A to B episode 9: Mick

We’re going close to home with this one. WCBN DJ, musician, artist, family man, water polo enthusiast–Mick does it all. This week’s Point A to Point B includes the story of how Mick became a veteran DJ and elder statesman at WCBN-FM Ann Arbor. Hear it from the man himself, right here–

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Music in this show:
1. Ponytail, “Music tunes”
2. Azimuth, “Periscopio”
3. Bill Evans Trio, “Nardis”
4. Cecil Taylor, “African violets”
5. Drums & Tuba, “Dr. Small”
6. Electric Birds, “Pitch patterns”
7. Black Mountain, “Druganaut”

Mick (far left) with The Bricks, 1983

Mick (left) with Walter Ego and the Parapsychics, 1979

Mick with Walter Ego and the Parapsychics, 1979

Mick singing with Walter Ego and the Parapsychics, 1979

Mick (left) with Walter Ego and the Parapsychics, 1979

Nice sweatshirt!

from Mick’s alumni exhibit at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

from Mick’s alumni exhibit at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

from Mick’s alumni exhibit at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

from Mick’s alumni exhibit at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

from Mick’s alumni exhibit at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

from Mick’s alumni exhibit at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo

(g’ahead, click a pic.)

Mick produced all the paintings above; you can view more at his web site.

I recommend checking out Mick’s artist statement about his Music Series, a group of oil paintings he created in 2005.

aaand putcher headphones in for this mini BONUS feature with DJ Papa Skullz:
Mick placed our little recorder on a spinning turntable, resulting in the above clip. Literally made me dizzy on first listen.

This episode of Point A to Point B was a very special collaboration between St. James and me (not to mention Mick). As a fellow DJ, St. James serves your musical Prescription on Friday nights at 10 to midnight when you visit the WCBN-FM pharmacy. He used to be a Music Director at WCBN. Does it surprise you that St. James steered the ship when it came to music selections in this episode?

Long ago, we had big plans of interviewing all the old-schoolers at WCBN and featuring their stories. For one reason or another (mostly due to time/schedules/etc) Mick became our one and only star. Star he is, and star he does! James and I worked together via cellular telephone and the internet (he in Ann Arbor, me traveling through Oklahoma) to bring you this here show. We hope you like it.

Incidentally, lovely listener, you can sample the inane ramblings of St. James by following his twitter.

Good fortune

You’d better believe it! whew.

The current plan is to rescue the turtle with the help of a greyhound dog. I’m going to hop on a bus bound for Oklahoma and resume road tripping.

There’s this stray thing that’s been knocking around in the hollows of my head:
(Happens to be the non-rhetorical question of the day):
How often do fate and fortune and destiny align?

A to B episode 8: Harry

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As you may know, I’ve been waylaid by the turtle’s need for engine surgery at John Wayne’s auto clinic in Oklahoma. Meantime, I’ve been staying with magnanimous hosts Drs. Dan and Becky in Dallas. Becky suggested that I go eat some custard, and, by the way, the guy who owns the place has this incredibly nontraditional life story.

Meet Harry Coley. Harry founded Wild About Harry’s at 56 years old. Despite knowing nothing about the restaurant business when he started, Harry has successfully served custard and hot dogs in his shop for 16 years. At 72, he still comes in nearly every day to run the business and greet customers.

I dropped in for some custard and was lucky enough to run into the man himself! Harry was happy to sit down in the shop with me for a minute before running over to Fort Worth for a meeting. We talked about his childhood in Oklahoma and how he went from the Point A of selling women’s clothing to the Point B of bankruptcy, on to the Point C (for custard) of serving award-winning comestibles to Rudy Giuliani, the Aikman and Perot and Boone Pickens families, and thousands of other customers. I can tell you from personal experience that the custard is, indeed, so good.

Until you make it down to Dallas to see for yourself what’s so Wild About Harry’s, here’s a taste–

That certainly is one giant hot dog.

An example of the eclectic nature of the shop, as described by Harry.

Is the shark attacking the flamingo?

One of many paintings on the walls in Wild About Harry’s.

(g’ahead, click a pic.)

Music in this show:
1. Sara Tavares, “Sumanai”
2. Battles feat. Matias Aguayo, “Ice cream”
3. Raymond Scott, “K2r”

A to B episode 7: The turtle

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prepping the turtle for towing

Thank you, Reggie!

Reggie showed up to give me a tow two hours after his original projected arrival time. I had been off the grid, and he couldn’t find me.

Reggie the wrecker driver struggled to unscrew the bolts that secured the steering column. They were all rusted shut. He broke the bolts in a fit of good-natured rage.

close to Henryetta and Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

No, we’re not getting gas for the turtle.

wreckers are punsters

that clock face looks familiar…

“I’m watchin you watchin me.”

John Wayne, everywhere.

In the window of a consignment shop, across the street from John Wayne’s auto clinic, McAlester, Oklahoma. “That’s exactly what I’m looking for; I’ll take it!”

on Main Street in McAlester, Oklahoma.

on Main Street in McAlester, Oklahoma. The shuttered windows made me creeped out and curious.

McAlester, Oklahoma. 1950s/’60s theme. 45-rpm records nailed all over the walls. Elvis nook in the lobby, along with a cordoned-off Harley-Davidson. I spent a night in the “I Love Lucy” room.

McAlester, Oklahoma. Good service. Good french fries. Replete with silly bumper stickers. Always packed. The day’s Oklahoman is always available for readin.

(g’ahead, click a pic.)

What I didn’t get to mention in this show is that Reggie keeps his hair long so he can infiltrate drug rings and perform sting operations. As a hobby, Reggie soups up his cars as drag racers.

You can hear from John Wayne, the trusted mechanic who repaired the turtle, in episode 12 of Point A to Point B.

The totally non-rhetorical question of the day:
What’s the difference between a grand adventure
and a foolish proposition?

Music in this show:
1. Of Montreal, “Wraith pinned to the mist and other games”
2. Thao & Mirah, “Folks”
3. Lode, “Pieces”
4. Breathe Owl Breathe, “Sabertooth tiger”

(Don’t peek until you’re ready.)

A to B episode 6: Zach

I spent my birthday weekend in Wisconsin with friends. While there, I ate at the steakhouse lake house (I just invented that term; it refers to a restaurant that serves red meat and has a lakeside locale; more specifically, in this case, Dylon’s Steakhouse) where my best bud works as a hostess. The bartender there served tasty shots and delicious adult ice-cream drinks. He was a very nice guy. You, too, can meet him by listening to this here installment of Point A to Point B–

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Music in this show:
1. Balkan Beat Box feat. Victoria Hanna, “Adir Adirim”
2. Bigga Bush feat. Koçani Orkestar, “L’Orient Est Roots”

A to B episode 5: Kristin and Dennis

For a while there, the turtle and I were prepping for our journey with the ole motor home parked in Wisconsin. Nearby, a town called Princeton hosts a popular outdoor flea market every Saturday during the summer (fromage-o-philes will know this flea market as a place to get the best string cheese in the world).

While exploring downtown Princeton, I poked around in a store called Twister and found a bunch of new varieties from one of my favorite Wisconsin breweries. At the cash register, Kristin and I started talking about how to keep a business afloat in a small town and how she still uses her law degree in the office behind the store. She invited me back for a longer chat, which included her business partner and husband, Dennis. Both of them left the security of their careers to renovate an old, brick building into a store + law office + living space and start their own business in a rural area. Here’s the upshot–

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Music in this show:
1. Regina Spektor, “Folding chair”
2. Monster Rally, “Chaska Beach”

Carthage, MO

The turtle and I left Wisconsin, seeking warm weather and old friends in Texas.

I camped at a truck stop in East St. Louis after 8 hours of driving on interstates that pushed through the center of Wisconsin and Illinois (a full-time job, if I maintain the pace 5 days per week). Truck stops are loud. and free! Although interstates don’t offer the best views, I didn’t have much time to dilly-dally.

The next morning, I got an eyeful of the gateway arch (William Least Heat-Moon posits that the very expensive arch was built to mark the easternmost border of the American West) just before getting ridiculously lost in the tangled urban roadways. The plan was to avoid Arkansas altogether by diagonalling through Missouri and Oklahoma before coasting into Dallas. “Missouri” sounded a bit too much like “misery” to me, so I cheered myself up by visiting the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage.

there are turtles afoot! and underfoot! watch out.

welcome to the Precious Moments Chapel!

turtle spotting!

there’s a turtle.

instead of stations of the cross, kitty shenanigans are depicted in the Precious Moments Chapel’s stained glass.

oh, look! it’s a nice young man wearing glasses.

wait a minute, what are you doing with that knife?

He’s going after an unsuspecting victim…!

“Did you see this headline in the…JEEBUS CRIPES, put that knife down!”

it appears that this gravestone is premature. it sits in wait until its time to shine, which happens to coincide with the death of Samuel J. Butcher, the genius behind Precious Moments and the Precious Moments Chapel.

(g’ahead, click a pic.)

I didn’t actually gain entry to the chapel; 15 minutes before I arrived, it fell under lock and key. The grounds are extensive, though, allowing visitors to stroll through tunnels of trumpeting Precious Moments angels and admire the stone statues of bare-rumped cherubs. Two surprisingly alive palm trees flanked a path leading to one of the fountains. At the Precious Moments Chapel in southwest Missouri, those tropical trees were as incongruous as I.