Punk in the time of Covid, the Delmar Police strike a deal, and we're happy to welcome GCFL Productions as a new sponsor. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Day Drinking on Delmarva

It's Two O'Clock Somewhere

Plus, Todd goes to a party and Tony stays home for the Frostburg Indie Lit fest Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Selling One Another Hats

In this episode, we break the story about a local bartender becoming a finalist in a national competition, the problem with poetry (again) and whether spies are listening to our show.Todd and I tried out a couple of different places in Berlin to record the show. This was a million years ago and nobody knew what podcasts were. As a result, people were just confused by the fact that we were sitting there with microphones. We told them it was an internet radio show, and that seemed to slake their eminently quenchable curiosity. Sometimes it would have been more satisfying if people just walked up to us and said, “I just want to let you know I see that you have microphones there.”Anyway, during those halcyon days I started distinguishing between craft beers with non-traditional taste words. These included “pointy,” “green,” and “beer-flavored.” It was 60 percent me trying to de-mystify beer tasting words and 40 percent me being a jerk. “Beer flavored beer” kind of stuck, though, because it is obvious and pretty dumb. It’s the kind of easy turn of phrase that thousands of people make all the time, but I had never had heard it anyplace else until Tito’s started its “Vodka Flavored Vodka” promotion.Their motivations were similar to mine. At some point, you want to be able to just drink your damn drink without trying to remember whether you’re allergic to hyacinths or whatever adulterations brewers add to make their beer or spirits (all distillers are brewers).It stung a little bit to hear it as a national ad, even though I knew the amount of creativity to make that connection was practically zero. I’m not a professional wit, and if I were I wouldn’t think beer flavored beer was any cleverer than vodka flavored vodka.It’s a stupid, easy joke that anyone could come up with. Then Woodbridge wines stole another part of our show for an ad campaign and I started getting suspicious. Our tagline has been (for a couple of years) “At the beach, Happy Hour’s whenever you say it is.” Woodbridge Wines debuted its new tagline: The weekend starts whenever you say it does.So while it is possible that they pay ad companies thousands of dollars to come up with the same kind of blather Todd and I say because we think it’s goofy, it’s time to start wondering whether the top ad companies monitor our show for brilliance.So if you’re out there evil ad people, Drink What You Like and Be Happy!In this week’s episode, Todd DeHart t Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

The thin line between creative and super boring

Labor Day at the beach is radically different from Labor Day elsewhere for lots of reasons. The first being the pressure comes off in the service industry. And this year, they needed it. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Labor Day Exhaustion

Both Todd and I make our livings from what would be our hobbies. Neither of us would be confused with a wealthy person but that is OK. I returned to local journalism but of a completely different kind recently, and I’m pretty excited about it. Rather than having to write 10 stories no matter what, I report on issues that I think matter to my neighbors, or that I think ought to matter. Todd got to shoot a concert at the Starboard and, even though he thought he hadn’t done his best work, he produced something really cool in the edit.There’s plenty more including a podcast recommendation from Todd and a totally unfair review of the movie Annette by me. If you would like to be named as an episode sponsor (for free), just respond to this email and we’ll make you the sponsor of an upcoming episode. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Doing the Thing

This week, Tony talks about being on a Christian conspiracy podcast and Todd gets recognized at the host of Dewey Raw. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

The Podcast Guy

The point of live shows is to get caught up in the euphoria, not to relive your mediocre teen years. In this week’s show, Todd and I take a look at live shows and revisit our discussion about tribute acts. He is a fan, I am not.For Todd, the energy of younger people, especially if the tribute band is right on, is superior to the older voices that sometimes are too weak for the music and the entitlement that comes with having had a hit song in the 1980s (or whenever), mixed with the reeking must of decline. I guess it’s better to say that he used to be a fan of tribute acts. A recent REO Speedwagon show disabused him of that notion. What it comes down to in live music is that the act has to genuinely enjoy their work, or at least they have to come across as if they genuinely enjoy their work, which is too hard for many bands.I was working at the Sheraton Inn in Salisbury when I first moved here. The place was no less a dump then than it is now, but the Moody Blues were genuinely offended by its condition. In fact, they were so openly hostile to the fact that I worked for a millionaire too cheap to keep his hotel nice that I bring up their priggishness whenever the opportunity presents itself. What I wanted to say (but lacked the courage as well as other job opportunities) was that if they didn’t want to stay in a dump, they should have more hits and get a nicer bus the way the more popular acts did. That was their vibe: Here we has-been rockers go through all this trouble to whine our way through that awful poem at the end of Nights in White Satin for the millionth time, and you’re not even grateful enough to have a nice hotel for us to stay in. There’s no telling what they thought of the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center green rooms, but I’m guessing they weren’t impressed.REO Speedwagon was, according to Todd, the opposite of that. He wasn’t a fan before the show, but he knew all of the songs and was an avid fan by the time they took their curtain calls. It was good to hear. I like when musicians appreciate the fact that they're appreciated rather than expect it. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Heroes and Villains

What I thought was a purple bottle of gin turned out to be a bottle of purple gin. This was completely unexpected and a little horrifying. I’d gone to the liquor store with my brother to pick up some supplies and wanted to try a new gin. I’d never heard of Empress Gin. I just knew it was a little more expensive and took that to mean it would have something herbal and potentially kooky going on. We drank it with soda. It had a delicate floral taste that made me certain an olive or two would destroy it, so we started simple. Lime wasn’t great in the soda, but lemon was just fine.The thing is, I like cocktails and if I was going to get the most out of the gin’s flavor, diluting it with soda wasn’t going to help. I keep St-Germain in the house to replace simple syrup in drink recipes. I’ve yet to be disappointed. So how’s this for a cocktail: A Martini, but with St-Germain replacing the vermouth and a lemon replacing the olive? Turns out it was spectacular. My particular take was 3oz. Empress Gin with .25oz St. Germaine and the juice from a thin lemon slice. Twists seem a little wasteful because I’m shitty at making them and I use very little lemon, but I’ll bet it would be just as good.Since the drink happens to be the GCFL colors, we’re temporarily calling it the DOD Cooler. We understand it’s not a great name and invite you to do better. We’re sure tryng.Happy Hour is when you say it is.Best,TonyShow Notes:This week’s sponsor: DOD Cooler and Bullet Bourbon on ice.Remember. You can be the show’s sponsor by literally replying to this email and saying you want to be. There is no fee involved.Todd: One Cool ThingThe annual beach olympics were this week and Todd got a chance to get out there. He reports in detail.The takeaway is that restaurants and chefs around here don’t compete so much as collaborate. Sure, that might not be true all the way down the line, but the better the restaurant, the more likely the chef or owner sees the other good restaurants as a complement rather than a threat. It certainly helps that there are more people who want to dine out on a given Friday night than there are places for them to dine, but it is an attitude that survives into the winter. Tony: One Cool ThingTony wrote a book. We say this on the outside chance this is the first you’re hearing of it (or, alternatively, you keep forgetting to order it).If you’re in the area, though, there are plenty of signed copies at The Greyhound in Berlin. That’s where Tony found himself this week. While he and Todd didn’t get to talk too much about the event (there’s another one this week anyway) they did talk about parking for longer than intended, but it’s not too awful.They promise. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

So We Have an Offical Drink

Todd shares stories from Dewey Beach and the Freeman Stage. Tony winds up his wildly unsuccessful book tour.You can check out Dewey Raw on the Starboard’s YouTube channel or watch below: Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Semi-Permenant Vacation

On this week’s show, Todd and I talk about his adventures in Ocean City, particularly at The Cork Bar, which is one of the few places that knows what Ocean City really is and acts accordingly. My own ambivalence about the resort is always this notion that is it anything more than a tacky tourist trap. It’s carny to its core but pretends that it’s a more accessible Martha’s Vineyard or whatever. My opinion hasn’t improved over the last few days, but we’ll leave the recent ugliness for next week’s show (which I swear I’ll put out Thursday, guys. Honest!).The other thing we talked about is how much contempt many of the small business owners in the region have for people who make stuff. Todd spoke about literally being asked to work for exposure. He’s been at this like, 20 years. The myth that exposure works should be dead and gone by now, but somehow it isn’t. The reason is that people wrongly believe that word of mouth is effective if you’re not getting paid. Instead, it turns out to be one mooch telling another where they can get free work done. I’ve honestly stopped promoting things that I like just because I got a name for “working for free” when my hobby just happened to be blogging about things I liked. The only thing it did was ruin my ability to enjoy my hobby. I may have mentioned I had a book come out recently about a cult murder. At least three people suggested I should do a story about their business. They didn’t mean to be a******s, but the worst a******s rarely do. For me, though, I’ve just become a little contemptuous of people who don’t know not to ask for free work. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Exposing Yourself

In this week’s episode, Todd talks about getting back out on a regular basis and interacting with the crowds as they return to the beach. Todd does a bunch of work in Dewey and talks about how the Starboard is kind of built for the easing of restrictions. Not only is a lot of it outside, but that’s kind of the attraction. Dragged Into the Light is out now, and I would really love it if you got a copy. It is availible wherever you can get books.The Amazon link is here.There’s another buying option I think you may want to consider and that’s BookShop.org. It’s like Amazon in that it can get pretty much any book in print. It’s not like Amazon in that it shares a cut of your purchase with the bookstore closest to you.Check it out. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Kicking Off Summer on the Shore

Todd lured a tree guy to his house and the neighbors never let him leave. It’s astounding how much more confident we feel hiring someone when we see them working. There’s a reality to it. Even if they’re doing something we don’t understand, seeing someone who appears to know what they’re doing is so much better than looking at Google Reviews and such. We don’t spend too much time on the show taking about it, so don’t worry, this isn’t Tree Talk with Todd and Tony (yet) although we do kick the idea around.Todd has a construction background as well as a vibe that comes along with it. I have no such thing, as evidenced by the questions I asked about tree-cutting equipment. You’d be surprised how rarely tree guys use axes and wear flannel. I briefly pitch a This Old House-style show wherein I just walk around behind Todd asking questions that reveal my ignorance and making guesses that cause more sophisticated people to snicker. But the big news this week is my upcoming book. Still.Dragged Into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers, and Death Inside an Online Cult will ship in the next couple days and I’m so excited for you to read it. Todd and I spoke about an early review from Tehben.com that really got to the heart of the book. I also was on the “Follow The Woo” podcast. I’d really like it if you at least listened to the opening of that. The host, who is so much more spiritual than I will ever be, had some great insights. If I’m honest, my Dragged Into the Light isn’t friendly or forgiving when it comes to religion and spirituality, but that has more to do with the practices I witnessed. We spoke a lot about how if faith makes you mean, you’re probably doing it wrong. Finally (and again) If you’re in the Berlin, Md. area, I’d love it if you came to my book launch, which is 11-a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 5 at The Greyhound Bookstore in Berlin. If you’re coming for sure, consider clicking on the Facebook Event. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

I Guess We're Opening Up

Now that he can go out again, Todd takes the opportunity to pair his ability to leave the house with all the alcohol available outside. In this episode, he talks about #TastyTuesdays, his project to just start dropping in to places while he still can have them (mostly) to himself. While Todd spends Tuesdays exploring, Tony spends them fielding emails about the recently concluded The Devil You Know. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Tasty Tuesdays

 In this week's episode Todd tours Evo and Tony deals with Tuesday morning from cult fans. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Tuesdays With Sherry

At the risk of dating this photograph, it was taken before the permanent “America’s Coolest Small Town” banner was permanently installed over town hall.A local punk band ran afoul of the town this week after they were booked to perform before anyone asked their grandkids to show them a YouTube picture of this “punk music” they’d been hearing all about. The difficulty, for me as much as for Todd, is that you either have an arts scene or a curated shopping scene. Berlin has for years been drifting toward the latter, even as its arts and artisans community has grown. As someone who barely made a living wage working as a reporter and then content-curator in Berlin for more than a decade, I can tell you that the problem isn’t the arts. The problem is (as it always is doomed to be) people for whom not just art, but the idea of an art scene is a commodity, a 3-D bumper sticker that transports people back to a time when America was Great.From the Fiddlers Convention to Victorian Christmas to the unfathomable attachment to a 1990s B movie, the town seems to have slipped from a place willing to try anything to make people feel welcome to clawing desperately to cling to what worked once until it is beaten to death and twee. I was working there during the runup to the boom and, when peak Berlin occurred (I’m guessing in 2010 or so) I had a colleague that came up with an ad: Berlin: It’s not just for old peopleOf course, we were all a decade younger then, so it stands to reason that, like “America’s Coolest Small Town” and the annual pig races are some people’s “Freebird” and they’re going to keep shouting themselves hoarse trying to remind the rest of us how cool they used to be. An Ethical QuandryI got to see Salisbury University’s Ethics Bowl via Zoom and it made me feel confident or at least a little hopeful about how the students approach moral quandaries. Unlike “debates” where people try to demonstrate how clever they are while laying waste to any moron who holds an opposing view, the Ethics Bowl featured a real-world problem that the students had to critique. The opposing team is then charged with evaluating their arguments, not countering them, which is key.As opposed to “You’re wrong and here’s why” students ask thoughtful questions and proposed alternative ways of looking at the question in a mutual attempt to find the best way to approach the issue. Grownups can’t do it, but it’s good to see that at least some kids still can. Dragged Into the LightMy book is available for preorder here, and my book launch event will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 5 at The Greyhound Bookstore in Berlin. I have hired a drum and bagpipe corps to play in an attempt to keep in line with the town’s traditional music sensibilities. caption...If you’re watching the Vice documentary, The Devil You Know Season 2 and like it, I think you might like the book very much as well. Although the same event, the same evidence, and a lot of the same people are in both the book and the documentary, we have different takes on what it all means. Get on the email list at daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com

Maybe Berlin Really Is Just for Old People

Todd DeHart and Tony Russo talk about living and working at the beach and all that entails, including enjoying a mid-day cocktail. 

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Day Drinking on Delmarva

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