We're off to see these two guys tonight. Everyone has heard of Elton John of course. But I'm surprised no one remembers Leon Russell. I do. And I found three of his LP's this afternoon.
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Trivia Question : Elton John's real name is Reginald Dwight. When he made up his stage name, from whom did he pick the name "John"? (answer in the comments)
Artist : David Bromberg
You can read the Wikipedia article about Laika here. It is doubtful that society - even in Russia - would stand for this today. Although in fairness, I'm hard-pressed to say how we could've gotten our rudimentary knowledge of life during spaceflight without sending an animal first. But jeez, we cooda sent a cat instead. That would've been okay.
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For the record, Laika was a three-year-old (estimated) stray that the Russians picked up off the streets of Moscow. TRIVIA QUESTION : Why did the Soviets choose to use strays during the early days of their space program? (Answer in the comments).
I probably should feel worse about this, but San Francisco has been waiting a long time too - their last pennant was when they were still the New York Giants. And if we had to lose, I'd druther it was the Giants than teams like the Dodgers or the Braves. To boot, Tim Linceum is one kewl dude. Let's hear it for long-hairs!
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For my Rangers, the future looks quite bright. Cliff Lee has expressed an interest in returning, the chemistry on the team is superb, and we reportedly have a number of exciting youngsters in our farm system.
We'll be handing out candies to the Trick-or-Treaters tonight. At least Liz will be. My job usually is to stay pent up in the computer room with our three rude, bark-&-growl-at-everyone-that-rings-the-doorbell mutts.
Absolutely the best collection of Light Classical Music of all time, it was released by Readers Digest in 1960 0r 1961. My Dad bought it, and I played it to death while everybody else was listening to some new group called The Beatles. You certainly got your money's worth too - each LP holds 45-50 minutes of music.
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Somewhere along the line, it exited my folks' house - mosts likely when they no longer had a turntable. I can't see any chance of RD ever re-releasing it in CD form, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found the whole set (sans the box cover) at my local used-LP store. I was even more pleasantly surprised when they gave it to me for free. Because hey, it's a rock-&-roll store and no one would ever buy Light Classical LP's anymore, would they?
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The records are in fair shape. No discernible warping, and only one skip so far after playing six of the LP's. But they are fraught with hissing and minor scratches, and that's the step in LP-to-CD conversion that chews up the man-hours.
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So I was (again) pleasantly surprised last night when I came across a $20 software program last night that automatically removes hisses, scratches, and pops. I bought it, downloaded it, and tried it out this afternoon. I'd say it removes about 98% of the various types of noise, which is quite acceptable to me. It still takes about 2 hours to do a complete conversion, but that's child's play since I don't have to remove those scratches. W00t w00t!
Their Headline : Mariah Carey is pregnant!.
My first thought : Holy crap, Mariah. Roseanne's gonna start hanging out with you so she can look skinny!
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Their Headline : Billy Ray Cyrus and wife Trish divorcing!
My first thought : Good grief! Her eyes are three times the size of his. One of them is an Extra-Terrestial. And I think it's her.
Born : 29 May 2000
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns start on the road in Portland, so the above comic seems appropriate. The experts are picking the Suns to finish anywhere from 5th to 8th in the West.
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I'm thinking we won't even make the playoffs. As of this posting, it's halftime, we're down by four, and it doesn't look like we know the meaning of the words "defense" or "rebounding". Come back, Amaré. All is forgiven.
I learned about a new (for me) musical genre today - Skiffle. It's foremost artist - indeed, its founding father, was one Lonnie Donegan. I found a 3-CD compilation of his stuff for $7 at the used-book store, and played it at work all day today. It's strange listening to something that makes Bluegrass seem highbrow. Here's one of his more famous songs, although strictly speaking, I don't think it's a true example of Skiffle.
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We play the San Francisco Giants, who I have nothing against. But I've been a Rangers fan for nearly 40 years, and we've waited a long time for this. It should be a great series, and it starts Wednesday night.
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I don't do a lot of prognosticating, but methinks having Cliff Lee gives us a slight edge. I'm looking for the Rangers to win it in 6 games. Which is too bad, cuz it means the final game will be in San Fran, not Arlington.
Tomorrow (10/23) is International Mole Day. As in Avogadro's Number and all that. It is properly celebrated at either 6:02 AM of 6:02 PM. I'll do something geeky - maybe mix vinegar with bleach. But I will definitely avail myself to the "PM" option.
Vassar Clements was in my opinion the greatest fiddler of all time. I'm just finishing up converting the only two LP's I can find of his. Here's a YouTube video of him doing the Orange Blossom Special, which is also on one of the LP's. Oh yeah, his supporting cast in this video is pretty spectacular too.
Something quick, as I'm glued to ESPN.com for updates on the Yankees-Rangers Game #4. I'd watch it on TV, but Liz is glued to it watching Bristol and Kurt and Florence cha-cha their little tutus off.
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Here's a photo I took in our backyard garden today of a spider weaving its web. I feel like he's trying to communicate with me, but what would he be saying?
It's always fun to be accosted by missionaries when we walk our dogs at night. Elder Elder exudes utter confidence as he tries not to look like a total dork in his crash hlemet and on his ten-speed. Elder Younger lags behind to learn.
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I'm not really in any mood for a theological debate, and our three dogs just want to go on walking. So I amble away. Which Elder Elder is sure means I have no answer for his persuasive personality.
Album : Big Bad John & Other Fabulous Songs & Tales
Yessirree, bob. Having Jan Brewer as our governor has made Arizona famous. Do you think Terry Goddard can generate this kind of publicity? Not on your life.
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True, she reinforces the image of Arizonans as xenophobic idiots. But headlines are headlines. And we haven't had this much press since electing that used-car salesman, Ev Meacham, to be our guv a while back. So here's to you, Governor Jan. You may be a cretin, but you're our cretin.
Artist : Meat Loaf (that's two words, not one)
(*) : Inventor of the famed "Peter Principle" in 1968 : "every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
It's A Beautiful Day played at the Rhythm Room Saturday night, and it was a great show. They started promptly at 6:00, and played two solid hours (minus some witty repartee). David LaFlamme is stunning on the electric violin (or, as he pointed out - a miniature viola, since it has five strings, not four). It was a family affair, with wife Linda handling the female vocals, and daughter (Alicia?) joining Mom and Dad on stage to sing harmony on a couple numbers.
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They did most of the eponymous debut album, plus a couple cuts from the almost-as-good Marrying Maiden and Choice Quality Stuff ones. There were about 4 songs I didn't know, one of which was off the It's A Beautiful Day...Today LP, which I have but never play.
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Yesterday, 07 October, marked the 9th anniversary of our invasion of Afghanistan. 2100 US and Coalition servicemen are dead, we've spent a gazillion dollars on the war, and what do we have to show for it? We occupy Kabul, but little else. Only someone with a deathwish ventures out into the countryside.
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Our lackey figurehead, Hamid Karzai, just announced that he is forming a council to negotiate with the Taliban to explore ways of achieving peace. Does that sound like he has a lot of confidence in the US, the NATO troops, and/or his own soldiers?
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And don't get me started on the 50,000 "trainers" still in Iraq. Hey, Obama! Did you forget we voted for you cuz you promised to get us out of that region? Have you seen the latest polls - 60% of Americans want our troops brought home.
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I'm having trouble telling the difference between your war policy and Dubnutz's. If you can't say "Mission Accomplished" after 9 nine years, give it up.
...for my birthday. Or for Christmas. Or for the upcoming National Mole Day. Heck, you can buy it for me for no reason at all. Or build me one. I'm not hard to please.
Sorry, Benny. Science doesn't give a whoop-de-doo about your Dark Ages theology. I'm sorry that you think it's heresy to say the sacred Earth revolves around the godless Sun, and not vice versa. That's the way half-baked cookie crumbles.
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Believe it or not, Science and Theology can co-exist. Science answers the question "How", and we leave it to others to pontificate on the cosmic question "Why". What Science is incompatible with is Religious Opinions. You're just guessing, Benny. We're analyzing. The latter trumps the former every time.
The more practical consequence of this is that the Druid organizations now have the same status and get the same tax breaks as mainstream religions.
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You might find it hard to take serious a pantheistic religion that sees its gods as various forces of nature. But is it more far-fetched than thinking that 72 virgins await you in Paradise if you blow yourself up, or that there once was this giant boat that doubled as a floating zoo? Hardly.
Oh my! I just found out these guys will be at The Rhythm Room here in Phoenix in February 2011. Normally, they don't do any concerts outside the Ohio - Kentucky - Tennessee area. The occasion for this exception is their induction into the Arizona Music Hall of Fame. It is a little-known fact that these hippie bluegrass rock virtuosos actually originated in the Phoenix area in the late 60's.
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I've loved these guys since college. I don't remember which of my roommates had their albums; I'm indebted to whomever it was. Goose Creek Symphony is/was a tremendously talented band, but most people have never heard of them. I've found three of their LP's over the years and have converted them all to CD. I will definitely be seeing them in February.
I should've mentioned earlier that this past week has been Banned Books Week. As the Teabagger Movement gains ground, you can expect to see more and more efforts to control what people can read. Heck, the Texas Board of Education is already doing this by trying to rewrite the History books.
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Most activists urge you to read a banned book during this week. I'll simply say that you should read whatever you want. Banned, not-banned, it doesn't matter. You make a statement by doing so.
This blog is committed to posting any and all cartoons that quote Kurt Vonnegut. For the record, it is from the most excellent Slaughterhouse Five, and a more complete version is :
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All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber.
I picked up this album for $1 at the used-record store. I have no idea who Bernard Haitink is (although he is listed at Wikipedia); but his Amsterdam Orchestra is up to the task.
Something quick, as I'm having major issues with my printer this evening. It's about to get its butt tossed out the window.
I actually witnessed something like this once. We were in high school, and everyone in my class was in the auditorium, taking the SAT's. I used to eat those tests up - it was just math and English.
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So there I was, buzzing along, with a "I've got this test aced" high, when I chanced to look at the test paper of the guy in front of me. In fairness, this was somebody who had no intention of going to college. So a good SAT score meant nothing to him. And there he was, just making diagonal patterns with the dots down the page. And finishing in record time, I imagine.
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It was at that point that I realized that merely scoring in the upper 50% on one's College Boards is really not that impressive.
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Album : The Hills of Indiana (Elektra)
