{"id":21207,"date":"2014-02-28T03:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T08:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/?p=21207"},"modified":"2014-02-27T23:52:30","modified_gmt":"2014-02-28T04:52:30","slug":"welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Club, Sammymaudlin!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sammysausage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7173\" alt=\"sammysausage\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sammysausage-300x296.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sammysausage-300x296.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sammysausage.jpg 306w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Happy birthday, <strong>Sammymaudlin<\/strong>, fearless leader of The Back Office, old friend, album cover designer extraordinaire, funny man, soulful man, friend whose voice always reminds me of Ron Howard&#8217;s Richie Cunningham voice, and soon-to-be-my-faux-leather-clad running mate in The Big Easy, where I will don the leather fringe jacket. I know you don&#8217;t put a lot of stock in dates, but this one is worth celebrating\u2014and milking\u2014for all it&#8217;s worth.<\/p>\n<p>Can I say how old you are? Can I at least say you&#8217;re now the same age that I turned last June? That&#8217;s not giving away too much, is it? Not everyone around here knows me and my personal details. Welcome to the club, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s put aside all pretense and get to the parts you most desire: the gifts. Let&#8217;s start with your ideal cover band, who will be performing in New Orleans when we meet there next week:<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5ROQ4wa7Dw8?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe>\n<p>Too bad they weren&#8217;t around when you were booking shows at the frat. Instead you had to settle for pussy bands, like Nixon&#8217;s Head, and that reggae band. They were better musicians, but word is the Head packed better weed.<\/p>\n<p>We crossed paths in college for 1 year, 1 stinking year before I dropped out seconds before officially flunking out. You looked like a 12 year old when we first met, a young-looking 12 year old. You became my &#8220;son,&#8221; but you were older and wiser than me, in more than enough ways. What did I have over you, beside a few months, the ability to kick your ass, and probably a little more comfort with misery and aggression? We laughed our asses off and created our own little world. We created possibly\u2014no\u2014without a doubt the world&#8217;s greatest drinking game. Remember how it went?<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wIX7UWIsNXM?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe>\n<p>Soon it got even better!<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2HRSr8QuMxQ?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe>\n<p>I really wanted to win those Hooker battles, even raising my game when hardcore drinkers like Scott and Dennis became regulars. It&#8217;s no wonder I crashed and burned in sophomore year.<\/p>\n<p>How we kept in touch during the years that preceded the advent of the Web is now hard to fathom. I supposedly showed up in a box at the airport for your wedding party. I was still partying heavily then, so I barely remember that. I&#8217;ll take your word for it. I wasn&#8217;t big on writing. I don&#8217;t think you were either. We talked on the phone now and then. You showed up unexpectedly at shows we played in Cleveland and Akron. The photo from us in the dressing room at the club in Cleveland is one of my favorite photos, and you know I hate photos involving me. Once you sent me an entire box of Sk\u00f6r bars. We used to argue\u00a0Sk\u00f6r vs Heath, long before we could waste time doing so from the comfort of our computers. I still prefer Heath, barely. You made an excellent case for the new-school toffee bar.<\/p>\n<p>That was something I always admired about you. You welcomed the new without seeming like a trendy bandwagon jumper. You welcomed technology. You welcomed a number of people who didn&#8217;t immediately strike me as &#8220;dynamic.&#8221; You could loosen them up and bring out more interesting sides to them than I could glean. On the other hand, I&#8217;m sure some of the people I pulled in for their dynamic nature were what you considered to be assholes or otherwise &#8220;bad news.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There was one friend we could agree on, and even jokingly competed over:<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/cookie-tin-cylinder-300x249.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21208\" alt=\"cookie-tin-cylinder-300x249\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/cookie-tin-cylinder-300x249.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"249\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Web made it much easier for us gabby, old friends across the country to keep in touch. I still have the e-mail from you entitled &#8220;Half Baked,&#8221; where you first broached the idea of turning the Yahoo Groups version of Rock Town Hall into a custom-designed blog. A few months later, after a couple hundred e-mails and phone conversations, you sent me an e-mail entitled &#8220;Fully Baked.&#8221; Our friendship was fully revived during those months. How long have we been doing this stuff, talking on a regular basis, meeting up for special occasions? It&#8217;s all been good, man. In fact, it&#8217;s been great. After our coming road trip, there&#8217;s a new horizon to conquer. You know what I&#8217;m talking about:<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mqGgiaMknzM?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe>\n<p>Stretch out the muscles that get worked out when you laugh. I&#8217;m doing so in preparation for our meeting in New Orleans. Looking forward to where the road takes us next!<\/p>\n<nav class=\"page-links\"><strong>Pages:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">1<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">2<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/3\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">3<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/4\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">4<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/5\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">5<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/6\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">6<\/span><\/a><\/nav>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy birthday, Sammymaudlin, fearless leader of The Back Office, old friend, album cover designer extraordinaire, funny man, soulful man, friend whose voice always reminds me of Ron Howard&#8217;s Richie Cunningham voice, and soon-to-be-my-faux-leather-clad running mate in The Big Easy, where I will don the leather fringe jacket. I know you don&#8217;t put a lot of <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/welcome-to-the-club-sammymaudlin\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}