Project 3867: Off Alpine

 

Beer beef stew? Yes, please!

Looking around at what is happening in downtown CP, maybe you embrace the dining culture that is being created and offer up your own twist on the experience. Even saying "off Alpine" creates a vision, and I'm inspired to find a niche and go Belgian - beer, food, decor. 

Menu: Beer beef stew was the first thing that popped up. For Belgian fries, the key is to fry them twice. Meatballs and noodles. Ham and potatoes au gratin. Waffles for dinner. Endive and apple salad. 

Offer a lounge experience with couches and soft chairs instead of hard bar stools. 

It's already feeling cozy. 

Give me a lambic and tell me I'm pretty

Maybe I just want a place where I can indulge in all the Lindemann's Lambics on tap without judgment.

Create a bar/pub crawl experience with neighbors at Mill Creek Tavern, Nick Fink's, and Vitale's. 

What’s Right in the World: Finding the Right Statement

Those sleeves!

I was invited by a friend to join him for Pridefest, but I I admitted I didn’t have anything to wear. 

So I hemmed.

I hawed.

I put no less than five shirts in my Amazon basket, then deleted them all. I didn’t want to be obnoxious, ambiguous, confrontational, or dismissive. I also didn’t want to wear black. 

(This is nothing new - if you recall from a previous post, I overthought an Ally shirt I found at the thrift, only to discover it didn’t fit.)

I gave it a day, and the topic came up again, and I browsed one more time.

Then I found it.

I loved the sleeves, and what’s better, if I clicked the coupon box, it would be 25% off with free shipping.

I squealed and hit the Buy Now button.

To thine own self be true - be it your choice of partner or hunting for a bargain. 

The Cereal Project: Free Song

Free Bobby Sherman record! 

He was an almost-pick as a Fifth Monkee since he appeared as a teen idol in the show

Cereal boxes in the 70s featured a flimsy, plastic 45 blown inside the box and secured with glue dots. In the 00s there was a code to download a song via Zune or iTunes. In theory, I can go retro in appearance, but the code will be a QR in the box to download the prize. 

But what's the song? 

Cam was a little emo, and I feel like his kid could be an angsty singer/songwriter, quietly trying things out.  Gord is anxious because her band, which she had only been goofing around with, surprised her by securing a slot in a "battle of the bands" competition on spring break, but they have to cut school early to get to Florida in time. She's also been filling notebooks with songs and poetry, and in a case of performance anxiety and impostor syndrome, she's terrified that her stuff may not be any good. The other conflict is that neither parent knew about this, and her mom is pushing college tours instead of spring break with her friends. 

Guess I need to write a song for this. It's gotta be catchy. I'm representing the state that brought Aretha, Eminem, and The Stooges. I want to lean into a genre I've discovered recently, bubblegum punk, a.k.a. trash pop. 

Free Song, by The Free Stickers 

You think you know, know the way,

But can't give me the time of day,

This love's too casual for you,

You're happy when I am feelin', feelin' blue.

You knew it all along, 

I bare it all in this song.

You mean it all, all to me,

But what I give you take for free.

The path for us it twists and turns,

Your cutting tone gives me the burns.

Why do I give you my heart, 

It feels over before it starts.

You knew it all along, 

I bare it all in this song.

You meant it all, all to me,

But what I give you take for free.

Your valentine ruins the day, all I do is sit and pray, what's in your heart I have no SAY!

[angry guitar, then drum solo]

I kind of knew all along,

As I sing, sing this song,

You were once it all, all for me,

But I finally broke, broke it free. 

Why Art Matters: Jim Miller-Melberg, Sculptures for Play

Tree Form, I mistakenly called it DNA swirls when I was a kid. 

Saddle Slide, I don't remember there being one of these at Cascades. 

Castle, we called them adobe huts. 

We took the long way to Chicago this weekend, hoping to catch a garage sale or two, find some roadside honey sellers. Driving through South Haven, I was startled by a call back to my childhood and made Dave turn around. 

There they were - the play sculptures of my youth. I had to learn more. 

An internet search for playground sculptures, I discovered the artist, Jim Miller-Melberg. A true Michigander, he was born in Detroit, went to Cranbrook, then Wayne State and the University of Michigan.  He founded a company, Form, Inc., and designed playgrounds nationwide. 

In addition to the designs above, his outdoor sculptures included benches, game tables, picnic tables, basketball hoops, water fountains, animals (dophins and turtles are favorites among us GenXers), play walls (also called Swiss cheese due to the holes), and, of course, the iconic moon house. Link to the catalog here. 

I posted the photos on Facebook, which brought friends out of the woodwork to share their love for the play sculptures. I also found a fan page devoted to finding where his playground pieces still exist, and I was able to add my find. Now I have a reference in case I want to rediscover the play wall or a moon house. 

Thank you, Jim, for a fantastic childhood memory. 

Lipstick on the Mic: Indigo Girls

It's only life, after all

Closer to Fine has a soft spot in my heart and it's got to be on my list of best songs ever. It will always be on my personal jukebox. 

The Indigo Girls are Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, friends who met in elementary school and formed the band while still in high school. First, they were known as The B Band, then Saliers and Ray, before settling on the name Indigo Girls at Emory University, choosing the word from the dictionary.

They released the album Strange Fire in 1987, but it was their second, the self-titled Indigo Girls, which became their first big hit in 1989, winning them a Grammy for Best Folk Album in 1990. The song Closer to Fine was also released as one of the first cassette singles in the US, shortened to cassingle because we Americans can't be bothered to say the whole damn thing. 

This song has been described as the always poignant search for "the meaning of life," as the singer discovers "There's more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line.
And the less I seek my source for some definitive, closer I am to fine." Saliers said she felt that the song advised making life a little better by seeking small pieces of knowledge from a wide variety of sources, instead of looking for a universal truth in one place.

That is beautiful, and I think it's one of the photo montage songs I want played at my funeral... far into the future. 

This was the drunken belter that the roommates and I would play in college, and we sang at the top of our lungs at Jill's wedding. 

It's considered one of the best songs of 1989 and of the 80s. 

It's considered an LGBTQ anthem. 

It's considered a road trip song. 

It was featured in the Barbie movie. 

Even Jim and Andy sang a cappella to it, bonding in an episode of The Office. 

What a long and loving history, which, by researching the band, encapsulates their story. 

The Fifth (and Sixth) Monkees, Goffin and King

"Creature comfort goals, they only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see." 

Carole and Gerry knew every love story doesn't have a happy ending.

Gerry Goffin and Carole King were a married couple working under Don Kirshner at the Aldon Music Company as lyricists. The duo were responsible for The Monkees hit Pleasant Valley Sunday. 

But what a career they had together and separately! Together, they wrote One Fine Day, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, and Going Down. John Lennon had hoped he and Paul McCartney would become England's answer to Goffin and King. 

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. 

Separately, Gerry Goffin won an Academy Award for Mohagany and wrote hit singles such as Saving All My Love for You. 

Carole King... I mean, I could begin and end this one with the album Tapestry alone! Her career has spanned recordings, television, movies, and musical theatre, with awards and nominations that include Golden Globes, Grammys, and Emmys. Beautiful is the jukebox musical of her life, a stunning piece of art that was a surprise for us on Valentine's Day a few years back. 

Carole said upon Gerry's death he was the love of her life. She should know since she wrote the 60s soundtrack to young love. 

Project 3867: My First Car Lot

My first car, only no white leather roof, it was all red

We are back to cars. While Will is driving the convertible, I'm watching available used cars that may be more winter-friendly. I'm experiencing a little sticker shock, noting the first car my dad bought for me to drive was a $200 1976 Century Buick. 

As a new driver, insurance is very expensive, older cars with scratches and dents are to be expected. And you know what - a 16-year-old doesn't need to be driving something he can't afford. 

Ah, memories - the first thing I did was invest in a cheap car stereo

Thus, My First Car Lot, the new driver and poor man's friend. No sticker is more than $9,999. 

With Dave's background in finance, we can use the opportunity to educate new drivers on financial literacy, tax, insurance, building their credit score, safe driving, and making smart choices. 

When this was Mill Creek Motors, there were never more than 10 cars in this lot, but with affordable prices, you could expect lots of turnover. 

Promotional tie-in is to recreate Used Car Night at the Whitecaps, and give away a new-to-you car. Some of the wins were nothing but a broken-down minivan; but I remember being insanely jealous over someone winning a candy colored Geo Tracker convertible. 

I visualized using a primary color palette and juvenile fonts (but no Comic Sans), Little Tykes car on the marquee, and advertising. Fun keychains, too.