So, in trying to figure out what Ray drives, I went through a lot of options, and had some great suggestions from a lot of faithful readers. But it just came to me, that she should have a Delorean–and even better that she just had it, without understanding it’s significance. I thought it might be stretching things a little too much, so I did some research. Turns out that about 8,000 Deloreans were made, and well over 6500 are likely still around in various places. There is a bit of a cult following among some Delorean owners, but some people just have them around. When I looked into how many are still on the roads of America, it actually seemed perfectly feasible that an old uncle of Ray’s would have one, and might have passed it down to her, without her ever knowing the car’s association with Back to the Future.

It’s a longshot, but if there are any Delorean owners or enthusiasts among my readers, I’d love to hear about your experiences, and thoughts on the car.

So expect to see more of this baby in action, since we’ll be seeing a lot of the car on this road trip storyline. Till then — see ya!

So, Ray and Sandy are traveling to a ska show, and in a fitting fashion, I also went to a ska show last night. I had the privilege of seeing Reel Big Fish live in concert, and let me tell you it was awesome!

First, some local Dallas alt/country/emo/hey-look-how-indie-we-are band opened. It was clearly a case of some promoter saying “we need another opening act, get some local band,” and then someone quickly realizing there’s no local ska bands in Dallas anymore, so they put these floppy-haired guys up front. It was a bit ridiculous, and they knew it too, so no hard feelings. But seriously, enough with the lovers lament crap, we wanted some ska!

And boy did we get it with “The Supervillians.” This drummer-led five piece rocked my face off — I can’t believe I had never heard of them! Their show had a great energy and drive, not to mention utter hilarity. A great sax player that could solo really well, sweet telecaster ska/reggae sound, and a grooving bass player — man, it was great. I’ll be looking them up on iTunes asap.

Then we had a special treat — the legendary “English Beat” took the stage for a lesson in classic two-tone 2nd wave ska. It was like a time machine had been activated — it was 1981 and we were in London listening to the best of the best when it comes to classic ska that still held on dearly to it’s Jamaican roots. Holy crap it was amazing. Not only was the band super tight, and super fun, but we had a number of awesome things happen during this set — ridiculous amounts of dancing, including a mid 50’s couple that were straight up ballroom dancing in the pit. Then a dude gets on stage and propses to his lady halfway through the set. Her saying “yes” led the band on to an energetic second half. Awesome!

Of course, I was at the back of the room drinking during most of this, but when Reel Big Fish took the stage, I had to indulge myself and get right up in the pit, moshing and skanking like I was 15 again. What blew me away was how great the crowd was. I remember five to ten years ago lamenting that the Dallas scene had died, pits had gotten mean, if they even happened at all, and the social scene and spectacle of Dallas meant that crowds were rarely full of true fans. But this was not the case. That was one of the best pits I can remember being in, everyone was awesome. And what confused me was that all the kids in there were like 15-18. I was their age when these albums were coming out, but these kids knew all the words to every song, and were shouting along. It was a great level of energy I hadn’t seen in a long time, and it felt great! Of course, the band was awesome. I was sad that Matt Wong wasn’t playing bass, but other than that, the band was super tight, as always. It’s great to see a band that has been around as long as RBF has — they have such a repor, such an unspoken way of handling things, every song was tight, polished, yet fun and improvisational at the same time. Even the cover of “Brown Eyed Girl” was awesome, and caused a circle dance that erupted in the crowd.

All in all, I can hold it as one of the greatest ska shows I can remember going to. Let’s hope that Ray and Sandy’s show ends being half as awesome.