A young man named John
received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even
worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude,
obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the
bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft
music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's
vocabulary. Finally John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The
parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and
even more rude. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the
bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked
and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep
was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John
quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out
onto John's outstretched arm and said, "I believe I may have offended
you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely remorseful for my
inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can
to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior." John was stunned at the
change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what
had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,
"May I ask what the chicken did?"
Who Are Those Guys?
Hmmmmm, what could one
say about Those Guys? They are funny, talented and full of life. They
are exciting and you never know what improvisation will happen while
they are entertaining at the Wind Rose Café,
where they will be playing again this month on the 14th and 15th. It is
guaranteed pure enjoyment and Those Guys certainly know how to interact
with the crowd.
The band consists of five members: Dave Besley (vocals, bass and
guitar), Chris McVey (vocals, bass and guitar), Walt Kulwicki (guitar),
Woody Purnell (professional percussionist) and Jay Maville (lighting and
sound). The band formed in the St. Augustine/Jacksonville area in 1992.
They have opened up for or played with Little Feat, Molly Hatchett, .38
Special, The Allman Brothers, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Lynard
Skynard.
Their favorite things about Tybee, well, let's just say they all had a
different answer. Dave said, "The Windrose Café and Nell's soup." Walt
made the comment, "The food and behind the green door," (the green door
meaning the other side of Nell's front door.) Woody said that he
particularly liked the people and Chris said, "Toes, open sandals and
flirting." Jay said, "The cookouts and the never-ending supply of Quervo."
I asked them to describe a night playing on Tybee. Walt's immediate
response was, "Ask me in the morning after everyone has told me what I
did." The rest made comment that the crowd response is incredible and
they always get into it here and make a lot of noise.
At the time of the interview in March, they were shopping for a record
deal with Loudo-Music, Inc. Right now, they are recording out of Eclipse
Recording Studio and are working on a new CD that will be a live version
of the band playing and is to come out by the end of the year.
When it comes to writing the songs they all have a contribution. I asked
them what their favorite songs are and Walt said his was "Smile for the
camera", Dave said his was, "My Bird and Smile for the camera", Woody
said his was "Fernando." Chris said "Sally," and Jay said "Last night."
If you would like to purchase their CD's you can go to www.thoseguys.com
or to www.amazon.com.
When asking them who they were inspired by, the response was across the
board, but included Cat Stevens, Led Zepplin, The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones, XTC, Bowzer from Shannana, Dick Clark and Bob Barker from The
Price is Right.
Last but not least, I had to ask Nell Klein one question: What's it like
having Those Guys stay at your house? She responded ever so politely,
"It's like having eight people in one bathroom, but we manage it.
They're great guys and it's not a problem."
-Bry
On the bright side…
by: Allen Jacks
Lights can be a great thing. They illuminate the room, hallway, store,
road, etc. so that we can keep right on going about our business even in
the darkness of night. As with everything, there is always a negative to
every positive. Excessive lighting is a real threat to a lot of
wildlife. For instance, the migratory patterns of birds are disturbed by
lights and sea turtle hatchlings are also disoriented by lights.
This last point is my main topic of interest. Lights that shine out onto
the beach are a serious threat to sea turtles. Adult females are
distracted from nesting on beaches that have a lot of light shinning on
the beach, and usually move to darker beach to make their nests. When
hatchling sea turtle emerge from their nest, they are extremely affected
by lights. Their instinct is to crawl toward the brightest horizon -
which on a natural beach is the reflection off of the ocean. They can
also use shapes, shadows, and other visual cues, but the lights really
impact their ability to find the ocean. When hatchlings become
disoriented they are highly vulnerable to dehydration, predators such as
birds, and being run over by vehicles in parking lots and roadways.
Another interesting fact about sea turtles is that the return to the
same beaches to make their nests. So the turtles nesting on Tybee are
likely to have nested in this area before and will likely return again.
With this information, efforts should be made to protect Tybee's sea
turtles in anyway you can. Whither you are a resident, commuter, or
visitors to Tybee, there are things you can do to help preserve these
endangered species.
1) Eliminate or reduce the amount of light on the beach. If you are a
property owner, a hotel or condominium manager, or just visiting for a
few nights make all attempts to reduce the lighting visible from the
beach. Unnecessary lights can be turned off. Necessary lights can be
shielded or modified. Do not use flashlights or fishing lanterns on the
beach at night. Contact your hotel or condo manager, or rental agency to
see how they have made strides to provide "turtle friendly" lighting. If
you are a owner or manager of property that is beachfront, contact Tybee
Island Marine Science Center to schedule a survey of your lighting.
2) Volunteer to help monitor the beach for sea turtle nests. Tybee
Island Marine Science Center is looking for dedicated and reliable
volunteers to help patrol the beach early each morning during the
summer.
3) Do not disturb marked nests on the beach, sea turtles that may be
nesting, or hatchlings that are headed toward the water. This is
actually a federal offense with very heavy penalties.
If you have any questions call or stop by Tybee Island Marine Science
Center (912) 786-5917, or email ajacks@tybeemsc.org. There will also be
an informative presentation on sea turtles June 18, at 7:30 pm at the
Tybee Community House,during TIMSC's Tuesdays at Tybee free lecture
series.
