Ok, so this time, when we walked up at showtime to a sold out show at the Borgata, we only got second row seats, not front row center, like we did at the "sold out" Steely Dan show. But second row at the pint sized Music Box is plenty close to hear the larger-than-life still-bringing-it Retha. At the box office, there was a little suspense, as the ticket agent said all remaining tickets were still "committed," which I guess is what they call tickets that are not sold, but kept in case someone more important than you requests them at the last minute. But then, I guess, she was able to uncommit. And once, again, at the last minute, for face value, the best seats in the house, other than where Aretha's children and grandchildren sat. But why am I letting anyone in on this? (The House of Blues does one better: At two recent shows, George Clinton and Regina Spektor, they literally just gave us free tickets at the box office when we went up to buy them a little after showtime. Refused to take any cash.) Anyway, was a sweet show, Aretha even let her 11-year-old granddaughter Victory Franklin sing Alycia Keys' No One, coming to her assistance on an off-stage mike. She seemed relaxed and in fine form, telling stories of seagulls eating her hot dog on the Boardwalk, shopping at the Pier, and bragging of her Borgata hotel room with a well-worn joke about finding a man inside her room in the morning and calling police to tell them to come get the man "tomorrow." She apparently likes to keep things sweaty, as she requested the air conditioning be turned off. She sat down at the piano and played her fine gospel rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water, which she also did during a truly sweltering Adrian Philips ballroom performance some years back. She seems to like it here, which is ok by me. Retha, if I'd won a million, I would definitely have sent you half, like you requested.

True that. To which we offer a musical antidote: Wallace Roney on trumpet performing "So What" by Miles Davis at Birdland in May 2004. Roney, a composer and bandleader who has worked with Davis, Sonny Rollins and Prince, will be performing tonight at Kennedy Plaza outside Boardwalk Hall, between Mississippi and Georgia Avenues, as part of the Chicken Bone Beach Concert Series in Atlantic City. The Youth Jazz Ensemble opens at 7 p.m.; Roney will perform at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. In other musical highlights of the weekend, the Beach Boys will be playing on the beach in front of the Hilton at 6 p.m. on Friday, another free concert. And the House of Blues offers up a triple play with 50 Cent tonight, the Neville Brothers on the Fourth and Gretchen Wilson on the Fifth. There will be fireworks a day early tonight at both the Borgata and Bernie Robbins Stadium (after the Surf game). Now, don't forget your wetsuits.

You gotta love the way things work in Atlantic City. Take a concert like Steely Dan at the Borgata on Friday. Sold out for weeks. So, naturally, when we walk up to the box office at 8:15 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show, the guy behind the counter smiles and says, "How about front row seats?" Hoo-kay. "Guy must not have wanted to leave the table," he says. Thank you, Mr. High Roller. We buy the seats (previous and intermittent connections to free seats having been at the moment severed, long story) and go inside. The usher looks at the seats, notes the location (front row, center, on the aisle) looks up expectantly and sees ... not who she was expecting to see. Anyway, we get escorted past our friends who bought seats weeks ago, down to the stage, where I am practically knee to knee with the security guard with his back to the stage, which is not necessarily where you want to be if you're me. Thank you for not letting me occasionally move over a few empty front row seats so I could see the drummer, Mr. By-the-Book Security. Anyway, watching Donald Fagen (above, from a New Orleans show) from a few feet away, and from below, is arguably way too close, but it was still cool, his voice sounded great, some lush backup by aces Cindy Mizelle and Tawatha Agee, and it was a great show, despite no Dr. Wu. That's an amazingly uniquely textured sound, and it just happens to be his. Sweet show. The point worth remembering, though, is it's never, or rarely, truly sold out in Atlantic City. They save so many seats to comp to VIPs that occasionally the VUP's like myself luck out. It's usually worth playing those last minute odds.

Previously on Downashore...

Are they kidding? The storied Knife and Fork Inn at the oddly shaped 45-degree angled intersection of Atlantic and Pacific Avenues in Atlantic City is at least as distinctive for its iconic location a block from the Ocean as its Flemish architecture. It's where Burt Lancaster took Susan Sarandon for lunch in the great Louis Malle movie Atlantic City ("...Yeah, you should have seen the Atlantic Ocean in those days...") The restaurant's own website cites its location as part of what makes it as much of a landmark as Lucy the Elephant. Hmm. Lucy had a big old famous move one time too, a few blocks to its current location. Casino developers (who else) planning a new project at Albany Avenue and the Boardwalk want to up and move the Knife & Fork a block away. Knife & Fork owner Frank Doughtery is just glad the developers, who have an option to buy the restaurant in 2009, don't want to just tear it down. But will it be the same at the more prosaic intersection of Hartford and Atlantic? Is there no way to make this iconic landmark a part of the new gateway? City Council gave developers the green light earlier this month. The developers also want to relocate the World War I Monument, which sits in the middle of the Albany Avenue traffic circle and is virtually inaccessible to pedetrians, to a park across the street.

That makes more sense, as the war monument is impressive, if only you could didn't have to cling to it to avoid being hit by a car as you peer inside.
ADDENDUM: The always wise and helpful Dan Heneghan at the Casino Control Commission writes to point out that the monument is not literally "in the middle of a traffic circle." About 15 years ago, streets were aligned to allow one side/arc of it, the inlet side basically, to link up with a little park with benches along Atlantic Avenue.
Dan gives these instructions for visiting:
"You can park along Atlantic Ave, right across from Knife and Fork, stroll through the park, walk right up to the monument, go inside and admire the statue. I've done it. Didn't have to dodge cars at all. Take your kids, as long as you don't mind them seeing a statue of Liberty in the nude. .. I still don't think it's in the middle of a traffic circle. To drive around the monument if you are coming in on Albany Ave., you have to go all the way down to Atlantic Ave. and the Knife and Fork. Turn left on Atlantic and drive up two blocks to Providence and make another left. Then turn left on Capt. O'Donnell Pky to return to Albany Ave. To drive around the monument, you have to drive around a triangular park that's two blocks long."
Still, how many people can honestly say they've stopped off at the World War I monument, or even noticed the thing, on their way to or from, the Hilton?

Here's my early entry for best summer song, 2008, if only because it contains the excellent lyric, "Music is my beach house." Music is also some other things for this Brazilian group, CSS, which stands for Cansei de Ser Sexy (Brazilian Portugese for Tired of Being Sexy), but not too many of those things other than "my hometown" can be restated here. However, the music video for the song is below for all to enjoy. CSS will bring a shockingly hip quotient to the shore this summer at the House of Blues at the Showboat Casino. This kind of coolness would have been unheard of in Atlantic City a few short years ago, but as anyone who was at the Regina Spektor show at the HOB last week can attest, we're getting spoiled down here.

Hey, aren't dunes supposed to be, like, round? This newly-concave dune at Dorset Avenue in Ventnor had its middle carved out by that freakishly ferocious nor'easter yesterday that pounded our house overnight, flooded the roads that usually flood and made grocery shopping an Olympic event. I'm sure that Ventnor police officer found it amusing watching me hanging on to my shopping cart in 75 mph sustained winds in the parking lot, feeling imperiled for possibly the first time since I moved to the shore, but do I get a prize for my thoughtfulness in making sure the cart got back to the cart corral? (Sent it with the wind at my back, only way to do it). Still, schools were open and people went about their usual business, barreling their SUV's through two feet of water and taking note of trees on their sides, roots exposed. As the day wore on, it became clear: this was one of those nor'easters that sneaks up on the weather people but pounds a punch way bigger than the hyped storms. As Jen Miller details below, Ocean City was even more of a mess, with the bridges closed in the afternoon and lots of erosion. It was December in mid-May. Now, is everyone looking forward to Memorial Day?

UPDATE: Here's a link to Jackie Urgo's story and Tom Gralish's photos.

Er, so much for the breakthrough concept of an actual book store in Atlantic City. It wasn't a real Borders anyway, but a Borders Outlet, which went with the outlet theme of the otherwise-kickin' Walk in Atlantic City, but was a failure as far as the idea of, you can walk in here and find the book you're looking for. It was mostly oversized remainders and book products, a waste of an excellent location with an actual Starbucks across the street (We have forgiven the Starbucks for rubbing salt into our wound by selling an Atlantic City coffee cup this Christmas with the phrase "City of Pageants." Um, I believe that would be Vegas). So the A.C. Borders has closed. We await another attempt to bring a real bookstore to town, though probably a real supermarket might be a higher priority. In Atlantic CIty, you're better off browsing the enduring storefront book shelves outside the Princeton Antique Shop, which is looking spiffy these days. Well, there always the Vineland Music Festival this summer for nearby culture. Oops, that's been called off too.

Well, hey now. Excuse me while I wipe the dust off my sleeves. That was one creepy dark implosion on the Boardwalk tonight. See ya later Sands, imploded after an oddly quiet, yet strangely disquieting fireworks display emanating from inside the rooms and out the broken out windows, followed by a series of heart thumping booms that led to the finale every fireworks display yearns for: the building itself brought to its knees, obliterated. So why were people, like, walking away kind of disturbed? This was not so much thrilling, like a roller coaster, but scary like a horror flick. Maybe because it was nighttime, the white Sands building lit up like a ghost. Then the fireworks came out from inside, like there were little troublemakers setting off sparklers inside, like it was possessed or something. It was cool and pretty at times, but putting life in a lifeless building through fireworks only to then destroy the thing like it had been taken over by demons, by the undead, by the _ I'm not kidding, this is what it felt like watching it. Some teens nearby worried that somehow, someone could be inside. Or some other kinda thing. Maybe it's that after 9-11, there's nothing particularly fun about watching a tower collapse in a heap of inevitability. Or maybe it felt too much like an poor-taste imitation of a middling apartment building being taken down during wartime. Whatever, "It was creepy," was a reaction I heard more than once from spectators leaving (and the beach and Boardwalk were packed like the Fourth of July). Ah well, it definitely gave meaning to the phrase bit the dust. I've watched the 1978 implosion of the Traymore Hotel on the Boardwalk at the beginning of Louis Malle's Atlantic City a bunch of times, and it always looked grand and gallant and breathtaking, but regrettable. This building, no one will miss. But the implosion felt, well, haunted. A goth time was had by all. All witnesses invited to describe their reaction to the implosion in the comments section.
Meanwhile, here's a before picture:

And an after picture: That's dust there.

In Atlantic City, it's said that lifeguards perform so many rescues because they tend to give the swimmers a little bit more leash, then go out and haul them back in. Whereas in some other towns, they keep the swimmers corralled more, and so the rescues are limited. Proactive, they like to say.
In any case, it was a heroic rescue attempted last week in Atlantic City by one (former) mayor for another (soon to be former) mayor, one lifeguard for another, one rowing buddy for another. Assemblyman James Whelan saw his old friend Bob Levy going down in stormy waters and whistled him in. Whelan, one of the few mayors in recent Atlantic City who has governed without embarassment, had given his friend a long leash over the years: appointed him head of the storied AC beach patrol and then given him an additional post as head of the city's emergency managment. This paved the way for Levy's run for mayor, where it turns out he could barely stay afloat.
Ten days ago, Levy vanished, leaving his Mayor Bob Levy space vacant outside City Hall. We all had our yucks, Geraldo and the gang, with the where's Mayor Levy thing. The other day, looking for parking at the Walk, Atlantic city's thriving outlet downtown (bulletin: stores still open despite Levy's absense), it occurred to me that I could go park in Levy's space. Ha ha.
But of course, anyone who had ever dealt with Chief Levy _ that title still fits better than Mayor Levy _ up close while he was head of emergency management and the beach patrol knew that something tragic, not comic, was going on. Perhaps more than anyone in this town other than Donald Trump, Levy was the guy you could count on to call you back for a story. Levy was usually no further than upstairs at the beach patrol headquarters at South Carolina Avenue, a spot where he could see for miles. He was the opposite of Missing in Action. There was no reason not to think he'd be ok as mayor. But it all unraveled, possibly propelled by the force of one lie, that he was a green beret in Vietnam when he wasn't, though he was a decorated soldier. It was a lie that has the federal government investigating, a lie that seems to be at the heart of Levy's disappearance and at the heart of his stay in a psychiatric hospital, where it turns out, he spent the last ten days. His resignation or court-ordered abdication seems inevitable.
Now the world sees him as a punchline, a mayoral Britney Spears, in a city that keeps supplying them, but really, he's just a guy who was way in over his head, a guy who never should have left the beach. Fortunately for him, though not everyone sees it that way, he had a friend who knew when it was time to get him out.
Last week, Whelan surprised many by publically calling for his friend to emerge from hiding and resign. Some people called it a betrayal by a man running for political office (state Senate); others saw it more along the lines of tough love, a friend jumping into treacherous waters himself to save another. Whatever it is, and feel free to give your own thoughts, it appears Levy may be headed back to shore.

Like its ancestors on the Boardwalk, most famously the Traymore Hotel, pictured here on a postcard in its preimplosion days, the Sands Casino Hotel will soon be reduced to rubble in dramatic fashion. Pinnacle Entertainment, which bought the Sands and the adjacent former site of the Traymore and plans a ginormous resort, announced it will stage the implosion on Oct. 18th at 9:30 p.m., complete with Grucci fireworks. The company is hailing it as the first casino implosion in Atlantic City, which it would be since the others, The Traymore, sadly in 1972, but also the Breakers, the Chalfont Haddon Hall and the St. Charles, were imploded in pre-casino days. The Boardwalk is just not the same without its old beauties, and that includes the Traymore and the Miss America Pageant. The best way to watch the Sands implosion will probably be from the beach, or from a boat. The best way to watch the Traymore implosion would be to grab a few lemons and rent the Louis Malle classic Atlantic City, which shows the implosion in its opening sequence and whose star Susan Sarandon shows how best to use those lemons, then head for the still-thriving Knife and Fork, where Sarandon famously had lunch with Burt Lancaster. Here's a youtube slice of Susan and her lemons.

All eyes won't be on the slot machines in Atlantic City casinos today, The Associated Press reports.

Thousands are expected to line the beach and boardwalk for the annual airshow.

The "Thunder Over the Boardwalk" show will feature flights by the Air Force Thunderbirds, Army Golden Knights parachute team, an F-15E Strike Eagle Demo Team and numerous civilian aerobatics.

Parking will be at a premium and traffic is expected to be heavy.

More information at www.atlanticcityairshow.com.

Taking photos at the show? Email them to us at downashoreblog@gmail.com and we'll post them.

So...you may be wondering, what does 100 degrees feel like? Thick, palpable, can't breath heat. Intensive care unit heat. Living at the shore in an old house without air conditioning, you quickly learn the basics, like, the house guests will arrive during the hottest day of the summer.
Also this:
Land breeze, bad.
Sea breeze, good.
Land breeze: flies, hot air, heat, existential dread.
Sea breeze: cool, flies go back to the bay where they belong. Optimistic sense of own survival returns.
Ceiling fans and air vents just don't work like they used to, I guess. The wall units are effective only until the old wiring blows their fuses. The tried and true freezing cold shower right before bed time trick you learned as a child helps. The ocean, fortunately a perfect 77 degrees to go with the perfect 100 recorded at A.C. International (in fairness about 10 miles inland), is filled with swimmers long after the lifguards go home at 6 p.m. (Some years, this kind of heat is also accompanied by a humorless, freezing ocean due to an upwelling effect that pleases nobody but the ice cream vendors.) Giving up your one air conditioned room to your child seems like the ultimate sacrifice. You vow to upgrade before next summer, but then, like a miracle, something in the air shifts. Literally. if you're outside at the shore, or even sometimes if you're inside, you can feel the moment it does. The breeze is suddenly cool again, coming from the ocean, from the east, from that unbroken horizon of coolness and water! Rejoice! The wicked land breeze from the west is dead. This morning, I felt a shift around 3 a.m., I think. The air, no longer coagulating around the eyes and throat. It is ... circulating.

The amusement park on the Steel Pier of the Atlantic City boardwalk, facing closure last year when Donald Trump indicated he would develop the property across from his Taj Mahal hotel-casino, received a one-year reprieve in the spring. Now, with the project far from a done deal, there is hope the amusement park may see many more summers, reports Robert Strauss of the Daily News.

Read the full story.

One big difference between Bookbinder's new outpost at the Jersey Shore and the Old Original operation in Old City is the lower prices, reports Inquirer Table Talk columnist Michael Klein. The restaurant, in Linwood, has entrees in the $20s. There some other differences, too.
Read the Table Talk column.

Global warming may spawn more flooding at northeastern U.S. beaches unless heat-trapping emissions are curbed, scientists said in a report, according to Bloomberg.com. Atlantic City could experience the equivalent of a once-in-100-years flood as frequently as every year or two, according to the report by the Union of Concerned Scientists and a team of more than 50 researchers and economists.

Read the full story.

So where can you see fireworks on the Fourth of July at the shore? Philly.com has compiled a list for you:

Atlantic City: Fireworks after the Atlantic City Surf baseball game, which begins at 7:05.

Cape May: Fireworks shot off on a barge on the ocean, visible from the beach, no charge. For tickets to an All-American picnic to be held on the lawn of historic Congress Hall, held before the show, contact Congress Hall at 888-944-1816. Tickets $20.

Lower Township: Fireworks at the Cape May Ferry Terminal Grounds, 9:30 p.m., with live music, and food available for purchase beginning at 7:30.

Ocean City: Fireworks after a kite-flying contest and other entertainment, beginning at 9 p.m., at Carey Stadium, 6th Street off the Boardwalk.

Sea Isle City: Fireworks at 9 p.m., JFK Boulevard and the beach.

Stone Harbor: Fireworks and band concert at the 80th Street Fields, 9 p.m.

Wildwood: Fireworks at 10 p.m., Boardwalk at Pine Avenue.

Ventnor: Fireworks at 9 p.m., raindate Saturday July 7.

For a list of fireworks displays scheduled throughout the region, see our Fourth of July guide.

The Atlantic City boardwalk will require repairs after a fire Sunday burned a section of it, destroyed five stores and damaged the headquarters of the state Casino Control Commission, the Associated Press reports. The fire was so hot it warped the steel support beams, fire Capt. Michael Mooney told The Press of Atlantic City for today's newspapers. To do that, the fire had to reach about 1,100 degrees, he said.
Read the full story.

The fire destroyed a building across the street that housed retail shops, said commission spokesman Daniel Heneghan. At the headquarters, six large windows were blown out, and smoke caused some problems, he said.

The commission's offices will be closed Monday, and fire inspectors remained at the scene late Sunday afternoon, trying to determine whether the blaze had caused any structural damage. The cause was under investigation.

The fire damage "is actually minimal, aside from the windows. There was no charring of anything inside our building, but there is some debris around," Heneghan told the Associated Press. The cause was being investigated.

About 160 of the commission's 330 employees work out of the building, Heneghan said. None were inside at the time.

For all the appeal that Atlantic City may have for gamblers as a beach destination, the resort town has one chronic flaw: Every year, summer ends, writes Bill Ordine in the Sunday Inquirer Travel section. He's found an oasis, however, at Harrah's, where a new indoor pool covers a half-acre under a 90-foot dome, with every amenity offered. Only waves are lacking.
Read the full story.

Pennsylvania slots continue to hurt Atlantic City casinos, as seven of the resort's 11 gambling halls suffered revenue decreases last month, The Inquirer's Suzette Parmley reports. The casinos took in $408.8 million in total revenue, down 1.9 percent from a year ago. "We're continuing to see the impact on our slots business as a result of slots in Pennsylvania and in New York," said Tony Rodio, president of the Atlantic City Hilton and Resorts casinos.
Read the full story.

Comps, those freebies that casinos dangle to entice gamblers to spend their time and money, are getting a closer look in Atlantic City, where for the first time in the 29-year history of legalized gambling, casinos will likely take in less money than they did the year before, the Associated Press reports. Comps, which range from free hotel rooms and show tickets to coupons for a free buffet or a roll of quarters to pump into slot machines, were up 2.1 percent over the first quarter of 2007, even while revenues at the city's 11 casinos declined by 5.5 percent in May. Some casinos are cutting back on comps, while others are handing out more as a way to attract customers that can gamble closer to home, including at the new slots parlors in Pennsylvania.
Read the full story.
Click here for key facts on casino revenues.

Euphoria swept the Claridge Ballroom inside Bally's Casino in Atlantic City early Sundayas the United Auto Workers racked up a key election victory to represent Bally's dealers, the Inquirer's Suzette Parmley reports. Bally's dealers voted, 628-255, to unionize, and now the UAW and casino management are tied at 2-2 among casinos that have held elections. Dealers at Caesars and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW, while the union has suffered two narrow defeats in recent weeks at the Trump Marina and Atlantic City Hilton.
Read the full story.

Check out this nifty multimedia presentation on Jersey Shore boardwalks by the Asbury Park Press. This seven-part series, done in 2006, includes sections on the boardwalks in Atlantic City, Ocean City and Wildwood.

From Belmar to Cape May, shore towns and organizations will honor the memory of those Americans who have died in military service to our country. A list of services scheduled for Saturday and Monday follows.

Jersey Shore communities have a whole bunch of crazy rules about what you can and can't do on the beach, the Associated Press reports. Did you know you can't draw dirty pictures in the sands of Belmar, or ride a camel on the beach in Wildwood? And keep your ruler ready if your kids are digging in the sand on Long Beach Island.
Read the full story.