Hot rod hullabaloo

Seems Lou had his eye on this ride for a couple of years (and just needed to wait until the Statue of Limits ran out in order to sell off the old stuff and avoid prosecution).

What you see here is a 53 Merc 1/2 ton cab. Chopped, channeled and lowered. Fenders are sectioned. Box is the back 1/2 of a 58 Chev station wagon. Custom front end. Custom interior with upholstered bomber seats. Engine is a 460 Ford with a C6 tranny. Chrome reverse wheels with bullet caps and wide whites.

So Lou enters this beauty into the Draggins 49th show and wins "Coolest Car" award (owned by a hillbilly in small print) Were proud of his award, and equally proud of our friends at the Draggins who did another fine job.

As for Clem and his lost treasure of empties, while he is starting over again and has asked that any one at work can feel free to toss there bottles and cans into his truck after lunch break and he will be pleased to take care of them. In fact Lou made it up to Clem. Seeing how Clem couldn't enjoy the feel of indoor / outdoor carpet on his feet as he goes outside to use the out house in the middle of the night, Lou had the kindness to make Clem a special pair of shoes until he can save up enough cash for the real thing......

I was destine in grade eight to join the ranks of the fraternity of the uncool until something happened that summer. I am not even sure how but I grew a little, gained some confidence and developed a little more co-ordination.

Also I found beer. I found it on the way to a movie with a friend one summer night. We were walking down an alley for a short cut to a theatre when we can across a guy named Dave. He was 16 at the time and his parents kicked him out of his house so he moved into his car ....in there back yard.

Dave had a styling 1969 Delta 88 with a tilt steering wheel, and a lot of rust. Dave had all of his buddies over hanging out at his new place. Next thing I knew we skipped the movie and had Dave "pull" us a six pack of Molsen Golden. Now Dave's place was a little crowded so some of us sat out side on the deck. (The trunk) and I nervously drank my first beer. Life changed at that point.

Years later I look back and here is the break down.

Dave ended up in jail while my geek friends went to university and are not currently worried about the recession. O.K. so my dad was right.

During my out of high school years I played in bands where my colleagues used this as a source of revenue to get through university. These were the guys with the game plan. They had fun and they did good for later in life. One outstanding example was a bass player named Russ who's dad owned a bakery. Russ was a good looking Italian guy who was a body builder to boot. He earned a PHD in physics and now works for NASA. (I am NOT making this up!)

Anyway back to the geek stuff...

So now I have been trying to recapture the sentimental things of my misspent youth. Last year I bought a whole bunch of different guitars cause they were guitars that I once had, played or wanted but could not afford. Music has been greatly effected by technology, and with all the new digital processors and all round cool stuff like re issue amplifiers I started getting the bug...

Now no guitar player with a pulse would think this isn't cool.

But it didn't stop here. With Clem in rehab (he calls it touring with Wyatt) I found I had a little too much time between December and April so I enrolled in a class and got a Amateur Radio Licence. (That's Ham Radio) That's another "hobby" that I followed as a kid until the big CB craze came 10-4.

So now what?

Back in public school I took more than a few beatings for being a bit of a geek. I would like to see some of those guys try to do that today, so maybe this is bait. Maybe it's my way of saying

"come on I dare you, call me a geek".

I will ride up to your house on my 1973 Harley, (no yuppie shit here) over your front lawn and beat at your door until your 24 year old kid answers it (who still lives in your basement) kick him in the ass. Then I'll slam you into a head lock while I root through your liquor cabinet, check out your wife before I leave you with a wedgie that will need to be surgically removed from your ass cheeks.

...However if I get an apology and an offer of steaks on the BBQ I might stick around and help you tune your kids guitar....or fix your computer.

Next I think I'll take up Scuba Diving

Well like most things in the business world it`s the behind the scene people that tend to do all the work and get very little credit. The same is true for roadies. The roadie holds in esteem the very tradition of getting things done like driving the truck all night through a snow storm to set up in the morning for the next gig, or making sure the beer is cold. You know, important things like that. With out the roadies most band musicians wouldn`t know which end of a 1/4" jack gets plugged into the speaker and which end into the mixer.

Roadies, unlike Carnies have evolved over the years. Here is a typical Carnival worker from 1975

I think he is getting ready to eat that bird. It's probably the acid he took for breakfast making him hungry. I doubt he'll cook it..... in fact he is on his way to assemble the Zipper, so he might as well just eat there...

Now here is a Carnival worker today;

The modern carnies likes to blend into the typical fair crowd as not to arouse suspicion that he may be on any drugs or alcohol. Heck, that Zipper just about sets itself up these days. But just like his dad back in 1975, it's all about getting the local girls into "the Big Tent" cause the bearded lady and strong man are throwing a little party...
















Rock Bands have always used roadies. Over the years the technical demands grew higher as the equipment got more sophisticated. The modern day roadie needs to know his way around digital audio, hold a class 1-A, have a degree in baby sitting to pacify whiney musicians, agents and promoters as well as a musical back ground to set up and tune and play every instrument ever made.


Do you recall the story about Lynard Skynard band so drunk that the roadies actually stood behind the wall of amplifier's and played the guitars while the band faked it?




Here is a picture of the 1975 roadie:






Notice that while the band is playing this man is back stage helping himself to the rider.






(or at least the booze the drummer snuck in)






















And alas, the evolved roadie








This man stands proudly among the tools of his trade (which cost about as much as a condo on the west side) fully aware of every piece of gear and how it interacts with every other piece of gear. Notice no empties, no day old lunch wrappers, no fooling around.










This guy means business.















BUT you don't start out here, like every job you got to pay your dues... A lot of late night's, long days and a lot of lifting.... Then you get to unpack boxes, stack up gear, unwrap cables......


Anyway you are starting to get the idea. It is a thankless job. And because it is a thankless job we don't want to have to do it our selves!























So we decided to have audition to recruit a new bread of roadie! Also we didn't just want one, so we hired a whole team of roadies. Roadies that knew if they couldn't get the job done they could sucker some one else into doing the heavy work.









Now your asking your self, "What team of roadies could possibly make ME load gear at 2:30 in the morning?"




Here they are kids, not only can they sucker most guys into hanging around and moving gear, but they all qualify as skilled bar tenders! Note the dedication to all get the same HRH tatoo's.

Looking forward to the next road trip!

(*all photo's stolen from the net are now my property and ask before you use them or my roadies will kick your ass)

Labels: carnies, gear, junk, Roadies, soup