Show #76 April 7, 2012

Tonight's show is dedicated to Pamela!

Pamela- Face Dancer About Face
Across The Street- Hundred Million Martians Marseille
Looking at You- MC5 Babes In Arms
Uh Oh (Here I Go Again)- The Rings Rhythm Method
Torn- Doug Powell Curiouser
Sister Havana- Urge Overkill Saturation
Standard Question- Phil Neal Standard Question 7"
Wake Me When It's Over- Battered Wives Cigarettes
^We're an American Band- Grand Funk Railroad The Anthology - Thirty Years of Funk 1969-1999
Ask for Jill- The dB's Repercussion
No Future- Craig Finn Clear Heart Full Eyes
Dance of the '80s- The Surf Out Of Step EP
Running On The Spot- The Jam Direction, Reaction, Creation
Don't Mistake Love- Radio City Class of '77
*40 Boys In 40 Nights- The Donnas Turn 21
*Doin' It For The Ladies- Paul Collins King Of Power Pop
*A Road Song- Fountains Of Wayne Sky Full Of Holes
*One For The Road- Travoltas Endless Summer
Made In Japan- The Outlets Whole New World
Our Town- Marshall Crenshaw Field Day
Fool- The Tearjerkers Fool 7"
Blue Light- Bloc Party Silent Alarm
City Of Sisterly Love- Jimmy Silva and The Goats Heidi
Cellophane's Girl- Runarounds Waiting For The Hurricane 
>Travelin' Band- Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo's Factory
Not What I Used To Be- The Laughing Dogs Meet Their Makers
Your Hands (Together)- The New Pornographers Together
Come Anytime- Hoodoo Gurus Ampology
Blood- The Wigs File Under: Pop Vocal
Take One More Look- The Infidels The Infidels x4
Danny Says- The Ramones End Of The Century

^Power Pop Peak: #1 Billboard Hot 100 7/28/73

*SacroSet: Rock and Roll Road Songs

>Power Pop Prototype: 1970

My wife Jaime and I have never thought of ourselves as "cruisers," in either the "gay hustler" or "trip on a big boat" senses of the word.  Past vacations that didn't involve visiting family back east have all been about finding the cool places a destination, usually a city, has to offer.  (Surprisingly these places often have record stores nearby!)  Nonetheless, last fall when cleaning for the hundredth time the truckloads of crap my kids have strewn about their rooms it dawned on me:  they have way too much, and with Christmas coming, more is on the way.  I pictured myself shoveling a whole new crop of crap throughout 2012.  Thus was the idea to give them an "experience" for Christmas born.

Jaime and I spent hours on the web looking at all different kinds of vacation options and a cruise kept coming up.  All meals and lodging are taken care of and you get to go to some places you haven't been before (in this case Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta).  So, on March 18th we set sail on the Carnaval Splendor (pictured above) out of Long Beach and it was a pretty incredible seven days.  The kids had their first exposure to great live comedy, age appropriate "nightclubs" and a raucous piano bar.  The "Las Vegas style" shows were pretty cheesy though- I'll never forget the medley where a kick line of six fake Joan Jetts miming/air guitaring to "I Love Rock And Roll" blends into "Rock And Roll All Night" with four dancers running through the aisles in these bizarre Kiss costumes that made them look like theme park characters.  Jaime and Nica say my earnest rendition of this song at live band karaoke the night before was far superior- I even threw in Paul Stanley's  "what!" and "put your hands together!" from the Kiss Alive version.  The best karaoke experience though was seeing Jack and Nica almost spontaneously combust with embarrassment while watching Jaime and I sing "I Got You Babe."

The ports were fun and while the kids were initially freaked out by the aggressive sales techniques at the open air markets, both Jack and Nica were haggling like pros by the end of the week.  We went snorkeling off Los Arcos Beach in Cabo San Lucas and horseback riding in the countryside outside Puerto Vallarta.  The latter included a chance to swim across a river with a horse, which was really cool.  Nica was content to stay with Jaime and I most of the time and was only a little out of sorts the day of the Hunger Games film premiere- she really took one for the team by missing it for the cruise.  Jack fell in with a group of Canadians from Kamloops, British Columbia the first day, so he was all set for the duration.  Jack ordered room service every chance he got and both kids often took advantage of the 24 hour pizza, ice cream, etc.  Everything they say about the gluttony on cruises is true- no judgement, I definitely include myself in this assessment.

I had a good feeling about the cruise even before we left thanks to a very memorable dinner our last night on shore.  We were staying with friends Brian and Wendy and when they asked where we wanted to go for dinner Jaime's immediate response was "wherever we might see famous people."  (I thought this myself , but was too "cool" to say it outloud- thanks Jaime!)  So, we drove over to Nobu in Malibu where on an earlier trip I had once seen David Carradine- that's right, Kwai Chang Caine himself!  As awesome as that was, my dad and I were huge fans of his TV show Kung Fu, it was small potatoes compared to that Saturday night with Brian and Wendy.

First, as we were walking in, Brian Grazer was leaving and passed right by us.  Pretty impressive, especially since he had just produced the Oscar telecast.  The kids were nonplussed, however, and admittedly the Oscars were boring as hell this year.

My friend Brian then noticed that Laura San Giacomo was having dinner a few tables over.  She is one of the sexiest women ever filmed in Sex, Lies and Videotape and "Just Shoot Me" was a fairly funny TV show.  Still, the kids had no idea who she was.




A little later on, Jack goes to the bathroom and when he comes out says "I think the guy who peed next to me might be someone famous."  So, for the next few minutes we've all got one eye on the men's room door.  It's a good thing I hadn't just taken swig of diet coke when it opened because the ensuing full on spit take would have been embarrassing.  I look over and dressed in white from head to toe (white open collar shirt, white pants, white loafers with no socks; screw the "Memorial Day" rule), with a deep tan and that instantly recognizable world famous haircut...... is Rod Stewart.

Wow.  Jaime is all a flutter but again the kids are "eh," so we go back to talking and eating our delicious dinner (sushi for everyone else, tempura for Nica and I).  After 20 minutes or so I see Jack jump in his chair a little and stare straight ahead with a slightly dazed smile on his face.  He says something I can't hear to Nica and she looks over at the outside door and immediately starts laughing.  When I ask her what she's laughing about she can't get the words out and just points toward the door, which is blocked from my view by a post. I lean back in my chair and see that I'm about three feet away from.... Robert Downey Jr.

Freaking Iron Man and Sherlock Homes- now the kids' minds are officially BLOWN.  They immediately started texting all their friends back in Sonoma.  Even Brian and Wendy are impressed but I'm guessing this is more for our benefit.  So, the great vacation started even before we got on the boat with a night we'll never forget at Nobu.

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Hour 1
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