UNDERTOW 2.18

Oh, those Wildwood Days...

A LEGEND HAS LEFT US

Those of you who have been with me for the long haul are well enough familiar with by biography that I won’t bore you with it here, but if you’re relatively new to the Terry O’Brien Experience, a good chunk of my origin story takes place on Morey’s Piers, where I was the first manager of the Ghost Ship, a 40,000 sq. ft. haunted house on Mariner’s Landing. I was there from the time it was a million naked studs and a dream to the grand opening on Memorial Day 2010 when over 5,000 people walked through my baby. And all during that time, as I learned to walk in the world of dark rides and amusements, Jack Morey was at my side, offering advice, sometimes gently, sometimes not. He appreciated creative people and surrounded himself with them, being one himself, perhaps their king. He was a kind man, easy, almost eager to laugh. At our first meeting, on a snowy February morning, I did my best to keep up with him as he climbed the exposed interior of the ship, inch-wide studs and joists, like a grown-up jungle gym. Him swinging like Tarzan, me skittering along hoping not to fall 50-feet to my death in the freezinad I g cold. Turned out to be a kind-of metaphor for our relationship; him leading the way, brazen and confident, me trying to keep up, laughing as I did. Five years later I was gone, off to other things, as I seem to be every 2-5 years, as we drifted apart as people tend to do when they are no longer in each other’s direct orbit. We still ran into each other occasionally (most notably at a Burns Supper where we cut ourselves quite a slice of rug) and he was always genial. Then, oddly enough, this past spring Jack and his family wandered through the Brown Room as Jerry Kolber and I played a gig. We happened to play Cat Steven’ “Father & Son” as Jack happened to walk through holding his new grandson. He approached me with tears in his eyes, we had a conversation I can’t quite recall, and a few months later Jerry and I are playing a weekly gig a Jersey Girl, a Morey’s restaurant. Suddenly I was back in the circle. Certainly not as tightly as when I was emplyed there full-time, but it was all the same people, places and things. All dropping in for an after work bite or libation. In some respects, it felt like I never left. That’s when they told me Jack was sick. He was going to beat it, of course, because that’s what he did. Last Friday I recevied a call from Jack’s nephew, Kyle Morey, manager of Jersey Girl. The night before had been pretty slow so I thought he might be calling to give us the axe, so I was not prepared when he told me Jack had passed away. The man. The myth. The legend. My friend. Gone. Loved by all who knew him, he will be sorely missed.

TERRY & JERRY GIG SCHEDULE;

Monday 7/29 2:30 Pig Dog. Memorial for Jack Morey.

Thursday 8/1, 8-11. Owen’s Pub.

Friday 8/2, 530-930. Jersey Girl.

Sunday 8/4, 5-9/ Rusty Nail, trio w/ Stephanie Ball on keyboards.

PARAGRAPH YOU’LL REGRET READING OF THE WEEK

First off, I must comment on what a great gig we had art the Rusty Nail last Sunday. Adding keyboardist Emily Bryce to the line-up for our July gigs really juiced our shows. I mean, we’re always great, but adding an excellent piano player and top notch vocalist to our already-great show just took it to the next level. We plan on doing the same at our August Nail gigs with keyboardist/ singer Stephanie Ball. Anyway, it was a great gig but there was not one moment between 5pm and 9pm where I did not think I was going to poop my pants. I told you you were going to regret it.

MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED OF THE WEEK

Congratulation to all the wine aunts, single moms, boozy widows and strident liberal conspiracy theorists. You’ve finally chased me off Facebook.

Here is all I will say about our current politcial situation.

1. Joe Biden being bullied into agreeing to a debate in June, months earlier than was necessary, will go down as the biggest political blunder of the modern era.

2. If you think Donald Trump staged his own assassination attempt and told a guy to just shoot him in the ear from 140+ yards and by the way after you’ve done that we’re going to blow your brains out, you need to have your head examined.

Nothing makes me want to drink more than pondering the state of politics in the United States in 2024. However, I am pleased to report that today is my 502nd day without alcohol. Now, who has some drugs I can have?

NEW BAND STUFF: I’m reasonably sure I told you last week about my latest musical endeavor, Me Generation: An 80s Tribute. Me, Al, Dave, Emily and newbie James Howell. We’re playing Anglesea Pub on October 12th & 13th. I told you that, right? Anyway, I recently put together a first draft of a play list and I have to tell you; putting a list of 100 great 80s songs is incredibly easy as it was just an insane decade of music. However, paring that list of 100 down to 45-50 to play at a show is damn near impossible. There are simply too many perfect songs. It’s torture.

Now, hang on toyour butts for a minute, things are about to get interesting…

SONG OF THE WEEK I

SONG OF THE WEEK II

Listening to eight hours of WXPN at the hospital is starting to reframe my brain. They generally play whatever is the newest hit stuff from the college-alternative-folk circuit, but every once in a whilke they drop in gems like the songs above that I am absolutely smitten with. Oh, and speaking of the hospital…

NEW JOB OF THE WEEK

Despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth by my employers at Cooper University Hospital Cape Regional (I’m just kidding, nobody cared) I will be moving onto a new job starting early next month. I don’t have an exact start date yet but I will soon be the new assistant manager of stock and receiving at the new Old Navy opening Labor Day weekend in Rio Grande. Same type of work I’m doing now, but for more money and more humane hours. I will, hopefully, be joinging a team of people that spend eight hours a day performing their job, not eight hours avoiding it.

MOVIE REVIEW OF THE WEEK

Deadpool & Wolverine is exactly what you expect in terms of tone. It’s a superhero movie where the hero murders dozens of people and drops dozens of f-bombs. If you’ve seen the first two, this is in no way a surprise. If you are uninitiated, it can be a bit jarring. Escpecially now that this is Deadpool’s first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Disney) and the movie that brought Hugh Jackman out of Wolverine retirement. The venerable X-Man is very good in this but, finally, mercifully for us mere mortals, starting to show a little age. The story, such as it is (something about protecting scared timelines and saving worlds) serves mainly as an excuse for Deadpool (the always charming Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine to traipse across several universes and give us, the fans, a number of very satisfying surprises and cameos. (And if you’re a super-nerd like me, you’ll be pleased to know that, after 20+ years and 13 movies, Wolverine finally wears a comics-accurate costume.) As a comic book fan, I left satisfied. As a movie fan, I found myself a little bored by the first hour, and very entertained by the last hour.

WHAT DID THAT MOVIE COST OF THE WEEK

Three tickets, two soda/ popcorn combos, three chocolate chip cookies, one Swedish Fish. $90. The week before, Twisters ran us $70. These are the first two, and last two, movies I’ll be paying to see in 2024.