Back To The Ol' Grind (And Heat)

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
I returned home last night from the hinterlands of Minnesota (against my better judgment), only to find Kansas City just slightly cooler than when I left it on Thursday morning.  I struggled mightily with the decision yesterday on whether to stay in Minnesota one more day or not, but I gotta tell ya, folks, the trip was worth it just for the weather alone—I awoke to temps in the '50s and rain yesterday, and fucking loved it!!  I even spotted an attractive young lady working at Barnes & Noble in downtown Minneapolis wearing boots yesterday—impressive for August!  If it weren't for those dreadful winters up that way, I'd move to the Twin Cities in a heartbeat.  Photos to come later when I feel like fighting with Blogspot's publisher function thing...

A PLACE WE CALL THE ZOO...
I hit the mighty Mall of America in suburban Bloomington again yesterday.  On a normal August Saturday, the place is a clusterfuck, but on an August Saturday when it's raining and they're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Minnesota Twins' 1987 World Champions, the place is a freakin' zoo!  Wall-to-wall people all over, and I had to do a fair amount of calisthenics to negotiate my way around, but the place is well worth a visit if you haven't been there before.

ALMOST FAMOUS...
While I was at MOA, I checked out Famous Dave's barbecue emporium for lunch, and was quite impressed with their meaty delights.  Dandy brisket, dandy ribs and dandy sides (corn on the cob, mashed taters, fries, etc.).  I'd put these folks right up there with local faves Gates and K.C. Masterpiece, and that's truly sayin' something, coming from a Kansas Citian.  Come to find out after getting back home that we have a Famous D's right here in the area out by the Kansas Speedway that I wasn't even aware of.  Must pay them a visit soon...

WHAT A CROC!
I once swore that I'd never buy a pair of these things, but I caved in during my road trip and picked up the Paylessshoesource knock-off version of Crocs, and I gotta admit, these damn things are very comfortable.  Ugly as Joan Rivers (and her ugly-ass daughter), but so very comfortable.  Great for wearing around the house, if nothing else...

GETTING REAMED
Meantime, back on the homefront, attempts by a professional plumber at unclogging my troublesome sewer drain pipe proved to be futile, and it appears I have a collapsed sewer drain pipe in my front yard, therefore, I literally don't have a pot to piss in at the moment.  The plumbers are wanting 2,500 semolians to excavate my front yard and replace said pipe, but yours truly is bull-headed enough that he's going to dig the bloody hole and fix the damn thing himself.  Yes, I'm that stubborn.  Who knows—maybe I'll find Jimmy Hoffa while I'm at it...

R.I.P., SCOOTER
I'm hardly a New York Yankees fan, but I do respect their history, and want to acknowledge the passing of Hall of Fame shortstop/announcer Phil Rizzuto last week.  Youse Rock 'N' Roll fans know of Rizzuto's work as well, as he did the "play-by-play" on Meat Loaf's classic "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", the double-entendre of which "Scooter" was apparently totally unaware of when he recorded it.  "Holy Cow!" was his signature call (as was Harry Caray's), and he was well-loved in Gotham City.

DUBBA-DUB-DUB...
I'm just a tad disappointed with the new Kissology, Volume II DVD set, as it appears that Paul Stanley hath overdubbed new vocals for a couple or three songs during the semi-legendary 1980 Sydney, Australia concert, especially on "Shandi" and "I Was Made For Lovin' You"—there ain't no fucking way he'd sound that polished live in concert!  During IWMFLY, when he sings "You were made for loving me...", you can clearly see that his mouth remains open on "me" well after his vocal stops.  I'm also chafed that they only included the first segment of the infamous Tom Snyder interview from Halloween, 1979.  Still, this fucker is worth it alone for the dreaded cinematic classic Kiss Meets The Phantom.  In the words of The Starchild:  "Easy, Catman--they are serious!"  Excellent tribute to the late Eric Carr as well (who was unable to re-dub his vocals for rather obvious reasons)...

Just as an aside, watch the "Shandi" video and note what happens at the :47 mark.  As Robin Williams said in Good Morning, Vietnam, "Flip them the bird!!"  Just as another aside, check out "She's So European" and note the following:  1) How Gene Simmons sounds like Billy Joel on the vocals;  2) How Ace's cape looks like a shower curtain when he turns his back to the camera; and 3) How Paul's guitar bears more than a strong resemblance to Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA's axe in the old "Waterloo" video!

VH UPDATE
I gathered some new info in regards to my query on the blog the other day in my Van Halen post about why bassist Michael Anthony is no longer with the band.  I stumbled across a brand new book at Barnes & Noble yesterday on the Van Halen saga, most-appropriately titled The Van Halen Saga (damn, why didn't I think of that?).  Seems that Mikey's departure has to do with Eddie's disgruntlement with his participation in tours with Sammy Hagar and other outside projects—in spite of the veritable dearth of activity in the Van Halen camp since 1995 or so.  Downright petty on EVH's part, I dare say.  I only thumbed through the book, but it appeared to be a good read.  I ain't paying $26 for the hard-cover version, tho...