June 24, 2010 Issue

Several Frank Sinatra songs come to mind when dealing with the nasty stuff threatening our beaches and way of living. “Oil or Nothing at Oil” and “Oil of Me” are worth playing with.

I can’t get over all the bitching, negativism and, yes, even caterwauling, which appear daily in the Alternative Newspaper. It appears this area is packed with the most grouches of anyplace in America.

I can’t get over the finger pointing, and the stance of people who were soundly “less government” before April 20 now saying, “More government! More government!”

But there are a few old heads out there that actually think and remember. One, pianist/crooner Ray Brown, reminded me of a large oil spill off the East Pass about 20 years ago. We had a few tar balls. That was it.

Then my dear friend Jim Tucker, owner of The Boat Marina, several peacocks, geese and the town’s most famous chicken, told me (over tonic water, mind you) that in the early ‘70s there was a huge spill and we recovered nicely from it.

That wasn’t nearly as bad as an Eglin fighter spraying cluster bomb units all over Holiday Isle in the early ‘60s. No one died from that, either.

So be of good cheer, not exactly a commodity around Mr. Grinch’s Neighborhood.

I spoke with the awesome Yente Sehman today, she of the Night of 10,000 Nylon and Hair Booms. CNN was down looking at what they are doing, and they’re ready to go with their homemade hair-and-pantyhose booms.

I picked up tar balls on Okaloosa Island in the ‘80s, and it was fun. One gets that subtle, warm feeling of doing something good for our planet, and that’s reward in itself. Let us be positive. Let us work together.

Lots of Pensacola musicians are on the move. The man David Seering calls “the best pianist in America,” Bobby van Deusen, informed me: “There’s no work in Pensacola.”

Bobby was the house pianist at Seagar’s for several years and has jaw-dropping talent. He’s looking here now.

Cheryl Jones is doing a solo gig Wednesdays at Grand Boulevard from 5 to 8 p.m. It’s very kid-friendly as she invites them up to play with her. Then, of course, she and the boys are at AJ’s every Sunday at 4 p.m. Last Sunday they played the jazz classic “Rise” with the amazing Paul Scurto on trumpet. I’m telling ya, Herb Alpert would have had tears in his eyes.

Big Band and Dixieland happens every Sunday at 4 p.m. at Chasers in Pensacola. And Joe Occhipinti (gesundheit) and his Big Band play for listening and dancing at Seville Quarter Thursdays at 6 p.m.

Bret Michaels’ recent visit to the Emerald Coast was a hit and a miss. He visited Hurlburt Field to the delight of hundreds. He worked the crowd beautifully. Not so his concert at The Swamp. Fans lined up hours before show time, only to be treated with about four covers followed by “Rock of Love.”

And that was it for him. OK, he has some serious health issues, but come on, man. These people laid out serious bread to see you. Deliver.

On that happy note, we close with an observation by one of my heroes, Will Rogers: “The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.”