Don't point at outlaws

Langton, Jerry. Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hell Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets. Mississauga, Ont: Wiley, 2010. Print.

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club is one of the oldest and largest riding organizations in the world. It is also one of the most widely feared. "God forgives, Outlaws don't" is the official motto. Members of this "one percenter" club are so scary and have such a strong code of silence that very few people have written about them for fear of retaliation.

When I was in my early twenties, I had a brief encounter with a member of this legendary organization.

We were on a family car trip to Vermont when I spotted a real Outlaw riding behind us on the highway. Like an idiot, I pointed at him and loudly announced to everyone in the car, "Hey! Take a look at this guy! He's a REAL biker not one of those Harley Davidson Weekend Warriors posers." I continued to rudely stare at him as if he was a shark in an aquarium tank.

Two whole months later I was at a Ramones show in Toad's Place when the same guy came up to me and said, "Hey--were you pointing at me in Vermont?"

And speaking of motorcycles . . .

Here are three outstanding novels for kids who like motorcycles:

Bawden, Nina. Granny the Pag. New York: Clarion Books, 1996. Print.

Cleary, Beverly, and Louis Darling. Runaway Ralph. New York: Morrow, 1970. Print.

Cleary, Beverly, and Louis Darling. The Mouse and the Motorcycle. New York: W. Morrow, 1965. Print.

ps. I suppose I should mention Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but I could never get through it.

Rock 'til you drop

Here are just a few of my favorite guitar players:

Christmas pop

Here are some of my favorite pop songs about Christmas:
Merry Christmas, Emily by Cracker
BUY the song here.



Merry Christmas: I Don't Want to Fight Tonight by the Ramones
BUY the song here.


Father Christmas by the Kinks
BUY the song here.



Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses
BUY the song here.



Merry Christmas, Baby by Bruce Springsteen
BUY the song here.



Have a happy Christmas!
Love,
Rebecca

Top Ten Songs about Thanksgiving

*SWEET POTATO--Cracker
*Banquet--Joni Mitchell
*Surfin' BIRD--The Ramones (originally by The Trashmen)










*Linger--The CRANBERRIES
*SWEET POTATO PIE--Ray Charles
*Freak on a Leash--KORN
*ICE CREAM--Sarah McLachlan
*American PIE--Don McLean









*NEW WORLD Man--RUSH
*THANK YOU--Sly & The FAMILY Stone

Top 5 Albums

Top 5 Albums is one of my favorite Myspace pages. It's an interactive site where viewers can list their top 5 albums. It's interesting to see how many people have the exact same taste.

Here are my picks:

Gabba Gabba Hey!

I love the Ramones.

Cracker

Thank goodness for Cracker. I hadn't had a favorite band since the Ramones.


Song sound familiar?

7 Things

A while ago, Odd Facts tagged me to write seven random things about myself that I haven't blogged about yet. Here goes:

1. I can touch my nose with my tongue.
2. I was crowned Miss Congeniality and 1st Runner Up at the 1979 Miss Guilford Fair Pageant.
3. I've been to at least 15 Ramones shows.
4. I can speak Spanish.
5. I do a pretty good Chrissie Hynde imitation. (Anybody want to start a Pretenders tribute band?)
6. My favorite book is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
7. I have a piece of the Berlin Wall.

I would have added some good links to the items listed above, but this computer doesn't want to cooperate with this typist. Whenever I try to add a link, the letters just type over themselves. I wrote most of this post on TextEdit, and then pasted it onto the Blogger editor.

According to the rules, I'm supposed to tag 7 other bloggers to write 7 things about themselves. However, since most of my blogging friends have already written their memes, I'm only going to tag one person. And that lucky blogger is Connecticut Teacher!

"This ain't no Mud Club"

Congratulations to Miss New Orleans for correctly answering this week's music trivia question! The initials "CBGB OMFUG" stand for "Country Blue Grass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers." Miss New Orleans found the answer in this Wikipedia article about the legendary punk rock venue, CBGB's.

CBGB's was famous for premiering great rock musicians such as Patti Smith, Blondie, the Ramones, and the Talking Heads. To learn more about the American Punk Rock Movement, visit CBGB Online which is "the official website to the historic cradle of underground music in New York's Lower East Side." The site includes this first-person narrative by the late Hilly Kristal who founded the club in 1973.

I'm afraid I don't have any interesting personal stories to tell you about CBGB's. I went there a couple of times when I was in my twenties, but I don't remember much.

Stay tuned for next week's trivia question. Who knows? You might find yourself in the winners' circle with Miss New Orleans, Honest Abe, Thursday, and Rockin' Rob!

Trivia winner!

Rob from the Czech Republic is this week's music trivia contest winner! The Ramones song, Pinhead, was inspired by the movie, Freaks.

Rockin' Rob gets to join the winners' circle with Miss Thursday and Honest Abe!

Ramones trivia

Are you ready for this week's music trivia question?

Name the movie that inspired the classic Ramones song, "Pinhead."

Who knows? You might get a chance to join the winners' circle with Miss Thursday and Honest Abe.

Hey! Ho! It's music trivia time!

Happy Friday! Here are this week's music trivia questions:
1. Where did the Ramones go to high school?
2. Name at least two other celebrities who went to this school.

Stumped? Check out this article from the Village Voice. It may take some digging, but you can also find the answer on the band's official site, Ramones.com.