This is entry No. 249
To go until the Dano 250th Entry Celebration: It's next ...

Tonight had to be one of the coolest nights ever.

Yes, that time up there is right, that's how cool this night was.

OK, so there's this act that travels around the country performing at minor league baseball games: The Blues Brothers. They're based in Wisconsin and they have this custom rig that's basically a two-bedroom apartment with garage on wheels. Five guys spend their summers driving around the country performing at ballparks far and wide. They've even got the car. Yep, a 1970s Dodge painted to look like an altered police car, complete with working sound system on the roof. If you've got a minor league ballclub near you, it will be worth it to check their promotion schedule and see if the Blues Brothers are expected in town any time soon.

So tonight, after the ballgame, we all went out. Me, the team's front office, the Blues Brothers.

In the car.

We had a caravan cruising Route 88 from Lakewood over to Point Pleasant. Nearing Point, we turned on the stereo -- outside included -- and headed into town, Blues Brothers music pumping from the rooftop speakers. We passed a Dunkin' Donuts and the people in the parking lot whooped and hollered and one ran alongside the car on the sidewalk. We got downtown and rode along the main drag, music coming from the car, and looks coming from everyone on the sidewalk.

We turned down Arnold Avenue, heading for the beach and Jenkinson's on the boardwalk, and blasted the Peter Gunn theme, cars breaking and people stopping in their tracks. We hit the end of the street and the boardwalk, and the people coming and going to the bars looked as we turned and headed toward the parking lot. Just as we got into the lot, which had one space open, and began to maneuver the car into the tiny open space, the rain began, coming down hard as two of us directed the 12-point turn needed to get the BluesMobile into the slot. With the rain we ditched the plans for the outdoor tiki bar and headed to Jenkinson's packed with people running in from the rain.

And there we stayed, a mix of minor league front office staffers, the traveling Blues Brothers act, the umpires from tonight's game, a lone reporter and some friends of his he happened to stumble upon. And what a gaddamned fuckin' awesome night.

Felt just a little bad about not coming back after the game to meet up with Jaime and her fiance Dave, who are in town this weekend. Saw them last night at a nearby Shore bar where they went to check out a possible band for their wedding. We stayed until 1:30 a.m., and talked about hanging out tonight, but things just started happening after the game, so I went with the crowd.

I got home and saw the blinking light on my answering machine and thought I might be Jaime, but a faint voice came across on the recording and all I caught was something about being at the hotel and what I thought was a mention of Travis. I think it might've been Casey, but either her phone cut out on her or my machine didn't pick up her voice very well and cut her off. But her call came at 1:20 a.m., two hours before I got home, so I thought it might just be a little late to call.

As I sat on the couch munching on chips and having a glass of grape juice before bed, I flipped through the channels and came to the USA Network. Though I've only seen the movie once and didn't recognize the lame dance show audition scene at all, I knew by the look of Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker I had come across Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I consulted the TV guide (not TV Guide) and saw that I'd only missed half an hour -- but more disappointingly, I'd missed Can't Hardly Wait and Clueless, which had been on before the current feature. Ah well, it's fine. Why?

Because I rode in the Blues Mobile tonight.

And hey, look at that, the 250th Entry Celebration is upon us. Just give me a chance (perhaps a day or two, unfortunately not counting Sunday) to get through my past posts, and I'll have what I consider the Best of Dano right here in this space.

Looking forward to sharing and reminiscing.