“I’ve only had ice cream two times since you left.” – Lee (my Dad)

It’s Sunday and I’m feeling great. Ben Franklin would be proud of me. I went to bed early and woke up early and feel healthier and wiser because of it. After a late night at a tiki bar in North Hollywood on Friday, It was in my best interest to stay in and read. Anyway, I’ve spent the morning talking to my Dad on the phone. It’s difficult being thousands of miles away on Father’s Day, but I’m content in knowing he’s happy.

My Dad is a Frank Llyod Wright fan.

My Dad, Lee, is kind. I could go on with a list of adjectives for him, but I’ll just give two recent examples of why he is my best friend. First, I drove across the entire country in a crowded Jeep Liberty with him and we’re still very close. There are few people I can think of that I would want to do that with. When you think of a road trip like that in terms of a movie, there’s always some heated dramatic episodes, usually involving one person refusing to go any further or demanding to go home. The most dramatic it ever got was in Flagstaff when he promised he wasn’t going to get ice cream, then I caught him buying a generic ice cream bar from the sad little convenient store next to the hotel’s front desk.

My second example happened a few summers back when my friends and I made a movie. Considering we had no budget, no script, no real actors, and the friends we did use were often inebriated or hungover during shoots, it was a miracle we ever finished it. The movie’s success all came down to some critical scenes in Canada that involved the antagonist, Muffy Sleeman, and his gang of mean men.

We had to use the Dads as part of “the mean men” because it’s difficult to find good actors when you’re in the middle of nowhere, Ontario. Some Dads would’ve thought, “my son is about to graduate from college and here he is making a shitty cop movie dressed up like some kind of an asshole.” Instead, my Dad, and the other great Dads that were with us, understood how important this shitty movie was to us boys and did all they could to make it happen. For instance, my Dad wore a yellow tall-tee for two whole days, often in public, and did some ridiculous acting.

If you’re just interested in the music suggestions you’ve probably already skipped down to this part. I’m okay with that, since the title never mentioned I would be going on and on about my father. I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do. You’ll notice a lot of them are classic rock, or “Dad rock,” which is fitting for today. Enjoy.

Charley’s Girl – Lou Reed

Soul Love – David Bowie

It Was So Nice While it Lasted – Sam & Dave

Psycho – Jack Kittel

Down by the Seaside – Led Zeppelin

Death Letter Blues – Son House

Inside Looking Out – The Animals

Days – The Kinks

My Conversation – Slim Smith & The Uniques

Pretend I Never Happened – Willie Nelson