Sunday, March 05, 2006

Ridin' the storm out. Waitin' for the thaw out.

I saw this guy today.

He was probably in his mid-40's.

He was rocking an honest-to-goodness, circa-1985, 20-inch long rat-tail.

It was Awesome.

The guy looked like he had seen some good times.

I bet he rolled with a "Gas, Grass or Ass- Nobody rides for free" bumper sticker.

I am sure he drank his share of PBRs whilst rockin' out to REO Speedwagon at the county fair.

During that era, mullets and rat-tails ruled the county fair beer tent.

You gotta respect the dude.

He stood up for something.

He drew a line in the sand.

He stood on the hood of his bitchin' Camaro, hoisted a warm can of PBR and declared, "IT DON'T GIT NO BETTER 'N THIS, MAAAAAAANNN!!!"

And he stood behind his convictions for lo these many years.

He has ridden the storm out.

He has stared in the face of the feathered look, the teased look, those ridiculous 90210 sideburns, the grunge look, long hair, short hair...

and he has persevered.

And here he is, rocking the living shit out of that rat-tail in the 0-6.

My first reaction was "holy shit, I can't believe my eyes," but it went from Zero to Completely Awesome in, like, 2 seconds.

I mean, seriously.

You gotta respect it.

For real.

10 Comments:

Blogger Paulette said...

*shudder* I'd be thinking, where is Edward Scissorhands when you need him?

Having seen one or two too many REO Speedwagon concerts myself back in the day (although pre- the county fair circuit...Alpine Valley I believe, but it's a hazy blur), I am embarrassed to admit that until I read the lyrics on your post today, I've been singing it all wrong. Guess I couldn't hear through the haze...

8:11 PM  
Blogger Joe said...

Jimmy-

I didn't bring my camera.

I was observing my self-imposed ban.

Although I do now sport the world's weirdest tan, inordinately dark from underneath my eyes to the top of my neck.

3:06 PM  
Blogger Paulette said...

JD - I did! You did too, right?

4:40 PM  
Blogger Andi said...

By the way Amazon has a bumper sticker:
"When hell freezes over, I'll ski there."

5:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was more of a Rush, Yes, Genesis guy...in high school. 79' In college New Wave was just catching on: B-52's, Blondie, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Ramones...etc.

Never saw REO, but caught Supertramp at the RAC.

im, 44 and coolest dad on the block

6:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's the difference between REO Speedwagon and Foreigner?

9:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Stop playing "Head Games", that comment was as cold as ice...actually, I guess it depends on what County Fair you are attending.

Love,

Lou Gramm

9:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Joe Perry could really belt it out is the main difference between REO and Foreigner I would guess.

1:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is so much wrong with the comment directly above this that I cannot begin to correct it. Call in the usual suspect(s).

7:25 PM  
Blogger Paulette said...

Freaky weird --

Lou Gramm then: http://www.lougramm.com
Lou Gramm now: http://www.foreignerfiles.com/lougrammband/intro2.htm

It's interesting that Joe Perry looks about the same now as he did then.

And who cares about Kevin Cronin...the guy can't enunciate anyway.

10:09 AM  

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