Bruchal.com: Rich & Shannon’s Musings

It’s the first real storm of the season. Here’s a picture:

I don’t think I’ll be doing much outside today.

McSweeny’s has a piece called “Thirty-Nine Questions for Charlie Daniels Upon Hearing ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ for the First Time in 25 Years”:

…Because isn’t that totally amazing fiddle feedback thing the Devil plays (which sounds like Hendrix gone bluegrass) a hundred times better than that high-school-band piece-of-crap tune Johnny plays?

Read ‘em all here.

PBS will air “Bob Dylan: No Direction Home“, a film by Martin Scorsese in September:

The two-part film, which focuses on the singer-songwriter’s life and music from 1961-66, includes never-seen performance footage and interviews with artists and musicians whose lives intertwined with Dylan’s during that time. Dylan talks openly and extensively about this critical period in his career, detailing the journey from his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, to Greenwich Village, New York, where he became the center of a musical and cultural upheaval, the effects of which are still felt today.
[PBS - American Masters]

Ever been pissed at sombody for taking up mkore than one parking space? Well now there’s a web site just for you. I Park Like An Idiot has bumper stickers for sale (low tack, of course) to stick on the offending automobile, and pictures of actual idiots and their parked cars. You can upload your own pictures as well.

An article in the Sunday Styles section of today’s NY Times reports on the now-ubiquitous “euro” stickers (and other trinkets) signifying (to those in the know) that you vacation in some trendy exclusive place - “MV” for Martha’s Vineyard, “ACK” Nantucket, “BH” Bridgehampton and so on.

Why? - to show that you belong to an exclusive club of sorts. And if those not in the know don’t get it, all the better.

For some reason, I find this highly amusing, although I’m probably at least somewhat guilty of the same behavior. I suppose anyone who goes to an expensive or exclusive vacation spot and buys a t-shirt or trinket is.

I’ve certainly seen examples of this sort of behavior on the Vineyard. The most obvious is the SUV with beach stickers from the past half dozen years, all in a row on the back bumper. This signifies not only that the owner has a certain status, but also that (s)he’s no johnny-come-lately. This is important once a status icon like the Vineyard becomes mainstream. (Thanks Bill & Hillary!)

Of course, once a status icon does get out to the masses, it’s all over. Witness the now familiar Black Dog t-shirt:

“The Black Dog T-shirt is so beyond over,” said Alexandra Styron, a writer and longtime summer resident of the Vineyard. “It’s something you wouldn’t be caught dead in if you actually live here.” (The new cool Vineyard T-shirt these days, old island hands say, is from Aboveground Records and features the letter A and an asterisk, but you probably knew that.)
[NY Times]

I must confess to owning a bunch of Black Dog swag. In my defense though, most of it was aquired back when the BD still had at least some cachet. Of course, now that the Aboveground Records t-shirt had been declared “cool”, there will be a run on them and they will instantly become not cool.

Shannon and I went to Coney Island yesterday with Bill and Emily. The place is such an institution and neither of us had ever been, so of course we had to go. We figured there were a few things we had to do: First, ride the Cyclone - after 85 years, still considered one of the best in the world. Second, eat hot dogs at the original Nathan’s. Third, pizza for dinner at Totonnos, which is always in the running for best pizza in NYC.

Bill & Emily’s daughter Olivia was with us as well, and she, of course, spent lots of time on the kiddie rides. I’ll leave it to her to recount those events. and I’ll just stick to the stuff we old folks did.

We started out the day with an early lunch at Nathan’s

This is the original Nathan’s location and the place where they have the big hot dog eating contest every year. It had been a while since I’d had a Nathan’s hot dog, and I remembered reading somewhere that what set them apart was their casings and the “snap” they make when you bite into them. Turns out it’s true, they do have a “snap” when you bite into them. Really tasty as well.

First up in the ride department was the Wonder Wheel, which bills itself as the world’s tallest ferris wheel. It was pretty tame but offered a great view.

Next up was the flume ride. Shannon & I ended up in the front of an otherwise empty car, the result of which was a complete soaking for both of us. It was pretty hot out, so the soaking was actually quite welcome.

The Cyclone was the final ride of the day. Now, I haven’t been on a roller coaster in years, so I was a bit nervous getting on one of the top coasters in the world. A sign warned us to “secure all hats, glasses and wigs.” Since I don’t wear a wig, I tightened up my Yankees cap and got on. Right as the first drop started, my hat just flew off. “I lost my hat!” I yelled to Bill, showing my command of the completely obvious. Immediately, a voice from behind me yelled “I got your hat!” A kid in the car behind me had caught my hat on the way down. Whew. As far as the ride itself went - It was great! I’d definitely do it again. And now I can say that I’ve ridden the Cyclone.

After all this, we needed some dinner. So we headed off to the original location of Totonno’s, which was pretty out of the way. If you didn’t know where it was, you’d never find it. “Only God Makes Better Pizza” says the Zagat survey, so we were expecting some really good pizza.

As always, the pizza was measured by how it stacks up to Pepe’s Pizza in New Haven. Totonno’s is a somewhat similar style - thin crispy crust, fresh mozzarella, coal fired oven. The result was some fine pizza, although I don’t think it quite tops Pepe’s. Totonno’s crust, while nice and crispy and having the requsite bit of char, was a bit soggy in spots. The cheese was fresh, but less “done” than Pepe’s, which may be a matter of personal preference.

That pretty much covers the major events of the day. We pretty much fell asleep on the train ride home.

Check out our photo gallery. for a bunch more pics.

Can you hear me? Way out there in the cheap seats? Ok, good. I guess it’s working. I’d like to thank the Academy, the fans, and my parents, oh and of course, my agent…Oops! wrong venue! Can you tell I’m a fledgling blogger and a frustrated musician? Anyway, now that it’s my dime and I’ve got your attention, I want to mention a TV show (a reality show, of course…is there anything else?) that really gets to me. I think it’s called “Love is in the Heir” or something catchy like that. The focus is on this princess whose dream it is to get a record deal in Nashville. She writes her own songs and plays the guitar and is an attractive woman, but she is not very talented. The episode I just watched showed her making a video for one of her songs. Ugh! Why doesn’t someone tell her she’s embarrassing herself? I think the fact that she is a princess opened doors for her that wouldn’t be opened otherwise. As someone who has similar dreams myself, I can understand how important the dream is, and I know how difficult and unkind the music business can be, but selfish little old me feels like why can’t I have a shot? The sad truth is, the older I get, the further away that dream gets. I know what the odds are, but what would it take for the right person to hear my stuff? The chances, I fear, are slim to none, realistically. But that won’t keep me from playing and singing any chance I get. Now, if I could only get my songwriting back on track…and a booking agent…And for the princess, well, I hope she doesn’t read this, but if she does, she should know that I wish her luck and think she seems like a really nice person (as much as one could glean from a half-hour TV show), just a little misguided.