Archie Kobain

OK, before we get started, I need to provide a disclaimer and ask for some medical advice…  Not necessarily in that order.  But…  Is a hangover supposed to last for more than one day?  That, by the way, was my medical question.  The disclaimer is that, there are likely to be numerous spelling, and/or other typos or errors, in today’s blof post.  Management is aware of this potential problem and has chosen to move forward with today’s broadcast anyway.  Thank you for your cooperation in not expecting an error free delivery.

Someone the other day was telling me that you can never really “catch up” on sleep.  They were saying that if you were to sleep two hours per night, for a few nights, for example, you can’t then sleep for 12 hours to catch up.  I think, I disagree.  I do that all the time.  It’s a formula.  It works for me.

Similarly, I wonder if you can catch up on your drinking.  I think I’ve mentioned this before but, I talk about drinking a lot more than I actually drink.  Why?  Because it’s fun.  Other than people who actually have a drinking problem, I think everyone would like to drink more.  I mean seriously, when you see a party going on, don’t you get that feeling of, oh yeah – that should be me at that party and acting like I’m the Dos Equis guy.  I think so.  But the big question was, can you catch up on your drinking?  I think you can.  In fact, after the past few nights, I’m pretty sure I’m caught up. 

It’s funny.  Years ago, when I actually drank a lot more, I really liked to party it up between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.  So much so that, I used to drink no alcoholic beverages the entire month of January, just as a kind of self imposed sobriety check.  I feel this is a tradition whose time has returned.  Particularly now that the partying starts, one week before Thanksgiving.  So, we should probably start there… 

The Margarita Ball of the Palm Beaches rocked this year.  On it’s new official date, the Friday before Thanksgiving.  And I have to say, I believe “the ball” has now become the definitive kickoff party to the holidays.

The concept, which may have originally been borrowed from the Fort Worth Margarita Society, is to throw a big party with food, drinks and music, and ask guests to bring two unwrapped toys as an entry fee.  Everyone has a great time for about $20, and they collect several hundred toys for kids, right in their backyard, who might otherwise not receive any gifts during the upcoming holiday season.

In keeping with the four-year tradition of hosting the event at rather eclectic venues, where not everyone has events…

This year’s party was held at a big warehouse, where a guy with (seemingly) lots of money keeps his collection of art (and Aston Martins).
In the front of the warehouse was the art gallery…

The back was a big empty warehouse that was cleverly decorated and “up-lighted” into a party space. 

The food was catered by a gourment food truck, who produced some awesomely tasty tacos all night along (including dessert tacos), and the drinks never stopped flowing from the open bar and the event’s signature margarita fountain.

Of course, The Jacket was there…

This year’s music came via South Florida’s own Junior Drinkwater and the Westside Blues Band. 

And just in case these guys weren’t awesome enough on their own, which they were – at the end of the night, they were joined by guitarist Joe Tenuto  and son, Joey Tenuto. 

What a treat!

A local publicist commented, “It’s my job to attend parties and this is one of the best parties I’ve ever been to.”  Combine that with the almost 500 toys that were collected and, if I were you – and I’m really glad that I’m not because, I like being me, plus I’m already on the on the invite list…  I’d see about getting myself invited to the 2012 Margarita Ball of the Palm Beaches.  It’s going to be the 5th one, so I bet they go big.

By the way, a big thanks goes out (again) to Cloud Jacket, Dell, Eaton, HP, and WatchGuard Technologies for sponsoring this year’s event. We love you guys.

Fast Ford-werd to New York City (…again)
Don’t get me wrong.  This place is no Tortola but in limited quantities, I never get tired of it of La Manzana Grande.  I almost said that in English, which means I would have used the A-word and that would have triggered a huge tangental rant about that company with a similar name and why I’m tired of all the iCrap… but I’m not going there today.  Let’s get back to nice, nice things.

So, I’m headed to NYC this week and, as cool as I am, I get invited to a party at NBC for the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.  Now, the thing to understand about this is that, there isn’t one party going on at the NBC facility, there are multiple parties underway at every individual office (and even every cubicle), on just about every floor.  Basically, if your office has or is near a window that faces the Christmas tree, there was a party happening in your space.

Of course, I knew the scenario going into this but, you know how it is.  Under certain circumstances, you can’t take any chances, right?  So, in preparation for this party, I did what anyone else would have done.  I updated my list and laminated it.

As I understand it, everyone one the planet should be carrying with them, at all time, their laminated list.  This is a list of 10 or less other earthlings who you would really like to “connect with”.  If you know what I mean…  And supposedly, if you were to meet one of the people on your list, you can show them your list and say, “Oh, my God…  You’re on my list.”  And if it’s laminated, well, watch out, ’cause next thing you know, particularly if you’ve been drinking, you and said person may be gettin’ busy.

So, if I was going to be in the NBC building, my list needed “updating”.
It needed Tina Fey…

Just in case you’re wondering who used to be in the #2 spot, it used to say, “Anyone who goes by Jen or Jennifer, just NOT Jenny.”  I don’t think the list has to be limited to celebrities, so I thought a generic catch all was a good idea.  Maybe that should be “catch many”.  Hey…  It’s all a numbers game.

Well, anyway, I never ran into Tina.  Instead, my friend, Brian, and I were walking through Rockefeller Center, singing Sweet Caroline at the top of our lungs as Niel Diamond came walking by…  Awkward.  We quickly pretended to be signing Sweet Child of Mine.  I don’t think he fell for it.

They are kind of a Big Deal
So…  You guys are going to start thinking that I come up with a new favorite band every week and… OK…  I  can see that.  But seriously, this week’s musical guest is definitely, if not now, going to be my new favorite band at some point.  Oh, the band’s name is Big Deal. 

First of all, I love their sound.  Almost every song consists Kacey Underwood’s acoustic guitar over the more rockin’ fuzzed out electric guitar chords of Alice Costelloe and topped by their boy/girl duo vocals in some sort of a British version of American folk music.   I love it.

And it doesn’t hurt that Alice is easy on the eyes. Here she is on stage…

Oh, here she is again.
Hopefully on her way to my London flat…

I’m sure Kacey Underwood is also very talented.
But you know how it is around here, being a hot chick goes a long way…

I think we need to hear a few songs from them.  I don’t want you to miss anything.  Plus, these guys are relatively difficult to find.  They are still in relative GoogaBingHoo obscurity.

So, first, here’s the official music video for their yet to be discovered, soon to be hit song Chair… 

I love that song.  While you’re reading this, I’m probably listening to it again.
You should listen to it again…  No. Wait.  Here’s different somewhat live video for the same song…

I know. I know. Calm down.  I have another song from them.  I gotta run afte rthis but, I wanted to leave you with a slightly rough, live recording of the very awesome song,  “Cool like Kurt”…

That’s it.  I gotta run. And seriously, I’m not checking for spelling or grammar or anything else.  I’m still in Manhattan and I’m pretty sure someone out there wants to buy me drinks.  See you next week.  Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.

<smootchie bootchies>

– Arch