence, it makes you wonder just how many unique experiences have been had in the VHL. If Taro Tsujimoto covered most of my GM tenure in Davos, then Taro Tsujimoto also saw the great majority of my 25,890 messages in the Dynamo server. Taro, through me, also saw most of my behind-the-scenes trade talks during that time, stood up to the majority of a VHL decade's worth of bad jokes, moderated every single action in so many Town of Salem games, personally oversaw the development of a solid handful of solid VHLers, won MVP twice, learned how cricket works, was briefly a distinguished EFL member, ended up (I think) somewhere in the top 5 all-time in VHL genchat messages, and even mailed a bottle of Kranch across a country and a continent to @Beaviss (about 30 dollars I'll never get back, but a great story). And there's so much more that could be said from a personal standpoint. "Taro" also wrote thousands of words on the forum, influenced league policy, and was a friend where people needed it in ways that they hopefully appreciated quite a bit.

 

But every point I've made there only pertains to a minority of individuals in the VHL. I'm sure that, if you've been here a while, my path has crossed with yours in some meaningful way that pertains to a few of the things I mentioned there. I don't think there's anyone, though, that can connect with me on every single one of those points--maybe one or two of you come close. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you had no idea who I mean by Taro or even by Beaviss. Hidden behind those tables on that player page is a story that's now just an empty room with just a little bit visible to those with very little reason to be in it.

 

I set up the third ghost light of my time in the VHL yesterday when I retired Art Vandelay (Art Vandelay), and the rest of the lights are going to be shut off the second he gets knocked out of the playoffs (or somehow takes the team all the way). He'll stay at the back of some minds for a while. Maybe someone will click on LA's portal page and be surprised to see someone else in net. Maybe some noob will try to pick him in VHFL and get berated for it. And maybe there will be some LA-rebuild-related articles that contain phrases like "with the retirement of Vandelay" that I'll run into when I try to dig through all the times I wrote his name in game threads for some meaningful content related to his eventual Hall of Not Bad article. Some nerd who's watched a bit of Seinfeld might stop for a second in S150 when digging through the all-time stats spreadsheet, and that same nerd might write some stupid "let's look at the great goalie debacle of the early S90s" article that has me briefly mentioned with everyone else who's been putting up exactly the same numbers. Really, the only way I'll have my name remembered is if I use my VHLM executive power to create the Art Vandelay Award for Sportsmanship and Excellence or something.

 

I'm fully aware that every other player is a ghost light in their own right. I might know your player, but no one knows your experiences the way that you do. I also have no idea what you've been involved with or the stories you have to tell unless you choose to share that with me. Chances are that if you have an old player, no one is showing up to that performance on most days. The room sits empty and the bulb hums into space. And that's a little bit sad, but who knows--maybe the theatre is closed so the ghosts get their chance to come out and play. And maybe someone might come along, sneak in through a busted-up side door, and take some pictures that they can post on their not-really-legal urban exploration Instagram. Who knows indeed--the room will stay empty, but maybe the next VHL generation will stop scrolling and double tap.

[LucyXpher 1,433]

What a melancholy but beautiful piece.  Congrats on a great career with Vandelay! And here's to the next one