Good morning, boys and girls, girls, girls!
Today’s drive is mostly just the same ol’ situation, as snow, ice, rain, rocks, wind, and fog—the usual suspects—do not appear to factor into your drive in any significant way. The only thing I have to warn you about is the downhill curve on Highway 18, at the honey and fruit stand… just before you get to Upper Waterman Canyon Road’s exit.
I was behind a couple of other cars when I entered that turn. Partway through that turn, it suddenly felt like I was in the Millennium Falcon going past Mars, and through an asteroid belt or meteor shower… there was so much gravel pelting my car that it actually impeded my visibility, albeit only briefly. My vehicle got hammered by Sixx hundred billion pieces of gravel kicked up by the cars in front of me. I understand that some sort of road construction took place in that area yesterday… maybe the gravel truck just dumped a half ton of little rocks right there.
Now, by good fortune, selfishly, I happened to be in a rental car, so my distress levels did not redline. It still kickstarted my heart, mostly from the surprisingly violent nature of the rock attack. There do not seem to be any cracks to the windshield or hugely noticeable new paint chips, so there’s that.
Whatever the case, my advice to you today, if you value your windshield and your paint, is to adjust your spacing as you go into that turn, and don’t be directly behind any other cars. Be the first car, sure… who cares about the chumps behind you. Lead, but do not follow.
Mrs. Kdog and I watched, “The Dirt” on Netflix the other night. This movie was highly anticipated, especially by fans of the band Motley Crue, and was just released last Friday. The movie lived up to the hype… it was great. It’s not one you’ll want to watch with, or recommend to anybody under the age of 30 or so, or anybody with the slightest shred of prudency. But fortunately, WE are fine with indecency, immorality, debauchery and decadence, so we thusly enjoyed the movie immensely.
So, Motley Crue stories today! A couple of years ago, Mrs. Kdog and I attended one of the concerts at Lake Arrowhead Village. It’s a small venue, open air, free… family-oriented. Anyhow, at one point, the vocalist for the performing band, The Spazmatics, was between songs, shooting the breeze with the audience for a minute or two. He pointed to some guy in the small crowd, and said, “Hey, everybody… we’re so good that even Vince Neil (vocalist for Motley Crue, in case you are not of the cultured sophisticate that knows this) came out to see us!”
Well, Mrs. Kdog and I looked at the guy. Sure, the on stage performer was making a joke, but it was sort of a lame joke: the recipient of the shout-out had long blond hair, and there was a remote resemblance… but not THAT much. Whatever. I understand making jokes, though: you gotta make a lot of jokes in order for the occasional few to succeed… there WILL be duds. His joke was a dud… because THAT guy hardly looked like Vince Neil.
After the show was over, the two of us tried to round up our teenage kids, who’d been running around the Village during the concert. We were waiting in the car, but one kid texted and said that he’d be a few minutes… and a few minutes turned into 45 minutes. It was rather annoying… but when he returned to the car, he was pretty excited to announce that he’d just spent some time hanging out and talkin’ music with: Vince Freakin’ Neil. Yup… it was Vince… and my kid ended up hanging out with the guy for a while. Vince even strummed on my kid’s guitar… I guess that axe now has provenance!
Shameless name drop (but come on… it’s another Motley Crue story): I once met Tommy Lee (drummer for Motley Crue, in case you are STILL not of the cultured sophisticate that knows this) on a movie set. We shot the breeze for a few minutes. He was a very nice guy, very friendly, and in spite of my much lower ranking on the “VIP” list of folks on this particular movie set (where he’d dropped in to see Pamela Anderson, the star of this particular movie shoot), he displayed no irritation whatsoever. So… the day AFTER I met Tommy Lee, I happened to catch a glimpse of one of those showbiz-themed shows (I don’t even remember the name of it), sort of like TMZ but quite a few years before TMZ, on TV at a friend’s house. I was utterly stunned to see “spy shots” taken on the set of “Pamela Anderson’s new movie,” along with a shot of Tommy Lee talking to somebody who they called, “a mystery man.” The narrator suggested that they were unable to identify the man, but suspected that he might be somebody to watch for… he might be a “big fish.” Sorry, no big fish… it was indeed Kdog, and he was never to be seen or mentioned again on any showbiz show like that… but it was pretty cool to have my very own 1.5 seconds of fame.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that I got myself kicked off of that set. See, the “help” isn’t supposed to talk to the “stars,” and I knew that. But being a fan of Motley Crue, and wanting to discuss the most recent concert of theirs that I’d attended, in Germany, no less, with an actual member of the band… I decided that whatever the consequences, it would be worth it to talk to Tommy Freakin’ Lee. I spent a couple of minutes talking to him, while the casting manager stood nearby, frantically biting her nails. Once the conversation with Tommy was over, I returned to my own work area, where I was informed that I could go home, as my services were no longer required. I’ll say this, though: totally worth it.
Enjoy the ride… don’t drive too fast for love, and remember that at the end of the day, you want to make it back safely to home, sweet, home. Don’t go away mad… just get to work, as this column wouldn’t be the same without you. Take a ride on the wild side, sure…. Just don’t get caught smokin’ in the boys room.
