2007
The Summer '08 Shenanigans dates are up on the the Schedule page. Mark those calendars!
Update November 18: If you are an early calendar marker who has already marked a calendar, time to go check and mark again, since August dates have changed to July ones, in the twinkling of an eye. Remarkable, how that happens.
Another Summer, another Sunfest.
And it was Malone's turn to be interviewed by Jared Morris on a sunny Saturday morning on the deck.
It was good luck that Dr. Bill was walking by and took these pictures. Thanks, Dr. Bill!
Here's a little trio action, with Betsy on the fiddle. In performance Friday and Saturday nights, Betsy joined Malone and the lads on Tommy Makem's "The Rambles of Spring."
This might be the Kesh Jig. A beautiful day for radio; I'd do that again. Gosh, all these pictures, you'd think we could have gotten one of Wayne Cannon when he wasn't walking away from the camera, but that's what he's doing down below there, and that's it.
Back at the beach for Labor Day.
Weather is beautiful. A good day for … radio on the deck!
The talk of Delmarva.
Here's Jared Morris of WGMD, 92.7 FM, interviewing a gentleman whose name I didn't catch, about the upcoming coin show at the Convention Center. Malone and Mr. Bennett did something similar with Ron Letterman a couple of years ago. Our show had music!
Something else to do with beer, from the Washington Post:
And for Dessert, Suds on a Stick
If the Good Humor man had moonlighted as a bartender, he might have invented the Hopsicle.
But he didn't, and so credit goes to Frank Morales, executive chef at Rustico Restaurant and Bar in Alexandria. Rustico stocks about 280 brands of beer, and since taking over the kitchen in February, Morales has been happily incorporating them into his cuisine.
A mental lapse -- he left a bottle of beer in the freezer for three hours and it froze rock-hard -- led him to experiment with beer on a stick.
More at the link.
Green in more ways than one
A recent study found that the average Irishman walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Irishmen drink, on average, 22 gallons of beer or stout per annum. That means, on average, that an Irishman gets about 41 miles per gallon.
Kind of makes you proud to be an Irishman…
Zack Kazoo, of the Kazoo Family Players, has a weblog! And he updates it oftener than some. It's called Full of Birds, and it's all about those Orioles.
We're really short on 4th of July pictures, so if you have any good ones, send 'em.
At the beach!
Ocean City, July 7, 2007. 7/7/07, looks like a lucky number. 70 years from now, we'll get one even more intense, but that's for pretty loose values of "we." So what's happening in the land of the sand and the crab? Mr. Bennett has discovered that his camera is not so good for taking pictures of fireworks. Brightly-colored streaks is all I get. Abstract art of the aleatory variey, maybe; not fireworks. The boardwalk fireworks show was postponed from the Fourth to the fifth because of high winds. Reports from around the country indicate that OC's weather was mild compared to what some had. But what about the band and all? We brought back an old song, "Panama Red," for no better reason than that we could. We still have not learned "The Scotsman." Fran showed up with beach towels printed to look like kilts, but even that attempt at magic didn't bring the song into our repertoire, or repertory as we say in English.
Dr. Kazoo joined us on bass, harmonica and kazoo for Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and had Zack and Olivia with him for the latter. That TV show of his is getting to be quite the big deal. If you have not looked at "The Math Dude" since its first mention here, go take another look. We saw lots of familiar faces out front: the McGraths and Kellihers, the Kanes, Lorraine and Bob, Bob Conner, Pat MacNamara, among others. The Burt Brothers showed up with a company of wives and kids. The kids looked like angels who had let their halos down, with those big glowing rings around their necks. The Powers clan from Pottsville was in for Tuesday night. Megan has grown so I barely recognized her! Captain John and Flight Engineer Mark, the pilots from Walnut Bottom, flew in for Friday. Erin Keating, the President of the Tony Nuzzo Fan Club, stoppped by. The Doo-Wop Cop hit the high notes on "Unchained Melody." Dr. Bill intoduced a new song, new for him anyway, "I Can't Help Falling In Love with You." All this and one more night to go!
Book plug, for Flag Day
So how many knew that Bud, the Old Marshal of Frontiertown, has books that you can buy? Hands? Grimmy? Anyone? He is so modest about these, that some who might be happy to know about them do not.
Quit being so shy, Bud: let the people know that your books are available right here! Bud has done much more in his life than getting shot at Frontiertown, and half-shot at Shenanigans. And making a lot of Photoshop jokes. If you are at all interested in WW II history, or the experience of surviving cancer, take a look at Bud's books. You'll see why we feel so honored when he puts on the "Baby Happy New Year" outfit for our little website.
Memorial Day.
Holiday observance over on the Talk Board, as usual. But now it's time to start thinking about heading for the beach, and no sooner than, comes this bit of news from Ocean City: Trimper's Rides, down by the inlet, may be closing soon as a result of tax increases. Or as the Washington Post has it, An Ocean City Icon Faces Turn in Economic Tide. This is the park with the roller coaster, not the one with the iconic giant Ferris wheel. But where the roller coaster goes, who knows what may follow?
Here are a few more stories. From the Dispatch: OC Landmark Could Be Scaled Down In Near Future; Trimper's Woes Raise Assessment Questions;OC To Send Letter To State Over Trimper's Fate. From the Daily Times: Rising taxes could force Trimper sale; Boardwalk without Trimper's?; and one more from the Post that mentions some new things to look for this year, A Fashionable Return to the Days of Old. That last headline doesn't sound right. "Return to days of old" would mean fifty-cent beer, $5 a dozen crabs, and not enough air conditioning but you could smoke anywhere. I'll go! Oh yeah, no Internet in days of old. No wonder I don't know how to get there.
A discussion is going on here.
Now that it's starting to warm up a little, in the middle of May, let's take a moment to reflect on the way that drinking is done in the South … way down South … in Antarctica. The interviewer for this article from Modern Drunkard Magazine asks one of the eternal questions, and the answer rings true enough:
MDM: Do you possess the secret of an especially effective hangover cure?
FSR: Though it takes time to work, I have always found suffering to be a sure remedy.
Happy Day After St. Patrick's Day
First robin sighting. This bird may be too early for that worm, the one they talk about.
Happy St Patrick's Day 2007!
"If you plant your peas by St. Patrick's Day, they will be ready by Fourth of July." Peas in Connecticut might be a little late this year. Here's a shot taken a few minutes ago just a few miles from Gerry's house.
For comparison purposes, another shot captured from the Boardwalk webcam just a few minutes later. 
Am I the only one, or does anyone else see an optical illusion in this picture, that makes it look like the boardwalk, which we know is flat, actually has a shape like a crowned roadway, like this: /\ ?
Doctor Kazoo is — The Math Dude
Our own Dr. Kazoo has a TV show! Two, actually. Let him tell it in his own words:
When I retired from being a regular classroom teacher, I continued to be the co-host of the Thursday edition of Homework Hotline Live! on Montgomery County Public School's Instructional TV (Montgomery Comcast Channel 33 4:30-6, 8-9:30). But with my "relaxed" work schedule, I've had the opportunity to work on another project for Instructional TV called The Math Dude. This is a series of 5 minute segments which focus on individual objectives of Algebra 1 in a unique style. The Math Dude will be broadcast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights on Comcast 33 at 6pm, following Hotline. The shows will parallel the MCPS Algebra curriculum, but there is certainly value for pre-Algebra students or those who want to brush up on their Algebra skills, and hopefully they'll be entertaining for all. Those of you who are former students of mine may recognize some of the old classroom stories, but now brought to life in this high tech production. If you don't live in Montgomery County or don't get cable, you can view the episodes any time on the web at www.mcpsmathdude.org.
It's pretty good fun if you like exponents and matrices, or have forgotten what the mean means. Median and mode coming soon? And the observant Kazoo Family Players fan might catch a glimpse of Olivia or Zack. Hurray, hurray for Doctor K!
UPDATE: The Washington Post has a story now, March 1, with a picture.
How do you find us?
Last year, about this time, near the end of January that would be, the most interesting search string was "chasing dandelion fluff as it floats on the wind." This January, we have "how do you say we love you in slovak" and "drunk new year's party pictures." Is it a trend?
Mr. Bennett says:
Something I've wondered about, though not very intensely, is addressed in this article: Do Woodpeckers Get Headaches? If Not, Why Not? Here's the original, Ig Nobel Prize-winning article by Dr. Ivan Schwab. Which seems to address injury more than suffering. So I'm still wondering.
Happy new year to all!
The schedule has some new dates on it for the new year.
And the Old Marshal has put on the Baby New Year outfit once more for our front page. Thanks Bud!
Oh, look! He's escaped from the front page and turned up here! Nice to see you, little fellow.
2006
An intrepid music lover from Virginia has tested the Paypal button on the Music For the Thirsty page. It works! How about that.
Back at the beach for Labor Day, where we met the former hurricane called Ernesto. Who turned out to be an awful pest, an obnoxious guest indeed. Sand all over the boardwalk, power out from 10 pm Friday till Saturday noon. We won't be asking Ernesto back to the beach.
The singing by candlelight was fun, with the McGraths, the Kanes, Dr. Bill and Dana, Eric and Frank from Detroit, and a couple of Twisted Sisters who showed up just in time to go home.
Speaking of things gone wild …
Something happened that last night at the beach. You might want to head on over to Page 6 to see if the pictures and your memories line up right. Take your time, we'll be here all week.
A little bit of Waikiki in Ocean City, and why not. Thanks Fran!
It sure was good to see Shelley again. And Erin, who wrote a beautiful piece for the Talk Board.
Dr. Kazoo was back for the weekend. My, but he gets wild when the kidz are not around! Playing the bass like a gymnast. AND Dr. Bill, socking it to the rock 'n' roll.
A couple more photos are in from the Fourth.
Still at the beach.
Prepositions gone wild!
Spotted just off the boardwalk.
Still at the beach. We saw James of Off the Boat the other day, and he mentioned that they have a website. Here are a couple of links to give them some more of that good Google-juice: James Gallagher and Off the Boat. James says that there are seven in that group now. I wonder how they'll fit on the Shenanigans stage.
We love it when you send pictures. The little Malone and Hutch dot com mailbox isn't quite big enough for some of these megapixel attachments, so please use the Yahoo or Gmail addresses on the Contact page and bottom of this page—Thanks!
Reporting live from the beach!
Dateline Ocean City, MD, August 2 2006: A lively Tuesday night! Pat McNamara brought a friend, Don O'Shaughnessy from Schenectady, who played a lively set. Don used a Framus 12-string guitar, something I haven't seen in years.
Ban-Joe tore up the place with "Bye Bye Blues," on his own banjo this time. He played some other tunes too, but that one just stole the show. Well, his part of it, anyway.
Over 100 degrees here, but with the sea breeze, it's kind of pleasant. Of course, that's a sea breeze, air conditioning, and plenty of cool beverages.
Reporting live from the beach!
Dateline Ocean City, MD, July 31 2006: Malone, Big John and Mr. Bennett have survived another crazy week at the beach. One more to go before we head back to the mainland.
Dr. Kazoo and the Kazoo Family Players showed up at Shenanigan's on Friday. They played on Friday and Saturday nights. The good Dr. stayed with the bass for the rest of both evenings. Doctor Bill was in as well, for sparkling renditions of "Jailhouse Rock" and "Memphis." On Saturday, Ban-Joe Joe Rodio turned up, to take the lead on "Friends in Low Places." He played Gerry's banjo. Gerry's banjo is still shaking—it hasn't had a workout like that in some time.
The Firefighters' Memorial is coming together on the boards at North Division St. Hutch's brick is on the north side, on the left edge, so it's easy to find.
We felt surprised and honored to find another brick, on the right-hand side of the monument. 
We love you too, Millionies.
The CD's of "Music For the Thirsty" are selling like crab cakes, from the stage and the T-shirt counter as well.
And it's sunny and hot. Just a week at the beach, and another to come.
Fourth of July, 2006
Hugh Devlin was with Malone and Mister Bennett for the first time in Ocean City, and gave a good account of himself. Dr Kazoo and the Family Players stopped in for a visit. Dr. Bill rocked the jailhouse. "Music For the Thirsty" reappeared on CD. The band missed the fireworks! Most people did see them, though, unlike last year. The weather delayed the start of the fireworks show just enough so that we already had our show going by the time the fireworks started up. And, of course, The Show Must Go On.
Newsbriefs that give us hope:
ABC News: Chocolate may boost brain power.
Malone's words of wisdom: "It's only a matter of time before the chocolate police ban it so eat while you are still young."
Newsbriefs that give us hope:
Drunk driver acquitted for drunkenness
An Oslo man has had his drunken driving case thrown out of court because overeager police didn't wait until he sobered up to question him. The court rejected the inebriated confession and let the 36-year-old go, newspaper VG reports.
The Season of St. Patrick is upon us. Malone, Big John and Mr. Bennett provided the music at the St. Rita's fundraiser on March 4th. Betsy Driebeek of the Hamden Daily News was there, and wrote a nice article with pictures. (That link is evaporating, it now goes to Google's cache.)
February
has nearly gone by without a post, so let's say something, just to be saying something.
"The wise man speaks because he has something to say. The fool speaks because he has to say something." —Plato
META: It's a little more difficult to post to the Talk Board, now. You will be required to prove that you are a human being, rather than a software construct or spambot. Fortunately this won't require any dancing, singing, or removal of garments. Blame it on spammers from Russia.
Mr. Bennett and Bertie Black made a pilgrimage to Florida to visit Gerry at the condo. There are ducks on the pond there, but the little train to the liquor store runs no more, alas. After that, headed to Tampa where we had lunch at the Four Green Fields (warning: website has music!), where the group played a couple of years ago. That's a real thatched roof! The salmon with spinach sauce was wonderful. And the pub has no televisions. None. Very restful, and conducive to conversation.
How do you find us?
Favorite search string for January: "chasing dandelion fluff as it floats on the wind." And in this relatively slow month we have had visitors from the Netherlands, Germany, Egypt, Italy, Norway, Thailand, Canada, Australia, Finland, the United Kingdom, the Seychelles, the Slovak Republic, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Romania, and one apiece from China and Sweden. A fair number of these might be robots, of course; still, it's definitely a world-wide web.
When your memory fails …
Malone's in Florida, as you can see by his latest entry on the Talk Board, looking at sun, sand, surf, and cocktails with umbrellas, and Mr. Bennett is looking at this.
<computer stuff> (That's the drive cage with the hard drive in it sitting up on top.) For the past week or so I was getting errors involving the registry, which I thought had something to do with a program called SmartFTP, which left references to itself all over the registry when I uninstalled it after I couldn't get it to work. (I was, however, able to accomplish the remote tasks required with Core FTP Lite.) Blue screens from the Registry Checker at startup, and so on. Then when the system could not find the modem, I opened it up and moved the modem over to another slot. That worked, but I was still getting the startup errors and crashes. So I thought I'd check cables, reseat memory modules, and so on. In the course of all this, it occurred to me to run the free Microsoft memory tester, which found that the problem was a bad memory module! So poking at the registry wasn't going to fix anything anyway.
The point of all this: if you're running a standard kind of Intel-compatible computer, you should have this memory tester in your tool kit. The instructions on the web page are a little cryptic, but basically all you do is download a very small installation program which then makes a boot floppy or CD for you. The price is right, and mistaking a hardware error for a software one, or vice versa, can lead to wasted time and frustration, and who needs those things, when we'd really rather have another drink. </computer stuff>
Happy New Year!
This little fella couldn't stay on the front page all year. Let's hope he's comfortable here.
2005
Hoping everyone had a satisfactorily merry Christmas, here are a couple of St. Stephen's Day announcements.
Nancy Whiskey has masterminded the purchasing of a memorial for Hutch in the form of an inscribed brick at the new Ocean City Volunteer Firefighters' Memorial. There's not a lot of writing will fit on one of these, so the inscription is simple:
PAUL HOTCHKISS
1941-2005
MALONE AND HUTCH
Look for it. The monument will be on the boards at North Division St. They still had bricks available as of last week, but who knows for how much longer.
On a different note, Mr. Bennett's lovely daughter Marianne has a couple of new songs on line at another website, under the name Mimi Black. "Kruzin' " sounds like a radio hit to me.
Quite a number of visitors to this site seem to have something called "Fun Web Products" installed. This thing isn't good for you or for your computer. I don't know how much fun it is, though. Maybe it's a lot of fun. However: Mr. Bennett says: Get rid of it if you can.
Katie Millionie has recently updated The Daily Prophet: Your Connection to the Wizarding World: The ORIGINAL- Don't be Fooled by Cheap Imitations. So have a look, if Harry Potter means anything to you at all.
While we are giving thanks this week, a big "Thank you" to Hutch's daughter Margit, who sent a picture from the memorial in OC. It's up now on that page.
Old enough to drink — An interview with Assistant Director of Nursing Rose Mooney at St. Mary's Hospital. "Many's the good night has been had, and day, in the bar, let me tell you." Ideas this good should be more widely known.
Just in case there is anyone who hasn't heard about this:
Some Sony CD's can install a rootkit on your computer!!! (This is bad.) Mark Russinovitch has all, and I do mean all, the details.
I always kind of knew that Neil Diamond and Celine Dion were bad for you, but gee whiz, Horace Silver? Dexter Gordon? Gerry Mulligan?
But, you know, if you have a Malone and Hutch 8-track, you're all set. That's about all the music anyone really needs.
Just for laughs, links in this post open in new windows. Let me know if you hate this or love it.
Pat McNamara has sent pictures from Sunfest. You can see some of them on the Hutch Memorial in Ocean City page. Thanks, Pat!
Nancy Whiskey sent this account of the memorial for Hutch, held at Sunfest.
I just want to extend a huge thanks to Margit, Hutch's daughter, for such a
touching and lovely tribute to Hutch during Sunfest, September 24, 2005; and
to Fran who always seems to craft and provide the perfect thing at the
perfect time. Margit, you are such a lovely person, inside and out. Thank you so much for coming down to Ocean City, Maryland and giving us the chance to meet you, and join with you in honoring your father. Every time I looked at your face, I could see Hutch, and it touched me deeply.
And Fran, thank you for putting together that video show. It was wonderful, and it had the whole Bar in rapt attention. It was a loving and moving remembrance.
The tribute on the beach was something I'll never forget. Margit said that Hutch just loved Ocean City. And on that evening, the ocean, the sand, the breeze, and the sky at dusk brought us all closer to him.
While Mr. Bennett played, Mr. Malone sang "Ramblin' Boy," a beautiful song about friendship. Margit talked about her father; and Buck Mann, Pat McNamara, DR Bill,
Mr. Bennett, and Big John stood on the sand and offered memories and
anecdotes from the many years they'd spent together. The gathering of up
to 100 people endured a chilly and blustery dusk at the edge of the beach
just outside Shenanigan's for about 30 minutes to honor our Hutch. Fran
supplied all in attendance with red, white, and blue balloons that we
held during the tribute. It was very comforting to be able to hold onto those balloons while everyone spoke. They were blowing and bobbing, and at times it was hard to hold onto them, but you wanted to hold onto "something," y'know?
At the end, Mr. Malone said, "As Hutch used to say when we did 'Amelia Earhart,' when it was time to let the airplanes fly: 'Let 'em go!'" Then hundreds of balloons flew in a big cloud up into the Ocean City sky. It was awesome.
When the balloons had disappeared, we dried our tears and walked back into The Bar, definitely ready for a pint. There were several large, inspiring collage posters all around with photos of Hutch, his beautiful family, and friends. The staff rolled in a huge flat screen and DVD player, and Fran's video remembrance was shown with people from every corner of The Bar craning their necks so as not to miss a single shot. Then The Boys took the stage. About halfway through the show, Malone said that Buck Mann had told him that about an hour after the tribute on the beach, a blue balloon drifted through the doors and into The Bar. "He's here," Malone noted. My breathing stopped for a moment, and I'm sure we all felt some kind of pause at hearing that.
That night, we were treated to Dr. Kazoo and the Kazoo Family Players,
(those kids just get better on the harmonica every year!), and DR Bill whose first song was an old Coasters' tune called, "Searchin," which was one of Hutch's favorites. DR Bill's heart was out there during the singing of that song.
We also had the great treat to not only meet Mr. Bennett's daughter, Marianne, but she sang a few songs for us that she had written. I especially liked, "Let Freedom Ring." What a lovely and talented lady! Her voice is rich and her song talent is obvious. Must run in the family. "The music gene." She has a wonderful future ahead of her!
That night, some of us also learned that Melon Balls were Hutch's favorite drink, and many of us ordered them, just because. It was a moving and inspiring night, and we're all danged glad that we were there. Thanks again, Margit and Fran. You gave the Ocean City family a real night to remember, and with the help of "the crew," it was a great tribute to Hutch.
Thanks for sending this, Nancy.
Labor Day festivities were somewhat muted as a result of the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Greg Shockley matched contributions made by those who were at Shenanigan's, yay GREG! Anyone reading this who has not contributed to hurricane relief and would like to know where contributions can be directed should look at Glenn Reynolds's big list.
"The best laid plans o' mice and men gang aft agley …" so we have a new Picture Page, because the Grand Scheme didn't encompass all that the future would bring. And the old picture pages are about big enough. There's not much on that page now, but I expect it will grow. For people with broadband, none of this matters, but some (Mr. Bennett for instance) still have dialup, and loading time matters to them. Malone and Hutch—we care!
What a treat to see Ban-Joe, and more of a treat to hear him play. Bill Thompson introduced us to a terrific new country song, Toby Keith's "As Good as I Once Was." Phil from Indiana came by, and for a while we had a seven-piece band: Phil, Ban-Joe, Jim Hartley, Doctor Kazoo, and those other three guys.
The week of July Fourth was something like the good kind of an Irish wake, the kind that starts off as a good party and doesn't turn into a fight. Many, many friends and fans were able to join us, some of whom have made themselves known on the Talk Board, such as the Old Marshal and his cousin Claire; our air arm, the pilots from Walnut Bottom; and more, some of whom can be seen in the pictures that are up on Page 5.
Fran's decorations this year included pictures of Hutch and some things that people could take home; they were much appreciated. Thanks, Fran.
The merriment continues this week starting July 26. It ain't the same without Hutch, but it's still a good time. Our fans are just the best—fans, friends, it's hard to tell the difference. And we like it that way.
Jay Hodgkins, who wrote the story linked in the post below, has written another, specifically about Malone and Hutch. This appeared in the July 1 Beachcomber print edition, but not online. Jay has graciously consented to allow us to present it here.
There's a pretty nice story in the Beachcomber about the most popular bands on the Boardwalk. It does happen to mention Malone and Hutch.
Paul Averill Hotchkiss, our Hutch, has passed on.
Gerry Malone has sent the following to those for whom we have email addresses:
If there were any way to avoid sending this e-mail, I would not send it.
If I could just share a hug with you after delivering this message, I would.
If I could only share with you one percent of the happy moments that Hutch and I have had while we performed for you for almost thirty years, the happiness that you gave us, it might soften the blow.
On Wednesday May 18 2005, at his home in Sharon Ct., Hutch passed away in his sleep. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer just three weeks before and had been undergoing treatment.
Some things are just unexplainable.
He leaves his wife, Shelly, his daughter, Margit, two sons, David and Richie, and a bewildered band trying to deal with the void that will be forever on the stage.
There will be a memorial service at 2:00 on Sunday May 22 2005 at the Congregational Church on the Green in Sharon, Ct.
from the Parting Glass
Sure of all the comrades that e'er we've known
We are sorry for their going away
And of all the sweethearts that e'er we've had
We would wish them one more day to stay
But since it falls upon our lot
That we should rise and you should not
Then we'll lift our glass and gently call
Good night and God be with you all.
The summer schedule will remain unchanged with Mr Bennett, Big John and Malone. The Show will go on … somewhat diminished.
Click here for obituary notice.
Update: The service was well-attended. Hugh Devlin sang a song, "Ramblin' Boy." Relatives and friends who were able to attend shared memories. Some who were not able to attend have posted on the Talk Board.
Sendoff at Sunfest.
Found another Linda Conner poem, On Looking at the Passing Comet, and added it to that page.
Wouldn't it be nice if St. Brendan's Day, May 16, could be a holiday like St. Patrick's Day. For one thing, St. Brendan has a connection to North America, having voyaged hither in his curragh, and for another, May 16 is just a more salubrious day for a parade than is March 17.
And another Season of St. Patrick has drawn to its close. Malone, having failed to repeat as Grand Prize Winner in the St. Rita's raffle, is headed once again for Vegas, to try his luck there.
Mr. Bennett, meanwhile, seems content to stay home and admire the not-exactly-golden statuette awarded him as List Academy's Teacher of the Year (*cough*).
A couple more pictures from Labor Day are up on Page 3.
w00t!
Just too strange, and potentially useful, not to mention: from Microsoft(!), A parent's primer to computer slang. Or, you might say, "The Grownups' Guide to !337$p34k." Worth a look, especially if you didn't know what that last word was. Via Brian Tiemann's blog.
Winter Wonderland
Mr. Bennett speaking: Some people (hi, Gerry!) are in Florida. Some are not.
Here's what it looks like in Newport this morning (Jan. 23). The street's plowed, but look at that snow. Can you see the sidewalk? Click the picture for a better look. Two, three feet deep. Close to two feet of snow, and drifted higher on sidewalks and in driveways. It sure helps one appreciate the beach.
A big "Thank you!" to John from around the corner and his two friends (or relatives?) who helped me dig the car out. Isn't it wonderful how some people will just spontaneously pitch in and help out? Thanks again.
UPDATE: While we're on the subject of cold weather: Some of our Maryland readers might enjoy this photo of a polar bear in Annapolis.
And to beat this theme into the ground, here's a link for the "How long is the line at Thrasher's?" webcam, the source of the Old Marshal's boardwalk photo over on the Talk Board.
2004
The September 11 show in New Milford, sponsored again by Jon Buck of Concept Homes, was a pleasantly old-fashioned evening, picnic on the grass with music in the bandstand sort of thing, and Bertie Black was there to take a picture.
A few Labor Day pictures are up over on page 5. These would be the actually important ones, depicting MacNamara's Band in action, sort of a historical document, or would that be hysterical?
Meta: Big news around M&H dot com is the addition of the rather sharp-looking logos and the guestbook, or message board, or what would you call that? Softwarily speaking, it's a guestbook, and we hope you'll leave us a note there; but what should we call it? Guestbook, or chat board, or other such thing (and the sow took the measles and she died in the spring). Of course, if we never get any postings, the whole question is moot, but we're open to suggestions. Post them on the board! Or email Mr. Bennett or Malone with your ideas.
UPDATE: The Old Marshal has opened the lists!
~~~~~~~~~
Labor Day pictures are a long time coming, but they're in the pipeline. McNamara's Band, yay!
Hutch gets cheers in Country Music News of Canada's review of Brian Mallery's CD, Message from Above.
"The album’s flat out winner however comes in Nashville Plastic, a neat song about the country music biz, written by Connecticut’s Paul Hotchkiss, a long-time song contributor to the Canuck country scene. The song is captured to perfection by Mallery, and has the potential of being a sizeable hit… if country radio can stand to look at itself objectively, that is."
Old friend from Washington, D.C., Jim Hartley, stopped in to visit at Shenanigans. He performed a couple of thrilling sets with Dr. Kazoo.
He also brought along a couple of copies of his book! The title seems self-explanatory: Washington's Expansion Senators (1961-1971), but if you click that title it will take you to Amazon's page for it, where you can learn more. Good work Jim!
The Old Marshal, prominent in the Page 5 pictures, has brought to our attention a nice reminiscence of Frontier Town.
While we wait for some more pictures to be developed, it seems worth noting that the lovely Michele Catalano has discovered a recipe for Guinness ice cream! Michele's readers have fun comments, but if all you want is the recipe, it's here at Make Ice Cream dot com.
Could you make a Guinness double float? Guinness ice cream in a pint of Guinness? Would you need to confess it, if you did? Talk about sinful!
Malone, Hutch, and Mr. Bennett arrived in Ocean City in time for a spectacular show of Fourth of July bears -- the fireworks were worth seeing, too. 
This bear sings "God Bless America," with a little help from Gerry.
It was a treat to see so many friends, including Fran and Ed who supervised the bear migration, the Kellihers and McGraths (I hope Carrie got some good photos), the Powers clan of Pottsville (Megan is a lot taller!), and ohmigosh Kevin from up Rehoboth way is so much taller I almost didn't recognize him!
Dr. Bill was with us, and that other scholar, Dr. Kazoo, who brought Zack and Olivia, the Kazoo Family Players, for their trademark harmonica duet on "Margaritaville." Pictures on page 5!
Bill "Killer" Kane did his usual fine job on the security detail, and Linda and Jim Windsor and their lovely daughter Kelly helped us out with the musical part of the show.
Summer is here, now, yup, it's begun.
Feeling a little peckish when crossing into New Jersey ...
so we stopped to have a snack at the Hav-A-Snak in Hackensack
three times, fast
Mr. Bennett has contributed some hot mandolin on "This Morning She Was Gone" on Paul Geremia's new CD from Red House Records, "Love, Murder, and Mosquitos." The other tracks are also pretty nice (*cough*). Paul's a blues cat the other blues cats listen to. Click the cover to listen yourself.
Back from Florida, tanned and rested, Malone ushered in the Season of St. Patrick with a performance at his parish church fund-raiser. (That would be the Church of Saint Rita in Hamden, CT. Pictures here.) There was rejoicing in the hall when Monsignor Walker read the winning name off the grand-prize raffle ticket: "Gerry Malone!"
Jan 14 update: Malone did pretty well with the sofa cushions, so he's headed for Florida for a while.
2003
Oct 10 update: Malone is back from Las Vegas. He had a great time there. He is looking for change under the sofa cushions.
Malone will be going to Las Vegas on October 3, to check out the Irish bars.
Malone and Hutch and Big John performed on the New Milford, Ct. town green on Sat. Sept. 13, in front of an small but intrepid crowd of friends and families, braving the threat of rain and actual showers, wielding umbrellas and attitudes, experiencing a fine evening of music sponsored by Concept Homes of New Milford, Jon Buck, spokesmouth.
Whilst feverishly practicing in Malone's room at the Shoreham Hotel, Mr Bennett and Malone were delighted to see the face of Clint Murphy on ESPN smashing blocks of concrete and placing second in a national sporting event and even more delighted to see his lovely bride Kelly rush up to give him a smooch when he finished.
Tony (Mc)Nuzzo tells us that he has been playing piano, of all things, on Friday and Saturday nights with the Griswold Inn Banjo Band. At the Griswold Inn in Essex, Connecticut, naturally.
UPDATE: Mr. Bennett has joined Tony for a couple of these evenings and will do another on March 26.
Well, that was fun!
We were favored with Dr. Kazoo's bass playing for good portions of Friday and Saturday nights last week [August 8 and 9]. This allowed for some unusual things like mandolin on "Under the Boardwalk."
Dr. Kazoo has been sending some email bulletins on his doings, which I like to refer to as "Dr. Kazoo's News," just because I like saying that. If you would like to be added to his list, send him an email at drkazoo2000 (at) yahoo (dot) com
Tim Antosy of Reading, Pa., introduced himself the other night. His page mentioning us now contains a link to our home page -- and pictures, yes, more pictures! A pleasure to actually meet someone you've only previously known through the Web.
Dateline OC 07-31-03. Recently seen at Shenanigans: Jim Hartley! with a thrilling rendition of "Wild Thing." You make my heart sing.
Phil from Indiana, singing "Friends in Low Places," and that ultimate country song by David Allen Coe and Steve Goodman.
Dr. Kazoo stopped by to play bass and harmonica, and with the assistance of the Kazoo Family Players, Zack and Olivia, who accompanied his singing of "Margaritaville" with a harmonica duet, to video-tape a fair portion of the proceedings.
Several members of Elks Lodge Number 25 (that would be New Haven, Connecticut): Charlie and Butch, with their daughters wives, and Stan and horny Lois as well.
Boomba came in from Salisbury. Gerry got him to sing "Puff the Magic Dragon." Nobody does that song like Boomba.
Whew! That was a pretty good Fourth of July week in OC. We got to see quite a number of old and young friends. Megan Powers, the Irish Princess of Pottsville, charmed us all. Megan will never lack for employment, as long as there's a fire department somewhere that is in need of a siren. "MACINTYRE!!"
Kevin's rendition of "The Court of King Caractacus" -- with some help from Lorraine and Hello Mary Lou -- was a hit, as was Katie Millionie's spectacular step-dancing. Katie's mom has some nice things to say about us on the
Oceancity.com message board.
Angela once again rescued Gerry from "The Rattlin' Bog." Dr. Bill sang with his usual great enthusiasm. The band got to try out a couple of new songs, and to polish up a lot of the old ones.
The President of the Tony McNuzzo Fan Club stopped by, and promised to send some info about Tony.
Clint Murphy has followed the example of his younger brother Seth by becoming a married man. Clint and the lovely Kelly Ryan, daughter of the famous Captain John, were married in Danbury on April 27, 2003. Clint and Kelly showed their goodness of heart by inviting Malone and Hutch to the nuptials, and showed their good taste by not inviting them to sing.
Our pal Katie Millionie from Baltimore won the prize in AOL's Harry Potter contest. She got to go to New York for the movie premiere, and to interview the cast! Robin Williams was passing by. Katie interviewed him, too!
Mr. Bennett's lovely daughter Marianne Snuggs is singing with About Time. They perform regularly at the Brookside in Preston, and from time to time at 41° North in Mystic.
Now that Marianne's joined up with them, they'll soon be playing stadia and casini.
Update: two of Marianne's non-About Time songs can be found in MP3 format, suitable for downloading, here.
UPDATE May 2005: Marianne is no longer singing with About Time, but I'll leave the picture and link up for a while.
If you have news, links, or anything else you think ought to be on this page, feel free to send them to jim (at) maloneandhutch (dot) com. If I don't lose it, I might use it.