Fremantle, Home of Bon Scott & Dogbolter

Cold rain + snow cover = slush, with an extra good helping of black ice and otherwise treacherous walking conditions. Black Ice. Wasn't that the '80s rapper shot to death by rival Blu Sno?

Nope. Apparently, besides describing nearly invisible frozen water underfoot, it's also the name of a studio album by AC/DC, released only this October. Which makes me ask another question: AC/DC is still making records?

So it would seem. And fans are still buying them, in quantity, like in the good old days (good old days if you're a record company), except that they're buying them at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club this time around.

Such news naturally makes me wander around the Net a bit, and for my trouble I'm usually rewarded with nuggets of information. Sure enough, I discovered that in Fremantle, Western Australia, there's a statue of AC/DC frontman Bon Scott, who died a rock 'n' roll death. Few from Fremantle found such fame.

The memorial was erected only this year, so I missed it by nearly two decades. My main memory of Fremantle -- or maybe it was West Fremantle -- is lunch: steak, baked potato, and a big bottle of Dogbolter beer, a local lager. That remains one of my favorite beer names.