MUSIC - Rock Lobster

Artist: The B-52's
Song: Rock Lobster
Released: 1979
Where to listen: East Coast, Snorkeling, Aquariums & Beach Parties

    The B-52's were the first successful band to hail from Athens, Georgia.  They would be the most successful if it weren't for a band called REM.  While REM may have sold more records, The B-52's are much more fun.  This song is great for parties and summertime travel.  It would be perfect if you were at the beach with boys and bikinis and girls and surfboards.  This song also works when visiting any fishing towns in the Maritime provinces of Canada or the North-Eastern USA.  We visited a 55 tonne lobster in Shediac, New Brunswick that is sitting on a huge rock.  Now that is a rock lobster!
  This song is also great to help kids learn all the fish noises when visiting an aquarium.  The ending of the song is sort of an Old MacDonald of the sea.  Instead of moo, quack and oink it gets a little more complicated.  Let's look at some of the lyrics.

Here comes a stingray (wok ahh whuhh)  - The noises are hard enough to imitate let alone write down.  Below are two southern stingrays from the Toronto Zoo.

There goes a manta ray (aya aya ayah) - Manta Rays are the largest rays and can reach widths of up to 23 feet.  We have never seen one or heard what it sounds like.

In walked a jellyfish (uuhhh) - We have seen lots of jellyfish, but they always seem very quiet.  The picture below is of a Japanese sea nettle from the New England Aquarium.  We don't know if Japanese jellyfish sound different or not, or if this one has been in Boston long enough to pick up an accent.

There goes a dogfish (reeawr) - Dogfish are a type of small shark.

Chased by a catfish (blrroooh) - The catfish below are from Sea Life London Aquarium.  You can always tell a catfish by its whiskers.  Actually those whiskers are not hair but skin.

There goes a narwhal (eehh  eehh) - A narwhal is a whale that lives in the Arctic and has a long tusk.  We did see this one on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.

While the song Rock Lobster may not be as educational as this blog post, it is always lots of fun no matter where you are vacationing.  Oh, and remember to watch out for that piranha!

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Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Stingray Bay) , New England Aquarium , Sea Life London Aquarium
Royal Ontario Museum

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Post # 51

Late Show with David Letterman

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address: 1697 Broadway Ave.
Date: May 2003
Website: www.cbs.com

  David Letterman has been a part of late night television since 1982.  Originally his show was on NBC, but years later it moved to CBS.  His NBC show was called Late Night with David Letterman and now it is called Late Show with David Letterman.  The Late Show is filmed inside the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway in New York City.  This is the same theatre where The Beatles performed in 1964 making their American television debut.  Like most late night shows, with the exception of Saturday Night Live, it is filmed in the afternoon.
  We had already successfully called and secured tickets for the week we would be in New York.  We arrived around 3 PM and picked up the tickets.  We then had some time before we needed to return and line up again to get inside.  We took this time to check out the neighbourhood.
    The south side of the theatre on W 53rd Street was starting to be closed off to traffic.  This was because one of Letterman's guests was filming a segment.  Jesse James (Monster Garage) had converted a hot dog cart into a drag racer and they were going to race it down the street.  Also on W 53rd Street is the Hello Deli.  The Hello Deli is owned by Rupert Jee and longtime fans of the show should recognize him.  Through the years he has appeared on the show many times.  Usually a camera comes into the deli and Dave talks to Rupert from the studio.  Another memorable segment was where Rupert went around the city wearing an earpiece and did and said whatever Dave told him to.  In the photo below he is the one in shorts standing just outside the deli door.

  We returned to the theatre and lined up to go inside.  We ended up being about 6 rows back just in front of Paul Shaffer and the band.  Paul Shaffer has been the bandleader throughout Letterman's late night run and is Dave's official side-kick.  One fun thing about being at the taping is that we get to hear the band's entire performance while those watching at home are viewing commercials. Before the show Dave came out and chatted with the audience until it was show time.
  The episode we watched consisted of Mark Wahlberg promoting his new movie The Italian Job, Jesse James racing his hot dog cart dragster down 53rd street, and a musical group called The Sounds.  Every night Dave does a Top Ten list and on this night it was the Top Ten Good Things About Having the Same Name as a Celebrity.  The show located people whose real names are the same as famous celebrities and had them come up on stage to read the list.  Number one was read by a man named David Letterman. "When people meet me, they say Wow, you look much better in person."

David Letterman has become the longest running late night talk show host in television history.  It will be about 33 years since his original show took to the air.  He will host the Late Show for the last time on May 20, 2015.  Thanks Dave!

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Map of Our World
Late Show with David Letterman
Hello Deli

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Post # 50

Northern Lights Attempt

Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada 
Address: Joe Buck's Ridge
Date: Oct 2014
Website:  www.everythingchurchill.com

  We went to Churchill to see polar bears and Northern Lights.  We succeeded in seeing polar bears.  The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles entering the Earth's atmosphere.  The resulting collision causes the much sought after light display.  Usually it manifests itself as greenish lights causing waves across the sky.  Unfortunately, for the three nights we were in Churchill, the skies were cloudy.  We slept in our room each night with the curtains drawn back despite the glare from the street lights.  All of this was in the hopes of catching even a glimpse of this spectacle.  

  While we were in Churchill, we went dog sledding with a company called Bluesky.   They are located to the south-west of the town.  As we waited for our chance to go sledding we could see the lights from the town to the north.  The lights were giving off a yellowish green glow visible through the trees.  The picture below may be able to fool some people into believing we had captured the Northern Lights, but not us.  We hope to head north again soon and give it a try once more.  Perhaps in Iceland?

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Map of Our World
Churchill, Manitoba

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Post # 49