The Players Tried For A Forward Pass

I recently blogged about deciding to severely limit my television consumption. Scottish Conan Guy and nothing else, etc. Well, I may have made that decision too hastily.

It's almost football season. I'll be watching the Steelers, too.

I also need to see if that American Pickers episode with the Lionel State Set is available on demand. I wanted to see that so bad.

Get Yourself An Egg And Beat It

As the joke is typically set up, the only two words in the English language that end in -gry are hungry and angry.

I am certain that this is not a coincidence.

I'd Like To Be Under The Sea

Eight Deadly Etsycraft Legs - Back Of The Cereal Box

Drew, you should help out Stuff Hipsters Hate for a while.

Tick Tick Tick Tick Time You Take It

It occurs to me that some of the music I listen to is... extreme. Here is a tiptoe through that minefield of what I like to call 'Yikes' along with some warnings as to the details.

Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill
WARNING: This song contains
Occasional Shoutiness
Non-traditional Romance

Xtreem Attitude

Illegal Tender - Louis XIV
WARNING: This song contains
Severe Sleaze
Extreme Innuendo
Morally Problematic Amusement

Hang Wire - The Pixies
WARNING: This song contains
Occasional Shoutiness
Kinda Dark Lyrics

Kinda Dark Everything Else

Tick - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
WARNING: This song contains
Occasional Shoutiness
Orgasmic Rendition (or, they don't call her Karen O for nothing)
The Word 'Shit'
Caffeine Overdose

Abra Cadaver - The Hives
WARNING: This song contains
Really Fast Punk Music
Occasional Shoutiness
Alice Cooper Addiction

Other People's Tobacco Use

 Last Caress - The Misfits
WARNING: This song contains
Alice Cooper Addiction
Such Violence!
Unwarranted Self-Importance
Fun With Death

Bandages - Hot Hot Heat
WARNING: This song contains
Occasional Shoutiness
Uncontrolled Exuberance
Caffeine Overdose

Springing Leaks - Algernon Cadwallader
WARNING: This song contains
Occasional Shoutiness
Unintelligible Meanness

Hot Freaks - Guided By Voices
WARNING: This song contains
Extreme Innuendo
Occasional Shoutiness
Robert Pollard

One Way Ticket - The Darkness
WARNING: This song contains
Nasal Snowblinding

80's Hair

So, yeah. Wow. I mean, dang. Yeegh.

We've Got An Off-Schedule Train Coming Two Miles Out

So we're up at my grandfather's having dinner. Meatloaf, as I recall. I ask for the salt and pepper. I'm looking at this pepper shaker, and something stands out.

I'm into trains, right? You see the stylized letter 'P' in the above photo? This resembles something to me.

Courtesy George Elwood's Fallen Flags

Is it just me, or is there a resemblance between the stylized letter on the shaker and the 'P' in the Penn Central logo as adorns U25B 2568 in the above photo? Railfans are everywhere, and I am very intrigued by the possibility that the pepper shaker was designed by someone with more than a passing interest in trains.

If You Wanna Run Cool, You've Got To Run On Heavy Heavy Fuel

Ugh. Tried to create the 'Narrow-gauge Boilermaker' at Sam's party last night, using High Life and Kahlua. Now I understand why the narrow gauge lines disappeared as quickly as they were built.

What a hangover. No more liquor for me.

I'd Dive On The Bottom, Baby I'd Never Come Up

I like beer:
Miller High Life, Iron City, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are my cheap favorites, while Yuengling and Duquesne are medium-color local favorites of mine. Straub has met with approval. If I'm drinking Mexican beer, I'll get Sol. Corona is okay. Dos Equis is good, Negra Modelo is better (still waiting to try Tecate, but I hear it's like PBR en espanol). Pale lagers I'ven't had in a while but like include Yuengling Premium and Penn Gold. Anything from Penn Brewery or Erie Brewing Company is good by me.

I also like hard liquor, but not so much:
I'll take a shot of Maker's Mark with a beer every now and again, and Bailey's is okay by me. Peppermint schnapps and Hershey's syrup make an interesting pair, too. But that's about it. The reason I'm not a big drinker of spirits is the time I overdid it on said spirits.Only time I ever threw up while drinking, I'm simultaneously proud and ashamed to say.

Wine and other:
Woodchuck and Strongbow hard ciders are good too, but I like Woodchuck better. I'm not much into wine. Fuck non-alcoholic stuff. And I'm not a fan of mixed drinks of any kind, but my pal Matt swears by margaritas and one of these days I might just not be driving to the bar...

Snortin' Whiskey And Drinkin' Cocaine

Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knockin'

British artist Dave Edmunds is best remembered today as a 70's rocker very interested in 50's rock and roll and blues. His main claim to fame is his solo single 'I Hear You Knockin', a cover of a Smiley Lewis blues tune. After a chain of production credits for notable pub-rock artists Brinsley Schwarz and Ducks Deluxe, Edmunds subsequently formed the band Rockpile (commonly credited as 'Dave Edmunds and Rockpile) with Nick Lowe in 1976. 

Up - Just Like An Aborigine

After the departure of the MC5 from the Ann Arbor, Michigan commune of John Sinclair, the protopunk band Up became the frontspiece for Sinclair's White Panther Party and its radical politics. With a stripped-down, hard-edged and aggressive sound, the band went unnoticed as the like-minded MC5 and Stooges were signed to Elektra and Up was not. Frustratingly, Up was the opening act at a show double-billed to the Stooges and the MC5, which was the performance that convinced Elektra to sign the two pioneering punk bands. The band split in 1973.

Bob Welch - Ebony Eyes

Bob Welch first rose to fame as rhythm guitarist for Fleetwood Mac for four albums during the years 1970-1975. Upon leaving after difficult tours and legal struggles, he turned to a solo career, releasing 'Ebony Eyes' in 1977 along with its album, French Kiss. Later solo albums in the 80's met with decreasing success, and sadly, in June of 2012 Welch committed suicide after an ineffectual back surgery.

Pat Travers Band - Snortin' Whiskey

Another Canadian, Pat Travers caught the attention of fellow Canuck and rockabilly artist Ronnie Hawkins, who invited him to play with Hawkins' outfit. After an appearance on German television by an early incarnation of Travers' own group, the band released one each studio and live albums, and opened for Rush on their A Farewell To Kings tour. In 1980, Crash And Burn debuted and the single 'Snortin' Whiskey' made the band a notable name in the hard rock scene of the very early 80's. 

In 1981, Travers' group disbanded and Travers dived into new projects which found only minor successes. However, since then Travers and a new lineup for the Pat Travers Band have toured briefly in the 90's and more extensively in the 2000's.

Henry Paul Band - Grey Ghost

Henry Paul formed the Siennas in 1971, and shortly thereafter the Siennas turned into The Outlaws. Paul left the band in 1977 and formed his own Henry Paul Band. The Henry Paul Band disbanded in 1983, and Paul returned to The Outlaws for three more years before forming the band BlackHawk. Paul still plays with the Outlaws on more recent tours.

I remember thinking that this was The Outlaws when the song would play on Channel 97 as a kid. So did my dad, but when I looked it up and figured it out, Dad had the little lightbulb come on, remembering that Henry Paul was one of The Outlaws' guitarists.

Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe

Canadian hard rock band Red Rider formed in 1978, and released their first album in 1980. Their second release, As Far As Siam, spawned the AOR hit single 'Lunatic Fringe'. In 1989, rhythm guitarist Tom Cochrane began to see success from his solo career, and as a consequence, Red Rider broke up. Since 2002, Cochrane has reunited with some of his old bandmates to tour as Tom Cochrane And Red Rider.

Sniff 'n' The Tears

British band Sniff 'N' The Tears released 'Driver's Seat' in 1978, after five years of touring and searching for a record deal. The song was a minor hit, and remained an AOR staple for years in England and the US. After three more albums, the group split, but reformed in 1992 and has released a couple of albums since.