Monday, May 22, 2006
I Need A Vacation To Rest Up From My Weekend
This weekend, like every other May weekend on The Crime Dog calendar, was almost too busy to be fun. At least it was fun stuff we were busy with. Ladybug had her 6th birthday party on Saturday. Birthday parties for kids and grandkids are a blast. For about ten minutes. That's when I start looking for a decent reason to bail. None to be had this time, I was there for the duration. It was in a park, with a hundred-and-something-degrees, a herd of rug rats, and one of those inflatable jumping things that turns the whole herd into a bunch of sweaty, blathering, balls of energy. And not a beer to be found, anywhere.
Breaking free from there, it was chill out in the pool with a frosty beverage for a few minutes, then back on the run again. It was Janners' birthday as well - her 29th, I believe - so we scrambled on over to Ocotillo with flowers and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. Then, it was off to Mesa to catch up with Greg The Hoser and The Fetching Joy, who were throwing a party/reception to celebrate their recent nuptials. They had a terrific band, SuperVibe, and liberal quanitities of alcohol. That's where it started getting crazy.......
I have to hand it to SuperVibe. Their drummer is a friend, married to a lovely woman I have the privilege to work with, but they don't exactly make their bones playing Parrothead tunes. Nonetheless, they took the time somewhere along the way to learn Margaritaville. Now, here's the part that impressed me: It's the only Buffett tune they apparently know, the only one they played all night, and they sang it with....are you ready for this?........
The Lost Verse
How does a band that knows only one Buffett tune (and they performed it admirably) know The Lost Verse? Even Greg the Hoser was caught off guard, as he himself did not know The Lost Verse. That's my failing, I know, I should have taught it to him years ago. I can only surmise that the band learned the song from a live CD, probably Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, since live performances are the only places you'll hear The Lost Verse. They also ran with "broke my leg twice" instead of "cut my heel," so they've clearly studied a live performance. Whatever, it was nicely done, and props to SuperVibe. They know how to keep your feet moving.
The evening ended with Hoser getting chucked into the swimming pool. I was a chucker, along with a couple other guys, one of which was Red. Red then became a chuckee, when someone gave him a shove right after Hoser broke the surface. He went into the drink, cellphone and all, and almost immediately blamed me. Now, The Crime Dog almost always owns up to his misconducts. The only notable exceptions are the surreptitious grocery store farts I like to lay out in an aisle while shopping. I then run around to the next aisle and wait to hear what the other shoppers say when they pass through the cloud. But in the case of Who Pushed Red Into The Pool?, I was actually innocent. The chief suspect hauled ass and was in Tempe by the time anyone figured out whodunit, but I'm guessing Red will extract his vengeance in a publically humiliating way in short order.
The Crime Dog was, however, the the fall guy in the evening's funniest moment. The dress was "island attire," so I put in my piratical gold skull and crossbones earring. Just for the hell of it, I took the piercing plunge last month. Some of my friends were breaking my balls a little bit, having seen me for the first time since then. Finally, I saw another guest, probably older than me, with a diamond stud earring. "Look!" I said, "I'm not alone. There's another middle-aged guy with an earring."
"Yep," says Hoser, "and he's with the guy across the table from him."
Damn. I need some putty to fill in this stupid hole.
|
Breaking free from there, it was chill out in the pool with a frosty beverage for a few minutes, then back on the run again. It was Janners' birthday as well - her 29th, I believe - so we scrambled on over to Ocotillo with flowers and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. Then, it was off to Mesa to catch up with Greg The Hoser and The Fetching Joy, who were throwing a party/reception to celebrate their recent nuptials. They had a terrific band, SuperVibe, and liberal quanitities of alcohol. That's where it started getting crazy.......
I have to hand it to SuperVibe. Their drummer is a friend, married to a lovely woman I have the privilege to work with, but they don't exactly make their bones playing Parrothead tunes. Nonetheless, they took the time somewhere along the way to learn Margaritaville. Now, here's the part that impressed me: It's the only Buffett tune they apparently know, the only one they played all night, and they sang it with....are you ready for this?........
The Lost Verse
How does a band that knows only one Buffett tune (and they performed it admirably) know The Lost Verse? Even Greg the Hoser was caught off guard, as he himself did not know The Lost Verse. That's my failing, I know, I should have taught it to him years ago. I can only surmise that the band learned the song from a live CD, probably Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, since live performances are the only places you'll hear The Lost Verse. They also ran with "broke my leg twice" instead of "cut my heel," so they've clearly studied a live performance. Whatever, it was nicely done, and props to SuperVibe. They know how to keep your feet moving.
The evening ended with Hoser getting chucked into the swimming pool. I was a chucker, along with a couple other guys, one of which was Red. Red then became a chuckee, when someone gave him a shove right after Hoser broke the surface. He went into the drink, cellphone and all, and almost immediately blamed me. Now, The Crime Dog almost always owns up to his misconducts. The only notable exceptions are the surreptitious grocery store farts I like to lay out in an aisle while shopping. I then run around to the next aisle and wait to hear what the other shoppers say when they pass through the cloud. But in the case of Who Pushed Red Into The Pool?, I was actually innocent. The chief suspect hauled ass and was in Tempe by the time anyone figured out whodunit, but I'm guessing Red will extract his vengeance in a publically humiliating way in short order.
The Crime Dog was, however, the the fall guy in the evening's funniest moment. The dress was "island attire," so I put in my piratical gold skull and crossbones earring. Just for the hell of it, I took the piercing plunge last month. Some of my friends were breaking my balls a little bit, having seen me for the first time since then. Finally, I saw another guest, probably older than me, with a diamond stud earring. "Look!" I said, "I'm not alone. There's another middle-aged guy with an earring."
"Yep," says Hoser, "and he's with the guy across the table from him."
Damn. I need some putty to fill in this stupid hole.
