2008 SoS Champion: Shawn Kline

At some point or another, the Song of the Summer Blog was going to have to address the actual topic of the Song of the Summer. This was number one on the list of topics that this blog has been avoiding - and for no good reason what so ever. Number two is giving credit to the Posterisk*. And now that the non-authenticity of food has been covered, I think that temporarily frees up the list of blog avoidance. However, JJ might remind me quickly that I'm forgetting a few.

*I completely stole this tangential writing device. I like to read a good bit of the blog posts from Joe Posnanski - and I cannot recommend the Stan Musial post enough. He frequently uses an asterisk to allow him to completely leave the topic at hand - such as avoiding talking about the Song of the Summer Champion. He calls the device a Posterisk. If for some strange reason you find my blog Mr. Posnanski, I hope this inset adequately gives you the credit you deserve. And I would like to point out that Leicester City** is enjoying a good start to the season.

**To all the soccer snobs out there that say that relegation is the greatest thing -- screw you. You try cheering for a team that keeps on getting relegated. Sure it's cute the first time. But then you get relegated again and you start showing up to work dressed all in black. {p.s. If Leicester gains promotion this season, I reserve the right to brag effusively and disavow ever writing this paragraph.}

You are at the home of the Song of the Summer website and this blog is the home to the official ramblings that come from a contest as silly as the SoS. If you need further explanation of the contest - go to the SoS main home page. And we are here to talk about the recently concluded 2008 Song of the Summer Season.

As you may have surmised from the title of this blog post, your SoS champion is Shawn Kline. Shawn had seven (7) listens of Tom Petty's American Girl. No one caught the legacy bonus this season - and many people were desperately trying. The Official Brother of the SoS came close to missing the legacy in the worst fashion ever: by only needing the actual Song. I cannot think of worse fate. (He also need Solsbury Hill.) Like many of you, I too heard way way too many American Woman's. It was beyond belief. Guess Who and Lenny Kravitz - it didn't matter. That song was everywhere. I have nothing against it, but seriously, why does it and not American Girl need to be played so much. Would someone please answer this vital question?

The Song of the Summer's favorite correspondence once again came from loyal SoS participant Tom Berta. Here is an excerpt from his email:

"My final SoS tally was 3 official listens. I also had four "American Girl" partials and more "Refugee"s than a war-ravaged country. I heard most of the legacy songs but never got a whiff of "Summertime" or "Sultans of Swing" and only had a partial of "Pride and Joy", so the number on which my 2008 SoS hand grenade will be lobbethed is THREE."

Shawn: don't you wish right now that your winning tally was FIVE? I'm sure everyone that does not believe you cheated* hopes that you enjoy your championship. I know this is at least your second title. Do you have more? I would like to compile an official list for website publication. If you see Shawn give him a high-five or pounds or some form of congratulation. If you know/meet a DJ tell him enough with all the American Woman's. Great honk!

*translates to no one

I hope everyone enjoyed their 2008 SoS season & your version of summertime. Send a shout and let us know how you're doing. -mal

Oktoberfest in East Hampton

There exist important nuggets of information you pick up in life. Some of them you know how you picked them up: Say 'please' & 'thank you': Mom & Dad; Pound for pound the Korean BBQ Restaurant* is the best spot to eat in Newark, DE: Brad. However, there are other nuggets that are just as important, but you cannot remember how you learned about them: don't eat the yellow snow; or the uglier the tomato the better it is likely to taste.

*If you are in Newark or have ever been to Newark & you disagree, I defy you to eat the bulgogi there and tell me I'm wrong. You may want to bring Brad to maximize this experience.

I just spent the weekend in my East Hampton hideaway & let me tell you whatever you may have heard about Hampton tomatoes is absolutely true. They are delicious & they can be downright ugly. All of mine came from Alex's produce stand. If that means anything to you - then proceed there immediately and buy the ugliest one you see. Then buy eight or nine more. Seriously, what were you going to do with only one tomato?

Of course there are other pursuits in the Hamptons besides eating tomatoes: fishing for bluefish; eating corn on the cob*; lounging on the beach; drinking wine; drinking beer; and if you have the time, you may want to enjoy a cocktail. But if you have never been to the Hamptons - don't fret. You have likely been to a beach town that is its equal. You just didn't pay $85 for your souvenir t-shirt.

*I've been living in Houston and I'm terribly missing the concept of the Delaware roadside produce stand. I was longing for summer tomatoes and corn - and I'm currently filled up. But check back with me in a week or two.

When I wasn't busy eating ugly tomatoes I also found time to celebrate German living, Oktoberfest style, with the German side of my clan. We went to Rowdy Hall and got our fill of sausage & potato salad & sauerkraut. The sauerkraut there has too many caraway seeds. That's not just my opinion, but also the opinion of Tante Franziska. She's from just north of Munich and knows how to make a mean kraut & sausage & come to think of it is possible everything she makes kicks ass. Tante: the plum cake was ridiculous! Plus it is always nice to go to a event with a native - to point out what's not authenticate* & to make you feel more legit.

*It recently dawned on me there is no such thing as the authenticity of food. You may stop bragging or worrying or vexing over whether or not your Sesame Chicken is authentic. I guarantee it is. I don't care if you bought it in the freezer case in your supermarket - it really is food. It might be awful & you may want to avoid it, but saying that it isn't authentic is just silly. We (and I'm including myself with this) should all stop.

Here is what I mean: anyone who thinks that weisswurst they are eating today in Munich is the same as it was 100 years ago is crazy. Twenty years ago you could have hermetically sealed and deep (Walt Disney's head deep) freezed that sausage and then delicately & expertly brought it back to life so it was exactly the same -- there is no way that sausage enjoys an identical taste to the one today.

Everything changes. Generations change. Climates change. Peoples taste change. You now love sushi & somehow can translate LOL into a meaningful phrase. And our food changes along with us. Your Chinese food isn't just Americanified - so is your American food. Does you pantry look anything like June Cleavers? I doubt it. How often do you reach for a can of cream of mushroom/celery/chicken soup when you start cooking dinner? (Put your hand down Big Fizz.)

Things may be changing a bit quicker now, but food & language & everything else evolves. So I have stopped worrying if that little mom & pop Mexican joint produces the same stuff as their counterpart south of the Rio Grande. They don't. Carolina & Texas & Kansas City BBQ all taste wonderfully different. And I'm betting more than a few yahoos in Dakota** make a mean BBQ too. It's all American food - whatever that might mean. Japanese food - whatever that might mean - tastes different all over Japan too.

**The Song of the Summer supports North Dakota's wish to be officially known as Dakota.

So eat what you like; stop your worrying; and feel free to tell that blow-hard he/she has no clue what they are talking about when they tell your spicy meatball is not authentic. Tell them its not authentic in Tuscany either. It'll freak them out.

Happy Oktoberfest. Eat a sausage* & get a beer. I recommend Brooklyn's Oktoberfest over Spaten's. And whatever you do, get yourself to the Korean BBQ Restaurant in Newark, Delaware. And who knows - maybe it’s authentic.

*I haven't gone completely loopy here - get a bratwurst or a knockwurst and save the chorizo for another day.

Another Five Days Without Air Conditioning

At 1:15am on 13-Sep the lights would have gone out in my house, if they were still on. I was half trying to fall asleep and half listening to the wicked storm raging around my bedroom. Hurricane Ike had come for an early breakfast. And the after effects are still readily apparent all around me.

For the next five days I got to do a little camping - whether I wanted to be camping or not. Houston in September without Air Conditioning would be an appropriate correct answer in a game of Clue; it is not the way one is supposed to live. Oh sure, you'll get by. But let me assure you: Houston would not exist as a city if it were not for the advent of air conditioning. I've never heard anything truer in my life.

But I'm not going to say it hasn't been without laughs. The upside to me regaining power is that I have gained a few roommates. My sister is going on two weeks sans electricity* at her home, so I now have three new roommates: my sis, brother-in-law, and Pants - my nine month old niece. That's a fun little perk for sure.

*I'm wrote this post on an evening flight coming into Houston. Flying over and seeing lots of dark patches where there should be light was a little trippy. You could see car headlights illuminating completely dark neighborhoods. It looked more like a scene from a movie than real life.

And there will be a slight upgrade to the swimming establishment in the backyard. We used to have a nasty, random foliage clad fence next to one side of the pool. Ike decided that would look better in the pool. I didn't completely agree, but I'm pretty sure I'll like the replacement better. And it looks like pool operations should return to normal shortly.

I'm off to buy something to put back into my freezer. I'll never forgive Ike for causing the ruination of my last three frozen Nic-o-bolis.

Space Aliens & the Election

Do you remember The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror VII" episode? It was the one where the two space aliens, Kang & Kodos, replace Bob Dole & Bill Clinton in the presidential election. I have to say that I'm reminded of that watching this Republican Convention.

I'm not saying that John McCain is a space alien. I'm theorizing Bristol Palin & Levi Johnston might be. I'm just saying they are Always holding hands. In every picture. In every TV cutaway. They are always standing next to one another & they are always holding hands.

In the Simpsons episode a reporter asks the two aliens (still looking like Dole & Clinton), "People are becoming a bit... confused by the way you and your opponent are, well, constantly holding hands." Kang responds, "We are merely exchanging long protein strings. If you can think of a simpler way, I'd like to hear it."

So I'm asking, is it possible Bristol & Levi are constantly exchanging long protein strings? Is it possible they are space aliens? And if they were, would it be acceptable to ask questions about that?

Eight Nights without Air Conditioning

It's August. I live in Houston. And I've just spent eight straight nights sleeping without air conditioning. How did I do it? I left Houston. Problem mostly solved. The first four nights were spent in Wilmington, DE. Delaware may not get national pub about it, but August in Delaware is usually a hot & humid affair. I caught four great evenings - starting on August 24th. It was down right chilly for August standards. I was crashing at Toad's condo and I was happy to see the windows open. Sleeping with windows open has not been a reality for quite a while down here in Texas.

Of course, I was pretty darn giddy to be back in Delaware. But I was leaving Houston just when it became cool for a minute to be from Delaware. I didn't get to answer one Joe Biden question. Oh well. I had bigger fish to fry - and I did. I got to see Brad & Denise's new (to them) home; eat ribs out the new Turner smoker; caught up with my cousin JamesT; ate some Korean bulgogi in Newark, DE; and finally got to reconnect a bit of Wilmington.

But that was all before I Wednesday night. That is when I got to attend a proper Wednesday Night Crew (WNC) outing at the WNC International headquarters: the Washington Street Ale House. I was joined by el P, Bugs, Agent J, the Admiral, and the official hairstylist* of the Song of the Summer. How could life have been nicer? I was in Wilmington, DE; enjoying a Dogfish 90-minute** Pale Ale; and hanging out with some good friends. It was 11pm & I had a flight to catch at 7am in Philly - so I was now ready for bed.

*It should be noted that I don't actually use the official hairstylist of the SoS to cut my hair. She's much to expensive and talented for that trivial of an endeavor. However, if you need a proper quaff near the 19806 zip code, let me know.

**90-minute is simply my favorite beer. Delaware's little Dogfish Brewery has been getting pretty darn big. I know that their 60-minute Pale Ale is on draft all over the place here in Houston. But 90-minute is harder to come by. It'll be available in a 4-pack at your favorite place to buy beer (I suspect). And the 90-minute is the official beer of the WNC. But that's a tale for another time.

That is always when the Big Fizz* will say, "Let's get cheesesteaks. Mike doesn't have access to cheesesteaks. Let's go" So up I-95 North I went with Jayesh & Fizz. Straight to Pat's "King of the Cheesesteak". Turns out; the kid living in Texas is the best one for directions. Turns out I was also the only one waking up at 5am. And after the cheese whiz goodness, I was starting to stare at 1am.

*The Big Fizz is the most nickname-able of all my friends. Maybe of anyone ever**. His real name is Larry, but you'll hardly ever hear that. He's known as Toad & The Big Fizz*** primarily. But you'll also hear him called Two Hands, Mom-mom little fat boy, Lil Thome, and a few others. But I stick with Toad & Fizz and have no reason for skipping between the two. It just happens.

**Maybe that title should go to Idi Amin or Shaq; but aren't most of those titles/nicknames self-prescribed for shameless self-promotion. That cannot count. But I did get Toad, Idi Amin, & Shaq into the same thought - and that's got to count for something.

***If you ever get a chance to greet Big Fizz, the proper way to greet him is to say "Big Fizz" and then follow that immediately with a louder "Big Fizz". Like this: "Big Fizz, BIG FIZZ!" You'd be surprised how much fun this is.

And I did wake up at 5am. OK. I didn't. I got up at 5:20am -- and now I was late. Getting showered and throwing the PJs into the suitcase took me to a little before 5:40am. I was about 20+ minutes to the Philly airport. I needed to drop off the rental* car. Somehow I made it through security and onto my Continental flight.

*Never rent a car from Thrifty in Philadelphia. They are not "on airport" as they claim. They are nice 10 minute ride away. I didn't need that.

I don't recall taxi-ing or take off or a beverage service. I woke up on the descent. The girl next to me had just spilled hand lotion on my pants. Maybe it was turbulence. I don't know. All I knew is that she had a look of horror. I'm assuming she thought I'd take my pants off and throw them at her. I didn't. That didn't even occur to me at the time. I scooped the lotion and now possessed moisturized hands & pants - in a good way.

I needed 'em. I was off to Houston; to stay for about 4 hours. Then I went straight back to the airport bound for Denver & my next four nights of air conditioner free sleeping. Dry Denver. Moisturized pants were key. If you haven't been, Denver, CO is a great town. It seems there are few people that share this opinion, but as far as I know it didn't become a cool place to live until about 14 months ago. That's when my friend Katie Gaston moved there. I'd never been to Denver before: mainly because there was never a Katie there before. So I believe it may have just become relevant.

Katie & I & Katie's carnival of WNC-Denver* groupies tripped up to Steamboat Springs for a couple of nights of camping and soaking in hot tubs. The exact joint was Strawberry Park Hot Springs. The epitome of luxury camping. I was a luxuriously priced anyhow. My share for two nights was $70 -- and there were six of us! But the campsites were great. Really fantastic.

*Katie is straight kicking my butt by starting a wildly popular branch of the WNC in Denver. Good form Post Master General.

However, I had been lead to believe I was car camping. So had Katie. We were car camping, except the car was a solid 1/4 mile hike up an 80° gradient. (It may have also been only about 5%.) That may not have been that big a deal, except we had the car packed with about the same amount of stuff I had when I moved into my freshman dorm room*. It was car camping. You are supposed to bring luxuries. We did.

*My freshman door room number was 000. How cool is that? Answer: its cool. The best part is that the school's directory could not comprehend a 000 room number. So my name was listed in the directory with the number for the pay phone in Cannon Hall. I was incognito. If you can get your hands on 91/92 UoD campus directory you'll find "Mike Lennon / Cannon Hall". That's right. I owned Cannon Hall. I wouldn't mind having it back - I could walk to the ACE Delaware office.

However, there was a considerable payoff: lake sized, natural hot springs. Lake might be a bit on the embellished side of things, but the pools were big. And they were oh so nice. Plenty of temperature settings to choose from. There were hot water falls. It was a pretty fantastic experience. And the upshot to camping there, is that you were only a 5 minute stroll from camp to the pools. On top of that, campers were allowed to hang out in the pools until midnight. It didn't stink. It didn't stink one bit.

And we enjoyed those hot springs until about 3pm on Sunday when Katie & I took the 3+ hour drive back towards Denver and the Red Rocks amphitheater. We took a little brief stop to admire the Continental Divide*. And then we found our way to Morrison, CO. Parked the Golf and walked up the 836 steps to get into the amphitheater. Red Rocks is a must see venue - that's my official stance anyhow. When Katie moved to Denver, I decreed that I would make it to a show this summer. We settled** on Gov't Mule.

*This was my second trip to Denver, but I did not get the Rockies properly the first time. So this was actually my first time ever in the American Rockies. It wasn't my first time in the Rockies though. Somehow I made it to the Canadian Rockies before I saw the home grown version.

**Other contenders were Willie Nelson, Yonder Mountain, and Mark Knopfler.

Gov't Mule put on an insane concert. This being Warren Haynes that much was expected. But this being Red Rocks, Mule was up for having a lot of fun. So I got to hear great Gov't Mule tunes {"Soul Shine", "Beautifully Broken"} and they played ridiculous covers: The Beatles "Dear Prudence", Black Sabbath "War Pigs", Doors "When the Music's Over", and Buffalo Springfield's "For What its Worth". It all added up to a show that was easily worthy of being one's first Red Rocks experience. Oh, and Umphrey's McGee kicked some serious fanny as well.

That's where I've been. Now I'm headed off to bed in air conditioned bliss. Good night Denver. Good night Delaware. See you soon.