Friday, September 15 2006

Episode 17: Wet Wet Wet

Show Notes:
Recorded Tuesday, September 12 2006, (11:00 PM - 12:30 AM) in Clarkston, MI
    “The North Coast boys, live in concert. Direct from the Pine Knob parking lot, where they tailgate and share their reactions to Jimmy’s first Michigan show in three years.”

    Listener Barbara from Florida commented back in June how she could not “wait for the video cast of the official tailgate party”.  We knew ahead of time that, sadly, she was destined for disappointment.  We were never ones for elaborate tailgating, realizing early on that it’s more fun to devote the time to drinking and eating than in putting up decorations or putting on costumes.  And the last couple times, most of us haven’t even taking the day off from work.  I did, but spent most of the day in front of my computer, reading the live blogs on Apple’s latest announcement.  I actually hated to leave at two, since I was not able yet to see what the new iPods looked like.  I got to Joe’s at three, and was quick to use his son’s laptop to check out the online Apple Store.  Greg showed up soon afterward, and after packing up Schmoe’s vehicle we repeated the start of our Caseville trip to go pick up Mike at work.
    There was a Meijer’s nearby so we were able to get some extra supplies.  We packed most of the Coronas and Twisted Teas and tequila ahead of time, and we were able to get some food and some ice now.  I also made sure to buy some backup batteries for the podcast we planned for after the concert.

Picking up Mike from work, at 4:10 PM

Greg gets supplies from Meijer’s.

A sure sign we’ve gotten old: a case of water instead of beer.

    I think we got to Pine Knob at five.  It had been drizzling all day, but plenty of people were still dedicatedly partying.  We had the cover of Schmoe’s canopy, which he uses for U of M tailgating.  I had planned on trolling the parking lot for interviews, but that changed as the rain increased.  Scott was tailgating separately, with his family, but he stopped by at around six.

Cruising the parking lot

The Parrothead and Body combo

They misspelled “Pine Knob”

Our massive tailgating setup

A neighbor

Another neighbor

Scott and his brother stop by

The redneck grass skirt?   Grass toga?  Grass overalls?

Let the drinking begin: Schmoe has the mix…

...and Greg has the tequila.  (Incidentally the guy behind Greg is the one who says “She’s a keeper” during the episode.)

    Joe and Greg had lawn tickets and needed to go into the venue early.  We packed up and headed in at around seven.  Right around then, the rain turned into a deluge and it did not let up for most of the rest of the night.  Everyone was soaked to the skin and the lawn was a muddy mess.  I met up with Greg and Joe outside the men’s room, and they accompanied me to the souvenir stand where I bought a baseball cap.  We then split up so they could go to the lawn and I could meet up with Mike in the pavilion.
    The rain did not let up till right around the same time the concert ended.  Mike and I found Greg and Joe more easily and quickly than expected; we all wound up together at the same men’s room.  We started recording the show as soon as we got back to Joe’s vehicle.  I tried to limit the episode to being about tonight’s concert, but a few of our stories were worth keeping.  Since they didn’t necessarily fit, I include them here as a Show Notes Page bonus.

And this is a the setlist we discuss:

Singin’ in the Rain / Hot Hot Hot
1. Brown Eyed Girl
2. License to Chill
3. Pencil Thin Mustache
4. It’s 5:00 Somewhere
5. Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit
6. Come Monday
7. Floridays
8. Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
9. Bama Breeze
10. Cheeseburger in Paradise
11. Why Don’t we Get Drunk
12. Party at the End of the World
13. One Particular Harbour
(No Intermission due to rain)
14. Peanut-Butter Conspiracy (with Mac & Fingers)
15. In the City
16. Knees of My Heart
17. Window on the World
18. Son of a Son of a Sailor (with Fingers)
19. Werewolves of London
20. Greenidge/Mayer solos - Desperation Samba (Halloween in Tijuana)
21. Dixie Chicken
22. Volcano
23. Margaritaville

First Encore:
24. Fins
25. Southern Cross

Second Encore:
26. A Pirate Looks at Forty (with Mac & Fingers)

      >  Download Episode 17

Friday, July 7 2006

Porch’d!

    Yesterday, right before I left for work, I caught a news story about an old man who’d accidentally crashed his car into someone’s porch.  It had happened in Dearborn and I waited to find out on what street it had taken place.  Two of our podcasters live in Dearborn and I was wondering if this might have occurred near them.  No one in the house was hurt, since the residents were on vacation.  The old man however is in serious condition.  The reporter never did give a street name.
    The following day, just a moment ago, I got an e-mail from Joe.

    Greg is on vacation.  Houghton Lake or wherever he goes.  He calls me at 12:30pm yesterday on my cell.  He had just found out that, within the hour, his 92-year-old neighbor across the street came out of his driveway and rammed into Greg’s porch and garage at 55 miles per hour!  He’s lucky nobody was home.  I guess the fire department had to demolish Greg’s property more to get this guy out.  He was at the hospital and there were questions he would live.  Greg asked me to check it all out, although he had been in touch with a well-informed neighbor anyway.
    I jogged over there.  The porch is screwed up - some cement is crumbled and his landscaping stones/bricks are messed up.  Some glass is still there and a bunch of oil-dry.  The garage door is gone.  Completely.  They have put this ply-wood up (the city does this I guess) with hinges so barely—and I mean BARELY—a car may be able to fit through perfectly.  I know he has a car in there.  It is all locked up and a key is either being sent to him or is with the neighbor.
    Crazy.  Fox 2 was supposedly there.  I recorded most of the early Fox 2 News for him.  This is really why Greg contacted me.  To record his house on TV.

    Never did I expect that the poor sap who’d had his house driven into would be someone I know!  And you know him too, in a way, since Greg has been a frequent contributor to this here podcast.  He can be heard in episodes 2, 3, 6, and 7.
    Incredible!
    Here’s what our NBC affiliate, WDIV, has to say:

    And here’s ABC affiliate WXYZ’s coverage:

An elderly man was hospitalized in serious condition, Thursday, after plowing his car into a neighbor’s Dearborn home.     According to police, the 89-year-old man was backing into his own garage when he hit the wall.  He then put the car into drive and possibly panicked, hitting the gas and driving across the street and into his neighbor’s porch.     The man, who was alone in the car, was taken to Henry Ford Hospital.  There was no one home at the neighbor’s house at the time of the accident.     Neighbor Darlene Fisceri said a year and a half ago the man accidentally backed over his wife as she was taking something out of the trunk and broke both her legs.     Police said the man does have a valid driver’s license.

    What’s also amazing is that the car came from across the street.  The video footage makes it look like the car came from next door, from the angle of the crash; but the car reportedly came up the driveway and then swerved at the last second.  You can barely see skidmarks on the driveway where the old man must have avoided hitting the garage.  The neighbor quoted in the WXYZ story added that after impact the driver was found on the floor of the car, with his legs under the steering wheel and his head under the glove compartment.  It’s unfortunate he may have sustained serious injuries in the accident, and we look forward to hearing of his improved recovery.  We’re also looking forward to hearing Greg’s side of the story.

Tuesday, June 20 2006

BONUS: 2006 Radio Ad

    I recorded WCSX (94.7 FM) for eight hours Sunday and Monday to catch this ad. It aired at 9:22 AM Monday, less than an hour before Pine Knob tickets went on sale.

    Yes, they’re still using audio from Feeding Frenzy.
    And here’s the ad from Sunday’s Detroit Free Press, from page 3F of the “Entertainment” section.

Second Free Press ad

Saturday, May 27 2006

Episode 2: Low Battery

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, May 24 2006, (9:30-11 PM) at Big Al’s in Gibraltar MI
    “Guests stars: Scott, Greg, Greg 2.0, and Patti.  Despite the tape trouble we still manage to talk too long about Buckeye Lake, Buffett parties of yesteryear, and, once again, Alpine Valley.”

    The audio editing was finished Thursday morning, but not soon enough to upload it before the work shifts started.  Thus these notes are actually posted in advance of the podcast itself.
    It’s official, our emcee is now Greg 2.0, who begins every show by ridiculing us.  Not only are the core three speaking tonight, but we have two guest stars: Sublymonal Greg and Alpine Valley Patti.  It was a marathon session, but a large chunk of it was lost due to battery problems.  Only the first five minutes of the podcast survive from the first tape; the remainder of the cast comes from the forty minutes recorded on the second tape.  (And that constant squeaking noise is a ceiling fan.)
    What was missed: Schmoe is still obsessed with a Nicolette Larson concert CD, sled dogs, and confusing “T” with “P”.  And boy was that cat story hilarious!  [By the way, as Scott could tell you, if he cared enough to record something, the version of “Margaritaville” from the Nicolette Larson tribute is not available separately in iTunes.]  Plus, Mickey did extensive research on concert tickets.  Unlike usual, he verified the research before announcing it on the cast, in an attempt to not be so prominently corrected in these show notes; but since it did not recorded, it ends up in the show notes anyway.
    DTE Music Theatre had a two page ad in Sunday’s Free Press (2F-3F) which finally announced tickets for Jimmy Buffett’s September 12 concert go on sale June 19.

First local ad for 2006 show

The Palacenet website states lawn tickets cost $36.50 and pavilion seats are a whopping one hundred dollars more!  This makes it the most expensive concert in DTE’s summer line-up.  In comparison, Bruce Springsteen is only $92.50; Ozzfest is 86.50; Counting Crows/Goo Goo Dolls are $67.50; John Fogerty/Willie Nelson are $59.50.  The second most expensive show at Pine Knob?  $128.50 for Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
    Not only is Buffett’s $136.50 the most expensive show at Pine Knob, the Pine Knob show is almost the most expensive stop of this first leg of Buffett’s summer tour.  All the other shows are $126.50, but for some reason Jimmy has to add ten bucks when crossing the Ohio border.  Maybe this surcharge is the reason he hasn’t performed here for a few years.  The most expensive stop is New York’s Jones Beach, where the top ticket price is $156.00.  (By comparison Crosby Stills Nash & Young’s top price is an incredible $251!  And this isn’t just some high-priced New York thing, since the John Fogerty/Willie Nelson show is the same $59.50, and the Counting Crows/Goo Goo Dolls show is actually cheaper: $49.50.)  Remember, these aren’t packages or broker prices; these are face value.
    A quick look at Ticketmaster reveals pavilion seats are still available for Alpine Valley.  Mickey was able to reserve three seats, together, in row U of section 201; but, oddly, Mike and Patti were not interested    During Mike’s Bocephus story Schmoe and Mickey are look at a sheet with “the year on the back”.  The sheet is a print-out of a ticket for a 1975 Portland (OR) show.  The King Kong Trio was a mini-tour in the mid-80s of Jimmy, Mike Utley, and Robert Greenidge.  Mickey’s “cartography classes” jest is another Arrested Development reference.  Take it from us, it was much funnier on TV.  We advertently reported Greg’s leg was amputated following Episode 0.5.  This was printed in error.  The movie music comes from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory—but you already knew that.  And the robot’s name is Ralph.
    Jimmy will be on the Today show Friday morning.  Mike and Schmoe will be Cedar Point-bound and will miss it.  At his last appearance, Jimmy asked Katie to request what song he would play; conventional wisdom says she’ll point at the middle of the back cover of Songs You Know By Heart and will choose “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.  And then, a week later, Jimmy’s tour kicks off in Atlanta.
    As per request, here’s your chance to help decide details of our special remote podcast…
    [And, once again, hats off to 24cast, from whom we get our best ideas.]

      >  Download Episode 2

Monday, May 15 2006

“The Ship Can’t Take It, Captain!”

    After struggling all weekend to get this page to show up properly in Internet Explorer (while it displayed without a problem in other browsers), all I can say is: