Birthday Saturday

M and I celebrated her 30th birthday Saturday. We called it birthday Saturday. I didn’t have a gift or a card, let alone a plan. So I gave her Saturday. After a morning spent lying around in the bedroom we headed out for lunch at a nearby fern restaurant. The typical family chain restaurants aren’t so bad as long as the have appetizers and alcohol. Which is exactly what we ordered.

The lunch conversation comprised totally of birthday plans. Originally, weeks ago, there was a plan for a large pool party. But I decided that after last year’s ‘I’m not 30’ party, another event to celebrate being 30 was contradictive. So, perhaps we’ll just have dinner with family and friends. A fine enough idea except that it was already one o’clock in the afternoon and the organization of a dinner could be difficult. So, let’s just go out - just the two of us. But first, we need the proper attire. Target, here we come.

The plan, at this point, was a night on the town. What town? Doesn’t matter. Any town will do. Wherever we end up, a new wardrobe is required. But, as always, there’s a twist. The details of the wardrobe have been placed on my mind and shoulders. Without panic, I headed to the ‘Young Miss’ section (brownie points) and looked around for some blouses. It wasn’t long before I was in the accessories looking for a belt to match the necklace that went with the purse that looked great with the blouse. Isaac Mizrahi is very overrated. So, after picking out a complete outfit for M, it was her turn to choose something for me. I told her all I really needed was a shirt to go with jeans. And she didn’t let me down. She picked out a very fine ‘Co-Ed All Night Bowl-A-Thon’ silkscreen tee. She told me it would look great if I wore my black sport coat with it. She was right.

After returning home to change into our new clothes and let the dogs out, we headed north. I remembered passing a seafood restaurant in the town just a few miles up the road. After dinner I planned on going to a place with some live music that I heard about, not far from the seafood joint. On the way to dinner I popped in the Frank Sinatra CD we purchased at Meijer’s. Did I mention that we had to go to Meijer’s to find some black jeans? Target didn’t have what we were looking for so after we stopped at fern restaurant number two, for another round of drinks, we swung by Meijer’s for the jeans. I had already read about the place with live music, jazz in particular, so I bought a Frank Greatest Hits CD from the bargain bin to put us in the mood. I also got a very cool pair of socks to go with my ‘Co-Ed All Night Bowl-A-Thon’ tee shirt. But I think the details are flowing too heavily right now, so let’s just move on.

The restaurant was very nice. Our table was alongside a saltwater tank that held some very impressive fish as well as a very long eel. Is an eel a fish? I suppose so. True to form, M was able to find the most expensive item on the menu, Lobster Tails. I opted for one of the specials – Monk Fisk. Despite the name, which sounds as if it were a creature living in a moat, it was quite good. Unfortunately for the Blog, nothing really special happened at the restaurant. There was a couple that prayed over their food for what may have been forty seconds, but they already had a few beers, so we let it slide.

The meat of this piece takes place at the next locale. The entertainment section of the local paper featured this establishment as an eclectic bar with live music and art. Sounds like it’s right up our alley.

Upon entering it was most obvious that we were the youngest patrons. M asked if it was my plan to make her feel better about turning 30 – you know, take her to place where everyone was twice her age. I could only explain that the article in the paper made this place seem like the newest, hippest place in town. Not the oldest, most hip-broken place next to the senior center. But the typical age of the clientele would be the least of our problems. Although it was advertised as a piano-bar, the talent of the night was none other than The Mic Murphy Show featuring Gloria Jean. (For those of you that can’t figure it out by the name, picture Murph and the Magic Tones, from Blues Brothers.)

Not ones to be rude, M and I found a nice little table not far from the bar and ordered some drinks. We couldn’t help noticing that the three people at the table next to us were all wearing Tom Jones tee shirts. I was praying they would keep their underwear on. We hadn’t been there more than three songs when Mic broke into ‘What’s up Pussycat?’ I was afraid of being blinded by granny underwear, girdles and Depends, and I could tell that Mic wasn’t sure either. We were lucky it was early in the evening.

Mic was what one would call a typical lounge singer. He was well into his forties, probably older. His jet-black hair receded on the sides a bit, but the goatee made up for it. He wore a black and white checkered vest over his wide collared silk shirt. The shirt was opened from the collar enough to reveal his gold scripted ‘Mic’ necklace. Leisure Suit Larry could not have picked a better foe.
Gloria Jean was most likely too good for Mic. But only they could really determine that. On this night she was wearing a dress that may have been made from one of my mom’s old tablecloths. Not one of the cheap ones. It was a tablecloth that was held back for when we had someone special over for dinner, like a monsignor or an aunt we only see every few years. But she sang well in the dress. At least better than Florence Henderson.



Mic: “This next song is an Andrew Lloyd Weber tune.”

M: “Isn’t he an architect?”

J: “ No, that’s Frank Lloyd Wright.”



I appreciate good music and I have seen a fair share of artists perform live. Eric Clapton. The Rolling Stones. Pink Floyd. Blues Traveler. The Allman Brothers. Jackson Browne. And really a ton of other artists that I just can’t totally recall. I think that I can narrow down the two best songs that I have seen performed live. The first is "Murder Tonight in the Trailer Park" by the Cowboy Junkies. They played a slow methodical jam that made me fell like I lived there. Better than that was a song performed by Phish. Regrettably I was never able to attend a Grateful Dead concert, but I did make it to a Phish show. It was an incredible event. The late afternoon was perfect, but after an intermission the clouds started rolling in. The thunder and lightning let loose the rain just as the band opened up their rendition of "Rocky Top." That’s right, the John Denver wedding reception favorite. But performed by Phish, the song seemed to take on whole new ramifications. Especially a 25-minute version. It was definitely the best live song that I ever experienced.

On her birthday, M requested The Mic Murphy Show featuring Gloria Jean perform "Rocky Top."

Mic hit the banjo button on his keyboard and dove into "Rocky Top" like it was just another wedding. His vocals were wonderfully accompanied by Gloria Jean, standing still and staring straight ahead in her tablecloth dress. Although no one made it out to the floor there was plenty of side shaking and foot stomping going on at all the tables. I was stuck between a cringe and a smile. The song was performed as well as it could be and just when I thought this strange dream was over, Mic really lit into the keyboard. He jammed to the banjo beat over and over. I had visions of his fingers bleeding like Pete Townsend. And just when he looked like he was wrapping up he hit it again, changing the jam just enough so you still thought you were at a wedding reception. All the while Gloria Jean stared ahead with a soft smile, lightly slapping her hand on he hip. Finally, Mic wrapped it up eventually and would have gotten a standing ovation if it weren’t so difficult for the audience to get up. I looked over at M and she was beaming, proud that her request was such a hit.


At one point in the evening a very nice, older lady was passing by me and stopped to stare at me. “You have very lovely hair,” she said as she started to run her fingers through it.
“Well, thank you,” I replied. “I’ve actually been told that before.”
“Well it’s very nice and you’re very handsome”
“Thanks again. You’re quite lovely yourself.”
With a laugh she replied, “Have you had your eye prescription checked lately?”
“No, but I have had three or four beers.”
She walked away laughing hard. I think I made her night.


The crowd kept going as Mic kept playing their favorites. He had everyone screaming out the lyrics to “Daydream Believer” and “Piano Man.” Gloria Jean actually glanced at Mic during her duet of “The One that I Want” from Grease. And I swear I saw someone take a picture during “You Were Always on My Mind” – of course Mic was wearing a red bandana on his head.


After each set, Mic and Gloria Jean worked the room. Mic came right up to me and told me I looked like an actor. I wasn’t sure if he was hitting on me or setting up a joke. But I figured it was because of my ‘Co-Ed All Night Bowl-A-Thon’ tee shirt with black sport coat and blue jeans. Before I could respond M told him that her mother always says I look like Hugh Grant. He concurred only adding that I looked a little like Buddy Holly too.

I just wanted to find my old lady friend again.