The Time I Saw Ol' Bocephus

USA's Playing House:
The Bocephus Disguise

     According to Urban Dictionary: Bocephus is a common nickname for Hank Williams Jr. Hank got the nickname from his famous father, who looked in the cradle and just called him "Bocephus." Bocephus is a common phrase airbrushed on 1984 Ford F-150s.

     I won tickets to attend the third day of a three-day country music festival in upstate New York. It happened to be on Father's day, so I got my trusty pop to be my plus one. We were hoping to arrive early afternoon after a family lunch and we would catch acts like Thompson Square and Thomas Rhett. The first two days of the festival had amazing headliner acts like Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, and our Sunday night juggernaut, ol' Bochphus.

View from the top of the ski slope.

     A long story short, we ended op getting very lost. My GPS on the phone was picking up signals beyond 1x data,  I think guidance was likely from spaceships. When we arrived, we were able to park nearby the camping area, outside of the ski resort t for no additional fee. Other told us they had paid $30.00-$50.00 to park their cars there. The staff managed to find two more bracelets to admit us in, and into the breach we went. Thank god for real bathrooms! We were also relieved to find there was still some beer.

Ol' Junior. 

     Just in time for the last set, we struggled to make a list of songs we knew from Hank Jr. We came up with the Monday Night Football Theme and the original version of "I Fought the Law." We were treated to renditions of songs by his father and Jerry Lee Lewis, we we were very much out of sync with the rest of the crowd. There were so many mud-stricken people there, dirty and drunk from three long days of partying, and covered in terrible sunburn. Halfway into the set, dad asked I wanted to head home, and I couldn't have been happier to head back to civilization.  I can safely say I would never have enjoyed Woodstock.

Girl Meets 21st Century

     In 1993, I began watching a sitcom that would become one of the most treasured shows of all time for kids growing up in the 90's. Rarely have I met someone who does not acknowledge that Boy Meets World changed the cultural landscape. Unlike the oddball last-ditch season of Saved By the Bell: The College Years, this show followed kids really growing up from middle school through the first year of college, (and some milestones like Shawn's losing a parent, getting married, and Cory's parents midlife crisis baby) ending with them going out to the world. Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his wife Topanga (Danielle Fishel) now live in New York City with their two kids, pre-teen dreamer Riley and too-cute kindergartner Auggie.
   
     The new focus of the sequel show Girl Meets World is daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and her journey into adulthood with with pals Maya, Lucas and Farkle. Maya Hart serves as Riley's own Shawn Hunter, a misguided attention-seeking kid of a single parent that gets kindness and guidance from the Matthews family. I hope to see Shawn unveiled as Maya's long-absent father, or on a more reasonable plot, see him mentor the kid. Maya definitely has some issues to overcome and I know she will eventually open up. We see Farkle Minkus is the son of Topanga's old rival Stewart Minkus (future guest star Lee Norris), a know-it-all. The girls befriend new kid from Texas, Lucas Friar, and Riley is in love with him from first glance. As Coy and Topanga struggle to let go with their oldest, Cory takes on the role of Mr. Feeny, teaching all of the kids at John Quincy Adams Middle school (sounds like John Adams High in Philadelphia?) more than just history, but lessons for life.

     The show is on Disney, so I'm not sure what to expect. I grabbed a bunch of friends and some beers to watch last night's first episode, followed promptly by a screening of the first episode of Boy Meets World. The clothes seem a little unrealistic for your average kid, and all of the girls (and mom Topanga) have extension-laden hair. Cory's son Auggie reminds me of Cory's little sister Morgan, and we know the cute Morgan got re-cast from about age 5 to age ten in one season hiatus, so we'll see how that goes. The plot lines for the upcoming season seem more millennial-comedic than real-life based, but there could be some hidden emotional depth to the show.

FINAL: Favorite Moment 
There was a great cameo at the end of the episode by Mr. Feeny, who appears as a subway poster urging kids to stay in school.

A Love Note: Dear Luke Bryan

 

Dear Luke,

You are the best country music man out there!  Enough said. I am a total fan girl.

Love, PPP

In closing and in defense, he is the one in the baseball cap and leather jacket. !In true country boy style, he has a loving wife and two adorable sons, and he sings like an angel. Sigh! Plus, check out the second video from the Grammy nomination concert where he shows some moves like Jagger.

A Note: No More Banjoes

   I know Mumford and Sons is very popular right now. It's so popular, I've seen about 7 guys that look like Marcus Mumford in a simple supermarket trip, and they're all looking for artisanal pickles.

   All of a sudden, it seems that the radio has learned about this newfangled instrument called the banjo, the 5-stringed cousin of the mighty guitar that ruled rock radio for so many years. But I have a little known fact to the major radio stations, the banjo has been around for a while. If you've ever flipped on a country station for an hour, you;re guaranteed to hear several banjo songs. In fact, Rascal Flatts put out a song earlier this year, and it's called simply "Banjo."Like many other country song,s this song is about getting off the beaten path and getting down with nature, possibly with some moonshine and a creek that you can stop by and take a dip.

   So back to the popular music DJ's, who are claiming this is "revolutionary" or Dylan-esque", don't forget, banjos have been jamming on the radio for a good long time. #country

Grey... I Quit

   In a recent post, I delved bravely into the world of 50 Shades of Grey. I have now finished all three books, and I can't help but think it's all overrated. Anastasia Steele is by far, one of the weakest female heroines in recent literature, tied for a very close first with Bella from Twilight. I don't want to read a story where the girl constantly complains about her rich boyfriend buying her extravagant gifts and giving her the business. Where is the story here? Is Christian's dark orphan child past really enough to make him a borderline sociopath?

   My friend recently raised a good point. She asked, if I ran into a guy like christian in the street, would I go anywhere with him, run off like Anastasia does... I her gave a firm, "Not more than a coffee,"on quirky gorgeous billionaires.Then she asked, what if he was an auto mechanic? On that thought, it became clear. (The answer was more of a hell to the no on that one).

   The only reason christian Grey is so alluring is because he's a billionaire. Yes, he's powerful, flies planes and looks like a Calvin Klein model, but he is rich. He can pay to make any nuisance go away,  throw money until you change your mind, and take you on fantasy dates that make The Bachelor look boring. Nobody in these books is really worry much about the normal things (losing a dry cleaner ticket, paying off the Visa bill, a friend who has a truly heinous haircut and does not want to hear she looks bad..). But maybe that's all 50 Shades is, a welcome escape from reality.