So here I am in my apartment in the 919 on a beautiful Fall Sunday morning. It's crisp and blue and about 68 degrees outside. I've got coffee brewed, Austin City Limits on the tele and I've settled in for a nice quiet read of The "News And Observer" and...MY GOD! The news I'm reading is just making me CRAZY!!! Since misery loves company, I've gotta share some of this crap with both of the lost web surfers who have stumbled across this entry from my blog:
ITEM #1: Madonna leads the nominations to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!And the other nominees include-Chic,Donna Summar,John Mellencamp and Africa Bambaataa! I am not joking.
But ofcourse. Who can forget "Mr. Bambaataa's" great ROCK AND ROLL contributions...to RAP FUCKING MUSIC!!!!!!? And can someone please tell me what ANY of the aforementioned really have to do with ROCK AND FUCKING ROLL??? And don't give me any jazz about John Mellencamp. That asshole has never had any real rock and roll credibility in my book. Anyone who came out as "Johnnie Cougar" and has remained one of the all time most annoying posers should not EVER be even considered for the same institution that exists to remember the likes of Elvis, The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks,etc. And...Madonna???? The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame??? Madonna's a "rock and roller"? By what definition exactly?
The only nominee who reasonable rock and roll fans should consider worthy of induction is Leonard Cohen and-watch- he'll be the only one to NOT make it. God better save rock and roll because Man (i.e.,corporate America) has done everything it can to destroy it!
ITEM#2: Simon Cowell made $45 million damn dollars last year....
ITEM#3: There's a new Right Wing, wealthy conservative propogandist organization that calls itself "Freedom's Watch". It's organized by a cadre of scary and powerfully rich industialist types who are well connected to "Dubbya" and his clan and include the 6th most wealthy billionaire in the world(who heads up The Las Vegas Sands Corp),and they are already buying up TV ad time to-get this-feature spots from alleged Iraq War vets and families, championing the Iraq war and touting all the good it's brought to that region.
Remember 2 things folks:1) As Dylan has sung, "Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundral clings..." and 2) Q: What was the lesson of Watergate? A: Follow the fucking money.
What short attention spans and memories we Yanks have.
ITEM #4:Just a few pages from the story about "Freedom's Watch" is a story about how, since the Iraqi "liberation", the suicide by fire rate among Kurdish women and teenagers is at an all time high. You read this right-suicide by fire. Young kurdish women are showing up in ERs horribly burned from suicide attempts. Freedom's on the march,right?
ITEM #5: You know that e-mail that went around telling everyone about how telemarketers were about to be permitted to call your cell phone? Then "Dubbya's" FCC spokeswoman,Rosemary Kimball, made the rounds telling everyone that it was not true,blah,blah,blah?
Turns out that neither the e-mail or the Administration's spokeswoman got it right. It is true that there is no scheme afoot to make it legal for telemarketers to make automated calls to you on your cell phone-if they do-it is still illegal. BUT-they can legally call you if they dial your number manually!!
There is still a "Do Not Call List" that protects you from getting called for the next 5 years. To register, you can contact (888)382-1222 or visit www.donotcall.gov There's probably no downside to putting a cell phone number on the list.
Is it me or does it seem like there are vipers everywhere these days...more than ever? No wonder I can't get to noon on a Sunday without inhaling a couple of Bloody Marys.
Oh well. Fuck it,Dude. Let's go bowling.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
On Reflection...
I guess I've been wrong about nearly everything in my life more than once. Seems like I've always been too quick to judge and dismiss most things as I've gone along this journey of life. Take for example dogs.
Growing up, I thought that the only kind of dog worth having was some sort of mid-size retriever like variation or a husky. I would have bet my life that I would never have been caught dead with a... a...French Poodle. Damn good thing no one took the bet because I wound up with one and she turned out to have been one of the loves of my life.
Her Name is Cocoa, she turned 9 this month, speaks at least 2 languages fluently(not including "dog", she speaks Thai and English),smarter than a number of lawyers I know, easier to travel with than most other females I've known-but every bit as sensitive and demanding, and always up for a flip on her back and a spread of her legs for a good belly rub...from just about anyone,come to think of it.
Guess she kinda takes after her Dad on that one.
Here's to you, my little birthday girl/bitch.
Growing up, I thought that the only kind of dog worth having was some sort of mid-size retriever like variation or a husky. I would have bet my life that I would never have been caught dead with a... a...French Poodle. Damn good thing no one took the bet because I wound up with one and she turned out to have been one of the loves of my life.
Her Name is Cocoa, she turned 9 this month, speaks at least 2 languages fluently(not including "dog", she speaks Thai and English),smarter than a number of lawyers I know, easier to travel with than most other females I've known-but every bit as sensitive and demanding, and always up for a flip on her back and a spread of her legs for a good belly rub...from just about anyone,come to think of it.
Guess she kinda takes after her Dad on that one.
Here's to you, my little birthday girl/bitch.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
If I'm Dreamin,Don't Wake Me
So I went to Atlanta last week to go see Crowded House with Jack Cornell and his daughter,Jennifer(sorry if I misspelled her name-I can never get it right)and we met up with none other than Mr. and Mrs. Rick Richards. My friends all know that I put RR right there with Mick Taylor as my all time favorite rock and roll lead guitar player. As this weird story unfolds, I've learned that he and his wife, Lori Lee, are really great people and very easy to hang with-just like all these other folks from the music world that I've come to know. I really think that it has alot to do with being raised 'right', being brought up in the South and all.
Anyway, the fellow who I formed my first original band with back in 1980 was a guy named Alan Venable. He was a huge Stones/Tom Petty fan and really taught me how to write songs as well as turned me into a Petty freak. He was a soft spoken,shy,polite and respectful southern gentleman-in his own way and had a gentle manner, but a great sense of humor. When I first met Alan, he had just come out of being in a band a few years before with Rick Richards. Now when I first laid eyes on Rick Richards in 1978,he was playing in a band called,"The Desperate Angels", which had an outstanding front man, whose name was Tommy Rivers. That band eventually morphed into "The Georgia Satellites"-at least that's how I see it.
I had always heard from Alan that Tommy was...now how should I put this delicately...uh...crazy. Not in a "he's a really funny/wild guy" crazy. No--I had heard that he really was....uh......crazy. And Alan had a number of issues too so when he said that Tommy was...uh..you know...crazy,I pretty much took him at his word.
So here I am, at The Tabernacle Theatre in Atlanta, hanging out with Rick,his wife and Jack and his daughter just thinking that life can't get much better when, the next thing I know, Rick's wife asks me if I would like to meet Tommy Rivers. Turns out that he was there to see the show and one flick of the cell phone later and...here he is-in living freaking color. and I'm shaking the dude's hand.
And you know what? Nope. He 'aint crazy. Not by a damn site. He's one of the nicest,most engaging, southern gentlemen you'd ever want to meet. In fact, his manner and appearance was not unlike my old friend, Alan Venable.
Pretty soon, Tommy and Rick were remembering old times and recording sessions and record producers they had encountered nearly 30 years ago together and I felt completely honored to be a fly on that wall as they fondly remembered those days that still bring a tear to my own eye.
After a bit, the sentimentality of the entire moment became so intense that I excused myself because I really thought that these 2 rock and roll warriors should be permitted some time alone to share their memories.
As I left them alone and headed back into the concert, I wished that Alan could have been there too. If he was, I know exactly what he would have said,after going to the bar for another Vodka with a splash of OJ(which it turns out is exactly what Rick Richards drinks too!!!):
"I told you that fucker was crazy!"
Anyway, the fellow who I formed my first original band with back in 1980 was a guy named Alan Venable. He was a huge Stones/Tom Petty fan and really taught me how to write songs as well as turned me into a Petty freak. He was a soft spoken,shy,polite and respectful southern gentleman-in his own way and had a gentle manner, but a great sense of humor. When I first met Alan, he had just come out of being in a band a few years before with Rick Richards. Now when I first laid eyes on Rick Richards in 1978,he was playing in a band called,"The Desperate Angels", which had an outstanding front man, whose name was Tommy Rivers. That band eventually morphed into "The Georgia Satellites"-at least that's how I see it.
I had always heard from Alan that Tommy was...now how should I put this delicately...uh...crazy. Not in a "he's a really funny/wild guy" crazy. No--I had heard that he really was....uh......crazy. And Alan had a number of issues too so when he said that Tommy was...uh..you know...crazy,I pretty much took him at his word.
So here I am, at The Tabernacle Theatre in Atlanta, hanging out with Rick,his wife and Jack and his daughter just thinking that life can't get much better when, the next thing I know, Rick's wife asks me if I would like to meet Tommy Rivers. Turns out that he was there to see the show and one flick of the cell phone later and...here he is-in living freaking color. and I'm shaking the dude's hand.
And you know what? Nope. He 'aint crazy. Not by a damn site. He's one of the nicest,most engaging, southern gentlemen you'd ever want to meet. In fact, his manner and appearance was not unlike my old friend, Alan Venable.
Pretty soon, Tommy and Rick were remembering old times and recording sessions and record producers they had encountered nearly 30 years ago together and I felt completely honored to be a fly on that wall as they fondly remembered those days that still bring a tear to my own eye.
After a bit, the sentimentality of the entire moment became so intense that I excused myself because I really thought that these 2 rock and roll warriors should be permitted some time alone to share their memories.
As I left them alone and headed back into the concert, I wished that Alan could have been there too. If he was, I know exactly what he would have said,after going to the bar for another Vodka with a splash of OJ(which it turns out is exactly what Rick Richards drinks too!!!):
"I told you that fucker was crazy!"
Monday, September 17, 2007
Not All of Texas Sucks....
Just came back from The Austin City Limits Festival and...whoa Nellie!! My Lord that was one Hell of an event. So many stories and things to report that I'm gonna have to strecth this out for a bit.
Highlights of ACL: Trent Summar was off the hook; Steve Earle was as great as you'd expect; Jesse Malin was better than you'd expect; Damien Rice was as annoying as you'd expect; Pete Yorn was about what you'd expect; Crowded House was beyond expectations. And then there was Yap Mamma(or as she came to be known: Shut Yer Yap,Mamma) and M.I.A.(if only I could make that happen).
I thought that the best festival I would ever attend was The New Orleans Heritage and Jazz Festival...until I went to The ACL. And I haven't even begun to tell you about seeing Ian McLagan at happy hour at The Lucky Lounge,going to see Crowded House in Atlanta with Rick Richards, his wife(Lori Lee), Jack Cornell and his daughter,Jennifer,playing 2 acoustic sets at Slim's Downtown the preceding weekend,meeting a great artist in Austin from whom I bought a great portrait of Keith Richards that is going to adorn the walls of my Raleigh home away from home(and who I'm gonna talk to about maybe one day doing artwork for my little recording hobbie), getting pulled over by the Austin Police-just so they could tell me that they were not pulling me over,meeting up with my buddies from Canada, meeting their friends who owned 2 of the stages that were being used for the festival and getting a pre-opening day night time tour of all the stages as they were being lit up and put through dry runs the night before the festival began;getting free ticket anywhere Air Tran flies because their agent was way rude to me....wait-there's more-but I gotta sit down....
Highlights of ACL: Trent Summar was off the hook; Steve Earle was as great as you'd expect; Jesse Malin was better than you'd expect; Damien Rice was as annoying as you'd expect; Pete Yorn was about what you'd expect; Crowded House was beyond expectations. And then there was Yap Mamma(or as she came to be known: Shut Yer Yap,Mamma) and M.I.A.(if only I could make that happen).
I thought that the best festival I would ever attend was The New Orleans Heritage and Jazz Festival...until I went to The ACL. And I haven't even begun to tell you about seeing Ian McLagan at happy hour at The Lucky Lounge,going to see Crowded House in Atlanta with Rick Richards, his wife(Lori Lee), Jack Cornell and his daughter,Jennifer,playing 2 acoustic sets at Slim's Downtown the preceding weekend,meeting a great artist in Austin from whom I bought a great portrait of Keith Richards that is going to adorn the walls of my Raleigh home away from home(and who I'm gonna talk to about maybe one day doing artwork for my little recording hobbie), getting pulled over by the Austin Police-just so they could tell me that they were not pulling me over,meeting up with my buddies from Canada, meeting their friends who owned 2 of the stages that were being used for the festival and getting a pre-opening day night time tour of all the stages as they were being lit up and put through dry runs the night before the festival began;getting free ticket anywhere Air Tran flies because their agent was way rude to me....wait-there's more-but I gotta sit down....
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