The Grill That Keeps On Giving

happygrillheather: “what did you get me for my birthday dad? do you remember what i asked for? please tell me that you bought that salt-n-pepa CD that has push it!” you know how much i love that song!”
dad: “oh honey, i got you something even better!
heather: “tickets to the concert?!? you know they’re coming to kansas city in two months–”
dad: forget about salt-n-pepa & feast your eyes on your new smoke-n-grill! we’ll never have to eat un-smoked meat again!”

Deleted Bonus

01 02 03 04this was a deleted scene from mystery men where tom waits is watching TV with a nursing home resident… and then he propositions her. it’s also the reason i crack up when someone says “bonus.”

Every Single Mile

alloneswhen i glanced down at the truck’s odometer and saw that every digit was a 1, i had to pull over. it reminded me of the time i was riding around with phil hawthorn in his dad’s cadillac. we watched the numbers on the odometer right when they hit 91,000 miles. when the last zero rolled up, phil started singing the theme to the tonight show.

October… Is That Really You?

1511395557-572-4696-charlie-brown-and-linus-wallaaahhh, last week the highs were only in the 60′s, but today it’s supposed to warm up to the mid 80′s, yep october is here & fall is knockin’ on our door! hold on a second, that’s not right.

Everyone’s Tony

tonydanzataXIyears ago, i remember hearing someone say “did you ever notice that every character tony danza plays on TV, is also called tony?” most of us remember seeing him first as a boxer/cabbie in the 1970′s as tony banta on taxitonyABCa few years later he was cast as tony micelli in a series called who’s the boss that ran from 1984-1992. in that show he played a retired baseball player turned housekeeper…Tony-Danza-good copthis year he came back in a netflix series called the good cop. his character, tony caruso, is an ex-cop who did jail time for a corruption conviction (i’ve watched 4 episodes & so far the show hasn’t explained the details of the actual charges) he is currently living with his son TJ, who has a spotless record & actually is a good cop. ahhhh tony tony tony.

A Week On The Beach III

HAROLDdry feet, sunset, wet feet. before the week was over we saw one adult and two children go all the way into lake michigan. i’m pretty sure they came out looking like smurfs. even though the water temp was never above 68 degrees, we can’t wait to go back.

Blah Blah Blah. Helmets!

notsogreatUNKNOWNspace? big deal. that’s how frank borman felt when he orbited the moon in 1968. i found this out on a recent episode of this american life. during the interview, borman says he couldn’t have cared less about being in space– he was more concerned with beating russia to the moon. so over the moon is one of my favorite stories yet. on a more exciting note, my friend matt hawkins bought a space helmet and jammed like a bluegrastronaut this weekend!mattinahelmet

Lunch With Alejandro

alejandroi ate a bag of chips with strangers & watched alejandro escovedo rock out yesterday afternoon. the man is in his 60′s, but his opening song had a serious punk edge. the event was part of a reoccurring noontime performance that vinyl renaissance hosts when recording artists are playing in kansas city. escovedo’s band, don antonio is from italy, and they also had an amazing sound. i hit the record button on my smart phone and captured them as they warmed up for the show.

Joined By Legends

textchristy sent me this text tuesday morning, and my reply was “GAAAAHHH!!!” because johnny cascone’s is only 12 blocks from our house. i was sitting at home watching TV while my favorite ghostbuster, bill murray, was right down the street. the good folks at johnny cascone’s posted an autographed menu on facebook.FBmurrays

A Week On The Beach II

jennyonthebeachthe weather was great, but the first couple of days that we stormed the beaches on lake michigan, the water temp was only in the upper 50′s– basically it felt like refrigerator water. we were still determined to wade in it. here’s a video of jenny freezing her feet off.