Drinking, Music and Flying: Not necessarily in that order

HarborWalk Village from the water

Matt and I went out drinking in Destin this past weekend. There’s a new condo palace…well, “atrocity” would be a better word for it…right at the very point where the bridge comes across. It’s called HarborWalk Village. The place is huge. And gaudy. Perfect for Destin, in other words.

HarborWalk offers all of the amenities designed to keep the condo dweller from straying off the property: Fishing boat charters; sailboat rides, pontoon boat rentals, blah blah blah. And, as upscale as it tries to be, all the usual pricey restaurants are there.

We started off at Harry T’s, which reportedly used to be located at some condo until the place got so rowdy that it was kicked out. That was hard for me to believe this past Friday night, because it was pretty dead despite or because of having a pretty bad live band playing. I knew we weren’t in for a rockin’ good time when the first song coming back from a break was “Just The Two Of Us” or some such crap. After paying $12 for two little Rum-and-Cokes in plastic cups…twelve dollars! we decided to wander. The bartendress, sensing our impending departure, bought us a round. We said, “Thank you!” then took the drinks and left anyway.

Just to the east of HarborWalk is a place called AJ’s, which has been there forever. Perched up high above the harbor, and mostly open-air, it was packed, which always makes it fun. The drinks there were only slightly less hideously expensive. (They do take advantage of the tourists in Destin.) There was a band playing – more up-tempo stuff but to be honest they were really bad. The lead singer couldn’t hit a high note to save his life. I heard him produce some that would have shattered my drink glass, had it not been cheap plastic.

Matt and I love live music - we've gone to great lengths to see/hear it. We've heard an awful lot of bands. But - to a point - even bad live music trumps a d.j. and a sound system. To a point.

During one of the band’s breaks a d.j. spun some tunes, and I brought myself up to speed on current music. A catchy song played. The sound system wasn’t that great, but this tune was vaguely familiar. I told Matt that I liked it, and he made an “ugh” face.

“That’s Kid Rock,” he said with some disdain. Not a fan, evidently.
“Yeah, so? It’s a good song,” I countered. I don't hate Kid Rock.
“Yeah, because he ripped-off this one to make his.”

What? I cocked an ear. By then, Lynard Skynard’s “Sweet Home Alabama” was playing. Clever d.j.

So I got home and internetted the new Kid Rock song, which is called “All Summer Long.” And yes, it is more than a mere homage to the Lynard Skynard classic. It’s a cross between a "sort-of-remake" and "complete-ripoff." Let’s just say that Kid didn’t have to expend much of his song-writing “talent” in coming up with this one.

But it is also reminiscent of another song…a Warren Zevon song…a song which has already been mentioned in this blog, in the post just below this one in fact. Non-music fans will be puzzled; music fans will know exactly. WZ would undoubtedly sue, were he still alive. Which begs the question: Which song came first, "Werewolves Of London" or "Sweet Home Alabama?"* It is interesting to hear them back to back, as you can here!

Coincidentally, the Beach Boys also had a song called “All Summer Long.” It was used over the closing credits in the movie “American Graffiti.” Great, bittersweet tune, gotta love it!

I know I’m risking turning this into a music blog (and I haven't even gotten to the Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes song yet). But the alternative is to write about politics and economics, which a lot of bloggers seem to be doing. Me, I’d rather stay away from such topics, mainly because I don’t really know enough to have anything other than my ill-formed opinions. And you probably have your own, so why should I subject you to mine? You’ve all read the news – you know what’s going on.

My helicopterish life has been rather mundane lately. We haven’t really been flying much, and we go to the same old places. Oh, I had one guy puke out the back window the other night. I didn’t think he was sick, and he surely didn’t tell me. Had he just said something, I would have handed him one of those “Sic-Sacs” that I keep for just such an emergency. (I’m just glad he puked outside and not inside the aircraft.) Hey, it happens. It’s why I don’t go out on boats.

Other than that, we’ve got some exciting things in the works…things that could mean big changes Your Humble Reporter. The Boss has expanded his business to the point where we really do need a fixed-wing aircraft to supplement the helicopter. At this very moment I am scouring the market for such a plane. And unlike the helicopter field, I have airplane salesmen falling all over themselves to sell me something. So if all continues to go well, ol’ Bob will be flying airplanes again as well as helicopters! And although a lot of helicopter pilots don’t like to cross-pollinate, I really enjoy flying fixed-wing. You might say I go both ways.

*"Sweet Home Alabama" was written in the late summer of 1973 and released as a single in 1974. The earliest recording of "Werewolves of London" is noted as being in late 1974, and Mr. Zevon did not release it as a single until 1977.