Before we get started with this one, let’s get the formalities out of the way. First of all, I posted a new podcast episode — available to everyone! — at 12:01 AM on Monday. That’s going to be the goal from now on… new episodes will be posted at 12:01. It’s not always possible, but I’m gonna try. Here’s your link, and here’s the summary:
In this one, I share my feelings about adults who insist on making a big deal out of their birthdays, a memorable visit to a Sheetz convenience store, and a cautionary tale I told one of my kids that featured a strange man I worked with years ago. And etc. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening!
It’s available wherever you get podcasts. Oh, there’s wide distribution… So, give it a listen if you’re so inclined. I think I’m making good progress with eradicating “ya know?” from my speech. It’s both harder and easier than I thought it would be. I know that doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s the truth.
Also, since we’re in the midst of Consumer Season ’18 I need to remind you to please use one of our Amazon links while doing your holiday shopping. There’s one at the bottom of every update, as well as a big ‘un in the right sidebar. Just click through one, and shop as normal. That’s all there is to it. It’ll cost you nothing extra, but a small percentage of whatever you spend will be sent my way. It helps me a great deal, so thank you guys for remembering!
Here are some things I’m enjoying at the moment:
Bosch A show on Amazon Prime. It feels like I mentioned it last time, as well. Oh well. It’s a solid old-fashioned police series with great acting and writing. I’m loving it. Last night I watched the first two shows of Season 3. There’s one more season to go, and Season 5 is supposed to be released in the spring. So, I’m good for a while. They recently committed to a Season 6 too. Good stuff. I also have several of the Bosch books on my Kindle but haven’t gotten around to reading any of them.
Bad Move: A Novel I’ve read a lot of books by Linwood Barclay, and most are probably better than this one. But I like it. He’s become a consistent and accomplished writer of thrillers that remind me of Dean Koontz. You know? Ordinary people suddenly plunged into extraordinary circumstances? But this was Barclay’s first book, and it’s a humor novel. I had no idea. Oh, it features murder and a mystery, and all the normal stuff. But it’s built for laughs. Apparently, he wrote four novels featuring the same main character, and I’ll have to read them all. This one feels like a first novel, which isn’t really a compliment. But it’s certainly not bad. And it’s legitimately funny. I’m a sucker for this kind of thing.
Katrina & The Waves I was, of course, familiar with their big ’80s hit “Walking on Sunshine.” I mean, who isn’t? And I also knew that one of the main guys from The Soft Boys was a member of the band, and actually wrote their big hit. The Soft Boys was Robyn Hitchcock’s band, but Kimberly Rew (a dude, btw), the guitarist, went on to Katrina & The Waves after The Soft Boys broke up. I didn’t know much beyond that. It felt really bizarre to me, though. The Soft Boys were eccentric and weird, and Katrina was so… sunny and upbeat. Anyway, Hitchcock wished Rew a happy birthday yesterday on Instagram and called him one of the greatest songwriters, etc. So, I did some additional investigating, and it turns out Katrina & The Waves were way more interesting than I knew. It was Kimberly Rew’s band, and he wrote most of the songs, including “Going Down To Liverpool” which was covered by the Bangles. I always thought it was a Bangles original. Also, before they were signed to Capitol Records and became one-hit wonders, they recorded two albums for a small independent label. Both are on Spotify and I can’t stop listening to ’em. They’re rocking and fun. Really good stuff. And, once again, I had no idea.
Devil Anse IPA You’ll notice that Beer Advocate rates this beer as “exceptional.” I agree wholeheartedly. My friend Steve goes to West Virginia (the Motherland) frequently, and sometimes brings me gifts. A while back he brought me several single beers that were brewed in West Virginia. Huh, I thought, that’s interesting. But, to tell you the truth, I didn’t have high hopes. I don’t know why, but I didn’t. And my suspicions were right on the money with all but one. None were horrible, they just fell into that giant blobby “eh, it’s alright” category. That’s one big-ass category. But when I tried the Devil Anse I was blown away. Holy shitballs, that thing was fantastic. And it’s only available in West Virginia, and right over the border in Virginia. So, it’s a true regional beer. I have no easy access to it. But… I had lunch with Steve yesterday and he gave me a full case as a birthday present! So I’m back in business for a while. I’m gonna savor and pace myself. I have to make this thing last. Oh yeah.
What are you enjoying right now? If you’ve got something, please share. Use the comments.
And speaking of going down to Liverpool, I entered a contest yesterday that I’d LOVE to win. Check it out. Man, that would be truly kickass. I mean, I occasionally buy a lottery ticket (it’s rare, though) and I’d love to win that, as well. But I know I won’t. You’d have to be an idiot to believe you might actually win the lottery. But I could possibly win this Beatles thing, right? …Hello? Anyway, I got excited when I heard about it, and I’m planning to walk away with the grand prize. Just so you know.
Have you ever won anything? I won a 105-second “record run” back in the 1980s, where I was given 105 seconds to run around a record store and grab as many albums as I could. There were many restrictions, but I still ended up with a large number of free LPs. And I won a $5 gift certificate from McDonald’s when I was in 4th grade or something like that. I called into WKAZ, the local Top 40 station, and recited the “Two all beef patties, special sauce…” thing within five seconds or somesuch. The thing is… that five dollars fed our entire family. All four of us. Ha! Burgers were something like 35 cents back then. Crazy. And I recently won a Replacements promo pack from Rhino Records. The Replacements are one of my favorite bands, and the label gave away a bunch of rare promo-only items. And they drew my name! Hell to the yes.
But I believe that’s been the extent of my “winning.” What about you? Have you ever won anything substantial? Please tell us about it, won’t you?
And I’m calling it a day, my friends. I’ll be returning to work tomorrow, after five days off. Oh, my nipples are exploding with delight.
I’ll see you guys again on Thursday, with a new update and a new podcast episode.
Have a great one!
Now playing in the bunker
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A turkey at Giant Eagle. I gave it away.
I won a tv/vcr combo in college. Only recently lost that in Hurricane Harvey…so that lasted a good 20 years. Won something on the radio about 15 years ago and that entered me into another competition which was a race on some Nascar simulator thing. Winner of that won a trip to Orlando and a visit to do the Richard Petty Driving experience thing. The place that had the simulators wasn’t far from my house, so the day before, I went an did a round or two of practice just so I knew what I was doing on the thing. I ended up winning. So spending $30 to practice paid off. About 6 years ago I won a trip to Spain to see Real Madrid play at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The contest was sponsored by BBVA Bank which sponsored La Liga at that point I believe. Our tickets to the game were INCREDIBLE. It was an awesome experience. Sadly, no luck with the lottery.
I won a radio contest .. guess the sound, win the cash, the $$ pot grew every time someone gave a wrong answer, I won $17,750.00. It was cool.
I’m winning every day – I’m almost sick of it.
I just laughed so hard I choked. My wife gave me the “you are an idiot” look.
I’m glad I work from home now so my co-workers didn’t have to hear me just cackle.
We won a set of encyclopedias from my daughter’s grade school back in the late 90s. Fast forward 15 years and we couldn’t GIVE that 100 lb. stack of books away.
In 1993, I won $1000 worth of books from a chain bookstore that opened where I lived.
The prize was delivered as 100 –count ’em, 100–$10 gift certificates.
Great fun book shopping for the next two years or so….
That’s the by far the best prize mentioned so far. Man, I miss brick-and-mortar bookstores.
In 1968 (I was 8) I won two tickets to the Ohio State-Michigan football game from the local Sohio gas station. Dad’s car broke down about 20 miles from the house and a friend of his came out, swapped cars and we were off again. It was a perfect day with temperature around 60 and was one of the best days I spent with the old man. First time I went to a college game and with the hot dogs and a couple of sodas I could not have been happier even though we sat about 5 rows from the very top of The Shoe.
If you are ever in the Raleigh area, stop in the Lone Rider brewery. They always have a couple of beers that you can’t get anywhere else. Deadwood and Tres Vaqueros are two favorites. BTW, they are planning to open tap rooms around the east coast… keep your eyes open!
I’ve won several things. I don’t often buy lottery tickets but randomly bought a pick three with three favorite numbers that happened to win that night and took home about $300.
Won a $500 NCAA pool at work, and a couple of $200 Super Bowl squares pools, and a $100 NCAA football pool… I have to admit, all were by luck
Won the big prize at work from the contest for contributing to the United Way… A trip to the Poconos. The weekend we picked happened to be the same one as a polka festival… made for a kind of weird weekend!
Won a few other smaller prizes… You have to play to win!
I guess I could say I’m pretty lucky, but I’m still waiting for that Mega Millions or Powerball win!
Jeff,
One of my brothers and I have been reading the surf report since 2003. Well, I just discovered that all of my siblings(5 total) follow you. Our family gets along wonderfully, all five of us love to hang out together despite being in our 20-30s, and leading vastly different lives. I now firmly believe this is due to the surf report. A family that laughs together, stays together! Thank you Jeff, for keeping my family together.
that’s pretty cool.
At Austin-Bergstrom right now. Satan’s airport. I just won a crotch pat down, my backpack hand checked by TSA, and a double wrist and hand swab at security. Took my small toothpaste. The edge was too sharp. I am clean cut and dressed well and engaged with those around me. Fuck me.
Our church used to have a Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday thing in the church basement every year. Local businesses would donate gift certificates, new coats, lamps, silk flower arrangements, all kinds of stuff. It seemed like they called numbers for an hour giving shit away at the end of this thing.
You could buy a chance for 25 cents or something. I won a bushel of booze, literally about 20 various bottles of whiskey in an actual wicker bushel basket. I was probably in 7th or 8th grade at the time. My dad laughed like hell, grabbed it, and immediately took it outside and locked the trunk of the car.