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Buffett Hopes to Help Southern Shrimpers

June 15th, 2010


Garden & Gun has an article on Buffett’s “grease experiment.” After running his Green Tomato surf van on used cooking oil for a couple of years, Jimmy came up with the idea to supply oil to commercial fishing boats:

Jimmy Buffett has a vision for his golden years. “My dream,” explains the musician, “is to get a big ole tanker truck, with huge holding capacity, and drive it up and down the Eastern seaboard collecting used cooking oil.” This from a man who’s built a mini-empire of concert tours, best sellers, and restaurants, and who could probably rest on his laurels somewhere besides the cab of a semi. “I want to collect all that used grease and distribute it to commercial fishermen along the coast to use as fuel for their boats.”

Buffett’s food-centric epiphany came from a green tomato. Actually, the Green Tomato, his giant green surf van converted to run on used cooking oil, a process that is actually relatively simple compared with using biodiesel. The van is hard to miss, and driving around the United States in search of swells, Buffett found himself acting like an ambassador for the grease engine movement. “I felt like a teacher because I was giving lectures everywhere I went about the benefits of burning grease,” he says.

Along with the usual suspects—surf bums and eco-hippies—commercial fishermen were anxious to hear his pitch. “These guys are always being screwed by the high cost of diesel,” Buffett says. And among fishermen, no one is more familiar with being screwed by high fuel costs and measly returns than the American shrimper. While shrimp prices have declined due to the flood of farmed shrimp onto the market, most of it imported from Asia, the same cannot be said for fuel.

Continue reading this story here.


Tagged in Boats, Charitable Causes, Personal/Family

Jimmy Buffett 2009 Year In Review

December 28th, 2009


2009 was another big year for Jimmy Buffett. His summer tour was hugely successful again, he partnered with the Miami Dolphins to rename their home field Landshark Stadium, and a new album dropped in December. And of course there was lots more in between. So here’s our Jimmy Buffett 2009 Year in Review:

January

  • In early January Jimmy made a swing through the Caribbean, making stops at his Margaritaville Cafes in Grand Cayman and Cozumel where he, Mac, and Nadirah played surprise shows
  • Buffett attends Wounded Warriors Project’s Soldier Ride in Key West
  • Spring and summer tour dates began to trickle out in mid-to-late January

February

  • On February 2nd Margaritaville.com confirmed all shows for the Summerzcool Tour
  • Also on February 2nd, Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber Restaurant opened in Honolulu
  • Parrothead license plates become available for South Carolina residents
  • On February 12th, Jimmy played a surprise show at the Margaritaville in Key West
  • About 2 weeks later, Mailboat Records releases 4 digital downloads from the Key West show
  • On Tuesday the 24th, Buffett and the Coral Reefers open the 2009 Summerzcool Tour in Maui
  • On the 26th he plays a private show for the opening of Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber

March

  • Jimmy performs at Netscape founder Jim Clark’s wedding in the British Virgin Islands
  • In late March, we report that Margaritaville Rum is coming soon
  • Also at the end of the month, Coral Reefer Mac McAnally releases a new single: “You First”

April

  • Buffett sends out an April Fool’s joke on his Twitter account saying that the summer tour has been canceled
  • On April 10th, Jimmy called in to Radio Margaritaville to discuss the tour and a new album in the works
  • First rumblings surface about Jimmy entering into a partnership with the Miami Dolphins
  • Spring tour kicks off in Atlanta on April 16th
  • Buffett also plays Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Tampa in April
  • A planned Today Show appearance by Jimmy in Key West in May is scrapped so that the NBC staff could stay in NYC to cover the Swine Flu outbreak

May

  • It was announced on May 1st that Jimmy had entered into a agreement with the Miami Dolphins to rename their home field “Landshark Stadium”
  • “Summerzcool” is released as a digital download
  • The Fall tour dates are removed from Margaritaville.com, causing mass speculation and frustrating parrotheads on the West Coast
  • On May 8th the Dolphins held a press conference in Miami announcing the stadium’s name change to Landshark Stadium. Jimmy performed at the event
  • Tour resumed on May 14th in Phoenix. Jimmy also plays Las Vegas, Concord CA, and Irvina CA in May
  • Additional Fall tour dates are announced in London, Paris, Orlando, and Charlottsville, VA. The San Diego, Seattle, and Las Vegas shows planned for the Fall are officially canceled

June

  • Trump Entertainment Resorts terminates the agreement with Coastal Development to buy the Trump Marina and Casino and turn it into a Margaritaville-themed casino
  • It’s announced that the first Canadian Margaritaville will open in Edmonton
  • “Margaritaville” referenced on The Colbert Report
  • On June 13th Jimmy performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee
  • i-Encore, a parrothead iPhone app is released in mid-June
  • Tour resumes on June 18th in Camden, NJ. Jimmy also plays in Pittsburgh and Boston
  • In late June, former Coral Reefer Tim Krekel (pictured right) died after a short battle with cancer

July

  • On July 1st, Jimmy Buffett and parrotheads are mentioned on an episode of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
  • Jimmy performs in London on July 5th
  • On July 9th, Jimmy rode along in the Lance Armstrong’s Team Astana car at the Tour de France
  • It was reported that Jimmy Buffett serenaded Walter Cronkite in the weeks before his death
  • In late July Coastal Development sues Trump over the Atlantic City casino deal
  • On the 29th, Jimmy makes a surprise appearance at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York
  • Jimmy performs and is interviewed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 29th

August

  • Tour resumes in Cincinnati on the 6th. Jimmy also plays Chicago, Indy, Detroit, Atlantic City, Wantagh NY, and East Troy WI in the month of August

September

  • On the 2nd, Politico reports that Jimmy Buffett was at the White House
  • Jimmy speaks and performs at a memorial for Walter Cronkite in NYC on the 9th
  • In mid-September the Orlando show scheduled for November 14th was removed from Margaritaville.com’s tour dates page with no explanation given
  • Jimmy lends his boat to three combat veterans
  • Prior to the Dolphins Monday Night Football game on the 21st, Jimmy performs outside of the stadium
  • A new line of iced tea by Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville is announced
  • On September 30th it was announced that Jimmy had joined the effort to restore Miami’s Marine Stadium, the venue for the Live By The Bay show from 1985.

October

  • On October 16th the Margaritaville on Grand Cayman was robbed
  • Jimmy plays for the National Association of Convenience Stores in Las Vegas
  • Jimmy performs at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA on October 24th

November

  • We reported on the 3rd that “Margaritaville” had been trademarked for video game use
  • On the 7th, Jimmy played a show on St. Barth’s for the 60th anniversary of Le Select
  • The CMA Awards were held on the 11th and Coral Reefer Mac McAnally won Musician Of The Year for the second straight year
  • Jimmy plays final shows of the Summerzcool Tour in Charlottsville VA, Toronto, Uncasville CT, and New York City
  • On the morning of the 23rd, Jimmy appeared on the Today Show to discuss his upcoming album “Buffet Hotel”

December

  • Jimmy’s new album “Buffet Hotel” is released. It’s Jimmy’s first studio album since “Take The Weather With You” in 2006
  • On the 9th, Jimmy and the Zac Brown Band tape an episode of CMT Crossroads in Nashville
  • We reported on the 13th that Buffett had acquired two new airplanes
  • On the 17th, we reported that an aviation departure procedure out of Palm Beach International Airport in Florida had been named after Jimmy
  • We report on the 18th that a job listing for a General Manager at a Margaritaville location in Nashville had been posted
  • On Christmas Day, Jimmy celebrated his 63rd birthday

Tagged in Albums, Aviation, Boats, Business Empire, Casinos, Charitable Causes, Concerts, Coral Reefers, Downloads, In The News, Interviews, Landshark Stadium, Margaritaville Cafes, Margaritaville Casinos, Parrotheads, Personal/Family, Politics, Pop Culture References, Radio Margaritaville, Rum, Singles, Site News, Special Appearances, Television, Touring, TV Appearances, Video Games, Year In Review

Buffett Lends Boat to Wounded Soldiers

September 10th, 2009


One of the many charities that Jimmy Buffett quietly supports is the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that seeks to improve the lives of soldiers that have been wounded in service to America.

In July, Buffett made a surprise appearance at a WWP benefit on Long Island. And recently he lent his boat and captain for three wounded soldiers to go on a fishing excursion:

The three combat veterans went fishing from the Gone Fishing Marina in Montauk last Thursday as part of the Wounded Warrior Project’s continuing effort to quiet the storm that began with their service in Iraq, Afghanistan, and, in Mr. Amira’s case, on Sept. 11.

The musician Jimmy Buffett had invited them aboard his Margaritavitch in the care of Capt. Vinnie Lasorsa, who headed the boat offshore in September’s silver light past Montauk Point and toward Block Island upon an unusually calm sea.

—–

To great applause and good-natured ribbing, Mr. Quiroz caught his second big bass, a carbon copy of the first. The Margaritavitch returned again and again to the stack of big bass, the likes of which the captain said he had never seen on the fish finder. The three wounded warriors smiled at the day and vowed to turn others on to the Wounded Warrior Project and its outings.

Read the full story here.

(photo: Russell Drumm)


Tagged in Boats, Charitable Causes