Thursday, March 16, 2006

A couple of posts about "rock"

No . . . actor/wrestler The Rock isn't featured in this post (yet!).

It's first and foremost about two very separate things: The B-52 song "Rock Lobster" and the basketball term for the ball (i.e. the rock).

Last night, in a fit of celebratory madness (again a March basketball reference) Lynda and I took the kids out to eat at Local Chain Restaurant #15. All fine and good, but one of the songs played over the speakers was . . . "Rock Lobster" by The B-52s.

I love the Bs. Gotta support the Georgia bands you see; keep up the stereotypes. Their music is fun, catchy, exuberant, great for parties. "Rock Lobster" is one of my favorites and while everyone has heard it, it doesn't get the fan backlash that overplayed songs such as "Love Shack" or REM's "Stand" gets (at least not for me).

But, as "Rock Lobster" plays over the speakers, one of the wait staff walks by and comments to someone else that this is such a long song. And truly, I'd never thought about it that way. But it IS a long song. I just get lost in it and don't care. Plus, I had fun rocking out to it with the kids and generally making a spectacle in the restaurant.

The best news is that it inspired me to get off my butt and download one of the B-52's greatest hits albums, something I've thought about doing a lot over the years, but have never done. Well, now I have and it is a good day.

The list of songs:

1. Planet Claire
2. 52 Girls
3. Rock Lobster
4. Party Out Of Bounds
5. Strobelight
6. Private Idaho
7. Quiche Lorraine
8. Mesopotamia
9. Song For A Future Generation
10. Summer Of Love (Original Unreleased Mix)
11. Channel Z
12. Deadbeat Club
13. Love Shack
14. Roam
15. Good Stuff
16. Is That You Mo-Dean?
17. Debbie
18. Hallucinating Pluto

Really, it's the first half of the album that make it worth getting. Classic Bs. I can't listen to them without thinking of my brother MSquared, who first introduced me to the group back in the mid 1980s when he was in college at Georgia Tech. Lynda and I visited MSquared and his wife when we were in college and listened to the B-52s while playing Pictionary. During that drive to Atlanta we discussed getting married and having children for the first time. We even discussed specific children's names. Good times.

*****

As noted, the other meaning of rock is slang for basketball. And basketball in March means NCAA tournament time. And put all that together and it means I am running my office pool, hoping for the best and receiving the worst. Today (day 1) started well; I got the first three games of the day correct and then proceeded to pick incorrectly on each of the next four. I suck, as per usual.

More on the grisly details of my annual basketball demise as the tournament proceeds.

*****

Finally, I am taking tomorrow off, and so is Lynda.

That rocks most of all!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave, thanks for the shout-out. As you may have imagined, RL has been a favorite of our girls over the years. But they don't refer to it by its proper name, only "The Catfish Song". I remember your visit and the Pictionary game but had forgotten that the B52s were involved. BTW, do you know how the band got its name? It had nothing to do with the aircraft.

I wish I had read the Pool Rules a little more closely, or I would have picked all of the 10s, 11s, and 12s. Oh well, this has been a bit of a Lost Season for me with my 2 co-favorites performing well below their standards; why should the Pool be any different?

Enjoy your day off tomorrow and don't forget the Green.

MM