Friday, February 27, 2009

With Eight Tickets You Get A Haynesworth

There is always a day in early March when the nation's capital is a buzz. It has nothing to do with anything at the White House, on Capitol Hill or on the Mall. The buzz is about what happens at Redskins Park in Ashburn, where the Redskins are almost always a contender to win the Free Agency Bowl.

After a year of modest activity in free agency, we should have known the Big and Little Enos Burdette of the NFL, Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, couldn't sit still. They went immediately for the big splash. One made by the biggest fish in the pond, both literally and figuratively, Albert Haynesworth. It's reported Haynesworth, is about to sign a seven year/$100 million contract with the Redskins. That is a very big investment in a player who, when motivated, healthy and in shape, is considered the best defensive tackle in the game. But, those are three giant qualifying factors considering Haynesworth have never played a full season. In fact, according to this piece by The Washington Post's Jason La Confora, Haynesworth has never played more than 65% of the snaps in the season. Given the Redskins' history in signing big name free agents, I think I'm bound to see Haynesworth down at the Weanie Beanie ordering a dozen chili dogs at a time and talking smack with the locals....and eating his way out of football.

If you're wondering how the Redskins think they are going get the money to pay this $100 million to Haynesworth and the $55 million pledged to D'Angelo Hall earlier today, I have your answer. They think it's me. That's right, for the third year in a row, I have received a letter from the Redskins telling me I have the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to buy up to eight Redskins season tickets. (Geez, I'm lucky. How many times does someone get a "once in a lifetime opportunity" three times?) Unfortunately for the Redskins, I'm going to wait for a fourth "once in a lifetime opportunity", hoping the fourth opportunity is me meeting a super model who is smart, funny, perpetually horny and who loves Shedd more than anything in the world. I'll save my money for our honeymoon and never give another thought to those Redskins tickets I don't have.

But seriously, I retired as a Redskins fan in the summer of 2008, the day Darrell Green and Art Monk were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All through the 1990s and up to the 2006 season, I had Redskins tickets I had purchased from a family friend or from a person who had worked for me. Meanwhile, I waited for my name to come to the top of what I was told was a 90,000 person season ticket waiting list. I was thinking it would really be cool to have tickets in my own name so I wouldn't be dependent on other people for tickets.

Up until 2005 or so, I really enjoyed going to the games, although the Redskins were never good. I had the good fortune of being part of a good sized tailgating group. Some Sundays we would have 25 or 30 people and we always had good food and cold beer. But a few years ago, things began to change. Ticket and parking passes steadily increased in price while the product on the field never got any better. Slowly, our tailgating group got smaller as, one by one, ticket holders in the group got frustrated with the Redskins' play and the feeling that Dan Snyder was looking only to make money, not to field a winning team. I attended my last game in 2007. By that time, our tailgating group had shrunk to five people and getting to and from Fed Ex Field was just a labor, not a labor of love.

So, now that I've written this blog entry, the letter telling me I have risen to the top of the now 200,000 person waiting list and giving me the chance to see Albert Haynesworth from somewhere in the upper regions of Fed Ex Field, is going into the trash can next to my desk. My fandom for the Redskins has been there for a quite a while.

Friday Frolics, Volume 2: "Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should"

Growing up, I watched The Flintstones religously. In fact, my mom would swear there was a time when I had every line in every episode memorized. So, it's probably a good thing the FCC banned cigarette commercials from TV in 1971 or I might have a three pack a day habit right now.

This commerical is from The Flintstones original airings in the early 1960's. Just remember, folks who really enjoy smoking know it's what's upfront that counts....

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Follow Ups: Stormy, Smiley G and Mic Rockin' at the Library

For better or worse, Shedd's Spot has not uncovered any further information in regards to adult film star Stormy Daniels' potential run for the Sentate in 2010. (Please see the Feb. 11th Quickies Post.) But, there are stories circulating she is signing on to direct a horror movie that is to be shot in New Orleans in the near future. Shedd's Spot will also be monitoring that story. In the meantime, all readers are encouraged to post a comment speculating on what the title and premise of the movie might be.

Speaking of a horror in the making, events surrounding the Smiley G incident continue to unfold as the Nationals workout in their first week of spring training. (Please see the original post from Feb. 19.) A couple of days back, SI.com reported Nationals GM Jim Bowden is under investigation by the FBI for his dealings in the Dominican Republic going back to the days when he was GM of the Reds in the 1990s. Of course, Bowden has denied any wrongdoing. Bill Ladson of MLB.com tells the facts here while Mr. Manzier, Thom Loverro of The Washington Times, continues his coverage here. Loverro's piece includes quotes from a phone interview he conducted with Dominican "agent" involved in the controversey, Basillio Vizcaino.

Let me insert a tad bit of opinion here. Over the past week, it's become apparent to me the coverage of the Nationals in the The Washington Post by beat reporter Chico Harlan has fallen a step behind that of The Washington Times and MLB.com. Combine the slowness with a false report on a Ryan Zimmerman contract hold out and it begins to look as if the coverage is lacking.

Finally, Kevin Crothers posted a comment letting Shedd's Spot know the entire set from Mic Harrison and the High Score's show at the Charleston (S.C.) Public Library is available for viewing on the library's website. You can view it here.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Quickies

First up, in case you haven't heard, Emmitt Smith was recently "debacled"....I mean let go by ESPN. Now who are we going turn to for great quotes like these or messed up cliches like "you can't change the stripes of a leopard"? Michael Hiestand of USA Today speculates here that Brett Favre may be Smith's replacement on ESPN. You can see Emmitt's original use of "debacled" here.

Second, UConn basketball coach Jim "Cry Baby" Calhoun gave us another great sound clip over the weekend. At least this time, he was justified. A supposed free lance journalist/photographer asked Calhoun, in a post game press conference, about Calhoun being the highest paid state employee in the state of Connecticut in these tough economic times. Calhoun immediately fired back that he wasn't giving a dime of it back and then went on this tirade. Personally, I've had it on for Calhoun since he began his whining about playing George Mason in Mason's "backyard" in the 2006 NCAA East Regional Final. He seems to forget his team was the #1 seed in the east, while George Mason was the 11th seed. And, nevermind that UConn team had four players drafted into the NBA (Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Marcus Williams and Denham Drown). I heard a radio interview prior to the 2007-2008 basketball seaon in which Calhoun was still lamenting having to play GMU at the Verizon Center in D.C.

Finally, singer/songwriter/musician/producer Buddy Miller had a heart attack Friday in Baltimore while on tour with Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin. He underwent a triple bypass over the weekend. Here he is talking about his primary electric guitar.



Friday, February 20, 2009

Friday Frolics, Volume 1: "I Didn't Wanna Mess Up My Weave"

This is the first entry in my new series of Friday posts intended to start the weekend of with a laugh. How appropriate it involves one of my all time favorite comedians, Robin Harris, and a real life version of one of his jokes.

I checked my emails this morning and found an email from Facebook notifying me that my friend "J.D." in Richmond had invited me to join I Was Smoking Me A Drank...The Robin Harris Fan Club on Facebook. Way back when, on his classic CD Bebe's Kids, Harris joked that he only messed around with ugly women because good looking women were too much trouble. Then he told about all the times he saw a guy walk out of a hotel with a "pissed off" look on his face because the guy's woman couldn't go at it right because she didn't want to mess up her weave.

Well, a little while after reading the invite from "J.D.", I saw a story on the channel 5 morning news that proves life can sometimes imitate comedy...sort of. It seems a Kansas City woman named Briana Bonds was shot at by her ex-boyfriend while leaving a convienence store Tuesday night. Miraculously, the one accurate shot the ex-boyfriend got off was stopped in its tracks by Briana's tightly wound hair weave. I guess her ex-boyfriend was intent on messing up her weave one way or another, either in bed or with a bullet. Read more about it and watch the story from a Kansas City television station here.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Rockin' at the Library

Mic Harrison and the High Score tear it up at the Charleston (S.C.) Public Library on one of Mic's old V-Roys numbers, "Sooner or Later". Geez, the Arlington County libraries never have anything like this. But, I probably could go and hear a talk on the fine art of papusa making.

The Infamous Smiley G and Other Nats Nuggets

For those of you who don't follow Major League Baseball's worst team, the Washington Nationals were the focal point of MLB's second biggest story of the week. Fortunately for the Nationals, the A-Rod news conference overshadowed everything, including one of the biggest front office blunders (or possibly scams) in recent history.

The brief overview is that in the summer of 2006, the Nationals, under the guidance of General Manager Jim Bowden, signed a 16 year old prospect from the Dominican Republic named Esmailyn "Smiley" Gonzalez. Looking to make a big splash in the market for young Dominican players, the Nationals gave Gonzalez a $1.4 million dollar signing bonus. At the time, the signing was used as evidence that the Lerner family, who had just purhcased the team, was serious about finding and developing talent from every corner of the world.

Now fast forward almost three years and several Nationals front office blunders later to Feb. 2009 and team President Stan Kasten is on a conference call explaining how "Smiley" Gonzalez was really not 16 when he was signed. He was 19. And, even more importantly, he's not "Smiley" Gonzalez. He's actually someone named Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo. There is lot of speculation as to who knew what in the shady world of Dominican baseball. Some even suspect Nats GM Jim Bowden was in on the deal, getting a cut of the signing bonus. That seems to be the wosrt case scenario. The best cast scenario is that Bowden was purely a fool who was duped into signing a 16 year old prospect, who was really 19, for double what any other MLB team offered.

(On a side note, I emailed Stan Kasten this past Saturday evening telling him about the difficulty I was having in getting anyone in the Nats ticket office to help me in moving my seats closer to the field. I got an email back from him a few minutes later saying he would have someone contact me Tuesday. Hell, if I knew this Smiley G stuff was about to hit the fan, I wouldn't have bothered him.)

Chico Harlan, The Washington Post's Nationals beat writer, explains the entire situation here. But, for more entertaining reading, check out this column by The Washington Time's Thom Loverro, who, by the way, was the inspiration for the Seinfeld epsisode about the bro/manzier. (Check out his picture.)

Speaking of being duped and Chico Harlan. The Post ran a piece by Harlan earlier this week saying Ryan Zimmerman was holding out from spring training because of his cotract situation. Several sources, including Loverro and MLB.com Nationals beat reporter Bil Ladson, have debunked this story saying Zimmerman was preparing for his arbitration hearing which is scheduled for Friday in Arizona.

On a final and much lighter note, according to Dan Steinberg's D.C. Sports Bog, Nationals outfielder Lastings Milledge is becoming the new Ocho Cinco. Apparently, he's giving his old number 44 to the newly acquired Adam Dunn at no price. Read about it here.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Quickies

This week's quickies post covers all sorts of items from the past week or two...

First up, Etta James railed on Beyonce for singing the James classic "At Last" way too many times since the release of Cadillac Records, the movie in which Beyonce portrayed Etta James. James also lit into the new president at the same Seattle concert where she tore into Beyonce. Read what she had to say about both Beyonce and President Obama here.

Reading about Etta speaking her mind brought back a memory of the only time I ever saw her perform in concert. One summer while I was in college, I went with some friends to see a triple bill of Etta, Lavern Baker and Ruth Brown at Wolf Trap. I was sitting in the second row toward the right side of the stage, when Etta waddled over my way. And, I do mean waddled...she was pretty big at the time. She made eye contact with me, then pulled the elastic top of her pants away from her ample body, made a motion with her hand and a facial expression that basically said "you wanna piece of this?" Ooof....

Second, Sirius XM satellite radio is surviving to broadcast another day. For better or worse, this financing deal keeps the company out of bankruptcy for a while. It also means the company is still stuck Howard Stern's contract.

Third, the Country Music Hall of Fame's class of 2009 consists of Roy Clark, Charlie McCoy and Barbara Mandrell. One of these days, I'll have a full entry on this. But for now, let me just say Roy Clark once played the honky tonks of southeast D.C. Really, there were redneck joints in southeast, I swear. Read Eddie Dean's Washington City Paper piece "A Brief History of White People in Southeast" here to learn more about it.

Finally, Merle Haggard returned to performing this month after having surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his lungs late last year. Here's the Hag singing "Swinging Doors" in 1967. (Hey, I had to sneak something about drinking in this entry somewhere!)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

"It's crap, is what it's like. That's just honest."

Later today the green flag will drop on the 51st running of the Daytona 500. In my mind, the day will be marked by two events. One good, and one bad, for someone who grew up following the sport at the end of its classic period in the 1970s. But strangely, the two events are related by one word, or shall I say name....Petty.

The good event happened 30 years ago this week, during the 1979 Daytona 500. It was the day NASCAR became a player on the national sports scene, yet still wasn't handcuffed by the political correctness and image consciousness that exists today in the sport. Richard Petty won the 1979 Daytona 500 (the sixth of his seven Daytona 500 victories), but it was the events in the moments just prior to and right after Petty's win that will always be remembered about the 1979 race.

The 1979 race marked the first time the Daytona 500 was televised in its entirety from flag to flag. CBS was airing the entire race after years of only the start and finish being shown on ABC's Wide World of Sports. The flag to flag coverage was a milestone for the sport, which up to that time had very little network TV coverage. Most fans were forced to do what my dad on Sundays, find the race on the radio and try to visualize what was happening as a team of announcers stationed around the track yelled over the roar of the engines.

I remember my dad and my uncle being beyond excited when it was announced 1979 Daytona 500 was going to be televised by CBS. But, that excitement was short lived because soon it was learned the CBS affiliate here Washington, channel 9, was not going to carry the race. An alternative plan was soon devised. My grandfather lived outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia in Spotsylvania. We were lucky enough that he lived within reception distance 0f the Richmond CBS affiliate. So, despite the prediction of a major snow storm all along the east coast, my dad, uncle, cousin and I all loaded up that Sunday morning and made the trek down I-95.

My favorite driver at the time, Buddy Baker, had won the pole for the race. He was always good on the super speedways where speeds at the time approached 200 miles per hour. But Baker went out early with engine trouble, leaving the race to be decided by a group of contenders that included Petty, A.J. Foyt, Darell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison and a rookie driving an unsponsored car number 2, Dale Earnhardt.

As the laps wore down, Allison and Yarborough distanced themselves from everyone else. The two of them had been in a crash that also involved Allison's brother Bobby earlier in the day that had put Yarborough two laps down. Yaborough had clawed back into contention, making up the laps when caution flags came out. Allison was running first and Yarborough second on the final lap, when this finish brought NASCAR its most famous moment up until that time:



As Petty celebrated his victory, Yarborough slugged it out with the Allison brothers as a national television audience watched. Our part of the audience in Spotsylvania, Virginia was going crazy as we watched the race and fight, paying very little attention to the snow that was starting to pour outside.

The finish to the 1979 Daytona 500 has been described as NASCAR's first water cooler moment. Many non-racing fans had tuned in that Sunday thanks to CBS' coverage and thanks to the severe winter storm that engulfed large parts of the eastern U.S. The general public was talking about NASCAR for the first time. And, we were defintely rehashing it as we fought the snow back up I-95 to Arlington.

You may have noticed in the video clip that one of CBS' annoucers mentioned Richard Petty's son, Kyle, was on hand to greet Petty after Petty's victory in what was NASCAR's grandest day. Kyle Petty went on to become a driver himself and a part owner of the family's racing team, Petty Enterprises. Kyle Petty had followed Richard into stock car racing much as Richard had followed his father, Lee, into the profession. All three Petttys raced under the Petty Enterprises flag and at least one Petty had raced in each of the Daytona 500's fifty runnings leading into 2009. But, cliche as it is, all good things must come to an end.

With the ecomomic downturn, several NASCAR racing teams have lost their sponsors. Many major corporations are no longer interested in ponying up the tens of millions of dollars required to be a primary sponsor of a Sprint Cup team. Unfortunately, Petty Enterprises fell victim to this trend and the Pettys were forced to merge with Gillette Evernham Racing. As with most corporate mergers, some officers and employees are forced out. In this merger, the victim was Kyle Petty. So today, for the first time in the 51 year history of the Daytona 500, a driver with the last name of Petty will not be racing.

Understandably, Kyle Petty is upset. In an interview earlier this week, he said wouldn't even watch today's race and said this in reference to his being forced out after the merger, "It's crap, is what it's like. That's just honest." Missing the classic days of NASCAR, I have to agree. Today is the end of an era and that's not a good thing.
____________________________________

A more in depth look at the finish of the 1979 Daytona 500 can be seen in this clip.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Facebook Frenzy

About the time my co-ed softball season ended last summer, one of my female teammates, who is a few years younger than me, told me in an email I should join Facebook. Among other things, she thought it would be a good way to stay in contact with her during the offseason. Being 40 years old at the time, I blew off the idea while thinking "why should I be on a social website with a bunch high school and college aged kids". For quite a while, I never gave the idea another thought until my cousin's wife and a woman I dated briefly began to repeatedly bring up the idea.

My cousin's wife continued to tell me I should "be on Facebook", even reminding me during our family's Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Finally, after yet another email from the softball teammate badgering me to join Facebook in early January, I relented and signed up. After taking the few minutes to set up my profile, I immediately went searching on Facebook for the softball teammate, the girl I had dated and my cousin's wife. "Friending" them was easy enough and they were kind enough to make comments on my "wall" of something to the extent of "it's about time".

Within a couple of days, I had "friended" or been "friended" by over 60 people. Some of the "friends" were obvious...softball teammates, people from the neighborhood I had grown up in, and some college friends that I had stayed close with over the years. But, some of the "friend" requests I started to receive were a little more distant...people I knew in college but who I wasn't very close with, wives of some of my college friends and neighbors of current friends who I really don't know. It became readily apparent a lot people on Facebook search their "friends'" "friends" list just to see who they vaguely recognize in an effort just to enlarge their own "friends" list.

But, I can't criticize anyone for doing this because I was soon doing the same thing. Even worse, I was searching for ex-girlfriends, not to "friend" them, but purely to see their profiles to see what they look like now.

Word soon got to one of my best friends through his wife, who was on Facebook, that I had joined up. The next day this friend, let's call him Vern, was on Facebook after vowing for months he'd never join up. Vern's reasoning was that if I was on Facebook, he might as well sign up. Within days, Vern had close to 200 Facebook "friends".

Personally, my experience with Facebook hit frenzy status a couple of weeks after I joined up. A friend's wife hosted a 40th birthday for the friend at the piano bar in the National Harbor complex just south of D.C. in Prince Georges County Maryland. This was one of those events where all the married folks got a baby sitter (or locked the kids in a closet), booked a hotel room near the bar, and then tried to re-live their college or Dewey Beach glory days. Needless to say, many of party goers were way past buzzed not too long into the night. And, with each round of beer and shots, more cameras came out of pockets and the more the MILFs in attendance started hamming it up for the cameras. Most anyone who had a camera at the party came home with several shots of ladies drinking longnecks in a provocative manner, asses being shaken just for the camera and an abundance of cleavage in a digital format.

When I got home at 2:00 a.m. several "friends" were already on Facebook swapping emails, instant messages and posting pictures. By noon the next day, dozens of photos from the party were plastered all over Facebook.

All through my first few weeks on Facebook, I knew there was one friend of mine who would laugh his a** off when he found out I was on Facebook. Let's call this friend J.D and he lives in Richmond. A couple of nights after the party, I was talking to J.D. on the phone and telling him about the party when I told him pictures from the party were all over Facebook. J.D. immediately started giving me a hard time about being on Facebook and told me he would never be on Facebook. I guess J.D.'s curiosity about all those MILFs playing up to the cameras got the best of him because, a couple of nights later, he was signing up for Facebook as we again spoke on the phone. Since then I've noticed J.D. has become a Facebook "fan" of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pointer Brand Overalls, Southern Culture on the Skids and WKRP in Cincinnati.

And back to Vern for a minute, he has become one of the most prolific thinkers on Facebook, often postng introspective thoughts like:

Vern is trying to decide, out of the 3 famous TV Shirleys (Shirley Partridge, Big Shirley from "What's Happening", and Shirley Feeney), which is my favorite.

Vern loves when you put your ipod on shuffle and the first song it plays is exactly the song you wanted to hear, even though you didn't even know 5 seconds.

Vern is wondering if Mike Damone has any Earth, Wind, and Fire tickets. I'm planning on taking my little brother...

On a slightly more serious note, my friend Steve Tuttle wrote this piece for Newsweek's website on his personal addiction to Facebook and his subsequent resignation from Facebook. I wondered why he disappeared from Facebook shortly after I "friended" him. I thought I had scared him off until I read the piece. (Read the piece, if for no other reason, to see the context in which Steve used the line "Spiffy McGee feels a deuce coming on".)

On an even more serious note, J.D. sent me this MarketWatch piece on the potential problems Facebook profiles and postings pose in the hiring process for many employers and potential employees.

Steve points out in his piece that Facebook just celebrated its fifth anniversary and that he thought that was a good time to quit Facebook. I've been on Facebook a few weeks and I have to admit it has become somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Maybe I'll hang it up when it cuts into my other guilty pleasure, this blog.

Happy Valentine's Day from Shedd's Spot.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Quickies

This week's Quickies post isn't so quick seeing that it is a couple of days behind its normal Monday schedule. But hopefully, you'll like the item covered later in the post that was provided by Shedd's Spot west coast bureau.

First up, today, Feb. 11th, is Burt Reynolds' 73rd birthday. One of Reynolds' comeback roles in the 1990's was playing Jack Horner, a porn director, in Boogie Nights. That little tidbit is a great segway to this next item....

Porn star Stormy Daniels has been approached in regards to running for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She is now considering a run against Louisiana Senator David Vitters in that state's Republican primary. Daniels is orginally from Louisiana and she has already come up with several catchy campaign slogans, including "Stormy Daniels, screwing people honestly". This is yet another story Shedd's Spot will be following closely in the coming months, and with plenty of commentary. In the meantime, you can learn more about Daniel's possible candidacy in following interview clip and this CNN.com article. Or, you can go directly to DraftStormy.com.




If you would like to learn more about Stormy Daniels' current profession, watch the six part HBO documentary Pornucopia. Honestly, it's not for the faint of heart or those who are easily offended by adult entertainment. But, the series explores the history of the adult (porn) movie industry, the current film and internet market, and fetish & specialty porn, among other topics. Several episodes include interview clips with Daniels where she discusses different aspects of the adult movie industry.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Drunk All Around This Town

This week's series of posts on drinking continues with a clip of Scott Miller performing his tribute to drinking, "I've Been Drunk All Around This Town". An interesting side note is that when I did a search on YouTube for Scott Miller, I found a clip of an infomercial by a Dr. Scott Miller in San Diego on breast augmentation. After watching this musical clip, you may have wished I would have posted the infomercial instead.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Newsflash: College Students Drink

At least that's what the latest edition of Washingtonian tells us.

I was in the check out line at the grocery store last week when I looked up to see the Washingtonian's annual issue listing the 100 best restaurants in the metro area. I usually buy this issue every year with the intention that I'll go to at least one of the restuarants listed in the coming year. Of course, it never works that way and I usually go to exactly none of them. (But, I do better with the issue later in the year that lists the 100 best cheap eats restaurants in the area.) Just like a little kid in a grocery line wanting candy, I just had to have this magazine, so onto the conveyor belt it went.

I got home and started thumbing through the magazine only to find an article entitled "Where's the Party?". The first line was "college kids still drink a lot and stay up late...". I thought to myself "that's good to know, I'd hate for the youngsters of today to miss out on all the hangovers I had on a regular basis back when I was in college". So, I read on.

The basis of the story was the writers followed students around for a night at five area colleges, Maryland, Howard, GW, Georgetown and George Mason, to check out the party scene. Honestly, the article was relatively boring and I think any of you readers who did some partying during your college days would read it and agree. But, the funny thing about the article was the lame explanations of the different ways college students expedite the process of tying one on that accompanied the very tame party pictures contained in the article. So, for those of you who have never partied it up in college or otherwise, I offer you Washingtonian's definitions of some key party terms:

A beer bong-a funnel attached to a tube-makes the beer go down fast.

The game flip cup is a race: Each player on a team has to chug a beer and then flip the empty cup so it lands upside down.

Keg stands-usually performed once everyone is buzzed-involve drinking from the tap while balancing upside down.

When beer-pong players land a Ping-Pong ball in a cup, the other team has to drink.

Maybe I'm showing my age, but there was no mention of quarters or shotgunning. But, I digress...

I would love to include a link to the story, but somehow this masterpiece of reporting didn't make the Washingtonian website. I was sorta hoping it would be on there right next to the list of the 88 best divorce lawyers in area. Oh well....

(I'm sure you have figured this out by now, but the picture above of the naughty little vixens beer bonging is not from the Washingtonian article.)

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I'm Just Drinking

There's no more fitting way to start Shedd's Spot's week long series of posts on alcohol consumption than with a classic drinking number from The Master of the Telecaster, Albert Collins. I had the good fortune, and I do really mean the good fortune, to see AC in concert several times before his death in November 1993. The man never put on a bad show.

Due to me being in the state of "I Ain't Drunk (I'm Just Drinking)" at most of those shows, the memories all seem to run together, but a couple of things about Albert's shows at the old Birchmere stand out.

First, was the evening my friend Virgil and I were waiting outside the Birchmere in line. We could hear AC wailing away inside while he was finishing his sound check. As soon as he finished the sound check, he came out the side door wearing an engineer's cap. He went all the way down the line shaking everyone's hand and thanking them for coming to the show before heading back to his bus.

Second, was the show legendary Washington blues DJ The Bama was in attendance. It was near the end for The Bama and he was in a wheel chair and covered by a blanket, sitting by the front door of the Birchmere. During the first song of the encore, Albert did his usual walk around the audience while playing, aided by his few hundred feet long guitar cord (he never used a wireless transmitter). When he got to where The Bama was sitting, Albert stopped and played just to The Bama for little while. I can still remember the look of joy on The Bama's face as AC was playing for him.

I'll save the rest of my Albert Collins memories for another post. But for now, let the drinking begin.....

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Five Years of Thrills at the Sunset Grille, Part I

The way panties were flying onto the stage this past Thursday at the Sunset Grille, you would have thought Tom Jones was playing there. But, as far as I know, Tom Jones was back in the U.K. having a facelift. The band on stage Thursday at the Grille was the Thrillbillys and they were celebrating the fifth anniversary of their regular Thursday gig there. The panties were being tossed as head Thrillbilly Johnny Castle hammered his was through his composition "Hot Pink Panties". By the time the band had finished a few more songs, panties were everywhere and bandmembers were wearing panties as ascots.

Although this sort of debauchery isn't typical of a Thursday night at the Grille, the fun loving atmosphere and interaction between the band and the crowd defintely is. The Sunset Grille continues to be one of the last "come as you are" places in the D.C. area where folks can be themselves, let their hair down, blow off steam and have a little fun with the band.

But five years ago, things at Annandale's Sunset Grille were were a bit uncertain. Bill Kirchen, who had held court there most Thursdays for close to 15 years with his band Too Much Fun, had announced he was leaving the D.C. area and relocating to Austin. Kirchen's final Thursday gig at the Grille was shut down by Fairfax County fire marshalls because of severe overcrowding. At times that night, there were upwards of 100 people in a room that had a maximum fire code capacity of 49. Soon, the Grille was forced to close for a week becuase of the violation.

Although several bands played the Grille on a regular basis and drew good crowds, Kirchen's Thursday night gig's and his occasional weekend performances drove a large portion of the Grille's revenue. Similarly, a bartender at the Grille once told me she sometimes made more in tips on a Thursday night than she did on all her other weekly shifts combined.

Around the same time Kirchen announced he was relocating to Austin, Jan Zukoswki, longtine bassist in The Nighthawks, a staple of the D.C. music scene for over 30 years, announced he was leaving the band. When all these changes were announced, Johnny Castle, Kirchen's bass player of 12 years, stepped in to fill the voids. Castle was invited to join The Nighthawks in Zukoswki's place and the Sunset Grille's management approached him about putting together a band to replace Kirchen on Thursday nights. Castle joined forces with drummer Robbie Magruder, singer-songwriter-guitarist David Kitchen and guitarist Andy Rutherford to form the Thrillbillys and a new Thursday night tradition was born.

Early on, when asked what type of music the Thrillbillys played, Johnny would answer "party music". At first, I didn't get the answer. But, after hearing the band a few times, I began to understand his answer. The Thrillbillys repetoire consisted of songs that were good for drinking and dancing. And, most of the songs, while covers, were songs that had not been beaten to death by every other band playing bar gigs. There were lesser known songs by Chuck Berry ("Dear Dad", "Oh What a Thrill"), the Beatles ("I Call Your Name") , Los Lobos ("Evangeline") along with garage classics from the 60's like "Have Love Will Travel" and "Shakin' All Over'". Add in the occasional odd modern cover like Patty Loveless' "Timber, I'm Falling in Love" and Steve Earle's "Sweet Little 66", and the band was on its way to having something on its set list that pleased just about.

After the Grille reopened from its forced closing due the fire marshall raid on Kirchen's last show, it was a different place and had a different groove. Management removed part of the bar, thus opening the room a little and, more importantly, they adhered to the maximum capacity of 49. With a little more breathing room in the Grille and a "party music" band on stage, everyone seemed more relaxed.

In the five years the Thrillbillys have been playing the Sunset Grille, their repetoire has expanded even more, but no songs seems out place. Much of the variety is driven by the vast and varying experiences of the band members. Drummer Robbie Magruder toured and recorded with guitar legend Roy Buchanan and later with Mary-Chapin Carpenter. Castle has toured, recorded and/or shared the stage with country guitar legend Joe Maphis, the early newgrass band II Generation and D.C. rockabilly Tex Ruebenowtiz. He also fronted his own bands, Switchblade and Johnny Castle and the Hard Knights before joining Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun in the early 90's. Guitarist Andy Rutherford has played various genres in numerous D.C. bands and singer-guitarist David Kitchen has played on the D.C. scene for years while continuing to write songs and teach guitar.

The Thrillbillys' song list has spanned out in all directions over the past five years also. On any given Thursday, you may hear a Ramone's-esque version of Burt Bacharach's "Little Red Book", Nick Lowe rockers "Switchboard Susan" and "Raging Eyes", pumped up versions of country standards like "I'll Be There" or "Break My Mind" and, lately, Castle orginals from his Switchblade days like "She Make's Me Rock Too Much", "I Got That" and the aforementioned "Hot Pink Panties".

To be continued....

Monday, February 2, 2009

Quickies

And this time the entry title seems to fit at least one of the items....

First up, during last night's Super Bowl telecast, the local Comcast cable feed of KVOA TV in Tucson was briefly overriden and a scene of a porn movie was shown in its place. Being true to its high journalistic standards, Shedd's Spot reviewed the scene in order to keep you the reader informed. (The scene can be found with a very simple Google search.) In a nutshell, the scene will do nothing for your average red blooded American hetrosexual male, if you know what I mean. It's a forced case of "eye slippage" for you Coupling fans and, for you non-Coupling fans, it's basically a brat and potatoes shot. Shedd's Spot will follow the story diligently in the coming days and post on any further developments. The AP's take on the incident can be found here.

Second, Hong Kong film makers are planning on producing the first ever 3-D porn movie. While you're reading about it here, try not to think about the Ol' Hedgehog himself, Ron Jeremy, in 3-D. Yikes, I almost hurled....

Finally and on a non-porn note, tomorrow (Feb. 3rd) is the 85th anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson's death. Supposedly, he spent up to two hours a day while President riding in his car to relax. If he was President today, he'd be lucky to get in one lap around the Beltway, including crossing the bridge named after him, in that amount of time.

A Drink to the Big Bopper

Tonight marks the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddly Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson. Enough has already been written about the crash to fill several libraries, especially in regards to the death of Holly. (And, God help me if I hear "American Pie" again.) Biopics have been made on Holly and Valens. Much has been made about what would have happened if Holly and Valens had lived longer. But, the Big Bopper has not received nearly as much play out of his early demise and that's too bad because his future contributions to American music may have been as a songwriter instead of a performer.

Shortly after the Big Bopper's death, George Jones took the Bopper's "White Lightnin'" to number one on the country charts. In the early 70's, Jerry Lee Lewis did the same with a cover of the Bopper's biggest hit, "Chantilly Lace". Legend has it, Jones was so wasted at the "White Lightnin'" session, it took him 80 takes to get a suitable recording and I can't imagine Jerry Lee was in much better shape when he recorded "Chantilly Lace".

As with many musical performers who have become "legends" after their premature deaths, there is a Big Bopper tribute act (aka impersonator) out there. It's his son, who performs as the Big Bopper, Jr. Supposedly, he tours with a Buddy Holly impersonator and they often play the same venues the Bopper, Holly and Valens did on that ill fated Winter Dance Party tour in 1959. There is no word if Lou Diamond Phillips' career has sunk low that he joins them in the role of Ritchie Valens.

And, as if having an impersonator son isn't indignity enough, the Bopper's son had the Bopper's body exhumed in 2007 and an autopsy performed to determine if the Big Bopper had orginally survived the impact of the 1959 plane crash and to determine if the Bopper had been shot. For some reason the Bopper's son believed foul play had been involved. No such evidence was found. The Bopper's son told the AP after viewing the autopsy "Dad still amazes me 48 years after his death...he was in remarkable shape".

So, if you're riding in your car today and you hear "American Pie" on the radio, stop and have a drink. You'll probably need it. And, if you have that drink or one for any other reason, toast the Big Bopper, he deserves it.