NYU Violets

    In a sports world filled with Wildcats, Bears, and Hawks, New York University (aka "NYU") has a rather unique team nickname - The Violets.

    I learned this while solving the NY Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle.  I needed a 7-letter word for "NYU nickname".  I had the first two letters - V and I, and felt pretty sure the last letter would be an S.  The answer seemed obvious - VIKINGS.

    But that didn't work well, especially once I got the third letter, the O.  So now we have VIO---S.  Root words like Violent and Violate came to mind, but none of their variations fit into seven letters.  I finally decided it could only be VIOLINS.  Maybe NYU is a music school.

    Needless to say, it didn't work either, and eventually the cross-words gave me the answer, VIOLETS.  Later, I looked NYU up in Wikipedia and sure enough, that's their name.  You can read about it here.

    You can make a case for the nickname being a color (like the Cincinnait Reds or the St. Louis Blues), but as Wikipedia notes, the reason for that color at NYU is believed to be the abundance of the violet flowers that used to be there.

    There are other weird team nicknames.  UC-Irvine are the Anteaters, and my local Scottsdale Community College, were officially the Artichokes for a couple decades.  (there's a long story to that).  But a flower?!  C'mon.

    To be fair, NYU uses a Bobcat mascot instead some guy dressed as a giant flower.  But that's kind of a cop-out at best, and makes you have just another humdrum mascot at worst.  So here's to you NYU VIOLETS!!

 

Happy Extraterrestrial Abduction Day !

    Yeah, it's also the Vernal Equinox.  And Mr. Rogers Day.  But according to HolidayInsights.com, it's Extraterrestial Abduction Day too.

    I'm not sure how to celebrate it.  Should I walk around in the woods alone, or go driving down middle-of-nowhere country roads?  Should I join a UFO club?  They seem to have a high rate of being abducted.

   Or is it more of a "Prevention" observance?  Use a butt plug in case the kidnapping aliens decide to do an anal probe?  Wear a Star Trek uniform shirt that isn't red?

Dancing With The Stars

    Dancing With The Stars (hereafter referred to as DWTS) starts tonight, and I for one am just a-flutter with excitement.  Not that I'll be watching it.  But Liz will.  And that means two more nights per week (besides American Idol nights) that I can play to my heart's content on the PC.

Happy St. Patrick's Day !!

    We're all Irish today.  And Liz and I will celebrate by eating Mexican food for lunch.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “What are you going to be studying?”

    I wanted to tell her she was straying from her own conversational pattern, but I decided to trust that she knew what she was doing.  Perhaps this was a special question reserved for roommates.

 

    “I’m studying Physics.”

 

    “Physics?”  She curled up her tiny little nose when she said it, as if the word smelled like dead worms.  “Like with math and stuff?”

 

    “Almost always.”  For some reason, her question really annoyed me.

 

    (from Mad Science Institute,  by Sechin Tower)

    7*/10.  The full review is here.
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Bluetooth

    One does have to wonder, assuming the whole thing isn't photoshopped, just what the heck he's actually spraying on his face.

Quote for the Day

    Gotta read me some Atwood.

Astral Conspiracy

    Today's Arlo & Janis.  Arlo and I are on the same wavelength.

Al Kooper - New York City (You're A Woman)

    Sometimes it seems like Amazon and/or iTunes now have every LP in history available as an MP3 download.  Well, not quite, and Al Kooper's 4th solo album, New York City (You're A Woman), originally released in 1971 is one of the "missing" ones.  You can get it as a CD, or even vinyl, but only as an import.  Amazon will sell it to you for $34.43 (LP) or $58.38 (CD).

- TRACKS - (favorites in pink)

01. New York City (You're A Woman)
02. John The Baptist (Holy John)
03. Can You Hear It Now (500 Miles)
04. The Ballad of the Hard Rock Kid
05. Going Quietly Mad

06. Medley (Oo Wee Baby, I Love You, Love is a Man's Best Friend)
07. Back On My Feet
08. Come Down In Time
09. Dearest Darling
10. Nightmare #5
11. The Warning (Someone's On The Cross Again)

    It's a freakin' awesome album; not a weak track on either side.  Come Down In Time is an Elton John cover,  All but two of the tracks were composed or arranged by Al.  Rita Coolidge is one of the backing vocalists on seven of the tracks.

    The price tag says it sold for $30 back in 2005, but IIRC, I got it during one of the store's "1/3 off on everything" sales.  There were a few big scratches, but the disc was in otherwise good shape.

    I've been playing it over and over again at work for the past couple weeks.  I'm still not tired of it.  Then again, I've been an Al Kooper fanatic for about 45 years.

I Love the Spice Girls!

    Well, these three anyway.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Perry paced the control bridge of his submarine as it raced under the ice.  No one spoke.  The crew knew the urgency of their mission, the risk.  The plan was almost impossible to fathom.  He knew that even if he succeeded, it could cost him his captain’s bars.  He didn’t care.  He knew right from wrong, blind duty from personal responsibility.  Still another question nagged: Did he know bravery from simple stupidity? 

  (from Ice Hunt by James Rollins)

  8½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Friday Night Awww

    None of our three dogs, including the pup, chew up things they're not supposed to - shoes, socks, candles, newspaper, whatever.

    But they have a slew of stuffed animals, and they know that those are fair game.  One of the three (not sure which) eviscerated a stuffed frog yesterday.

friends like this...

RIP - Alvin Lee

    No, not Al-BERT Lee, who I saw in concert last week.  Rather, Al-VIN Lee, the erstwhile leader of the fantastic blues-rock band, Ten Years After.

    I've only recently started getting acquainted with his music.  One of my college roommates had his On The Road To Freedom LP, and somewhere along the line I've heard Cricklewood Green, but that's about it.

    I picked up Undead a while back (2007, apparently), and in recent months have digitalized Ssssh and the double-LP Ten Years After - Recorded Live.  I've been playing the crap out of the latter at work lately.  I've got three more TYA albums sitting in the computer room, waiting to be converted.

    Alvin Lee died today, "after complications following a routine surgical procedure".  He was 68 years old, born 12/19/44.  I'm bummed because I'll never get to see him in concert now.  OTOH, I'm motivated to find and convert more of his albums.

The more you look...

... the more you see.

Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

   Time for a couple words about MIM, the Musical Instrument Museum, where we saw Albert Lee a few nights ago.

    First the bad news - it's way the heck up in north Scottsdale, even beyond Bell Road, which once upon a time (my college days at ASU) was the northern limit of the greater Phoenix valley.

    That's it for the bad news.  The good news is that you can get there pretty quickly via the 101 Loop and/or the Squaw Peak Parkway.  And if you're going to a concert there, chances are it won't be rush hour.

    The theater is small; seating slightly over 300.  We were on the back row for Albert, but that was only Row 16 ("Row P"), so we still had fantastic seats, very comfortable, and roomier than the sardine-seating at our other local small venue - Celebrity Theater.  And a 300-person concert means getting on and out of the parking lot is a breeze.

    The doors opened a bit before 7:30 PM; it didn't take long for everyone to get seated.  A MIM official came out and spent about 10 minutes telling us about upcoming shows.  Then Albert and his band came on.  No waiting for the roadies to set up, no opening act, no intermission, very little chitchat.  Just 2+ hours of what you paid for - Albert showing off his talent.  And that talent was impressive.

    Bottom line - if you're into obscure groups - in almost any genre - you won't find a better venue than MIM.  A couple upcoming shows that have me excited - Al Stewart, David Bromberg, and Béla Fleck.  And of those three, Mr. Bromberg heads my wish list.

Book Excerpt for the Day

   The lack of funds meant that it was a large glass of tap water to wash down the donner kebab.  I must say, the kebab meat isn’t quite as palatable with H2O.  You can feel the fat solidifying on your tongue and on the roof of your mouth as you drink.  I’m no chemist but my guess is that the alcohol in the beer helps dissolve the saturated fat in the mouth and makes for a much more pleasant dining experience.

    (from If You Fly With The Crows,  by Neal Sillars)

 

    6*/10.  The full review is here.
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Science Saturday

Ciao, Benny

    One might interpret this as a sign from God.

Wednesday Math Quiz

    Oh man, how did those "Order of Operations" go.  Let's see now.  Was it "X before Y, except after Z"?  No, that's not it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “HIM?  What’s that?”

    “His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ on earth, son of God.  His blessings upon us.  Jah, mon.”

    “You mean Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian king who died in the 1970’s?  That Haile Selassie?”

    “Yah mon.  HIM…”

     “But he’s dead, how’s that work?”

    “It helps to be stoned.”

    (from Fluke by Christopher Moore)


    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Albert Lee Concert - Phoenix, Arizona

    We did indeed make it for the Albert Lee concert on Saturday night.  And it was, as expected, fantastic.  Because we didn't get our tickets until Thursday night, we were on the last row, but that turned out to be Row 16.  We'll post about the venue in a couple days.

    Albert played all sorts of genres.  A couple of songs from his Emmylou Harris days; one from the Everly Brothers.  A bunch of good old 50's rock & roll.  Mostly is was two hours of him showing off on the guitar, although he took a break to play a couple songs on keyboards, including "Highwayman".

     His band was equally great, particularly the keyboardist, he with the ponytail and stocking feet.

    All in all, it was a fantastic concert.  Started right on time.  No opening band.  No intermission.  Well worth the $30 or so for a ticket.

    So Thank You, Albert Lee, for stopping by in Phoenix and putting on one helluva show.  My jaw dropped to the floor with every guitar solo.

The Tiger and the Pope

    Amen to that.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “And then, well” the dwarf shrugged, “it would only be natural for a young lady to hold me in a higher esteem.  If I was a hero, I mean.  Wouldn’t she?”

    “Is this a particular lady, or a hypothetical one?”

    “A hypothetical one,” Tycho said slowly.  “With long black hair that shimmers red in the sunlight, and a lovely singing voice…and very muscular legs.”

    (from The Bound Soul – Halcyon #3: A Quest for Revenge,  by Joseph Robert Lewis)

    8*/10.  The full review is here.

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Albert Lee in Concert

    The guy is a frickin' guitar legend.  He's played C&W with Emmylou Harris, the Blues with Eric Clapton, Blugrass with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs, and rocked with the Everly Brothers.

    And he's in concert here in Phoenix this Saturday night.  I am seriously thinking about going to see him.

It's freezing!

    Yeah, I know.  It's winter.  But this is Phoenix, Arizona.  Valley of the Sun and all that.

    It fiddle-farted rain all morning.  Then around 3:00 in the afternoon, the cold front apparently finally arrived.  With a bunch of hail that turned our office's parking lot briefly white.

    Okay fine.  But then around 6:00, sh*t got real.  We got SNOW!  And not just flurries.  Enough to lay on windshields and in backyard nooks and crannies.  In the 40+ years I've lived here, I have never seen anything like this.

    We're now sending this storm to the midwest.  Have fun with it there, y'all.

how to pronounce French words

    The graph is accurate, but only tells part of the story.  There are whole syllables that are silent.  For instance, parle, parles, and parlent are all pronounced exactly the same.

the Gospel according to Sarah

    C'mon admit it.  You miss Sarah.  So do I. 

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Are you a fool, Rand al’Thor?”

    “An impossible question,” Min replied.  “If he says that he is, then a fool he becomes.  If he says that he is not, then he implies he does not seek further wisdom.”

    ”Phaw.  You’ve been reading too much, child.”

 

   (from A Memory of Light by Brandon Sanderson & Robert Jordan)

9½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Surreal Saturday

    It's been a while since I posted something Dali-esque.  One of these days, I need to get back to Escher-esque as well.

Three-Day Weekend

    For the first time ever, my company is giving us Presidents' Day as a paid holiday.  Which is greatly appreciated since it is a long time between the last holiday (New Year's Day) and the next one (Good Friday).

    I'm taking the opportunity to do a little sky-riding on my dragon, Gleep.

Happy Valentine's Day

   Or, as I prefer to call it...

there's a bustle in my hedgerow!

Ciao, Pope Benny

    Pope Benedict XVI is the first Pope to abdicate since 1415, and the first one to do so voluntarily since 1294.

    Certainly his health has something to do with it - he's 86 years old.  And the Cardinals who elected him in 2005 did so with the tacit understanding that, being an old fart, he'd be gracious enough to die rather quickly.  Pope John Paul II reigned for 27 years, and most of those who wear the furry red-and-white thought that was entirely too long.

    Still, Popes are supposed to rule until God chooses to take them home, the logic being Her will be done.  So methinks there's a story here.  Beyond the physical health.

    Is he getting senile, and wants to quit before he gets too zonked to know it?  Is a new and even more damaging Sexual Molestation scandal about to break?  As head of the Roman Catholic church is he about to be required to appear in court in one of those cases?  Will the Vatican itself be sued?

   It's useless to speculate, but Benny is too much of a traditionalist to buck the the-yoke-till-you-croak protocol.  And it's something more than just not feeling like getting out of bed in the morning.

RIP - Sylvia Plath

    Sylvia Plath (b. : 10/27/32) died on 11 February 1963.  Ever the dutiful mother, she protected her kids by placing moist towels underneath the kitchen door before turning on the oven's gas and sticking her head as far into the oven as possible.  In those days, depression and bipolar disorder were little understood, and the world of poetry lost a rising star way too early in her career.

   

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Pandora’s box.”  Ross drew a hand across his forehead, smearing sweat and fine sand into a brand.

    Ashe nodded.  “Maybe we run that risk, loosing all the devils of the aliens.  But what if the Reds open the box first on one of their settlement worlds?”

    There it was again, the old thorn which prodded them into risks and recklessness.  Danger ahead on both paths.  Don’t risk trying to learn galactic secrets, but don’t risk your enemy’s learning them either.

    (from Key Out Of Time by Andre (Alice) Norton)

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Alphabet Heroes

    I know the following :  B - E - F - G - H - I - L - M - P - S - T - W - X - Y - Z.

Prayer 101

    Yeah, it's a cartoon.  But there are some pretty good points about prayer in there too.

The Pink Floyd Shuffle

    True dat.

Dillard - Hartford - Dillard : Permanent Wave

    A hard-to-find 1980 collaboration between "New Grass" John Hartford and brothers Doug and Rodney Dillard of the Bluegrass band "The Dillards".

- TRACKS (favorites in pink) -

01. Break It To Me Gently

02. That'll Be The Day

03. Blue morning

04. The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry)

05. Yakety Yak

 

06. Something's Wrong

07. Boogie On Reggae Woman

08. Country Boy Rock and Roll

09. No Beer In Heaven

   This was the second album that these three collaborated on, the other being Glitter Grass (1977), which I converted a while back.  Permanent Wave (1980) seems to be lower-key and lower-energy than that one; but is still worth the listen if you like Blue Grass/New Grass.  IMHO, the best tracks are the more lighthearted ones.

    There's no doubt that the jewel of this album is the final song - No Beer In Heaven.  NBIH is a German Polka tune from the 1950's, which Wikipedia calls "a song about the existential pleasures of beer-drinking".  Existential, eh?  Wow.  Hartford adds his own second verse about the fact that there's also No Smoking (of various substances) in heaven.  No one has yet put this track out on YouTube; I'd really appreciate it if somebody would.

    The LP itself was in pristine condition; I considered not even running the scratch-removal program.  An audiophile owned this album.  Amazon packaged both of the D-H-D albums onto a single CD, and it sells for $15.10.  Downloading the MP3 files only costs $9.99.

    This isn't John Hartford at his finest, but it's still some pretty damn good bluegrass.