A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn't

Gotta love November and December in Florida. It is finally cool enough to be outside all day and it is still warm enough to be outside all day. So this is when the celebrations and festivals start to really get going.

Me and Brother Dave headed out to Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg for Ribfest. We had us some festival food and watched the pretty girls walk by. Had to watch fairly closely, as they were intermingled in with a whole lot of... well, to be as kind as possile, a whole lot of not pretty. It is a fair bet to say that a lot of trailer parks were emptied out yesterday.

We stayed for Gator Country, which is Molly Hatchett except for they somehow lost the rights to their name Molly Hatchett. Most of it was sounding good, but the boys are really starting show their age. One guitarist had to sit through most of the show and another got winded and had to be replaced. The lead singer lost it on the last song. At first I thought he'd forgotten the words, but they've been singing that song for 35 years, so it seems unlikely. So I think he strained his voice. Anyhoo, the last song was brutal and the applause for it a polite, "Hey, well anyway you tried."

We also stayed for Blue Oyster Cult, who put on a much tighter show. Those guys were still on the top of their game. I was wondering about how they ended up playing at a venue like Ribfest, but then I got to thinking about today, when Big Kenny (of Big and Rich) is playing, and they're still on the radio and touring as headliners. And the Zac Brown Band is there too, and they are about the hottest thing in country music right now that's not named Taylor Swift. Anyway, I'd say the festival was a success with good ribs, good (mostly) music, and temps around 78. We didn't stay for George Thorogood, but from the looks of the T-shirts around, he had a pretty sizeable following. Who'd have thunk it?

We stopped in at the Mellow Mushroom for a late dinner on the way home. I got pizza, Bro Dave got a calzone. And we had a chuckle that te restrooms are labeled as "mellow flushroom".

Real News Report--had me rolling:


Was going to take the wife up to the 35th Annual Homosassa Arts, Crafts, & Seafood Festival today. It's a $2 donation to get in, but I know she would have really enjoyed the fresh seafood. Unfortunately, I am having major problems with my well and have the guy coming out tomorrow to pull it and repair it. Let's hope that works, because all told, I am dropping a little over $2000 for that. It'll have to work actually, because if it doesn't, I'm looking at an additional $5000-$6000 for a new well. And I don't have that kind of money laying around right now.

So, as luck, and the natural orneriness of things, would have it, when I dropped several thousands of dollars to run a new chainlink fence, I a) enclosed the pump inside, making it necessary for me to remove the southern end of the fence and dig up the poles to allow the guy's truck to get into the yard. And b) I ran the eastern side of the fence, the long, long, all the way across the back yard portion of the fence directly over the pump. So it also has to come down. Therefore, c) we are not going to Homosassa, but rather staying here. I am sure the wife would rather have water long term, than shrimp one afternoon, but it is not something she may readily admit.

Instead, we will drive the Mustang to the flea market to mingle with the half of the trailer park dwellers that are not at Ribfest.



The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion, out
Ramblin' Ed

The food and beer midway. This and the one opposite it framed the main stage.

We opted to sit back just a bit and watch it on the screen. It was a wise choice as up front we could have been crushed by boomers semi-rythmically swaying and blissfully singing along.

Niiiiiiice....