This is monorailmike.com, the personal Web site of Mike Devine since 2001.

Elsewhere, I’m on LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, and mikedevine.com.

NEW! Four more albums recently joined the rotation.

Video clip of the moment: Sesame Street’s Pinball Number Count, brought to you by the number 8 (running time: 1:06).

The entire pinball series, which featured numbers 2 through 12, first aired on Sesame Street in 1976. These one-minute spots were always among my favorites on the show, and the colorful animation and funky music (with vocals by the Pointer Sisters) still hold up. And I’m reasonably sure that something like this would never appear on a kid’s show today.

You can learn much more about these classic segments, thanks to our good friends at Wikipedia. And make sure to watch the other clips in the series — all of them are great!

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May 16, 2008

Joined my friends Paul, Bob, and Cathy at the Electric Factory in Philly to see a performance by The Black Keys, a talented blues-rock duo from Akron, Ohio. Guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney put on an impressive show, which drew heavily from their latest album, Attack & Release.

From our seats in the balcony, we could hardly believe that just two people could create such a dense wall of sound. (The pair reminded me of Bob Mould’s former trio, Sugar, whose lean guitar-bass-drums lineup was brutally efficient.) Auerbach often sounded like he was playing three guitars at once, and Carney relentlessly punished his drum kit, looking and sounding like a slightly more disciplined version of Animal from The Muppet Show.

A giant inflatable tire (a nod to the rubber industry in Akron), emblazoned with a take-off of the Goodyear logo, served as a fitting backdrop to the howling din:

There’s something to be said for a no-frills concert — no video screens, no lasers, just rock. I’ve gotta see these guys again soon.

[ # 436 | Link ]

May 9–11, 2008

Two weeks after a fun-filled weekend in Pittsburgh for my friend Tony’s bachelor party, it’s time for the main event: Tony and his fiancée Mandy’s wedding.

Friday. Took the day off and drove out to Graves’ Mountain Lodge, located in rural Syria, Va., about 100 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The drive took much longer than I had expected, but the rainy weather gradually subsided during the 235-mile trip.

Arrived at around 4:30 P.M. and checked into a room I had reserved with my friend Larry at the resort’s Ridgecrest Motel on the hillside high above the lodge. Here’s the amazing view from the second-floor balcony in front of our room:

At the lodge, we went through an informal rehearsal of the following day’s ceremony, then attended a wonderful buffet dinner hosted by Tony’s parents. During the meal, Mandy’s brother-in-law Jamey presented a hilarious digital slideshow of pictures, which featured a great soundtrack and the title “Manthony” (the hybrid of Mandy + Anthony). Later in the evening, Larry and I met up with old and new friends for some drinks and plenty of laughs at their ancient rented farmhouse — the appropriately named Peon Palace.

Saturday. Skipped breakfast at the lodge and met up with the Peon Palace crowd by late morning. Picked up some food at the local Syria Mercantile Company general store, had a casual lunch at the farmhouse, then returned to the motel room to get ready for the wedding.

We gathered outdoors at an idyllic spot next to a rushing stream, and the weather brightened just in time for the ceremony. I was deeply honored to be selected as one of three readers during the service; my particular reading was the famous passage from the first book of Corinthians (the one that reminds us that “Love is patient, love is kind”).

Here’s a shot of the happy couple on a narrow bridge over the stream, shortly after the lovely ceremony had concluded:

About 160 guests attended the reception in a large pavilion, which was decorated with long strings of white Christmas lights hung from the rafters. We feasted on a delicious dinner of fried chicken, country ham, and plenty of side dishes. Many guests played bocce into the early evening, then huddled around an open fire pit as night fell. After the reception came to a close, we retreated to the Peon Palace for another campfire (great work, John!), complete with drinks, cigars, s’mores, and countless old stories.

Sunday. I joined the best man, Brandon, for breakfast at the lodge, then Larry and I checked out of the room and made our separate ways home. The drive back was much more manageable, and I returned home in plenty of time to meet my family for a Mother’s Day dinner at McKenzie Brew House in Malvern.

Best wishes for many years of happiness, Tony and Mandy!

[ # 435 | Link ]

May 6, 2008

Self-awareness is an incredibly rare commodity these days.

Not surprisingly, I witness plenty of oblivious behavior on the road. At least once a week, I find myself stuck behind someone driving very slowly in the far left lane of a busy highway. I usually wait for a minute or two, then reluctantly pass the slowpoke on the right. And that’s when I notice that the person is invariably engrossed in a conversation on his or her cell phone.

You have two choices here: hang up and hit the gas to keep up with traffic, or move to the right and keep chatting away. The choice is yours.

On a related note, I now know why our cafeteria lines are growing longer by the day. Yesterday, an older female employee decided to pay for her $6.35 lunch with three one-dollar bills, four quarters, 10 dimes, and — wait for it — a metric ton of nickels.

To be fair, she eventually glanced up at the blank stares from me and the cashier and sheepishly muttered, “Sorry” — but then resumed the painstaking process of digging through her coin collection. The woman behind her in line even offered her a dollar bill to help move things along, but she politely refused.

Most of the time, I’m not really in that much of a rush. But folks, there are other people in this world other than you. Please plan accordingly.

[ # 434 | Link ]

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