12 March 2010
The beer that didn’t make Milwaukee famous
The beer that made Milwaukee famous was Schlitz, but to be fair that was according to Schlitz themselves: As an aside, there’s no truth to the popular rumor that their beer caused digestive problems which led to the phrase “I’ve got the Schlitz today”. As you can see from the above advertisement it has been a few years since the famous sales slogan was popular, back in the days when it was not considered unusual to show men as the workers and women as the people who filled the refrigerator full of beer. I strongly recommend if you plan to…
29 September 2009
What’ll ya have?...
The Varsity sits on Atlanta’s Downtown Connector and is the World’s largest drive-in. The two acre site has space for 600 cars and 800 people. On football days 30,000 people visit the place. Some other statistics about the Varsity: They serve two miles of hot dogs... ...2,500 pounds of potatoes.... ...2,000 pounds of onions.... ....and 300 gallons of chili... EVERY DAY! Inside you get the feel that this is a big place - Counters as far as the eye can see (this picture was taken late on a Monday afternoon so it was quiet): The Varsity is now over 80…
23 July 2009
All Summer Long
Well not quite all Summer long, but for the early part of it (Late May to the end of June) our neighborhood, along with others all across the country, is taking part in “Summer League”. Summer League is an annual swimming competition between local neighborhoods and is open to children from 5 to 18. The neighborhoods are put into leagues based on past success and compete against each other every weekend, as well as train in the neighborhood pool during the week. The Cypresswood Sharks celebrated their 35th year of competition this year and moved up a division to compete…
If you drive through the desert across Northern Arizona, Nevada and California you might wonder why some places, such as Williams, Seligman, Kingman, Needles and Barstow came to be. After all, there’s literally nothing around them and they aren’t exactly the most hospitable places to live. A lot of places out in the desert were founded as mining towns. One example of a mining town is Oatman, Arizona. Here’s the Olive Oatman Restaurant & Saloon: Olive Oatman, by the way, was an Illinois woman who in 1851 was abducted at age 13 by Native Americans (“Red Indians” for those of…
29 June 2009
Arizona really was a gas
When Herman Rarebell wrote the lyrics to “Arizona” on the Scorpions classic 1982 album “Blackout” he was thinking of the wild times he had with drink, drugs and women while he was there. I’m not sure he spent much time in the desert in Northern Arizona as the chances of finding any of those three is extremely unlikely. Northern Arizona is full of interesting things. To start with Route 66, the famous “America’s Main Street’ that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles until the 1980s can still be found (in parts). One part goes from Kingman: to Seligman: Now there’s…
26 June 2009
I’ve been through the desert...
“...And the sky with no clouds The heat was hot and the ground was dry...” Dewey Bunnell was thinking of Arizona and New Mexico when he wrote “Horse With No Name” for America (the band not the country). However, he could have easily been referring to California or Nevada. Not long after you head east out of the concrete jungle of Los Angeles you are in the desert (the Mojave desert to be precise) with very few roads and even fewer cars. Like this: After a lonely few hours you’ll come to Baker, famous for having the World’s tallest thermometer…
24 June 2009
In and Out and about in LA
Contrary to popular belief and, according to In-N-Out fans, the drive through was invented well before Ray Crock persuaded the McDonald brothers to sell him the franchise rights to what was to become the most famous (and infamous) fast food place on Earth. In 1948 Harry Snyder started In-N-Out-Hamburgers in Baldwin Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. The restaurant featured the World’s first two way speakerphone to allow people to order from their car. Harry Snyder must have seen the future because today Los Angeles seems to be made entirely of roads that lead to other roads and, on rare…
10 June 2009
Back in NYC
“As I cuddled the porcupine He said I had none to blame, but me. Held my heart, deep in hair, Time to shave, shave it off, it off. No time for romantic escape, When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. no! Off we go...” When Peter Gabriel wrote the lyrics to track number 7 (or track 1 of side 2 on vinyl) of “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” - “Back In NYC” - he was must have been smoking “happy baccy” of some description. So like Genesis’ character Rael, in their last album with Peter Gabriel, I’m back…
07 June 2009
The Big Lick
You can always tell when you are in the country when you get into your hire car and turn on the radio. Someone is usually singing about his wife leaving him in a country and western style (for instance “She Ran Away With the Rodeo Clown”). The more “in the country” you are, the longer it takes to find a station that plays actual music (definition: actual music = rock and or roll). So after landing at Roanoke’s airport and getting my hire car it took seven changes of station before I heard “Let my Love Open the Door” by…
30 May 2009
Rocking at the House of Blues
The year was 1984. The Olympics took place in Los Angeles; Culture Club were singing Karma Chamelon and Prince was singing When Doves Cry; Beverly Hills Cop and Police Academy were on at the movies and the A-Team and Dallas were still on TV; Amadeus won the Oscar for best picture and Tina Turner won the Record of The Year Grammy for "What's Love Got To Do With It?"... In the world of real important music, Ronnie James Dio (he of Rainbow and Black Sabbath) was taking his solo band on tour to support his “Last in Line” album. As…