It's official. I'm pleased to announce that the masters of Drunk Rock will be employing the services of Frosch-Frog Productions. Yes, I will be producing a music video to coincide with the Boardlord's upcoming CD release. We will be doing some pre-production meetings and then we can get down to the shooting and editing. Hopefully we will have something for the masses in the next month or so.
I can't elaborate on which song we will be making a video for, but trust me, it's a good one. And hopefully the video is gonna be funny. Check back for some behind the scenes photos and stories.
Next topic/Note to self: Next year, make a mental note of how many times you hear the song "Winter Wonderland". I mean, come on, I seriously must have heard this song like 100 times in the last three weeks, and I'm trying my hardest NOT to hear it. I HATE CHRISTMAS CAROLS!!!!!!
What the hell is up with eBay? Several years ago, I could put mud in a jar, list it and somebody would buy it for 10 bucks. Now you can't get a decent price for anything. Case and point: DVDs. They are virtually worthless. I tried to sell a couple of those Lord of the Rings DVDs for a few bucks each. Not even a bite. The money's not really important. I just want to get some of this stuff out of our house, and I'd feel guilty about throwing it out. Especially when there might be some LOTR nerd out there who would appreciate the Extended Edition, Widescreen, 4-Disc Set of The Two Towers. The onset of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD has made DVD's virtually worthless, even if no one is really buying the new players yet.
And what about baseball cards? Remember when we were kids? We speculated that we'd live like kings when we sold our collections. This rookie Eddie Murray card sold for $2.25. Worthless! You know what? Maybe all those mothers who threw out their son's baseball card collections knew what they were doing after all!
And I don't even want to know what my comic book collection isn't worth. (Just kidding, I never collected comics. But I do have an Indiana Jones movie magazine that isn't worth the paper it's printed on.)
A tanking economy is having a trickle down effect on everyone. Nobody wants to buy crap anymore! So political leaders of America, get your act together: Put this economy back on track so I can continue selling Rolling Rock football jerseys for seventy five bucks a pop!
Yes, here I go again plagarizing the title of great JB's column. But I felt compelled to get this vital information online for the masses. Some folks enjoy wine, others a good scotch. Myself? I'm a beer man. While down in Sint Maarten, I enjoyed a bottle or two of Guinness. Now mind you, Guinness in Sint Maarten is a bit different than what we have here in the United States. It goes by the official name "Guinness Foreign Extra" What's extra you ask? How bout a 7.5% alcohol content? (Vs. the American "Guinness Stout" which is 6%)
Well, never mind the alcohol content, I'm concerned about the taste. I managed to stuff a few bottles of Foreign Extra in my suitcase for the trip home. I wish I'd packed more. More on that in a second. The FE (We'll abbreviate to save time) was rich, flavorful and packed a wallop. (Not to mention cheaper if purchased on the Dutch side)
I immediately opened a bottle of the American Stout. It had less flavor. Way less flavor. The FE even has a better aroma when you crack the bottle open. I'm all about the aroma.
As usual, America gets the short end of the stick. We have to pay more for a lot less. After reading the wikipedia entry regarding Guinness, I've made my decision. Looks like I'm off to the Netherlands. (8%!!!) And I'm gonna need a bigger suitcase. And as for now? The taste of that sweet Foreign Extra is only a fading memory.
Sidenote: more from Wikipedia regarding Guinness Foreign Extra: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, is a 7.5% abv version sold in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia. The basis is an unfermented but hopped Guinness wort extract shipped from Dublin, which is added to local ingredients and brewed locally. The strength can vary, for example, it is sold at 5% abv in China, 6.5% abv in Jamaica and East Africa, and 8% abv in Singapore]. In Nigeria a proportion of sorghum is used. Foreign Extra Stout is blended with a small amount of intentionally soured beer.
The 2003 surf documentary "Step Into Liquid" briefly focuses on surf legend Robert August from the movie "The Endless Summer". These days, he's still living the life in Costa Rica, surfing in his 50's with his old crew.
Here in Connecticut we don't have any waves. But we were blessed with a brand new concrete skatepark in the city of Stamford. The park has brought a lot of old heads out of the woodwork to enjoy carving, grinding and catching air. (Although the park is temporarily closed for the winter. That's probably why I finally had time to write about it.)
When we were younger, we had a musical revolution going on at the Anthrax in Norwalk. Tons of great bands from New York and CT came to play each weekend. For me it was a "right place, right time" kind of a thing. Definitely something that would never be re-created.
Flash-forward 20-some-odd years. The thrill of skating is still there for me although the skill level may not be. But we've got plenty of rippers pushing the limits in their 30's and 40's. Not to mention people are coming from all over the East Coast and beyond to skate. Hell, Ben came all the way from France!
I was talking with fellow skater PDA about the summer of '07 and Scalzi Park. Are we in the midst of another monumental CT revolution? For our small crew of skateboarders, I'd say yes. Life and responsibilities change everything as you get older, but it's great to know that some things still hold true, like a good backside grind.
Everyone has gotten so much better since when the park opened in July. Fortunately we have been able to capture a lot of great footage, both still and video. I'd like to put together a documentary based on the early years of the Scalzi Skatepark.
Hell, it ain't Costa Rica, it ain't California, it's Connecticut. It's all we got. But like the movie said, "the good old days" are right now.
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Just got back from our annual trip to Sint Maarten, awesome as always. I need to get a digital camera. Saw plenty of great things that I wanted to take still pictures of. Certainly doesn't make for a very interesting blog entry w/o the visuals. (I also should have brought my HD cam, but that's another story)
Anyways, I always forget crucial things from one year to the next, so before I forget, here is a mental list of things to do/bring next year:
1. Keep list of bridge openings in car.
2. Get backpack. Put bottle opener on backpack.
3. In backpack keep rash guard.
4. Bring bodyboard(s)
5. Buy duty free booze at the airport. No need to buy it in Philipsburg. That way you can lug it on the plane.
6. Chesterfields is good. Saratoga is overpriced.
7. Bring 3 pairs of shorts and 5 T-shirts. Any more is overkill.
