Rams Head The Blog

On January 29th, 2011, The Rams Head Group has committed to grin and “bear” it for the athletes of Special Olympics Maryland (SOMD) by taking a chilly dip into the Chesapeake Bay alongside 10,000+ other warm-hearted people.

I know – you’re probably getting cold just thinking about it! But, the cold that you will feel is just temporary…the positive impact this will have on the lives of the special Olympic athletes will last a lifetime.

According to plungemd.com, the official website of the Polar Bear Plunge. This year is the 15th Anniversary of the MSP Polar Bear Plunge where, for just $50 in pledges, Plunge participants take a quick dip in the Chesapeake Bay to raise funds for Special Olympics Maryland, the state’s largest year-round organization devoted to sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

Rams Head Group Vice President and Rams Head Shore House owner Erin McNaboe, will go even further by Super Plunging to raise $10,000 for Maryland Special Olympics. Erin will be jumping into the cold water every hour for 24 hours.-Wowzers, that’s a lot of cold water!

But, don’t worry…The Rams Head as also formed a team- The Rams Head Group! This event has become a tradition to the Rams Head family.It’s a day we gather as a team with the Rams Head managment, staff, and patrons to jump into the freezing Chesapeake Bay with 10,000 + plungers. Last year our team consist of 70 members and raised over 10,000 dollars.(That’s just the team) This year, we want to raise more and keep growing.

Plus this year, the plunge will feature the Rams Head Ice Lodge with live music, and special guest DJ Pauly D MTV’s Jersey Shore.  He will be performing live from 12:30-4pm. Forget about Jersey, Pauly… Maryland is the place to be!

So, don’t miss the fun on Saturday, January 29th at the Sandy Point State Park. The plunge is only 14 days away. And, you could make a difference too! 

First time plunger tips

1. Bring a loose pair of shoes, extra (warm) clothes to change into
2. Wear your plunging suit under the clothes you wear to the event
3. Bring extra towels ( at least two)
4. Carpool to the shuttle bus locations , or even better, charter a bus w. a group of friends
5. Bring a back pack with change of clothes, extra pair of shoes, snacks and drinks
6. Visit the Rams Head Ice Lodge for some entertainment
7. Bring a plastic bag for wet/ dirty clothes
8. River shoes for jumping into the cold water ( your toes will thank you later)
9. Disposable and/or waterproof camera to catch the moment with your friends
10. DON’T dive into the water, & DON’T be the 1^st to run into the water if it’s your 1^st time plunging!
11. Have fun! This event is always a blast

I’m not one to wax poetic about celebrity deaths; as a matter of fact I was commiserating with a co-worker last night about how ridiculous I thought all the less than thirty-somethings were for posting RIP notices for Farrah “Faucett” yesterday. “Really?” I asked. “Was she actually important to them? If they didn’t find out she died, would they have ever asked where she was or where she’d been? If she just faded away, dying without public notice, would they even care? They didn’t have her poster on the wall, they didn’t see Charlie’s Angels – why do they care?”

Fifteen minutes later Michael Jackson died. It was BIG news – he was young, about to embark on his comeback concerts and, um, still a HUGE celebrity in the way that we don’t see them anymore. Watching the impending news coverage and reflecting on his life was sad. Jackson was the Gastby-an tragedy of the MTV generation; complex, conflicted, and equally created and destroyed by fame and celebrity. There is a depth to his tale that makes him one of the oddest curiosities of our time.

As a father of two young children, I have zero tolerance for the types of crimes he was accused of. Even if he was found not guilty, his testimony of the events that occurred was clearly inappropriate and deeply disturbing. Today isn’t the day to discuss that though. Using the free pass we give people on the day of their death, it was okay to only remember Jackson as the starry eyed uber-talent that fronted the Jackson Five. It was fun to ignore what he became and remember Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Yes, things got noticeably weird after that, but again; today isn’t the day to discuss that.

Using that pass to watch Jackson’s videos again with an unobstructed eye was astonishing. It had been years since I have seen any of them, and time had made me forget what remarkable achievements they each were. Thriller was the Battleship Potemkin of music videos. You don’t have to be a film nerd to marvel at the editing, the makeup and, oh yeah, the choreography. Best of all, watching the videos reminded me of how much simpler things were then, how much less cynical people felt about music and the music business. Everyone liked Michael Jackson. The jocks, the punks. Everyone liked Thriller. They must have, because the album sold forty million copies and was number one for thirty-seven weeks. Paul McCartney appeared on it. So did Eddie Van Halen. Let’s face it; it made Beatlemania look like a one day sale at Marshall’s.

Particularly in this era, where we care more about what celebrities eat and tweet than what they are famous for, it was refreshing to actually spend last night and today just watching the videos and listening to the music. I think it’s ironic that MTV had to interrupt some shameless program called “16 and Pregnant” to cover Jackson’s death. I, like many others I’m sure, turned to them for the first time in a long time because I didn’t know where else to turn to hear the music. Thank God for BET.

For non-music fans, I understand why they are sickened that this story is receiving so much coverage. They view Michael Jackson as a washed-up entertainer turned supervillan. For music fans though, we remember the excitement. A big part of pop music is nostalgia, and for those of us who love music nobody delivers as much on that tip as Michael Jackson. For those of us between the age of 28 and 38, trying to moonwalk was like skipping stones. It reminds us of a simpler, happier time, filled with lunchboxes and Trapper Keepers.

Watching the videos last night, it was great to just be entertained again. It was fun to ignore the peripheral mess and just be a fan again. It was great to remember that music can be fun, and it made me wonder why we stopped taking it at face value anyway. We can worry about his legacy later – for now, lets just have fun gathering around and listening the records – it would be a hell of a party if nothing else. R.I.P. MJ.

Alright. After an interminably long wait that I won’t reference again, Guns N Roses Chinese Democracy finally dropped this past year with a thud. Sure it sold well, and sure some crtics really dug it, and by all accounts it isn’t a bad album. But, come on, it isn’t G’ N’ R. G’N'R’ was bigger than life. They had big songs and they pretty much WERE MTV for the entire run of the Use Your Illusions albums. Their songs were anthemic; “Welcome to the Jungle” was tailor made for sporting events, and didn’t everyone play “airdrums” to the beginning of “Paradise City?” Oh yeah, and don’t forget “Sweet Child of Mine”, a rocker love ballad that wasn’t wussy. Like any iconic rock band, they also had great songs that weren’t there biggest hits. “Patience” was a great song with a memorable vocal arrangement at the end (“I’ve been walking the streets tonight”, etc.”), and “Mr. Brownstone” really rocked. “I Used to Love Her” had a sense of humor, even if you weren’t quite sure Axl was kidding. Like Led Zeppelin, they also had an overplayed, overwrought “epic” (“November Rain” ) that we had to hear over and over again at a 7:30 minute clip each time, just because they were unstoppably big.  Unlike “Stairway To Heaven”, their epic was accompanied by a massive video that was as confusing as the song, but brilliantly expensive. It is still the most requested video ever on MTV, quite a feat since it made zero sense. Doesn’t everyone remember Stephaine Seymour in the wedding dress and Slash playing that monstrous guitar solo in front of the Church?

The reason for this nostalgia is because we at Rams Head know you want to hear these songs live, but you just don’t want to pay a gazillion dollars to hear them recreated by a freaked-up Axl and four guys that aren’t really Guns and Roses – and you would like to if you knew they were going to show up. We offer a nice alternative. This Saturday night, Rams Head Live and 98 Rock want to quench your G’N'R appetite (sorry) with the hottest touring G’N'R tribute band Appetite for Destruction. They will play the Guns N Roses songs you want to hear, they will definitely show up and the tickets are only $12. (Although for an additional $5 they will personally iron their patch onto you denim jacket.) We promise a good party; we will have great drink specials, and we won’t cart any of these band members away for a celebrity intervention.

See you there?