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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Currently Listening
The Doobie Brothers - Rockin Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert
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Old School Cruisin'

Finally finished. 1967 Montgomery Wards Riverside 125cc.
Totally restored by my son Keenan and I. Made by
Benelli and sold by Wards this reminded me of what
the cool guys rode in the neighborhood when I was
younger. They wore jeans, white tee shirts, smoked,
rode through old people's yards and picked on younger kids.
How cool is that?

Pre-restoration, just like I bought it. Still pretty sweet.

Top speed: 58mph. Doesn't idle great. Downshifts
kinda funny. Cool factor: 9.5

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Currently Listening
Centerfield
By John Fogerty
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MY FAVORITE BASEBALL PLAYER

Now this is a beautiful sight. Whatta ball park. Whatta ballplayer.

Good swing. Making some contact.

Here comes the ball to third....

Fields it clean and sets up....

And throws him out.

#15. Keenie Boy. I am proud of you.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Currently Listening
If
By Bread
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LADY KILLA'S



        PROM NIGHT 1980 with my brother Terry
      (no Dumb and Dumber jokes please)

So last Saturday I was out and about in the late afternoon and had an early supper with my Dad, my son Keenie and my buddy John. We were at Chili's and we noticed kids coming in dressed in tuxedo's and prom dresses. Decked to the 9's. My first thought was, "Dude, I would so totally get BBQ sauce or something on my tux or worse yet, her dress". Big spenders huh? Chili's. After that Keenie and I went to Best Buy to purchase a gift. I saw a couple dressed for the prom coming out of Best Buy. ????? What? I can see wanting to be seen in your getup and all but that is ridiculous.

    Ok, to use a popular term (and for lacking a better one), Back In The Day we used to do it right at the prom. Pick the date up, get a FEW pictures with Polaroid's and Kodak Instamatic's (if Dad had the flash cubes handy) and go straight to the prom which was mostly the same as other school dances (girls talking to girls and guys hanging with guys) except this one cost you quite a bit more. So you danced a few slow dances (to songs like Always & Forever, Ice Castles and Muskrat Love) while the show-off's and idiots broke it down on the dance floor to more current songs by the Bay City Rollers, Earth, Wind & Fire and KC & The Sunshine Band. No guys with any amount of coolness did. We leaned back and let the chicks dance with each other and complained about how much the tight collars and bow-tie's were killing our necks. And how gay those shiny shoes were. Our dates had told us what color to wear (to match their dress) and our mom's had picked out all flowers and we all snickered at the word "nosegay" which is what they called the little floral arrangement deal. We were ready to blow the joint anyway before the King and Queen were announced, which was WAY too important for some people. (Name the king and queen of your senior prom...see?). After prom they turned on all the lights in the school and you could see how cheesy all the decorations were but it was still kinda cool somehow. The girls took the little souvie's from the tables for God knows what reason and we headed for the cars. We had previously made reservations at places like Mike's Little Italy, The Tally-Ho and The King's Table. Fancy places that smelled like smoke and served appetizers. An unknown delight to most of us who rarely ever ate out. We would try escargot (which tasted like charcoal) and stuffed mushrooms as they were the most exotic dishes you could get. The guys would get a steak in the Hunter's Cut which was like a 20 ounce slab of meat lresembling something from the Flintstone's. The girls would barely eat anything and we kept thinking (and sometimes saying) "Dang, she should have just gotten a salad. That is costing me $6.95 for her to look at it." We would spring for dessert and the whole she-bang would set us back maybe $22 which as extravagant in the days of the $1.72 minimum wage. We never tipped of course and left with our bellies full and our wallets thin. A good time was had by all. We always went in small groups of maybe 3 couples and drove separately in our own cars while we listened to Loverboy and The Cars on cassette via our Pioneer Supertuner stereo's with Jenson Triaxle II speakers. Back to someone's house for a little after-prom get together where we all sat around in our good clothes and looked at each other. No VCR's or movies or anything. If you were lucky to be somewhere where they had a pool table the guys could rack em up while the girls talked until it was near curfew time, which was normally extended for this special event. Home and off with the monkey suit (which you wore for church the next day to get your full money's worth) and that was that. You never saw the pictures the parents took until years later. You fretted briefly about the money you spent and hoped you got your deposit back on your tux. Prom night. Magical? Naah, but fun...sure. I think that maybe girls remember it differently than that, but any man around 40 will totally recall it like I do. Nosegay. That still kills me.

Here are a few more pictures from that era:

         School ID (Peter Frampton stage....)

         Senior Picture 1982

Monday, April 07, 2008

Currently Reading
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
By Dr. Suess
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Who is the King Of Fishing?


          My first catch

   My second catch

Dad's first catch

Dad's second catch

So......you tell me....who is the Fishing King?