Surf's up!

Every year when I see the first snowflakes of the season falling, I'm reminded that odds are it will be quite awhile before I can go to the beach and feel the sand between my toes. With that in mind, I head to the stereo and pop in a CD. Believe it or not, it's not Buffett. It's the Beach Boys.

I'm not a rabid fan but I've loved the Beach Boys for as long as I can remember. I can remember sneaking into my older brother's room when he'd go out. I'd pop in his Endless Summer 8-track. I'd sing, I'd dance and even then, I mentally put myself where there was sun, surf and (of course) boys.

I was 17 when Dennis Wilson died and I think I must have cried for a week. Yeah, Brian was (and still is) the musical genius, but let's face it - Dennis was the cute one. What heterosexual girl doesn't have a soft spot for bad boys? My teenage lust for Dennis Wilson is not the point though...the point is that the Beach Boys actually have their own historic landmark. It's true, I swear. California Landmark # 1041. Check out the link if you don't believe me.

The childhood home of Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson had been razed back in the 1980's to make room for a freeway. It seems that one day a couple of years ago, while chilling out in his backyard in northern California, a guy named Harry Jarnagan had an idea. Not just any idea, mind you, not even a damn good idea. It was a stroke of genius, if you ask me. The idea was to build a monument to the band at the site where the legend began - 3701 W. 119th Street in Hawthorne, California. C'mon now...think! You remember the story...Murry and Audree Wilson went away for a few days and the boys took the money their parents left to buy food and blew it on instruments.

Admittedly, I can be a bit obsessive. Well, maybe more than a bit, so when I first heard about this landmark project, I hit dogpile.com and did a search. All sorts of stuff popped up. Come to find out, Jarnagan's idea took two years of planning and work before it became reality. He had help, of course. (From what I've read, he's an engineer, not Superman.) There was a landmark committee and there was also a contest for people to submit design ideas. The Wilsons were even involved in choosing the final design. Tres cool, indeed.

Check out the link - the end result is incredible. They are still fundraising, by the way. There's even a Beach Boys Historic Landmark store on Ebay. And by the way - if anyone that knows Harry reads this - next time you see him, give him a high five for me, will ya?