I took a slight detour this weekend.
Instead of brooding over a friend who ditched I decided to change something up. I took a trip to the beach. Initially to avoid the smoke filling the air near me, however once at the beach I found that it was there too. Oh well. I spent the afternoon with friends shooting the shit and watching football. Had a nice steak dinner, grill on the BBQ.
On the way home I got a call from another friend and was invited to see a movie. Without thinking about it I took off in another direction and went for a movie. Rather than heading home after the late show, I crashed at their pad. The next morning we ate breakfast chilled out and then I was invited to go to a charity event at a Harley Davidson dealership.
Hop in a car, cruise down PCH and meet a few people at the largest Harley dealer in So Cal. Look at a lot of nice Harleys. I didn’t quite feel like I fit in. One, I don’t own a Harley (not yet anyway). Two, I was in shorts and t-shirt. Three, I don’t have a big beard. Four, I don’t have a big belly. The people were nice and so I didn’t feel uncomfortable. There was a live band. I didn’t catch the name. They looked like Harley riders who sang music like ZZ Top meets Lynyrd Skynyrd – though not at their level.
Afterwards it was trip to the Santa Monica Apple store to slobber over the Macbook Pro. What an absolute marvel of industrial design. Did I mention that my friend Blake picked one up? He had it on saturday at his place. They’re beautiful. They really are.
Post Apple store it was a stop in Barnes and Noble, then a home furnishing store. Where my friend picked up a lamp. As I was helping carry it out I made a joke of how big it was as it was in my crotch and sticking out at a 45 degree angle. As I said that a pretty girl came walking by who started smiling and giggling. Shortly thereafter came her boyfriend who also overheard me and was cracking up. Good thing I can provide comic relief.
I headed home to sit and chill. 48 hours of not pushing an agenda for music. I liked it. I think I will need to do more of that.
Summer has pretty much ended for the northern hemisphere. However, if you’ve missed the news, we in southern california are dealing with heat and fire. Which combined with the go-with-the-flow attitude I had over the weekend leads me to a choice of Come Go With Me by The Beach Boys. I think it’s a fairly obvious choice. I’m not implying that we’d be dating, but I think it’s fun to get out and do things without worrying about the end result.
The barber shop doo wop style really captures that feeling of summer and southern california. At least it did for the beach boys based on all that I know about music history. The rhythmic use of the vocals to set up a vibe really works. a dom, dom, dom, dom, dom, dom be dooby… How is that not a catchy uttering of sounds? Of course the beach boys were also known to be studio sticklers, thus the backing music is well done. A nice little march like snare beat, a simple acoustic guitar, some horns, claps and more. They all combine to exude that feel good vibe that is so beach, sun, and fun.
Go get your flow on, and make sure you add The Beach Boys to your library. Can’t go wrong with a classic.
Got a tune you think I ought to post on? Drop me a comment or a line. Don’t be bashful.