All posts in Show Notes

Episode 41: Oh, That Was the Night We Podcast Outside

By Mickey on Leave a Comment

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, June 13 2007 (10:00 PM – 11:15 PM), at Joe’s Prime Time, Brownstown MI
    “The group is kicked outside, where we discuss Barometer Soup and make fun of Greg. Special guests: Schmoe’s kids and Elise. Background music by AC/DC.”

    No bikers keeping us out of the back room this week. Instead, it was a wedding rehearsal dinner. It was nice outside, except for the mosquitoes; so big thanks to Prime Time Gina for the citronella candles. Schmoe wanted enough to start a citronella bonfire; he took a liking to that name and wondered if he could fashion a drink for it — at the same time I was wondering if he was going to try steeping citronella in his next tequila concoction. (And thanks to Gina for also turning down the AC/DC, later in the episode.) Scott was unable to join us today, as he’d injured his knee last Friday, competing in the 2007 Shark Invitational.
    As mentioned, here’s Listener Sandy’s first-hand report of the Paris concert:

The trip to the concert today was great. As soon as the taxi dropped me off at the New Morning at 6pm for the 8pm concert, there was Utley and Greenidge walking on the sidewalk next to me. After getting in line (approx 50 at this time,) behind three guys from Chicago, we were exchanging pleasantries and all of a sudden Jimmy comes walking down the street on the way to what I think was a pre-party at the Best Western a few doors down, waving to all of us calling his name.
    After going in to the club, it reminded me of some dive bars that you find at MSU. Red walls, a small stage , a small pit area and bistro tables and chairs. While you were waiting for the concert all of the band members were walking back and forth thru the bar saying hi to everyone. I got a seat approx 20ft from the stage. Grass skirts and shark hats were everywhere.
    Jimmy and the entire Coral Reefer band comes out. He starts with Changes in Latitudes and it only gets better from there. He played all of the big 8 (fins, pirate,southern cross, etc.) He also played Artour Roche, petites enfants, pencil thin mustache and woman gone on caroline street. He ended the concert after the encore with He went to Paris. He kept saying he was playing songs that he’s wanted to play in Paris for 30yrs. He also said that this is not the last time he would be playing in Paris. (I’d go back!)
    They were video taping everyone at the concert…a dvd is probably to come. They taped everyone . they went in between rows, closeups , when you were walking in…
    The best of all … I got one of Jimmy’s guitar picks! It was a once in a lifetime experience. Classic Jimmy having fun.

    00:02 – according to FSGL.net, Greg’s nicknames include Oops, Gregular, Dr. Feelgood, Giggles, Veal Parmesan, Mack Daddy, DAMF, G.Love, Poison Ivy, Slingblade, Oh Shit, and Chicken Taco Guy
    03:59 – Schmoe’s aural double-take gets my vote as the highlight of the show
    04:32 – Wal-Mart’s 2007 Shareholders Meeting page. The news about Buffett playing there comes from Blogging Stocks.com (by way of BuffettWorld.com).
    11:10 – sorry Scott. That was just uncalled for.
    12:21 – Schmoe is teasing Greg because a search for 1995 setlists led Greg right to my own Buffett fan site, causing Greg to e-mail us and ask if we thought the guys in the page’s photo look like us.
    12:26 – and I’m teasing Mike over his belief, back in college, that the best way to study is to sleep with your text book under your pillow, where you can learn through “osmosis”
    12:51 – don’t listen too closely to the AC/DC songs; this section of the episode was heavily edited. But fear not, it ends at 19:00
    14:13 – the audio from Jimmy’s CompuServe upload is actually an edit. Here’s the complete “BADHABIT.WAV” sound file, plus some historical context:

    17:24 – We go into more detail on how I ruined “Jimmy Dreams” for Mike in Episode 32.
    17:59 – We seriously need to do a Buckeye Lake podcast, but until then here are Mike’s and my parody lyrics, for “Don’t Chu-Know” and “Remittance Man“, from August 5 1995.
    20:58 – here’s an excerpt from my journal for August 1995, describing Mike’s and my first listen of the Barometer Soup CD, at Dearborn’s Blockbuster Music, on Saturday, July 30 1995:

I didn’t see Mike’s car and I didn’t spot him inside when I got to the place. I parked on the side. As I walked around the front to enter I spotted someone I assumed was Mike already sitting at the circular counter in the center of the store. It still didn’t look like him, but the other two people I could see were definitely not him. As I went inside and approached I realized it was indeed Mike. He had shorts, a tank top, and a gray and black Caribbean Soul cap on. The girl manning the counter said something to me but I didn’t catch it; I even had her repeat it too. I think it might have been about my t-shirt. She probably recognized the radiation symbol but not what the shirt meant. [It was my red Simpsons Radioactive Man t-shirt, which I’d won in a Bongo Comics contest.] The girl asked if she could help me and I pointed to the CD in front of Mike and told her I’d come to see it, that I had weekend visitation rights. She promptly disappeared, replaced by some skinny tall nerdy guy. He asked if he could help me, I asked if he had another copy of the album but sadly they didn’t. Mike and I had to share.
    Mike told me the album was great, especially the opening title track. He touched a flat colored button on the panel in front of him and gave me the headphones. They were light, cheap, black Koss headphones. There was no bass whatsoever. We could’ve been hearing an AM broadcast on a tiny transistor radio. The song was okay but I wasn’t as impressed as Mike. I got so wrapped up in reading the liner notes that I hogged the headphones and almost heard all of the song. I gave Mike back the headphones and continued to read. He jumped around the track listing and we continued to switch shifts. The booklet was very attractive and certainly much nicer than I’d been led to believe by those Internet descriptions [at AOL’s Parrot Head Madness, Usenet’s alt.fan.jimmy-buffett, and the Buffett listserv]. Mike was pretty harsh about those reviewers too, saying what jerks they were and how they knew nothing. There was a sign on a stand directly in front of us bearing the cover of the album and the announcement that we could hear it in advance, starting Friday July 29, and then buy it on sale Tuesday August 1. It was nice to see MCA was actually promoting a Buffett album. Mike said it was a shame they didn’t allow drinking here; the counter and stools were very much like a bar, and it would be perfect to just have a margarita sitting there in front of us.
    Our panel had no kind of read out to tell us what tracks we were on so we pretty much had to guess when switching between tracks, consulting the lyrics to find out where we were. I have little recollection now of what songs I listened to. I do remember thinking “Don’t Chu-Know” was a standout which I instantly liked. I couldn’t believe this had only gotten passing grades when Buffett had performed it live during his spring tour. In order of appearance, but in no way the order I heard them: “Barometer Soup” was an instant favorite of Mike’s, but didn’t strike me as particularly special; “Barefoot Children” was a pretty obvious attempt at connecting at the young parents in the audience and I could understand why it hadn’t been received too well in the spring; we both thought it was pretty funny how “Bank of Bad Habits” sounded just as tinny now on these headphones as it sounded on our poor quality upload, there was no difference despite what we’d hoped; “Blue Heaven Rendezvous” sounded like “Pre-You” all over again, but at least was a better attempt; I remember hearing “Jimmy Dreams” but pretty much tuned it out as soon as Mike informed me, handing the headphones over again, that it was a slow one; I remember reading about the Jim Harrison/Legends of the Fall influence on “Lage Nom Ai” but don’t recall much about first hearing the song; “The Ballad of Skip Wiley” sounded like “Hey Bartender” to me: Mike thought the lyrics sounded like the explanatory tale which would begin a sitcom: “It’s ‘The Skip Wiley Show!”; “The Night I Painted the Sky” was one of the songs I desperately rushed to get to before we left — I didn’t hear much but did enjoy the lovely string introduction; Mike played “Mexico” for me and said sadly it wasn’t what he’d expected. He said he was uncertain about the horn parts, and that it might take some getting used to. Being unfamiliar with the original, and not knowing the extent Mike had been privately hoping Buffett would cover this song, the arrangement didn’t bother me. I thought it was catchy and likeable, and I told Mike I doubted it would take too long for him to get used to it.
    Perhaps I should take this opportunity to include Stu Gittelman’s review from many weeks ago, since it was much on our mind during our first listen:

Subject: Barometer Soup – Comments and Critique
Date: 12 Jul 1995 20:22:52 -0500
Well, my advance copy of Barometer Soup (I can’t wait to start calling it ‘BS’ in alt.fan) came today…so, it’s time for the King of the Grumpy Old Parrotheads to speak…my overall reaction: eeehhhh. I think this is certainly a much more *consistent* album than Fruitcakes (and somewhat better) overall. It at least has an overall texture to it that doesn’t leave you quite as schizoid as FC. It’s also certainly better than OTSTL, and, I guess, about the same as HW to me. All in all, it seems JB is trying to be the King of the Ballad on this one. That said, I’m not sure this album is that *good* either – but, after the last few, a step in the right direction. Good points summary: less produced, more Fingers Taylor, more downscale songs, fewer covers, consistent. Bad points summary: silly ranting on several tracks, it ain’t A-1-A a bit dull at times. As for the individual tracks: Barometer Soup – sets the tone pretty well: eehhh. Nothing to dislike, nothing really to like. The yuppies will like the part about escaping. Barefoot Children – given the “Buffet (sic) and Terrible Twos” thread going now on alt.fan, I’m sure this’ll become a favorite for a couple of weeks over there. A nice song, but not great. Bank of Bad Habits – I had high hopes for this song. Thought it might be a chance to have some fun. Which it was, at first. Then the crap about the seven deadly sins and the 8th deadly sin: PIZZA! Sheesh. Ruined a perfectly good song. Prediction: The pizza thing will make 5 .sig files in alt.fan w/in 1 week. Upbeat. Remittance Man – This is a good one. He put some thought into this one and it really shows. Downscale, good lyrics. Diamond as Big as the Ritz – I didn’t care for this one in concert, although it sounded better on disk. Again, not bad, not great. Blue Heaven Rendezvous – There’s a stinker on every album and this one is it. Combine his awful crooing on the Sinatra duet with an idiotic song like ‘Frenchman for the Night’ and you can get the picture. Brutal. Jimmy Dreams – WOW!!! This one blew me away. What an absolutely fantastic song. This is the best song he’s done in many years, IMHO. For the first time in a while, we’ve got an ‘honest’ song. Jimmy wrote this one for Jimmy and not for money. Far and away the best song on the album. Great lyrics. Lagie Nom Ai – We’ll need to find out what this means because I can see 20 posts a day about it. Upbeat song – definitely the successor in the Fruitcakes genre. Don’t You Know (Don Chu Kno) – I liked this one in concert and it still is a peppy tune. I thought it was pretty good until the end with this silly fade into the notes of Volcano and some White Man Rap. The killer part, for me, was when JB said “I can name that song in two notes” – and he wasn’t talking’ about God’s Own Drunk. Spoiled an enjoyable tune for me, but that comment speaks volumes about what’s happened to his music over the years. If you don’t know what I’m talking about here, you haven’t listened to You Had to be There lately. Ballad of Skip Wiley – I guess I need to read the Hiasson books to really understand this one, so I’ll pass on commentary. Decent music. The Night I Painted the Sky – another winner. Probaby the second best on the album. Quiet, but very evocative. Again, the downscale thing works well. Mexico – not being much of a James Taylor fan (I find him depressing), I was leery of this one and was pleasantly surpried by it. He sounds like he enjoys doing this one, whereas Uncle John’s Band sounded like he was going through the motions. Once again, the White Man Rap at the end was totally unecessary. I don’t know who told him this stuff was cute and funny, but it’s not. It’s silly.
———- Stu Gittelman

    We found out the store closes earlier than we expected. The employees started getting a little more active. Mike told me they must close at eleven. I had the headphones then so I quickly tried to hit every song I hadn’t heard, just for the sake of it. After we left, we hung out in front of the store for a while, by my car. Still talking about the album, Mike suggested getting a beer at Miller’s Bar, next door. I of course agreed.

    23:31 – no, I don’t have an actual background in musical theater. What I meant is that I have an interest in musical theater, stemming back to when I was a kid and my parents would play Broadway cast albums on Sunday afternoons.
    29:48 – the guys are enamored with Elise’s “fried gold” expression (among other things), but I heard it back in 2004 on the highly-recommended Spaced DVD.
    I took some photos during the postscript. You can see them here, here, and here.

      >  Download Episode 41

Episode 40: Power Steering Ballads

By Mickey on 2 Comments

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, June 6 2007 (10:00 PM – 11:30 PM), at Joe’s Prime Time, Brownstown MI
    “Greg takes Mike, Mickey, and Schmoe for a scenic drive through recent JB news, gets us lost while talking about tequila, and runs out of gas en route to the big finish; but at least an unanswered question from Episode 37 gets revealed. Special appearance by Elise.”

    04:19 – Rolling Stone interview (fourth story down)
    07:39 – article on the Buffetts’ DNA testing. (And not one mention of a baby daddy.)
    08:25 – for old times’ sake, the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon oracle
    08:49 – Greg made the mistake of admitting to us he does not have a NetFlix account, which to him means he’s stuck in the 90s
    09:16 – Margaritaville Tequila in Massachusetts
    12:32 – Elise had to wait on all the bikers in the back room, before we recorded. She told us they’d been nice, but there had been a lot of boob jokes.
    14:43 – by “big station wagon”, I of course meant this (specifically 0:48 into it)
    18:35 – Greg’s tally of Jimmy’s references to alcohol was first revealed in Episode 14
    18:47 – wait for it … I correct myself at 19:03
    22:14 – without trying to, without even remembering the need for it, I got Schmoe to fill in the backstory to something Scott mentioned at the end of Episode 37
    23:36 – not sure what CD Schmoe’s talking about as there’s no Cookie Monster in Elmopalooza, as far as I can tell
    25:38 – sounds to me like Schmoe says “pro shop” but the script says it’s really “approach shot”

      >  Download Episode 40

Episode 39: You Had Me At It Had To Be You There

By Mickey on Leave a Comment

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, May 30 2007 (10:00 PM – 12:00 AM), at Joe’s Prime Time, Brownstown MI
    “Schmoe and Mickey review You Had To Be There, Mike celebrates a birthday, Scott waits for his burger, Joe asks questions, Greg leaves early, Ashley serves us shots, DJ keeps checking his watch, and Elise tells a joke.”

    Breaking news: Mike is changing jobs and might not be able to podcast with us. Therefore, Schmoe wants to do as many shows as possible before the change; hence, our reviewing You Had To Be There before we were prepared for it. Need a YHTBT cheat sheet so you can play along? Try the one at Buffett News’s discography or the one at Buffett World’s.
    Remember when we said how nicely quiet Joe’s Prime Time was last week? That all changed this week. Evidently Joe installed a few more speakers — in our back room, and also behind us on the deck, blasting out in the empty woods beyond the bar; and when we tried to start podcasting, the noise was deafening. I have the feeling the speakers might have been newly installed because Joe wasn’t even sure how to disable them. He ended up forcibly yanking out the speaker wire for us! (You can hear Joe during the show, quizzing us on tour dates; but most of this was cut.)
    Scott’s missing food order was a Western burger. He believes it was the added barbecue sauce which threw everyone off. In the interest of ful disclosure, the neon “Eat at Joe’s” sign was not directly behind Scott, but would be visible through the windows in the doors. Mike’s birthday shots cost $19, for those keeping score. We mostly had Cabo Wabo Blanco while Scott asked for Sex on the Beach.
    The “hot girl”, we believe, was Staci Swartzenberg. [ Hi Staci! 🙂  ]   Greg also shared the story of how he tried to impress her back then by doing stunts on his bicycle, but ended up wiping out, on his face.
    One segment that arguably should have been included was when Mike’s observation (of how he got You Had To Be There a year before he ever saw Jimmy live) caused Schmoe to add that his first concert was in 1982. Scott’s was in 1986. And I’m fuzzy on my first concert, but I think it was 1984. I can’t remember if we stated this so explicitly before.
    One question I’d still like answered. If Son of a Son of a Sailor came out in March 1978 and You Had to Be There came from the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” tour of Summer 1978, in support of the new album, why is there only one song from SOAOAS on it? And one thing that struck me was how clean the sound is on CD. And how quietly attentive the audience is! I especially like the solo acoustic numbers, where you can actually tell Jimmy is looking down from the way his guitar’s sound-hole picks up his voice.
    For those not up on Internet memes, Schmoe’s “banter banter banter” accompaniment comes from the infamous “Badger Badger Badger” song. Unaware of the litigation over “God’s Own Drunk”? The COB,O FAQ has a brief synopsis (19th question down or fifth from the bottom).
    We didn’t get to say much about “Dixie Diner” (one of Greg’s stated favorites, as well as a reported favorite of Mike’s mom), due to everyone being so distracted once Elise arrived. One point of contention was whether this should be considered an instrumental, considering Fingers’s rhyming intro. Fingers recorded this for a solo album (1996’s Harpoon Man, I believe); but since that intro was not included there, maybe the Trivia Handbook (mentioned in Episode 29) was correct after all and the track should rightly be considered an instrumental
    Addendum: DJ has a problem with his portrayal in the Show Description. “The summary is incorrect,” he writes. “I do not wear a watch (hence I could not be checking it). I believe I had a mosquito bite on my wrist that was distracting me for some reason???”

      >  Download Episode 39

Episode 38: Searching for Our Lost Topic of Conversation

By Mickey on 3 Comments

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, May 23 2007 (9:30 PM – 11:30 PM), at Joe’s Prime Time, Brownstown MI
    “Discussion of the many covers of Margaritaville, as our second contest ends.”

    00:04 – “God’s Juice” refers to water, or in this case ice water. I am unaware of the derivation of this, but I have a hunch Roger Clyne is involved. Perhaps someone will enlighten us in the Comments.
    01:36 – my out of season “Feels Like Christmas” is a reference to Muppet Christmas Carol
    02:10 – the guys will probably be ragging on Schmoe’s dinner choices for a while. Schmoe has decided to sample all the entrees, instead of just sticking with burgers
    02:54 – it was Designated Driver, at RCPM’s Waterin’ Hole discussion board, who has a problem with our Fargo-ish accents link
    03:08 – did Scott just call us whores?
    05:04 – here’s the press release on the Biloxi casino. My reticence stems from uneasiness that Jimmy might be part of privatizing the post-Katrina coastline, which the New Orleans mayor had warned about. I was unaware however that this new casino replaces a previous casino at the same location
    05:23 – Buffett News has the transcript of Nadirah’s Time After Island Time interview
    10:04 – you can find our Pirate Speak translation at the right … or you can click here
    10:20 – I think Greg is confusing pirates and Vikings
    13:02 – in my defense, I couldn’t “read” the Excel file since I don’t have Excel
    14:04 – also in my defense. Our waitress, Ashley, dropped some change and, because of my lardassitude (and my hernia), it’s a lot easier to kneel to reach the floor than it is stoop over.
    15:15 – oops, I’m repeating myself. My “Margarineville” joke was already used in Episode 34!
    16:28 – you guys don’t need the story about Greg’s “wireless network”, right?
    18:41 – Scott’s requested Raven Symone link
    20:19 – Schmoe’s eBay woes were first mentioned in Episode 21
    26:16 – Marching Band version. Why not record your own?
    27:45 – “unshun”, of course, comes from the “Safety Training” episode of The Office
    29:16 – AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” provided by Joe’s Prime Time jukebox
    32:10 – Elise was vacationing in Florida, our waitress Tara had already clocked out, and the other waitress, Ashley, flat our refused to be recorded
    32:43 – it’s not over the top; it’s a hymn from St Looney Up the Cream Bun & Jam
    33:38 – Schmoe included some fine print in the script for the oil tycoon: “And did I mention I suck”

Listener Tom provided this information on some of his less recognizable album titles:

    Here’s an explanation to a few you had questions about:
    “Wireless” – This was a show I downloaded off the FTP sites when those were still running. It was from 1999, but that’s all I know about it right now.
    “Raven’s Tailgate” – This is a compilation a fellow Baltimore Raven’s Tailgater put together. It has some catchy tunes on it to get everyone ready for the game.
    “Treasure Box” – This is a compilation of rare tracks put together. It was available from the FTP site and a trading vine on BuffettNEws.com. This set is five CDs. It’s 105 rare/unreleased tracks.
    “Buffett Rarieties” – This is another compilation available on FTP. This was also available on the FTP sites and a vine on BuffettNews.com. This is only four CDs. It’s 58 rare/unreleased tracks.
    “Escape to Margaritaville” – Apparently, this is the same CD that was titled “Pitcher Perfect”. This is the promo CD that came out with Margaritaville Tequila. It has “Margaritaville” and “Tequila”. It’s a smaller CD that was attached to the bottle. I posted a picture of it on BuffettNews.com.

      >  Download Episode 38

Episode 37: The Roger Clyne Interview

By Mickey on Leave a Comment

Show Notes:
Recorded Sunday, May 6 2007 (5:00 PM – 9:00 PM), at Casa de Mike, Canton MI
    “Attack of the Clyne podcast! It’s trying to completely take over our Jimmy Buffett talk! …Thanks to all who helped set up the interview and thanks to Roger for being part of our show and for two great concerts.”

    Show opening recorded Thursday, May 3 2007 at Ferndale’s Magic Bag theater, using the same gear with which we record our podcast.
    For those keeping score, here’s Roger’s setlist for that night

Hello New Day
Counterclockwise
Banditos
Bury My Heart at the Trailer Park
Maybe We Should Fall in Love
Tell Yer Momma
Contraband
Wanted
World Ain’t Gone Crazy
¡Americano!
Mexico
Plenty
I Don’t Need Another Thrill
Hourglass
Wake Up Call
Leaky Little Boat
Junebug in July
Bottom of the Bay
Jack vs José
King of the Hill Theme
Noisy Head
Ándale
Goon Squad
Mekong
Green and Dumb
Down Together
Lemons

    Mike and Schmoe and Scott had a busy weekend, heading off to Chicago the following day for another RCPM show; and then, recording the phone interview on Sunday.
    It was Mike who got the ball rolling regarding the interview. He contacted Patrick Steven Patterson at Lotus Nile.com, back at the beginning of April, and was able to negotiate a twenty-minute phone interview. We had hoped to use the interview to promote Roger’s local appearance, but it didn’t work out in time. Mike happened to meet Roger before the concert (despite what I say in the post-show gabfest), bumping into him outside the rear of Magic Bag. Mike, once again wearing his classic “The Peacemakers” t-shirt (as seen here, from the previous year), introduced himself and we were delighted to hear Roger was not only aware of the upcoming interview but even remembered the time (4 PM CDT). He told us he’d be calling from the back of his tour bus, between his Minneapolis and Des Moines appearances.
    So that we could all participate, we used a phone service called Free Conference.com. This isn’t necessarily an endorsement since the results did not sound all that great. Using individual phones backfired on us, since a lot of echo and crosstalk got picked up. I also dialed in using Skype, and got better results that way; and the finished product is a blend between both recordings (plus plenty of tweaks and filters).
    Learn more about Circus Mexicus here. (The name Schmoe was trying to say is “Puerto Peñasco”.) And learn more about RCPM’s No More Beautiful World CD here. Scott’s songwriting question refers specifically to the title track from Honky Tonk Union and “Switchblade” from ¡Americano!. You can see the RCPM tour bus in our photo gallery. And as long as you’re looking up RCPM CDs, here’s the link for Sonoran Hope and Madness, originally released by Margaritaville Records. You can try meeting Roger at 3 Margaritas. And this is the Mexican Moonshine website, but there’s not much there yet.
    Not surprisingly, the other live track, “Lemons”, also stems from the May 3 show. You can hear Mike and Scott cheering at the beginning, over their upcoming Chicago show. Shurman was the opening act, and you can go to their website or visit them at MySpace. The performance here is heavily edited, for time reasons. (There’s also a performance of it in Episode 33.

      >  Download Episode 37

Episode 37B: Special Features Bonus Disc

Show Notes:
Recorded Sunday, May 6 2007 (5:00 PM – 9:00 PM), at Casa de Mike, Canton MI
    “The Roger Clyne Podcast Strikes Back, as the boys present some deleted scenes from Episode 37.”

      >  Download Episode 37B

Episode 36: Ready for Prime Time

By Mickey on 2 Comments

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, May 2 2007 (10:00 PM – 11:00 PM), at Joe’s Prime Time, Brownstown MI
    “We celebrate our first year anniversary by going back where we started: Big Al’s, now known as Joe’s Prime Time. Greg and Laurie join us to take a look at the start of the Bama Breeze tour and to announce our new contest. Special guests: Elise, DJ, and Joe himself.”

    Happy First Anniversary to Us! I couldn’t resist bringing out the old theme songs for the occasion. You could also consider this our first episode of Season 3. And it’s also our return to Big Al’s in Brownstown, now that golf season has resumed.
    Big Al’s is now Joe’s PrimeTime. We did a site recce the week before, wondering if the back room had been renovated, like the new owner had planned. We were a bit dismayed to find how loud the place was, and we wondered if we might have to find a new venue at which to record. Fortunately, things were much calmer and cooler tonight.
    02:18 – yes Gregular (aka Oops) is back. His mention of “bikers” is because every month our back room is stolen from us by a big group of scary and intimidating bikers, on the first Wednesday of the month. It coincided with our attempts to record tonight, too, but fortunately they vacated the back room by the time we were ready to record. Greg’s least popular Top Ten list was back in Episode 12 and the news about his house was in Episode 9
    04:58 – Jimmy gave shoutouts to Schmoe and me, but I forgot the shoutout to Scott. He sang “If I Had a Boat” (at the 4/28 Dallas show) just because Scott ragged on Lyle Lovett in the last episode.
    07:35 – we talked all about that during last week’s site recce, which, despite the music blasting through the bar, Scott apparently thought was being recorded for a show
    10:23 – just a couple days after Mike mentions the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurants, there’s news the chain might be closing. Could this be the fifth shoutout?
    13:16 – every time Scott mentions Heather I think he’s talking about Heather Dee Perry. But really he’s talking about Heather’s music blog
    13:18 – you might not be able to hear it, but Greg mentions how he’d been on a flight with the Beach Boys. They’d been in First Class, but they graciously came back to greet passengers and sign autographs.
    13:45 – Schmoe and I were too superstitious to say anything about the upcoming interview; but it’s safe to say, now, that the interview in question is in Episode 37
    14:47 – here’s BuffettNews’s information on Jimmy’s June 8th Paris show
    15:34 – I first learned of Mike’s uncharacteristic abhorrence of all things Amish back during our Caseville road trip. Ask him about it. It’s an eye-opener. And it’s difficult to answer Greg’s question since stats on Amish Internet usage are very hard to find. I think they use a proxy or something.
    16:08 – I was miffed when Elise brought me a Bud, but the recording clearly reveals I asked for a Bud and not a Bud Light. My mistake.
    17:04 – Heidi’s appendix scar photo can be found at the FSGL photo gallery [seventh picture down]
    17:31 – am I the only one hearing everyone say “euphenism” instead of “euphemism”?
    23:03 – why do I suddenly sound Canadian? I think it must be pirate residue
    24:22 – I forgot all about that Margaritaville Tequila promo CD until Schmoe mentioned it. Later that night, while editing the recording, I impulsiely gave eBay anothet shot. I’d been unable to get the CD when it first came out, but got to snap up a copy quite easily now. Schmoe got one too, the following day — despite his personal boycott against eBay (as discussed in Episode 21). But, thank you to Listeners Tom and Josh for offering to help out
    25:12 – did Laurie just say “a cherry between my bosoms”?!  Yes, she did.

    Hey! How many copies of “Margaritaville” do you own? Let us know, at podcast@northcoastcast.com, and you could win a WAOTNC t-shirt!

      >  Download Episode 36

Episode 35: Live at Zodiac Racquet Club

By Mickey on 3 Comments

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, April 18 2007 (10:00 PM – 11:00 PM), at Zodiac Racquet Club, Southgate MI
    “We spend our last night at Zodiac talking about the Live at Texas Stadium CD. Scott gets back pain, Schmoe writes a new pirate play, Mickey is blind as a bat, and Mike has a long drive.”

    We’re sorry about the delay in getting out this new episode. (We meant to record last week but our schedules would not allow it.) And now for the show notes, in a different format this time.
    07:28 – Eli Zaret, is a local sports reporter and announcer. He’s known for a voice so husky and gravelly it makes you wonder how he got so big in broadcasting.
    09:00 – the Season 1 Kids in the Hall skit is actually about the film Citizen Kane. Transcript here.
    10:17 – Listener Tom of Maryland points out BuffettNews has already posted the full setlist of the Texas Stadium show. CMT also has a setlist and review.
    16:44 – link to Amazon’s page for the Willis Alan Ramsey album; and you can read-along-with-Schmoe here
    21:44 – the reason Scott sounds so far away is, by this time, he was sitting on the floor, resting his back against the wall
    23:38 – “Heaven” is the name of this Uncle Kracker / Kid Rock / Paradime collaboration, off the CD Double Wide
    25:33 – this week’s pirate joke, perhaps from Pirate Jokes.net, turned out to be such a cluster it was assumed I would edit it down into some semblance of coherence. However, hearing the whole thing fall apart was too much fun. Even so, this final product is still slightly edited down (mostly to remove all the times everyone had to repeat my lines for me).
    27:09 – you can learn more about my afflication from the National Keratoconus Foundation or the Center for Keratoconus
    27:22 – I link to James Gunn’s links to the infamous David O Russell video. Gunn is himself a film director (Slither) and I found his comments on Russell’s behavior illuminating
    28:48 – Jason Alexander used the same joke in the finale of the third episode of NBC’s Thank God You’re Here, which aired Monday, April 16 (and not “last night”, as I implied)
    29:06 – my snotty response to Schmoe’s pirate joke is based on a David Letterman catchphrase
    29:54 – a boat being named the Seaward is from the Arrested Development episode “The One Where They Build a House” (and a boat being named C-Word is from the series finale “Development Arrested”)

      >  Download Episode 35

Episode 34: And We Wound Up Casting All Night

By Mickey on Leave a Comment

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, March 28 2007 (9:30 PM – 11:00 PM), at Zodiac Racquet Club, Southgate MI
    “Our album review is Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes—containing plenty of latitude changes itself, as we detour past class songs, our first CDs, Roger Clyne, broken iPods, hidden tracks, and pirate jokes. Guest appearance by Smooth Jazz 98.7.”

    Larry, proprietor of Zodiac Racquet Club, offered, on the Friday prior to our recording (our so-called “monthly” poker night), to set up a special and secluded spot for us this time. He assured us it would be quiet, but as you can tell it was not. I swear the Smooth Jazz sounds must be so constant the Zodiac staff have become immune. But, as Colonel Tigh would have pointed out, “It’s in the FRAKKING SHIP!”
    We were in a room neighboring the salon. Larry promised us a table and chairs, but these turned out to be a kind of end table and an assortment of bar stools and chair parts. Scott, in fact, reclined on a seatback resting on the floor, while I stood by the doorway. Behind me was the salon area, but about the only remaining fixture was a black sink. I was tempted to turn on the tap, for some aural evidence, but Mike warned me we had been told not to run the water. The sink was not connected anymore and turning it on would probably send water gushing into the racquet court below. This felt like even more of an incentive, but I restrained myself.
    And thus, with the stage set, let us proceed with the show notes:
    First off, the oft-mentioned Watering Hole.
    Are there any Parrotheads interested in old Snoop Dogg news?
    Read along with Schmoe! Here’s that Norbert Putnam article, from Mix Online.
    The Euphoria spelling was brought up in Episode 29.
    Greg also talked about WJR’s JP McCarthy playing “Margaritaville” in Episode 12.
    Schmoe’s predisposition for commas was also exhibited in Episode 32.

      >  Download Episode 34

Episode 33: The Bournemouth and District Amateur Clynecologists

By Mickey on 2 Comments

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, March 21 2007 (9:00 PM – 11:00 PM), at Zodiac Racquet Club, Southgate MI
    “The Roger Clyne podcast (which starts at 13:45) threatens to take over the whole episode. BW Dream Setlists and BN March Madness are also touched on; and Mike and Schmoe gripe about pop stars and iTunes, respectively. Guest appearances by Jennifer and Lee.”

    Our hideout was nowhere near as crowded as last time and we had no trouble setting up in our recording studio. The food was ravioli for Schmoe and pizza for the others. The drink was a pitcher of Amber Bock, bottles of Bud Light (for me), and water. My “She blushes” comment is a quote from the “Shindig” episode of Firefly.
    There was a lot more behind-the-scenes commentary about the BuffettNews.com Buffett News podcast. Here’s a blog page exclusive outtake.

    No official word on who the King Kong Trio was comprised of, but one disreputable site says it was Jimmy, Mike Utley, and Robert Greenidge. Submit your Dream Setlist at BuffettWorld. And follow the March Madness match-ups at BuffettNews. How ’bout that 300 imitation, eh? Bob-Lo was an old amusement park on an island in the Detroit River. The revised Schmoeonade recipe is accessible here.
    Buy No More Beautiful World direct from Roger Clyne’s website. Apparently, according to Mike, I’ll be seeing Roger Clyne on May 3 at the Magic Bag.
    I know we sound like a bunch of cranky old men, but, seriously, “Fergilicious” is pure shit.
    Hey, I just noticed Mike’s comment about living on Dix and Champaign! [Google Maps link]  Don’t know the story behind the quote but it should be fun to play back to his wife.
    Learn more about Mike’s homework answer at Club Trini.com. Brandi Carlile’s iTunes listing really is screwed up. I’m no expert but the races that lead to the America’s Cup take many months, so Scott and Schmoe can both be right.

Bank of Bad Habits ATM Card, from AOL’s Parrot Key

    And now, our product placement. Whet your Herr’s appetite at their official site. Of course, we’re more familiar with Herr’s as being a plot point in the “Grief Counseling” episode of The Office. Here’s the official site for Schmoe’s Laughing Cow cheese. And although, for your own well-being, this should not be construed as a commercial endorsement, you can learn more about Falstaff Beer bottle caps here.
    By the way, this week’s show title comes from “Silly Noises” track on Monty Python’s Previous Record.

      >  Download Episode 33

Episode 32: Podcast Si, Brevedad No

By Mickey on Leave a Comment

Show Notes:
Recorded Saturday, March 10 2007 (6:30 PM – 12:00 AM), at Casa de Schmoe, Dearborn MI
    “This week’s episode is dedicated to C.E. Smith.  Another Saturday Night podcast, although the music under review is Don’t Stop the Carnival. Mickey, Mike, and Schmoe are present, with Scott reporting in on video chat; and with Schmoe’s and Mike’s kids in the background playing basketball.”

    Did I get my Spanish right?
    We were all assembled on Wednesday yet we were still unable to record. The lounge at Zodiac was very full and, like we said during the episode, we were unable to reserve our usual recording studio room. Even if we’d chosen to record in the main lounge, it would’ve been much too loud for decent audio. Thus, we quickly scheduled a backup recording date for the following Saturday, at Schmoe’s domicile. It turned into a nice little party, with plenty of beer, tequila-based Schmoetails, and lots of food. In fact, you can hear me munching away on chips as the show begins. (I also change places many times, in the stereo spectrum, because I didn’t want to chew too closely to the microphones…and I also enjoyed moving around.) Scott was unable to attend in person, but managed to spend a little time with us through iChat.
    Why the talk about Daylight Saving Time? First because it’s a sham, but mainly because prepping and installing the patches for it ruined two days at work that week. (Fortunately the actual time change went smoothly.)
    The Feedburner page for BuffettNews.com’s Buffett news podcast can be found here or you can subscribe here in iTunes.
    While checking out the winner of Radio Margaritaville’s contest, Mike took a liking to this avatar in the BuffettNews discussion boards. It might interest Mike to know the owner of said avatar is described as a “grumpy old man”.
    Here’s the article proposing Jimmy Buffett’s material for Florida’s state song. This is Mike’s link to learn about Wicked. And by the way, it did not play the Fox Theatre when it was in Detroit; it was at the Masonic. And near the end of our tour dates discussion, it sounds like Schmoe is paraphrasing Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.
    By Scott’s request, we review Don’t Stop the Carnival this week. A quick overview of Herman Wouk’s work can be found in Wikipedia. The one thing that struck me most when reading Don’t Stop the Carnival was how episodic it was, with a hotelier’s worst-case-scenarios cropping up one after the other like a weekly sitcom. It almost reads like a precursor to Fawlty Towers. I was thus interested, when doing my research for the podcast, that TIME Magazine had noticed the same thing, in their review from 1965.
    We have a Best Buy promo CD called Calaloo but nothing from Target. (I seem to recall something from Target though, but maybe I didn’t get it since it had nothing unique or original on it.) Scott mentions “Cairo”, from the Best Buy CD, which is also available on Club Trini’s Margaritaville Cafe New Orleans: Late Night Live. And the character I was trying to remember from South Pacific is of course “Bloody Mary”.
    My iMix of Buffett covers can be found here [iTunes link].
    Where is Joe Merchant? was approximately six years old when DSTC came out. And by “revolutionize” I meant “revitalize”.
    Wikipedia has this to say about “calaloo” as a food. This episode’s excerpt of “Calaloo” comes from August 9 1997. (Jimmy mentions “Miami” because the preceding song was “Everybody’s Got a Cousin in Miami”.)
    “No DRALS” was the slogan of the 1991 Outposts tour.
    Hear the noises off to the left that sound like a basketball game? That’s Schmoe’s kids outside. My microphones picked it up with almost three-dimsional Holophonic™ quality — and it drives me crazy! (Later on you can hear Schmoe’s kids on the right side, playing video games.)
    In our defense, the connection between G.E. Smith and Jimmy was established in 1994, when they collaborated on “Six String Music”, hence our natural assumption that “C.E. Smith” was simply a misprint in the liner notes. And I don’t want to point fingers, but we’re not the only JB fan site to have made this mistake. I’m disappointed it took us so long to make the correction, that the “Kinja Rules” vocalist is not only really C.E. Smith but that he was also part of the original theatrical cast; but my PowerBook was being used for Scott’s audio which prevented me from doing any web searches while we recorded.
    Here’s my page on my 1064-step climb up Mt Saba.
    Norman Paperman needs H2O but some people actually want to ban it.
    Here’s more about the wandering comma in “God, Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. The noises Mike is making are an ode to the inimtable Victor Borge and his invention of Phonetic Punctuation. (There’s another cute clip of the routine here.)
    I promise to digitize my “Green Flash at Sunset” video but until then here’s a cruder copy (in RealVideo) plus some other images from that Antigua trip of mine.

DSTC Phone Card, from Best Buy

 

    Our big finish was blatantly stolen from comedian Todd Barry.

 

       Download Episode 32