Camden Aquarium & Another Interview

Posted by RKDeem at 9/29/2008 5:24 PM
Categories: The Village
Here are 8 Reflections on the Weekend 
 
8. The Camden Aquarium is easy to get to, really well maintained, and contains incredible creatures in beautiful displays. If you haven’t gone, you should go. My best aquarium experience was in New Orleans, I was really hungover and I parked myself on a bench in front of a giant tank filled with sharks, tarpon, jacks, barracuda, grouper, and sting rays. I just leaned back on that bench and after an hour of zoning out, I was cured from my hangover. If you go to the Camden Aquarium, I recommend getting there at 2:45PM and leaving at 5PM. It took us about 2 hours to go through the whole thing and we even visited some areas twice. The parking lot was emptying out at 3PM, so I really think you’d have the aquarium to yourself if you got there at 2:45PM and have plenty of time to enjoy all the sights. If you go, don’t do the 4-D show. The fourth D is supposed to be like an environmental twist where wind and mist spray on you during key moments of the show. It really grossed me out, it was like horrible cologne being sprayed on the back of my neck. The outside exhibits are pretty lame, just a couple of seals and penguins, but the aquariums “touch and feel” exhibits make up for it. Jack and I both touched some sharks. The underwater glass tunnel is an awesome experience too, you’ll never20be so close to sharks. 
 
7. I wish the Cold War Kids new album was better. I was very disappointed by there newest effort, I really thought this group was going to do big things after their first album. I was wrong again. If most great songs are like a phone call with a hot babe, these songs are like text messages from autistic kids. 
 
6. I have been doing a little weight lifting at the gym. I do five sets of bench press, each set I do ten reps. On the first day, I was barely able to do 2 and a half sets of 135lbs (26 reps). Today I did 10 reps of 135, 10 reps of 145, and 3 sets of 155 (30 reps). My goal is to be able to bench press 225 ten times. It’s been a little over a month and I get stronger every time, it’s pretty cool. I’ll let you know when I get up to 185. The hard part is the endurance, my arms really start to tire out when I get to the 50th rep. Pretty soon, I will look like Moose, but fatter, more hair, shorter, okay, I won’t look like Moose. 
 
5. Philadelphia fans are the best. I got booed at Acme for wearing a New England Patriots t-shirt and during a Phillies game after a Ryan Howard homerun, the camera panned out to a fan who was wearing a t-shirt that said, “Romo the Homo”. 
 
4. We visited Giggleberry Fair. Really bad name, it makes me think of dingleberry 
s. By the way, Dingleberry has an excruciatingly detailed entry in Wkipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingleberry . Anyways. We had a great time at Giggleberry, Winston rode the carousel, I played Whack-A-Mole and we earned enough tickets to claim a plastic shark replica. 
 
3. On the softball front, I am having my greatest season ever on Wednesday nights. I have come up to bat 16 times and I’ve gotten a hit 15 times, including 4 homeruns. My goal is to get MVP, if so, I will make myself a certificate and hang it up at work. I will keep you posted, I am totally setting myself up to get made fun of when I inevitably fall off and have a terrible game. 
 
2. I am putting together my annual Fall CD. It’s coming along nicely and would happily send a copy to anyone who wants it. 
 
1. I have some interviews that I’m very excited about. The following is an interview with Dave. It’s already been a pretty long post, so I will post his interview in two portions. 
 
I known Dave since elementary school, we’ve been regularly hanging out for over 20 years. He’s now living in San Diego with a girl who treats him right: 
 
RKDeem: What’s shaking brother? 
 
Dave: My hands. I just downed 14 Stacker-2 pills, pounded 7 cups of coffee, smoked a little crank, and am sipping yerba mate from a bombilla. I’ve even clamped20a clothespin to each nipple. I think I’m finally ready for this interview. If I stop breathing, just pound on my chest a few times. I should pop right back up. 
 
RKDeem: How the Hell did you migrate from Furlong, Pennsylvania all the way out to San Diego, California? 
 
Dave: It’s funny how things work out sometimes. I was working a dead-end job and was tired of seeing the same people at the same places every single day. I was ready for a change. I could have just stopped going to the same places, and flooded the market with my resume, but instead decided it was time for a more dramatic change. San Diego, California was an easy out because I had a place to stay while I got on my feet. It would have been foolish not to try it out at least for a little while. 
 
RKDeem: Did that trip make you see this country a different way? I mean, you drove across the whole damn continent; does it change your perspective on the US of A? 
 
Dave: Yeah. It’s cliché to say, but it makes the country seem so much smaller. In the first leg of my trip, I drove straight across to the Mississippi River. After I jumped in the river for a short refreshing swim, I checked out the map I had with me and was astounded at how far a single day’s worth of travel can take you. I think I slowed down after that to soak in a bit more of the ride. Once I hit T 
he Rockies in Colorado is when I really realized how beautiful the country can be. I dipped my feet in the cool waters of the Colorado River which runs through some down-to-business mountains. Then driving through Utah was just the icing on the cake. 
 
RKDeem: Do you have any advice for people planning on driving across the country? What was the best thing you did in preparing for this journey, what would you have done completely differently? 
 
Dave: I didn’t prepare at all. That’s definitely the one thing I would change. I am planning on taking on the adventure again, but this time I am going to map out a more scenic route. I want to hit the small towns, the famous diners, the off-beat sites that make every place in every town somewhere special. There are a hundred little towns like Doylestown or New Hope or San Diego, and each one has a little something that you’d love to see, and love to experience. There’s no way to see it all, that’s impossible. But I’d love to try. 
 
RKDeem: It must have been really difficult to leave your family and friends and arrive on the other side of the country with basically nothing. Most of us would probably never have the balls to attempt a move like that, what have you learned from the experience? 
 
Dave: There is no substitute for family. And the close group of friends I’ve accumulated over the years, not years, decades, are impossible to replace. It was hard at times in the beginning, but after being out here for a little over two years, I finally feel like I am home. Don’t tell my mom, though. 
 
RKDeem: Do you like being 3 hours back? How’s Pacific Coast Time treating you? 
 
Dave: The time difference makes keeping in touch a little difficult. I am working when most people would like to call, and when I get home, most people are winding down for the night. The upside, though, is if Iraq decides to invade the US on the East coast, I have a 3 hour head start to find a really good hiding spot. Other than that, It is kinda cool to be able to catch Sunday Night Football while it’s still light out. 
 
RKDeem: You own a Triumph, a spectacularly classic motorcycle. Tell me about your favorite ride on that bike. 
 
Dave: That’s the coolest way I’ve ever heard someone describe the Triumph, spectacularly classic, I love it! The coolest ride has got to be the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) hands down. It’s a beautiful road that runs along the coast of California. I found a cool little record shop along the coast that I ride to regularly. For the most part, the drive consists of riding along cliff sides, with nothing but a long drop off and the Pacific Ocean to check out. It’s a breathtaking view. 
 
RKDeem: Do you feel like a Hell’s Angels badass on the motorcycle or like The Fonz? 
 
Dave: Neither, I feel more like Steve McQueen riding his Triumph. Why? I’m glad you asked. Because at any given moment, I might just make the great escape and jump to freedom. 
 
RKDeem: Do the women…uh…like the motorcycle, if you know what I mean? 
 
Dave: I had an idea that women liked a badass on a motorcycle, but I had no idea how much until the very first day I rode it. I bought my Triumph about 3 hours ago, and was riding around the coast. There is a very chill road that is basically right on the beach in my town. The road is called The Strand and is a slow, one-way street. It’s kinda like being able to drive on the boardwalk in Jersey. So it was starting to get dark out, and after riding it for about 3 hours I was about to call it a night. But before going home, I hit up The Strand. About half way down the street, a girl ran out in front of my bike, waving her hands, while saying something to me. When I stopped, she told me she loved bikes and asked if I would give her a ride. She hopped on, and I drove down to the next stop sign. Apparently she needed to get back to her parents, with which she was walking with just before she flagged me down. So yeah, after owning the bike for 3 hours, I found out that women like the motorcycle. 
 
RKDeem: Say a good friend comes to visit you in San Diego and you want to show him something really cool that you can only find in San Diego, what would you show him? 
 
Dave: I had the pleasure of showing the Edman around last week. One of the coolest experiences of the trip was our trip to LA. We drove through the winding narrow roads that lead up to the Hollywood sign, traversed the walk of the stars, drove down Rodeo Drive, checked out the mansions of Beverly Hills, and hit Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard. All in all, it was a pretty cool day. San Diego has some awesome spots too, but LA has all the sights most people relate with California within a 30-mile radius. 
 
To be continued… 

Here's a pic from Dave of the Pacific Coast Highway, or as the locals call it, The PCH:

 

 

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