Soundtracks I Have Loved: The Great Outdoors

Soundtrack: The Great Outdoors
Year Released: 1988
I Bought It On: Cassette
Do I Still Own It?: Yep. [Question now discontinued, because I realize now that I still have all of these]
How Does It Hold Up?: Eh, not too bad

Track List:

1. Land of a Thousand Dances (Part 1)--Elwood Blues Revue featuring Wilson Pickett
2. Hot Fun in the Summertime--Elwood Blues Revue featuring Sam Moore
3. Big Country--Joe Walsh
4. Cabin Fever--David Wilcox
5. Land of a Thousand Dances (Part 2)--Elwood Blues Revue featuring Wilson Pickett
6. Big Bear--Bomb the Bass
7. Beaver Patrol--Pop Will Eat Itself
8. Dragboat--Elwood Blues/Tom Scott
9. Hot Weasel--Elwood Blues/Peter Aykroyd
10. Hey, Cowboy!--Thomas Newman and the Lazy 13

As you may have gathered from this series and other posts here, I'm probably not the guy you want to ask for a movie recommendation. When it comes to movies, I'm what is generally referred to as a moron. I don't have much use for dramas. Action movies aren't really my bag. If a movie is widely considered a classic, chances are I haven't seen it.

But a movie with Dan Aykroyd and John Candy, written and produced by John Hughes, well, now we're talking.



So it was with great joy that, in the summer of 1988, I set out to see The Great Outdoors. I was not disappointed. In fact, I tend to think I saw it twice that summer, but my memory refuses to yield 100% confirmation. At the very least, I saw it at the Orpheum in Tannersville, NY, while on summer vacation. I recall my mother thinking it wasn't very funny, but she eventually came around after a viewing a few months later on VHS. She was, and likely still is, a big fan of the jet-ski scene. How could you not be? And how could that not be one of the scenes someone uploaded to YouTube. C'mon, nerds, get to work. I'd do it, but I've gotta write these blog entries that no one reads.

At least someone had the good sense to record the Old 96er scene off the television.



My other non-soundtrack memory of The Great Outdoors is from eighth grade. Because I was such a good egg (and the Staten Island Catholic School Spelling Bee Champion that year, thank you very much), our teacher, Mrs. Scalegnio, trusted me enough to let me pick the movie we watched as our end-of-the-year treat. Because I went to a Catholic school, most of the movies we were allowed to watch were innocuous movies that contained nothing that could possibly offend the Young Catholic Mind. I can recall screenings of The Neverending Story, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which I was sick for), and The Trouble With Angels, which I think is the one where we decided we'd had enough and wanted to pick the movie next time.

So, I came up with a few choices (I can't remember what else I came up with, but I'm pretty sure one was Walk Like A Man, which, though I haven't seen it in 20 years and can't remember much about it, I can't possibly defend), running through the movies in my head and trying to make sure there were no objectionable parts. I think the class decided on The Great Outdoors, and I was likely pleased with that outcome. I couldn't recall anything offensive, and since it was rated PG, I figured I was safe.

Then the movie started, and I was reminded of some objectionable--or at least objectionable to an eighth-grade teacher--scenes I'd forgotten about. Like the one where Chet Ripley--John Candy's character--is taking his wife's bra off. And the occasional salty language, like when Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd) tells Chet that hot dogs are made of "lips and assholes" or when he heads to the bathroom by way of saying, "Time to introduce Mr. Thick Dick to Mr. Urinal Cake" (the latter of which is now one of my favorite movie lines but apparently went right over my head back then). And then there's the scene where Mrs. Ripley and Mrs. Craig (played by Annette Bening, in the only movie I've ever seen her in) talk about how the latter occasionally has to find, ahem, gratification by sitting on the washing machine.

I think Mrs. Scalegnio turned red a few times.

As these scenes began and I realized what I had forgotten about, I would start coughing uncontrollably to cover up the offending dialogue. I don't think I was very successful, and sometimes I could only keep the coughing charade going for so long. Whatever. At least we saw one decent movie in eight years.

Enough of that. Let's move on to the soundtrack, which has helpfully been uploaded by YouTube user SoundRarity (who has also uploaded the Twins soundtrack, which somehow escaped my purview and includes 2 Live Crew's painful cover of "Yakety Yak" [the original, by the way, opens The Great Outdoors but doesn't make it to the soundtrack]), so you can enjoy it in all its glory.

And there is indeed some glory here, though some shine brighter than others. The usually reliable Joe Walsh isn't so hot on "Big Country," which Wikipedia tells me was the original title of the movie, and Thomas Newman (him again?) probably could've trimmed a minute from "Hey Cowboy!". But those are the worst of the bunch.

I don't think I need to hear David Wilcox's "Cabin Fever" more than once a decade, but it aint a bad song. And Pop Will Eat Itself's "Beaver Patrol" is not without its charm. But the contributions of Wilson Pickett and Sam Moore carry the soundtrack. Granted, I'm not entirely sure why there needed to be two versions of Pickett singing "Land of a Thousand Dances," but, really, can you ever have too many? And the 11-year-old me was probably pretty excited to hear another version of the song after the epic cover by the WWF's finest on The Wrestling Album. Hard to top that one, but Pickett tries his best to reclaim the tune. Good video, too, featuring Dan Aykroyd's return to choreographed music video dancing.



And, as for Moore, I think the soundtrack's version of "Hot Fun in the Summertime" (not sure who's doing the rest of the vocals, because no one's credited) is better than the original. Sorry, Sly.



I suppose it would be cooler if I said one of these two songs was my favorite on the album, but we should all know by now that cool passed me by a long time ago. So I will gladly admit that my favorite song on the soundtrack is "Big Bear" by Bomb The Bass. To be fair, though, Annette Bening makes the song (she utters the titular phrase).



And in case you wanted the scene from the movie (another classic), here's a snippet:



And so ends my salute to the soundtracks of John Hughes Movies No One Ever Really Talks About. The next installment of SIHL (and most remaining installments, I think) will stay in the 1980s, though, so be prepared for more nostalgic reminiscences of when I actually went to the movies.

Until then, keep an eye on Reg for your Storm Tracker updates.

Soundtracks I Have Loved: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Soundtrack: Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Year Released: 1987
I Bought It On: Vinyl
Do I Still Own It?: Yep.

Track List:

TOWN
I Can Take Anything (Love Theme from "Planes, Trains And Automobiles") - E.T.A. featuring Steve Martin and John Candy
Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo - Westworld
I'll Show You Something Special - Balaam and the Angel
Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes) - Book of Love
Power To Believe - The Dream Academy

COUNTRY
Six Days on the Road - Steve Earle and the Dukes
Gonna Move - Dave Edmunds
Back in Baby's Arms - Emmylou Harris
Red River Rock - Silicon Teens
Wheels - Stars Of Heaven

I was going to space out the Hughes soundtracks but, after a closed-door meeting of the Tinsel and Rot Board of Governors, the decision was made to cover them all in a row. And I figured the next in the series might as well be what's probably my favorite John Hughes movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I can find almost nothing bad to say about this movie. The best I can do is tell you that the decision to not use the serial comma in the title rankles me. Other than that, it's just about perfect. And it has one of the all-time great movie scenes, now presented in English and German (NSFW language if you're dumb enough not to have seen the movie yet).



But I'll try to stay focused on the soundtrack as best I can. It's split into two sections, Town and Country. The Town side is the weaker of the two, and I can't say I recall where "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo" or "I'll Show You Something Special" appear in the movie. But the leadoff track was the first song I remember when the movie came out. I could swear there was an actual MTV video, but I can't find it on YouTube, so you'll have to settle for this fan-made one.



The other two songs on the Town side are also prominent in my mind, though I can't quite place "Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)" (a search on the Internets says when they're on the train, so I'll believe that). "Power to Believe" is easier to place, because it comes in at the end of what might be John Candy's best moment on film.



The Country side is why I bothered buying the soundtrack in the first place (in case you were wondering, I bought it well after the movie came to VHS at a since-closed liquidator store on W. 27th St.). "Six Days on the Road" was probably the first time I heard Steve Earle sing, and definitely the first time I heard that song, which I've probably heard roughly a hundred times since (there's another Earle song, "Continental Trailways Blues," in the movie but not on the soundtrack...more on glaring omissions from the soundtrack later). It was also the first time I heard "Red River Rock," and it took a few years before I realized it wasn't a Silicon Teens original. And no disrespect to Johnny and the Hurricanes, but I still prefer this soundtrack's version.



And, lucky for Emmylou Harris, her version of "Back in Baby's Arms" serves as the background music for the best-known scene in the movie.



The Dave Edmunds and Stars Of Heaven tracks don't do much for me, though they do fit in well with the overall theme of the movie, so I can't really fault their inclusion. But I can most definitely fault the exclusion of two songs from the movie. And, no, I'm not thinking of these two, though I wouldn't have objected if they made it. (And, by the way, I'm still waiting for the bus ride in which a singalong breaks out.)



No, I am more concerned with the exclusion of the final scene's "Every Time You Go Away" (not the Paul Young version), which is particularly bizarre because it comes at such an important part of the movie, and, more egregiously, the decision to leave this off the soundtrack.



What the hell? That's almost as disheartening as the fact that there wasn't even a soundtrack released for Uncle Buck. That's just crazy. So many great songs in that movie--"Tweedle Dee,", "Jukebox Baby," "Laugh, Laugh" (which I just learned wasn't called "Fly, Fly Before I Die"...you learn something new every day, huh?), and so on--and yet no official soundtrack. Forget about Stonehenge; the lack of a UB soundtrack is one of the great mysteries of life. I'll never understand it.

Anyway, "Mess Around" would've knocked the Planes, Trains and Automobiles soundtrack up a few notches, but, as it stands, the Country side makes it a pretty decent companion to a pretty phenomenal movie that served as the start of a series of stellar Hughes/Candy collaborations.

More on that next time. I'll try not to bemoan the lack of an Uncle Buck soundtrack any further during that post. But I can't promise anything.

Sometimes I Wish Gary Busey Had Pursued a Career in Music

...because then there would be more clips like this:



Almost as great as the Danko/Busey/Butterfield supergroup (no longer available on YouTube, but still worth your $2 here).

More of Keith and Jerry Lee (without Mr. Busey) here.

Is it too much to ask for a reunion special?

Soundtracks I Have Loved: Career Opportunities

Soundtrack: Career Opportunities
Year Released: 1991
I Bought It On: Cassette
Do I Still Own It?: Absolutely.

Track List:

1. Roy - Tom Newman
2. King Kong Five - Mano Negra
3. I Wanna Stay Home - Jellyfish
4. Tiny Little Heart Attack - Money Talks
5. Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World - Johnny Clegg
6. Criminal Bop - Tom Newman
7. Better World - Rebel MC
8. Go! (Club Mix) - Tones on Tail
9. Don't Quit - Caron Wheeler
10. Little Pony - Tom Newman

When people speak of John Hughes, they almost always focus on the Holy Hughes Trinity: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles. I have nothing against any of those movies, and they are probably the most culturally important in the Hughes ouevre, but who will speak for the other Hughes movies, the ones that get a line or two in a Hughes biography? Who will expound upon the Holy Candy/Hughes Trinity (Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck)? Who will laud the entries in the Hughes canon that don't focus on Molly Ringwald getting some?

I will. And Xmastime will help and be the go-to expert on the Dutch front. Neither of us will likely discuss Curly Sue.

Of course, this is a Soundtracks I Have Loved(tm) post, so I will use the soundtrack as my entry point. And, yes, I do have the soundtrack to Career Opportunities, a movie that IMDB says pulled in a whopping $11 million at the box office. If the fact that I own this soundtrack surprises you, I guess you're a new reader. Welcome! And let me point out that not only do I have the soundtrack on cassette, but I also have the VHS signed by Frank Whaley and Jennifer Connelly (I have the movie poster somewhere, too).



Oh yeah! Who's the man? What? Not me? Oh, OK, fair enough. Let's get back to the soundtrack.

I believe it took me awhile to find the soundtrack, and it was probably one of the last cassettes I bought (you can buy a new CD copy on Amazon for $75.68 if you're so inclined). So I got it well after seeing the movie, the tale of a directionless dreamer and frequent liar named Jim Dodge (Frank Whaley) who gets a job as the night janitor at Target, where he finds his unrequited crush Josie (Jennifer Connelly, probably at the peak of her hotness), who was contemplating shoplifting as an act of rebellion against her wealthy, unloving dad. Later, they run into a pair of thieves, expertly played by the fabulous Mulroney brothers, Dermot and Kieran, who, in addition to being fine actors (Dermot is the finer of the two, particularly in this movie, where he plays creepy almost too well) are also members of the underappreciated Low and Sweet Orchestra. SPOILER ALERT: The thieves are outwitted, and Jim and Josie ride off into the sunset. Sorry to ruin that for you. And, no, this probably isn't one Hughes bragged about to friends, but, dammit, I love it, and this is my blog. So deal with it.

I am a sucker for any movie or TV show set in a mall or department store (favorite Kevin Smith movie: Mallrats; favorite Saved by the Bell story arc: the episodes where Zack gets the hots for a homeless chick who works in the mall), so this movie was right in my wheelhouse. And I'd never actually seen a Target when the movie was released, which added to my excitement. Sure, it looked a lot like Caldor or Ames or Jamesway, but it wasn't. It was a Target, a store I had only heard mention of. How cool. It was like what I imagine a normal person experiences when they watch a movie set in some unbelievably exotic tropical locale. I am not a normal person, as you should have surmised by now.

Anyway, with the setting already luring me in and John Hughes at the helm, I really didn't need to know anything more about the movie. Of course, there was also Jennifer Connelly enticing me, plus the trailer promised an appearance from John Candy. This was a can't-miss.



By the way, "She Drives Me Crazy" isn't on the soundtrack. In fact, unless you've seen the movie, there's a better-than-average chance that no song you've ever heard is on the soundtrack. I certainly never heard of any of the songs, or any of the musicians, before I saw the movie. In fact, the movie's full of songs I would almost certainly never listen to on their own but I needed to own on a soundtrack. Such is the mark of an excellent soundtrack.

Unfortunately, with all the good songs in the movie, the decision was made to kick things off with the exciting Tom Newman instrumental "Roy," which I guess is background music for a scene with Josie's dad, since that's the only guy I recall named Roy in the movie. And the soundtrack comes to an equally thrilling conclusion with another hot Newman jam, "Little Pony," which I guess was written for the movie's most popular scene among horny dudes, a scene that I'm sure you can find on the Internet by Googling "Jennifer Connelly riding a horse" or some such variation.

The rest of the soundtrack is better, though (save for one more Tom Newman instrumental, "Criminal Bop"....sorry, dude--not a fan). The best of the lot is probably Johnny Clegg's "Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World," which sounds like it could only be included on a soundtrack to a comedy that I like.



Then, there's Mano Negra's "King Kong Five," which I would almost certainly hate if it hadn't been in this movie. It's barely two minutes long and I'm having trouble making it all the way through the YouTube video. It's catchy, though. As is Tones on Tail's "Go (Club Mix)," which you might have heard elsewhere.



And a good soundtrack could always use a touching slow jam. That role is filled with what's probably the most legitimately good track, Caron Wheeler's "Don't Quit," which Jim and Josie slow dance to in Target, finishing the dance they once had at a school function and finally kissing. And if there's anything I would've enjoyed more in 1991 than kissing Jennifer Connelly in a department store I'd never been to before, I can't think of it right now (I would also not mind doing this in 2010).



As much as I enjoy the soundtrack, though, I'm curious why one song from the movie didn't make it to the album. It's in a big scene in the movie, and it's another song I would probably run from if I heard it on the radio. But I love it in the movie. Or maybe I just love Jennifer Connelly roller skating in a tank top. Hard to say.



Could Curb Records not afford Betty Boo's fee? Was she squeezed out by the three Tom Newman joints? Did John Hughes not want it on there?

Maybe I'll find out when someone writes the 1,500-page John Hughes biography that features a solid chapter on Career Opportunities.

I'll be waiting.

A Month of Festivals: Hot August Blues (With Bonus Eastern European Content)

Let's start with this fact: any set that begins with "Walk the Dinosaur" is almost certain to be great.

So, when Lyle Lovett's Large Band kicked off with that song before Lovett took the stage, I immediately shook off the torpor of constant weekend traveling, an ambitious walk up the giant hill at Oregon Ridge Park, and an afternoon spent in a sloping field in the muggy August heat and settled in for what was probably the most enjoyable set of A Month of Festivals.

But I'll get back to that later. Let's go with a chronological recap of my first visit to the Hot August Blues festival in Cockeysville, MD.

After wandering around the grounds for a bit, dropping our chairs, and taking in a little of the side-stage action, my friend and I headed back to our chairs for The Bridge's set. And when we returned we were greeted by a woman and her two children, who had decided to take the space in front of us and set up a big umbrella that blocked my view of the stage. Awesome. And the umbrella was set up in a way that provided almost no shade, thus rendering it particularly annoying. I was able to bob and weave around it for a bit (and my friend closed it when she left to go play with the kids in an open area of the field), and it didn't really hinder much of my enjoyment of the show, because I wasn't digging the band anyway. They seem like hardworking chaps, though, so good for them.



Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears were next, and I was psyched to see them. I liked their "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is" CD a lot and had heard good things about their live show. They put on a good set but seemed to be feeling the heat a little bit (and perhaps the effects of a late-night, early-morning drive from Hoboken the night before). The show wasn't as high-energy as I expected based on the CD, but, then again, my energy wasn't at the top of the charts during their set, either. On a positive note, though, the umbrella family packed up their things and left, so that was a small victory.



Then it was time to sample some of the festival food. I'd had a mini coconut chess pie from Dangerously Delicious Pies soon after we arrived, but now it was time for something a little more substantial. Just about everything had a long line at this point, but the fare at the Mike's Hot Dogs Truck seemed promising. Well, for the most part. The mere thought of both The Cameron (with cream cheese and scallions) and the Skylar (with mayonnaise) made my stomach turn a bit, but I'm always up for a good Chicago Dog. Mike's delivered on that front, with a Chicago every bit as good as Shake Shack's. Based on the lines, I figured I might as well order a plain New Yorker, too, because I wasn't sure I wanted to stand in line for a half-hour for food again.



We went back to the main stage to see Keb' Mo', or, as we know him here on Tinsel and Rot, the man whose CD was graciously put back in my bag by the two gentlemen who mugged me in Manhattan. ("Tell us, that story," you beg. Certainly. Go buy my book and you'll get that story and a bunch more. Cheap!) I'd never officially seen Keb' Mo' in concert, though I did see a taping of the late, lamented "Sessions at West 54th" in which he was featured. In fact, that might've been the first "Sessions" taping I went to (it was either his or Billy Bragg's). I still have the setlist.

Anyway, back to 2010. It had been a while since I played any of my Keb' Mo' CDs (and, truth be told, time has established that if the muggers had decided to take the CD--his second--I'd've been OK with that), so I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy him as much as I did on "Sessions." But with the exception of a few numbers that were a little too much adult contemporary and not enough blues (my general problem with him as his career has progressed), I dug him a lot, especially when he played songs off his first CD. The set-closing "City Boy" (seen below from the "Sessions" taping) still hits me pretty hard, especially in a field in rural Maryland after a long night of bus and train travel.





Since there was an hour-plus break scheduled between the end of Keb' Mo's set and the beginning of Lyle Lovett's, we went for another walk around for dessert. I was intrigued by the guy selling what seemed to be a lemon with a candy cane shoved in it, so I took the $2 plunge (after discovering it was, in fact, a lemon with a peppermint stick shoved in it) and was told by the vendor to "have fun with it." I'm not sure what he meant by that, but I was pleased to discover the lemon and peppermint combo was quite refreshing.



Then, after surviving my solo jaunt up the giant hill and back for kicks, I settled into my chair for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band and was soon greeted by the aforementioned "Walk the Dinosaur." Two members of the Large Band--Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens--are also in Was (Not Was), so it wasn't as bizarre a choice as you might think. And it sounded phenomenal as played by the Large Band, a 14-member group in which just about everybody is unbelievably good at what they do. This is my third time seeing Lovett and His Large Band, and each time I leave stunned by just how good the band is. And, as a bonus, on this tour, the bass spot was held down by Leland Sklar (a/k/a that dude with the long beard whose name you don't know), who has played on, oh, everything.



The band can play any number of styles of music without seeming like they're stretching. And Lovett gives everybody a chance to shine throughout the show, highlighting the fiddle of Luke Bulla one moment and then letting the backup singers--Atkinson, Bowens, Willie Greene Jr., and Arnold McCuller--have their turn the next. The show started to sag in places, but never for long, and the smiles brought by songs like "Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel" (with its repetition of the phrase "choke my chicken" and barnyard shouts from the backup singers), "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)," and "Pantry" lasted long after the songs themselves ended. And, as for Lovett himself, well, he aint too shabby of a singer and songwriter. He remains an inspiration to journalism majors everywhere.



Of course, it's a bit of a stretch to call this group a blues band, so having them headline Hot August Blues was a bit odd. But in the end, who cares? Good music is good music. Though I'm pretty sure it wasn't blues, hot damn, it was good.

***



Then, of course, because sitting in an open field for 8 hours isn't enough for a weekend, I convinced my friend to bring his wife and younger daughter (the older daughter was away for the weekend, which I'm reasonably certain wasn't due to the fact that I was coming) to Blob's Park in Jessup, MD. Blob's is a beer hall offering the best in polka music several days a week, mixed in with the occasional non-polka act. I had made my initial visit with another friend several years ago and had been hoping to get back ever since. It looked like my dream would die, as Blob's seemingly rolled out its last barrel in 2007, shutting its doors after a New Year's Eve blowout. But Blob's rose from the dead and reopened last year.



The countdown to My Triumphant Return to Blob's Park began soon after I'd read about their reopening and figured this'd be a good weekend for an excursion. My friend was surprisingly easy to convince (he's the only non-family member I've lived with that still speaks to me, so clearly there's something amiss with him ... plus one of his first jobs was scaring people during the Haunted Hayride at Blob's, so nostalgia may have helped), so there we were, after a bit of traffic, pulling into the Blob's parking lot with a child who was getting a little cranky in the late afternoon.

But after a short period of adjustment and some time on the dance floor, she was enjoying Blob's as much as I was. Well, maybe not as much, but close. She, after all, didn't buy a hat and a t-shirt in the gift shop (which I don't think existed in the previous Blob's incarnation) and wasn't seriously considering buying a $30 beer stein with Max Blob's face on it. But she was having fun dancing with Mom and Dad to the Rheinlanders, a three-piece band that started off with some decidedly non-polka songs but gradually eased their way into Polkatown (they later covered Blake Shelton's "Some Beach" as a cha-cha, which resulted in a line dance). Eventually it was my turn on the dance floor, where I mainly followed the young tyke's lead and, because of that, got very dizzy after a lot of spinning for two songs. I did, however, draw the line at doing a split.

And for all you whiners who say I never dance, here's proof you're a liar.



Now the countdown begins to My Triumphant Return to Blob's Park After My Initial Triumphant Return to Blob's Park.

***

After four weekends of travel, I decided to spend the last weekend of August at home. Luckily, there was a festival nearby, though, so I made it five weekends of festivals in a row by popping into the Jersey City Polish Festival just long enough to grab some pierogies, hear a woman with a high soprano sing Polish songs, and watch some dudes in ye olde Polish garb slice Poland Spring bottles in half with swords.



That's how we do it in Jersey City, punks.

So, I think we can go ahead and call A Month of Festivals a success (and I even left out the Holy Rosary Italian Festival a block from my apartment, where I had some strong bundt cake and my first zeppoles of the summer). If you're scoring at home (and, really, you oughta be), I stopped in eight states (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, plus a brief stop in the District of Columbia), went to six festivals, saw lots of bands I love, spent time with family members and friends I love even more, and, generally, had more fun than any 33-year-old copy editor has the right to have.

And now, I will rest for a bit.

But not too long.

What I Liked About August

*Blob's Park, Jessup, MD
*The birth of Rory Charissa McCormick
*Meeting Jim Abrahams and Jerry and David Zucker
*Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI



*Three trips in one week to Deising's Bakery, Kingston, NY
*German Alps Festival, Hunter, NY
*Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Cockeysville, MD
*Pete Seeger and the Smile Revolution Revolt, Bearsville, NY

*The Five-State Bowling Tour
*Degrassi: The Boiling Point
*Pancake Sundae, Sweet Sue's, Phoenicia, NY
*The willingness of people with cars to drive me places