Wolf TV

I am not...

Man, I feel like a schmuck. (Insert hecklers response here "K" you know who you are).

Just for housekeeping sake, I write and prefer to tell it like it is. Not necessarily in the best interest of things, but it is what it is. There is collateral damage in wordsmithing on this blog and yesterdays post on the ticket seems to justify somewhat of a recall.

Ok, I deserved the ticket at Castlewood. I said it. The plates were 4 months out of registration and, for crying out loud, I really didn't have a clue. I already kicked my gals ass for letting it sneak by... she said I deserved it and should be ashamed of myself.

Park Ranger Justin is a class act, proven by his reaching out and commenting on my less than stellar opinion of the situation. I certainly don't have a beef with anyone in law enforcement. So, if there were ever a hats off due, he gets it. Nuff said on this topic. And we should all slow down or get your asses a ticket. There ain't no cool thing about speeding through the park.

Vid Tour

It was a bit lonely at 6:00 AM. But something euphoric, nonetheless.

1st Buck

Ready, Fire, Aim

Yes, we open in the morning. Lone Wolf Coffee Company that is. I went out to Sam's and bought a pancy "open" sign to show all that we are actually open. We have been turning a lot of folks away lately. Hope they come back when it is game on. The outdoor lights have not shown up yest illuminating the Lone Wolf Sign. So the blast your eyes out open sign in the window will have to do.

We did have a bit of an opening engagement the other night, recognizing Jay and the plumber, all the employees and yes, Lewis Greenberg was in the house. We had baddass Drew Raskas, that 17 year old prodigy guitar player leading the jam. He will likely host the weekly Thursday acoustic jam, for those interested in playing. Peter "Cornbread" Cohen of STLblues.net was there with his amazing 4 year old son playing the harmonica. Peter is the manager of our band, The Marital Aids. Yes, yours truly butchered a song or two as well. Natalie decided she would make her debut with some of her "pretty" music. I tend to stay with the blues maself.

Got two rides in this weekend. Heard Dewaye "I am Dewayne Gazinski" Gazinski did a triple Berryman today. WT...

Shout out to Bobby DRJ,and his banged up shoulder. Going under the knife next Monday, that is uncool. Heal quick.

The Big Shark Roadie crew makes an appearance every Sunday at Castlewood, bye the bye. The Sprogues put the hammer down quite nicely. But of course, I missed the ride today because the Ranger Cop saw fit to give me a ticket for expired plates. I missed the ride time because of it. Yep, wouldn't even let me out of the car for 15 minutes while he checked my record. Had my ass right there, cherries going off in the middle of the lot. I'll bet everyone in the entire mountain bike community saw this spectacle. Anyway, I am making a 100 dollar donation to backstoppers in his name to try and ass kick his shity karma for treating me like some kind of felon, like he didn't know me, like he couldn't remember me helping him carry that dude out on a stretcher a while back with the dislocated ankle. Or the other times I have worked to restore damage or maintain the friggin place. Hey, they were three months perished, my tags. He tagged me for 83 bucks.

A bit of a problem parking the car...

So I am walking in to Home Depot to get some widgets, a few zippits, a flange and a friggin microding. And "pops'! This car bursts in to flames. I filmed the whole thing but couldn't upload the secondary explosion that occurred when the 40 oz bottle of Duval went. A shame really, the Duval.

I was thinking while standing there smelling the rubber and acrid. Did they have any explosions at the ranch....?

I think BLM did this because it was Duval and not Chimay.

Cheap and Style Square off

We went to one of our favorite spots in Chesterfield last night for dinner. Gianfabio's has been around for a while and is nestled next to Schnuck's on Olive east of Chesterfield Parkway. The food is good there and Heather, our favorite adopted child/server on Friday nights is always there waiting when we arrive. We sit at the same table, next to the wine bottles in the bar area. This way I can see the people come and go, measure them up, look for our friends. I can see the servers and bartenders interact, because that is what I am most comfortable with. We kind of sit in the action spot from my operational perspective. Plus, the bar area is still smoking, and it seems to be away from those still indulging.

Anyway, we get in and out of there for usually around 60 bucks with a couple glasses of wine. If it was a particularly hard week, maybe a tad more. This is what we do on Friday nights and I suppose we are regarded as reg-uh-lars there, even though we are somewhat newbie referencing the fact that often we are 20 years younger than anyone else. We are still climbing the stature scene but thinking we will make the cut. I am usually more casual than others, because I can be and choose to be. I think that all restaurants should be casual, regardless of the fare, btw. That is the way it is in the places I travel, that is the way St. Louis should evolve.

So it comes as no surprise that I was snubbed by the table sitting next to us. I think it was because they had made a special effort to attend dinner with friends, an upscale experience at Gianfabio's. There are two sides to the restuarant, the formal side and the bar area. We were in the more casual side, the bar area. And I was at my table first. I had "time spent" so I saw no reason to get the dirty look for reason that I assume because I was dressed in outdoor wear, a fleece from REI, some blue jeans from Izod, hiking boots from Alpine Shop. I had a wax Lone Wolf hat that pulled the ensemble together quite nicely. I am convinced that the cost of my clothes easily topped the combined total apparel cost of the 4 of them, but who has reciepts? I like doing this, being me, measuring people up. I ordered another pop of Grigio.

To be honest, I would not have likely noticed the look when they arrived. I wouldn't have cared either. It was something about the way they treated our kid Heather that got under my skin, too many questions. When she walked away, they grumbled over the costs of the features. They wanted "scenario orders".--what I call strategic special requests to get concessions by the operator to satisfy those who want to skirt the system. They wanted to know the price of the wine, whether the bread cost extra, whether the salad was ala carte or inclusive. I knew where they were going with this.

Heather was hanging in their quite nicely, never once losing her patience with, what I would consider after 30 years of the restaurant business, cheap pain in the ass bastards. Heather perfectly presented the options, came up with solutions and went along her way as if their was not a big deal at all. So it gave me great satisfaction to see that our nemisis then ordered split entrees, reducing the check by at least 35 percent. Yep, I wanted to dislike these people, first because of their look of disgust when entering my space, then because they were too cheap to order full entrees or even the pasta or a pizza for chistsake. I called it right, I won, I am always the one who can spot things like this. I have the experience. I am Pfrugle Man!

There is a rule folks, if you are under 60 years of age you don't split orders. I watched as all four of them (40's) delicately maneuvered their small portions of broccoli and chicken about their plates, this without a first salad course and baskets of bread. Amatuers! It was embarrassing for them if you ask me. Even though our gal Heather served them as if they were royalty, the way she should have, if I don't say so myself.

I can't help being this way. It goes without saying that I am rooting for the operator--it is tough right now and in order to stay a float the business owner needs to hit certain benchmarks on check average. There is a check average to service outlay ratio to consider. My concern is: How long will those cheap asses sit there and milk the place of ambiance and service before a fat wallet gets tired of waiting and heads over to Ya,Ya's?

But you now what? I would bet that our operator at Gianfabio's doesn't bat an eye and wouldn't dare make create any less an experience for those splitting entrees than those spending the big bucks with wax hats and hiking boots. That is why Gianfabio's is still in business, year after year, with stellar performances of service from Heather,and unconditional product and service standards by the owners of the restuarant. Me, I'm obliged to out the cheapo's, because I can.

Bravo to Gianfabio's, Heather and the tight asses at table #2 for the good fodder.

Plane Crash Bashing

I installed three TVs at Lone Wolf so I could watch the tickers on CNN, Fox and MSNBC simultaneously. I think that, between the three of them, and taking into consideration the close proximity of one TV to the other, I might balance off the political agenda of each broadcast throughout the day. The funny thing is that they all report on the same things, all day long. None of which sight anything good going on, anywhere.

And when I use the term "good", I mean something that is positive. Plane crash is not good, however survivors are. But this doesn't really count and zero's out the possibility of these networks being noted for reporting positive news, because we all know that the real reason for their presence was to start counting bodies, wager the destruction of those families losing grandparents, parents, children. It must have been a disappointment for the image makers.

So here is something for you. When I got home today, my wife asks me if I had heard about the crash? I grinned and said, "uh I might have heard...something". And you want to know what she said?--Nope, not one thing about the people getting out of there alive, not one thing about the hero's that landed that beast, the cold water, the stories of the survivors overcoming the odds of certain death. She asked if any dogs or cats might have been killed after seeing the cargo area submerged in water. Now, Janie thinks animal first, humans...somewhere down the line.

She is an animal lover and, God love her, she lives and breathes the plight of the homeless and underprivileged domestic pet. This is her goodness. It is not a bad thing at all for anyone to have this as part of their conscientious make-up. I find it to be indicative of her caring, nurturing personality and I suppose I married her, in part, because of this trait.

But lets take inventory here. The plane came crashing down, (shall we not make mention the fact that it was a flock of geese that got sucked through the propulsion mincers causing the crash), the water was cold, the reporters were all there, no dead bodies, only positive stories, triumph over death and perish... but oh yeah, all the animals on board died a horrible aquatic prison of death!

I have to say something here. Of my (now 47) years of flying I have never, ever seen a dog or a cat being loaded into a plane or carried on, not once. Is there a separate gate for these people and their pets. Do they have attendants down there keeping things quiet?--below somewhere, under the main seating area where the animals are stacked in crates?--lots of them?

I had to chuckle, her assessment of the situation--the outcome by which she thought things could be at a time when it was actually pretty good for the people surviving that horrible crash. This is truly a sign of her character and a good one at that--to watch out for those who might have been forgotten, the secondary, the animals who take a second seat to our existence. This is what you notice about someone after being married to them for quite a while--a certain something that, should you make it long enough, makes you smile and appreciate who they actually "are" as a human being. I am lucky that way.

It is hardly true that we as human beings are represented accordingly by the media, the Nancy Graces, the MSNBC specials on prison life, A&E's intervention, Fox's Cop's.....

Real life is depicted in real life moments when you figure out how good you have it.

AC/DC

Angus Young going up.

My ears are still ringing and my voice is shot. I screamed like a teenager with both hands punching the air in front of me. The chick in front of me traded places with her boyfriend in an effort to keep bruising at a minimum.

And that is what was so funny. I attended the concert with my boys Chef John Fraganza and Chris Lupo. John has kind of this head banger style with his 75 dollar black Metatlica T-shirts, disc ear rings and Dave Navarro beard, he looked about like everyone else. Chris, well he looks about as suburb as I do, so it was of no consequence that we simply left work, got in the car and drove immediately to Rigazzis for fish bowls dressed as we were at 7:00 AM that morning.

I just got two words: Angus Young. That dude is like no other. I am virtually speechless as to the energy this guy puts out. His style is basic and loud and straight blues with bunch of arpeggio built in. I am unsure if words can describe the passion and energy that he has when performing. And lets face it. That is what we can see or not see when a group of "over 50's" snatch a hundred dollar bill out of our wallets. I have been disappointed on tours like these, tired and lackluster performances from old timers who seem to have over rehearsed and simply go through the motions. Not the case at all with these guys. The gage?--how the fans react. There was not one person seated the entire time in the entire arena the entire time. The shouting and screaming spilled out in to the streets and into the cars, and on the highway to hell home. It was a religious experience seeing these guys. Bra-VO!

Obama's Redneck Advisor

I am clearly coming out of my depressive state as I, like a few others I know, begin to creep out from under our bunkers. Those which were built for long haul safety and recovery of American financial turmoil. I am still pissed about the whole thing, but I reckon anger is a good sign in the bigger picture after getting shell shocked with such a rapid decline of worth. I have already spewed my disgust for the system, those whom I've trusted, including the federal government itself for creating and allowing such a house of cards to be built and manipulated with our tax dollars by special interest incentive politicians. I have crafted a letter to the Obama folks in order hip him them to my situation, as it relates to small business. Please enjoy.

Dear President Elect Obama,

First off, Ayn (Rand) Coulter is mounting an offensive and it would be prudent to stay consistent with your pledges during the election. Don't be changing your mind on things that will undoubtedly fuel entries in to the conservative right catalog of ethical tribute. And also consider: There is a whole lot of others who still consider themselves, as Ann Coulter puts it: "Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservatives second, and don't you ever forget it." Now there's a buzzard who can spit venom from the pulpit to the tavern, eh Obama?

I kind of have to agree with her though. The reality is that some of us "right of middle republicans" were forced to bow down and admit defeat because of a less than stellar candidate performance/pick. After all, our party has a history of that. Our countries best interest at the moment is indeed the unconditional dispensing of inspiration, and you fit the bill.

BTW, I think it is a tad over the top for Coulter to bash you for wanting to use your middle name. It is yours, do whatever you want. But here is some honest to God advice Mr. Obama...if you decide to make Hussein a household name in regard to the presidency (and it is certainly within your ability to do so) you can count on me legally changing my name to "Redneck Kickass"--that which will undoubtedly have the same effect on those considering me for a career in public service. It is just not a good brand, sir. Are your advisers not telling you this? Use your head dude. Remember, you are there to inspire us.

I want to quote something I read recently by writer Stephen Moore. Here goes:

Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

Stephen Moore wrote this about the similarities between our counties state of affairs and that of Ayn Rands fictional novel, "Atlas Shrugged".

I ask you President Elect Obama. Since things don't seem to be falling short on crisis these days, what will be your chosen path? I noticed that you chose to speak out on the state of things prior to actually taking the oath of office--that which outlined your office coming to the rescue of what the government has created with, well, more government created programs. Will you create these new programs to insure our safety from more doomdom? Will there be fancy names for them as in the "700 Billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act"? Or what about the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act?"

I ask you, and sincerely expect an honest answer, what the hell is going to happen to the productive sectors of the economy, specifically the small business sector--we the business owners with our own personally collateralized positions--we the ones with skin in the game, what will happen to us when you launch your "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan?"--that which bails out failed businesses with the tax payers money.

Dude, yes I called you dude, because the reference is popular in our culture as a conveyance of tone used by folks like me and, to be honest, just about any hard working business owner trying to make a go of it. People like us e get a little bent out of shape over the legislative formality of things in Washington, the suits, all the political royalty, the imagery, it kind of makes the common man roll his eyes when questions are met with rhetoric and conceptualizing. It is time we got real here.

So I ask, why would you hand over a bunch of my money to people not capable of running their own business? The same people who are lining up awaiting sentencing in our courts for bilking investors, those with the golden parachutes, the white collar criminals who's corporate expense lines heavily, and with great regularity, dole out dollars that influence legislators decisions on law making. The same laws that were created and massaged in order to create the lending collapse that we are experiencing today. It is absurd. These business failures subscribe to the same image of elitism as you, the suits, the intellectual "isms" that steal away the public opinion of accountability. You played your cards right, I suppose, running to the rescue with your eloquence and oratory skills. But this is big time bogus stuff at play here...

... and dude please make note of the following:

The minimum wage increase just cost me 5%. Liability insurance is up 13%. My health insurance premium went up by 30%. Cost of sales went up as much as 7% and has yet to return even though fuel prices have adjusted back to the norm.

I am gonna need a check.

Bottoms up,

Redneck Kickass

Back in Black

I feel good after a much needed blog break. So what if I said I was gone forever? I suppose I am back because I found myself writing a buddy of mine an email at 5:00 AM and it turned into the following disertation. I am sure he thinks I am nuts. But most of you do to. I will share. And I will continue to post new stuff. There has been lots to reflect on in the past several weeks. Enjoy.

Popular Culture

You really need to hit the wild side soon for fear of never coming back and wake up someday walking fast in the malls before your time. I got an amp and an electronic tuning device and some clothes. My favorite was what Janie bought me while coming back from Florida. We stopped at Stuckey's in Chatanooga and she nabbed me a black Stuckey's t-shirt. Is that not precious? I love stuff like that, vintage attitude of our culture. I have one of the best t-shirt collections in the state and I find it funny the reaction I get from upper middle class America when I wear them. My second favorite is a shirt my sister got me: Black Flag, nuff said.

While I am on this, and because it is 5:00 am and I haven't slept well in a couple days because of the opening of Lone Wolf Coffee Company and Cafe in beautiful Ballwin MO, I will ramble a bit for your reading pleasure....

I started playing with a group on Monday evenings. I pretty much suck but have been enjoying getting better and I am the only one who can play a harmonica so they let me stand there and occasionally play rhythm guitar because I stand right next to the keyboard player and, if I start sucking, he can play louder and drown me out. But get this, the band leader, Peter, found this black chick on Craig's list and she is coming to play with us next Monday. Her name is Silky and can be described as a cross between Frenchy from American Idol and La-Fawn-Da from Napoleon Dynamite. Not even kidding. This chick has some form of a contract and wants a backing band for her CD, a blues genre collection. Pretty simple stuff from our perspective and she is actually pretty good based on her website, so I assume we are going to do it; our group of mostly bald middle aged men with cool equipment.

By the way, I am going to the AC/DC concert on Tuesday compliments of my boy Chris Lupo. What to wear....?

I have a friend of mine who is coming to see me on Friday who owns a restaurant. He wanted to sell it a while back but I talked him out of it because he owns the building and it was making money. I actually tried to get him to expand it because it is a really good place. It is called Shamus MCdaniels and it is a very popular bar and grill in two locations, a St. Louis original brand. He was burned out and so was his wife. He also found God and became a Christian, joined the Family Church down in the valley, one of those big box churches with cool music and lots of membership, youth groups and cool stuff. I am not all that in to that sort of thing but friends tell me the experience is really cool and it beats confessionals in a dark box on Friday afternoons with a priest. It wasn't all that long ago my mother stuffed me into the box at Sacred Heart in downtown Columbia. I remember her asking me if I felt better afterwards. Yes, because I wasn't in a dark box with the priest for Christsake!

Anyway. Danny is a musician and had a prior career as a recording artist. Long story short, he joins this church and becomes a huge music influence there, and after a while of being a Christian, off the booze now, he has re-invented and is one of the most inspirational guys I have met in a while. He then cuts a new CD and embarks as a new genre musician in the inspirational/christian culture. His original band was called Mama's Pride!

Danny Liston is an entrepreneur, and I know he can't get enough of the stuff. He and I (and a bunch of others) are a lot alike in our ability to visualize stuff as it relates to what consumers want, experiential things, unconventional trend spotting etc. I knew there was something about music heading our way (as it relates to our culture) but couldn't put my finger on it. I find myself drawn to it, to master it, to understand it, write it, all that stuff. Then it occurred to me, this music thing. Why does it seem that it is more popular, the acoustic sets especially? Why do kids listen to what we used to listen to? Why are there sold out shows for all of the old bands, still? Dude, look at Branson. I think there are some serious messages taking place in the "what to expect out of our guitar heroes" storybook.

I think it has a lot to do with our culture, how we grew up what was important to us back when we were in the 60's, 70's and 80's. As boomers, late boomers and about 10 years younger, there are things that definitely important to us, even though things change a bit. For example, I used to love to sit at a bar and drink and smoke. It was what I did for many reasons, mainly because I was in that business and so was my father. I don't even really like to admit a lot of the things that I used to do, the bad habits. But I grew up in that culture and for years that is what I did, bad things, crazy things, stupid, funny, dangerous things, stuff that I can squint and laugh about now. There were taverns and bars everywhere, after hours parties, fights, fast cars. You could smoke and drink and, not only was it acceptable, it was what a lot of us participated when we were younger. Even those who knew better subscribed to the culture in some way or another, in music or the occasional discreet indulgence. They know who they are.

Now, I changed all that, because I thought it wasn't all that healthy of a lifestyle. So did Danny Liston of Mamas Pride in his way. Apparently, so did modern culture because now all the bars and restaurants have disappeared to coffee houses and sandwich joints, smoking is gone in most public places and hopefully will continue that way. It wasn't something we could do forever, our culture of indulgence. I watched as my parents became ill, most of their friends, some family, a lot are dead now. Our culture eventually got hip to the fact that we can't do this any more and made adjustments. But our core likes and dislikes remain, the need for the loud music, the partying, the hemp, the sex, those ass kicking good times...well maybe not all that, but you get the picture. It's pretty much still there, the urge to experience the past, but squashed by a much needed smattering of rational thinking as most of us (who haven't perished from over indulgence) eventually evolved to middle aged adults. We also have children, and heaven forbid we allow them so much as a glimpse into what was the real nature of popular culture from our past.

My point is that music, good food and drink that is moderate and a rational reflection of our current culture is what is coming. And it should be casual enough to dawn our friggin T-shirt collections ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout. That is the trend that we can expect. Danny Liston fills the Pageant with his old fans from his album cutting days with Mamas Pride, he was the big time and made a hell of a career out of it. I am not kidding, I checked 5 cities trying to get a ticket to AC/DC in an effort to hear Back in Black live while Angus sleds down the stage. I am not sure that AC/DC will create an acoustic rock set anytime soon but more and more shows are becoming geared toward this, smaller venues, intimate settings providing reflections from our past by some of our favorite music purveyors. There is a good in all of us and them, we have evolved through the years. This is what will be sold. I like that concept and seek to pinpoint more of this idea in the future. Danny has already converted his restaurant/bar into just that and has interest in opening a chain of these, managing the talent, the restaurants the not-so-rowdy demographic of people relating to the same thing, young and...not so young anymore.

Cheers,

Ralph