Say Goodnight, Johnboy

John Edwards is a competent guy.

I have no doubt that he's smart, organized and disciplined

But his decision on how to insert himself into the Bhutto assassination aftermath this week approaches the old GOP stunt of going to Bob Jones University in terms of annoyingness.

I just had him on CSPAN, giving a speech at the Gigglin' Goat (the pride of Boone, IA) where he still insists on relating to the crowd the details of the talk he had last week with Pervez Musharraf.

Look, I understand the urge one must feel to convey that they, too, are already a player on the world stage, but can you imagine the eye-roll that Pervy must have done when informed that a 1-term former Senator from Nawth Caro-lahnah was on the phone to offer his expert advice on maintaining the relative calm of his military dictatorship in the aftermath of the suicide-bomber assassination of his chief power rival?

Puhleeze.

You wear big-boy pants just like Hillary does...we get it.

Canonization Through the Barrel of a Gun

Maybe, just as we thought that Senator Paul Simon was a straight arrow because of the bow tie, the wearing of a veil could be something that wins over us westerners.

Or could it be Benazir Bhutto's upper-crust western education cred?

Then again, it could be a broadening of our sympathy towards the assassinated.

I'm inclined to think it's all these things combined with general laziness that's lead to the simplified portrait being painted in Iowa and Washington this week of Bhutto and rushing toward a secular sainthood for her.

Thankfully, Matthew Yglesias over at The Atlantic is trying to put the brakes on this train and asking that folks look back at the woman's real record in office. He stops short of saying that the woman's life was without merit, but it's dishonest to put her up on this pedestal so soon.

How long until we get word from the Hollywood press that Angelina Jolie will play her?

>>Addendum>> In re-reading the notes on her education on Wiki, I found that Benazir and I share in common a membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Huh, I guess that means I can begin referring to her on a first-name basis, as has become the fashion this week in Washington.

Grateful Dead Perform Sugaree

Sugaree is just a cool song. While the lyrical parts are nice, slow and laid-back in tone, it does have some nice guitar solo interludes for Jerry in the middle.

He eases into his magic around the 1 minute mark here, picks much faster around 4:20, then brings us back to earth around 7 minutes.

Enjoy this cut from NYE 1982 in Oaktown.

David Yepsen Gets Ready to Turn Back into a Pumpkin

Without a doubt, the most popular name on the Sunday shows this morning is not going to be one of the candidates, but that of David Yepsen.

The Des Moines Register political god is entering the week where he's the must-have guy on every show's guest list.

And good for him. He seems like a very likable guy and I love hearing his thoughts on Iowa's political psyche....even if he does bear a striking resemblance to National Review's Jonah Goldberg!

C-PORN

I guess part of the benefit of posting this stuff up is that it's a way to clear one's conscience in a semi-public/anonymous way, depending on who the reader is.

This is one of the best weekends you can get in C-SPAN land...the weekend before the Iowa Caucuses.

My winter project is to organize and begin cataloging the bootleg music collection, so I've staked out a place in the living room where I can plug away on the organizing and simultaneously enjoy C-SPAN's All Politics Weekend.

Maybe I'll get really crazy and stay up after 9PM tonight, too.

Chelsea For President

In addition to being considerably easier on the eyes, Chelsea Clinton shares her mother's deep foreign policy experience.

Here they are practicing the delicate art of international diplomacy, during a trip to Vietnam during Bubba's last few months in office.

I Might Have Narrowed My Prez Pick Down to Two

Based on this CNN item.

Oh, To Have Been Dead 22 Years Ago

For our next installment of New Year's Week Grateful Dead videos, I'm putting up the midnight countdown from NYE 1985-86 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Ken Kesey and Father Guido Sarducci provide the commentary as Bill Graham rides in as Father Time on the cake...before the boys whip the crowd into an In the Midnight Hour-induced frenzy.

Bobby and Brent sing back and forth at each other towards the end, which is always fun.

Enjoy!

Random Media Pet Peeve

In the last 24 hours, I've noticed something that I find somewhat annoying.

A number of the US news media outlets I've had on have referred to all kinds of 'back channel' dealings the US has been having with parties in Pakistan.

Wouldn't one think that the whole point of back channel stuff is to keep it on the low-down (as Ben Stiller would put it)?

While I'm on the topic, Chris Dodd seemed a whole lot more Presidential-looking today on Morning Joe than I'd seen him before. I don't know that the events over there will have a material effect on who wins in Iowa, but it could do some shuffling down-ticket.

New OBL Tape Coming?

CNN and others are saying that a new tape, presumably made before yesterday's assassination, is on its way from the bearded one.

The Rolling Stones Perform Sweet Virginia

I've found myself on a bit of a Stones kick lately. During the traveling, I had a marvelous 6-disc compilation from their 2006 tour of Japan that was knocking my sandals off.

Enjoy Sweet Virginia from 1972...the video seems to repeat itself after the first run, but it's good enough to enjoy twice!

Vocabulary Word of the Day, Courtesy of Perez Hilton

Presidential Candidate Play Horshack

One of the most memorable recurring situations in Welcome Back, Kotter, was Arnold Horshack, when he knew the answer to a question, sitting in the back of the room, waving his arms wildly yelling, "Oooh Oooh Oooh Oooh!"

With the news coming out of Pakistan today, we're seeing the current Presidential candidates in the US each performing an homage to Ron Palillo.

Each is trying to show off just how much they know about that region of the world and are about as informative as the original.

Student-Teacher Fantasy

Here's a great cut I just couldn't resist posting. It's from the famed sessions with the (both) late Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

What a thrill it must have been for SRV to be able to play Stormy Monday with the one of the Three Kings.

Elect Me! I Like Killin' Shit!

While I have to stop just short of categorically calling hunting an immoral or moronic hobby, I feel no guilt in expressing disgust that participation is probably an effective campaign ploy.

I get the whole macho thing and how we want a 'daddy' in the office who will protect the homestead, but running around looking like Elmer Fudd, shooting creatures that aren't that bright to begin with, doesn't exactly inspire me.

If you want to show us what a badass you are, win an Ultimate Fighting competition or something.

Unfortunately, this left hand picture is going to win (or at least solidify existing) votes for Huck, while the right hand one cost John Kerry some because people thought he looked like an idiot in the picture.

Go figure.

Hot or Not?

Any Excuse to Post Some Grateful Dead

Frankly, I'm just looking for a loose theme or tie-in to justify posting more consecutive Grateful Dead stuff around here, but what the hell. For the next few days, I'll be putting up highlights I can find from some of the Dead's classic New Years Eve shows.

From what I can tell, only 1982 and 1985 (approximate bookeneds to probably my favorite period of the band's) are the best documented shows on Youtube, so that's what we're going with.

Some of these guys have blocked embedding, so I've had to DL the videos and post them thru Blogger's interface.

Keep Your Day Job was an oft-played song during this period then mysteriously disappeared. Rumours have gone around that Jerry got rid of it 'cause fans didn't like it, but I have a little trouble with that argument.

Enjoy this ditty to kick off New Year Week!

BTW>> Make sure you stick around to the bitter end...this is the set closer before the midnight countdown, so you're treated to more deep thoughts from Bobby.

'Twas the Night Before The Night Before Christmas

Having gotten temporarily grounded overnight in Chicago on Sunday, I settled in to my comfortable hotel bed to watch the local 10PM news (a luxury those who do not live in the central time zone, and are cursed with the 11PM standard do not enjoy).

It was a newscast like any other newscast until...a minivan crashed through the ABC7 studio window!

Below's a little montage of their coverage from the night it happened and then the Christmas Eve morning news show, as well.

Rather amusing...

Two Funny Hillary Ads

First the real, then the remake...haunting cackle and all!

Note the Democrat red meat in this article how the queen bestows these gifts on us. Very disturbing when you think about it.

God bless Youtube...

The Most Dangerous Political Ploy of the Day

I was reading an article in the Politico this morning about a little spat brewing in the Hawkeye State centering around a 527 labor group getting ready to air some Edwards-friendly advertisements.

The problem is, of course, that 527s fall under the Edwards' Screw Anything I Can Remotely Associate with Washington DC in My Effort to Pander (read:Patronize) to Joe Lunchbox campaign strategy.

Obama called him on this hypocrisy and, backed into a corner, John Edwards declared, "I would encourage all the 527s to stay out of the political process."

Now, let's sit back and think about that for a moment.

Sure, if you're stupid enough to buy the argument that the only people who are supposed to talk about politics are those who register to run for office and those who show up at carefully-organized (by the campaigns) town hall meetings...fulfilling some sort of Norman Rockwell fantasy we all have, then he's right.

But if you think that it's dangerous for someone to argue that it should be illegal (or even grounds for an explanation) for some friends or otherwise-ideologically-bound people to get together and make a statement in the pubic square about our beliefs, then you're with me.

Shame on Edwards for treating the American people like idiots...whether he's right or wrong in doing so.

Cleaning Out the Christmas Decorations

The prior week or two, during which I'd planned on posting up some appropriately-sarcastic Christmas videos kind of got away from me, so I'll be putting them up during the day today as I finish up some housework and all of that.

First up is the classic Cheech and Chong bit, Santa Clause and His Old Lady.

More Christmas Cheer

Thanks, Ryno...

This Movie Looks Cool

Of course it would have been better-made 30 years ago, but I am looking forward to seeing this!

Not to Go All Fox News on You

I don't see the whole "Happy Holidays" thing as part of a devious plot by BillO's "secular progressives."

(For reasons that are more or less obvious depending on how well you know me ;-) )

But I do find the whole aversion to wishing someone a Merry Christmas to just be an annoyance. God forbid I offend anyone who might overhear me wishing a co-worker, a guy whose daughter was just confirmed last week, a Merry Christmas.

It's fine for me to ask someone if they saw the Browns game the other day and not worry that they're not a football fan, but this god damned holiday thing has gotten so sacred.

Anyway, I couldn't let the week pass without throwing down a little Boss action. I've never really gotten into him much (sorry, MC) but I always liked his cut of Santa Clause is Coming to Town.

This is another video from the famed Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ....from September 20, 1978 (hence his reference to this being 'a little early')

I'll be traveling in a few days and any posts will come from my work PC, so no music/videos till next week.

Those Clever Little Bastards at Google

Dickin' the Primary Season

Dick Morris has an article in the New York Post this morning looking ahead to the Michigan primary as the make or break moment for the GOP.

By their January 15 primary, the dust will have settled from the first three idiosyncratic states and the time go get some real Joe-mentum will have arrived.

He doesn't make a hard prediction but only shows that Michigan is like much of the rest of the country now on the GOP side...Huck, Rudy and Mitt are engaged in a three way with McCain still within striking distance.

While I'm anxiously awaiting the IA/NH/SC contests, it all does seem to be a high-drama prelude to when the 'real' states start voting.

Bonzo Goes to Bitburg

God bless The Ramones.

Despite the fact that the song is nothing less than a sword fight conducted on the grave of Ronald Wilson Reagan, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down is a song that always gets my toes tapping...

Enjoy!

Democratic Baby Mama Drama!

Haha, well, the rumours about John Edwards' liking his pie and a piece on the side as well may have started to come up again.

BigheadDC is messing around with the story again...and saying that little Ms. Friendly may be pregnant with Mr. Charming's baby.

As much as I dislike his finely-packaged campaign and big-mouthed wife, it does kind of bring down the debate from the civic mountaintop on which we'd been sitting discussing how Barack paid his for his schoolbooks and just how many cops Giuliani had protecting him at his Long Island stabbin'-cabin.

There is Nothing Like a Grateful Dead Show

I came across a live cut of the forever-beautiful China Doll from the Grateful Dead's legendary Europe '72 tour.

Specifically, this is the first set closer from 9-21-72 in Paris.

While the video quality reflects the times and conditions it was recorded in, it does make one long to have been there in some way.

This cut did not make the live album...which incidentally was the first GD recording I ever purchased.

It's all been downhill from there...

Check it out if you have the means and inclination. The Morning Dew will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Jesus Christ Died So You Could Vote for Huck

This is great...check out the subliminal cross in the background...

Rachel Ray

I love PerezHilton.com...and he's right on with this item on the intolerable Rachel Ray.

Barf!

Dumb and Dumber

The Politico leads this hour with an item about how Senate Dems are starting to think that maybe, just maybe, Robert "Grand Wiz" Byrd is a little bit too senile to be the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

They think he may have gone downhill from the days when he was apparently operating with a full deck...like about 7 years ago when, on Fox News Sunday, he repeated the N-word a handful of times.

Getting the old Byrd out of there seems reasonable to me, but given the seniority tradition, the order of succession is not very kind to one seeking competence.

Brainiac Patty Murray would head the Committee if Byrd were to be relegated to some sort of Emeritus status.

How About a Kiss for Your Cousin Dupree?

If you don't already know what this Steely Dan ditty is about and lack a good sense of humor, don't read the lyrics.

Here they are from a few years ago on the Late Show...which rumour has it is coming back soon as a result of some deal the Dave cut with the union.

The Courtship of Hadassah's Husband

Joe Lieberman is set to endorse McCain for prez.

This was not entirely unpredictable. They're both war and spending hawks, but backing someone cut from Hillary's idealogical cloth wouldn't have been a completely-outlandish move on the CT Junior Senator's part.

Why didn't he, you ask?

In 2006 and he was up for re-election, the establishment Democrats, like Hillary, were anything but helpful in keeping him in office. They backed Ned Lamont, the Moveon candidate.

It's payback time, Beeeeeeyatch!

What is Dan Cooking Today?

In between bouts with Mother Nature, I've been making a little Christmas cheer for friends/co-workers this afternoon. Aunt Frances' Caramels are to die for, and they probably help accomplish that once you get them, too.

They're quite simple to make, but do require an hour of baby-sitting to be sure you don't burn anything or boil the pot over. Read: because the mixture bubbles up considerably, don't be confused by the small amount of materials. Your pot should be able to accommodate the volume tripling.

Aunt Frances' Caramels

2C sugar
3/4c light Karo syrup
1 stick butter
1 pt whipping cream
1 t vanilla

You'll also need: a candy thermometer and wax paper for wrapping

In pot, melt butter over low heat. Add syrup and half the cream, stirring constantly. Gradually add sugar, stirring well. Cook over medium heat. When mixture reaches rapid boil, add remaining cream. Lower heat so that it remains at a consistent simmer and put in the candy thermometer. Cook at this gentle boil for about 45-60 minutes until you have a nice, deep caramel color and the mixture is just shy of 250 degrees. Take off heat, whisk in vanilla and pour into a 9 or 7 by 13 pan (with sides!) that's been greased and let it cool for at least two hours. When it's somewhat solid, cut into little pieces and wrap in wax paper.

Enjoy!

Nice Google Functionality

There's no surprise here, and nothing really all that new, but Google has extended its news search service over to searching specifically for news photos.

This is particularly nice for people who like to blog on current events. I was using it to look for a photo of the snow bowl going on at Browns Stadium now.

Too bad we're playing the Bills, a team against which we have no serious snow advantage.

So-So Sunday

I guess this is John Edwards' week to make the rounds on the Sunday shows; He's slated for three of them.

The Stormin' Mormon stops in to MTP today. I am betting that Russert's hand is still a little sore from the spanking he administered last week, so we'll see how that goes.

This morning, the Des Moines Register endorsed both Hillary and McCain in the caucuses. They were interesting and well-explained choices. I've shaved my list down to two ideologically-different candidates at the moment...

Well, unless it gets really cold here in Cleveland, all we're getting from this storm the news networks won't shut up about is just a bunch of rain. I got our first few inches shoveled away last night in an effort to stay ahead of the storm, but I woke up to the pitter patter of rain that's slowly melting everything away.

Go Browns.

Hanging Me By a Fire Would Change My Life, Too

It's clear what they were trying to get at in this advertisement I got on Hotmail this AM, but for some reason, hanging a little girl like that by the fireplace struck me as odd...

A Little Elmore James

I was looking for his original of the widely-covered, It Hurts Me Too, but I could not find anything good. The only one was with some transvestite or otherwise-shouldn't-be-stripteasing person that kind of creeped me out.

So I guess you'll just watch the wheel go 'round, should you chose to hit play on Mean Mistreatin' Mama...

Barack Obama...Uncredited Extra in Caddyshack?

Are they talking about him at the 20-second mark? Ooohkay, Pookie!

In Praise of Mr. Horvath

Well, as much as I like the opening of Paul Simon's Kodachrome, I'm getting more confirmation this weekend that my high school Government teacher was right.

The opening of the caucus/primary season is all about expectations.

If the Union Leader says you're supposed to get your ass kicked and you come in third, you came in first.

If David Yepsen thinks you're supposed to sleep your way to victory and you only beat #2 by 8 percentage points, you came in third.

So it should be no surprise that Bill Clinton, no slouch when it comes to politics himself, is setting the stage for another 'comeback kid' speech for the second time and in a different state.

Appearing last night with Charlie Rose, old Bubba said that it would be a 'miracle' if his forgiving wife were to win Iowa.

The plausibility of his argument aside, he shows us again how he's just such a friggin' wizard and that he should be the one in charge of her campaign instead of the henchmen.

This race is hotter than a Laredo parking lot.

In Lieu of the Two Front Teeth

...an Alien would be nice...courtesy of the ever-charming Fountains of Wayne

Ugly Obama Rumours are Starting

BigheadDC has it, but a quick Google search yields more chatter.

I See Boston, I See France...

I see Romney's underpants! The Baltimore Sun packs in a nice story.

Of Curveballs and Screwballs

I've not yet had time to watch the GOP or Dem debates hosted by the Des Moines Register this week, but hope to kick into them this evening.

Now I might not be the smartest knife in the drawer, and others know more than me about the race this year, but I'd gather I at least follow the horse race among the upper 4% or so of the country.

That's not exactly a medal of honor, but I'd bet it's so.

That said, I had no idea whatsoever that Alan Keyes was running! He was allowed in the debate and is up to his old shenanigans. While I used to think he was a much more serious mover, ever since his fabled IL Senate race a few years back, he seems to continue slipping further and further into lunacy.

Sorry for Turning the Blog into My Personal MTV

Hoping it doesn't become too much of a bore...but I just get caught up in some other things and don't post as often as I otherwise might. Then again, it's my space (heh) so I'll do what makes me happy.

That said, I am getting close to making my Prez endorsement. I'm not sure if I should hedge a little bit and do one from each party or just an overall fave.

Hmmm...the decisions a media baron must make. Now I feel Rupert's pain.

Anyway, today's selection is another cut from that Jerry Band show out at Shoreline in 1990. On the side, I found an audio compilation called, "Jerry Does Motown."

No, it's not some kind of pervy, Michigan-based, fat fetish porno but just old Garcia covering Motown classics. It's 4 disks and should provide me some fun when I head back to the grindstone in a few hours.

With that on my mind, I grabbed the tune Marvin Gaye, and later James Taylor, made famous, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).

Jerry's smiling playing the song and I'm smiling listening...hopefully you can say the same about yourself.

Hey Nineteen!

I thought I'd throw up a little more Steely Dan this morning...This one, Hey Nineteen, found itself in the middle of a playful squabble a little while back.

After Steely Dan jokingly accused the producers of You, Me and Dupree, of too much artistic license in borrowing the name of their song, Cousin Dupree, Owen Wilson had a snarky little comeback in his press release.

I have never heard the song `Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this
gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can
get back to concentrating on my new movie, `HEY 19.'

Enjoy the song!

Jesus Never Got Married

There's never a bad time to kick back and chuckle at the genius that was Sam Kinison...

Democrats Find Hillary to Be Cold and Calculating

Don't trust me...while I can't categorically deny the impulse to vote against the GOP this time around, I'm have anything but a long track record of sympathy for Democratic candidates.

Al Hunt, in an opinion piece for Bloomberg news, pulls out more evidence that Democrats are facing just as tough a challenge as their friends across the aisle are.

Citing a recent Democratic focus group in the City of Brotherly Love, participants were worried just as much about Barack's apparent lack of experience as they were about Hillary's core.

If we're to accept their premise, that both have the intellectual stamina to make it in the office, but that Hillary's core personality is untrustworthy and Barack could use some extra experience, it seems that the choice is to go with the man who's from Illinois now, not the one who left it in her late teens.

As time goes on, I do find myself sliding more towards Barack. None of the GOP candidates, spare perhaps Ron Paul (whose views have not yet received the scrutiny needed for someone in the top tier), have excited me enough or given me a real desire to see them sitting behind the desk.

Anyway, here's the Hunt article in case you're interested.

More on Oprah

One of my favorite newly-discovered blogs, BigheadDC is all over the Oprah stuff from the weekend.

Apparently she didn't pack as many butts in the seats as planned. But conversely, her seat did have a lot of butt in it.

The Two Oprahs

I'm not exactly buying my ticket to Stockholm on my observations in this post, but it's just so funny to me that I could not pass up the opportunity to post it up.

As has been noted ad nauseum, Oprah Winfrey hit the campaign trail this weekend for fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

What strikes me, though, is that this Oprah speaks quite differently from the one we often see. In front of this integrated audience in South Carolina, her verbal intonations were strikingly different from the one we see on her show every day.

Now, I'll grant that the show is generally on topics of less importance than who will become the leader of the free world, so for guidance, I needed an appropriate comparison speech. In desperation, I looked back less than 24 hours when she was in front of a heavily-white crowd in Iowa giving what one would think would be identical speeches.

Whoah, Nellie. No way, no how.

She's really laying it on thick in one or both of these speeches...and her arms are strong from all the shoveling practice she's had.

Oprah In Front of an Integrated Crowd in South Carolina on Sunday


Oprah In Front of a Largely-White Crowd in Iowa 24 Hours Before

Mr. BB King...That Dynamic Gentleman of the Blues

While the audio of this performance of Never Make Your Move Too Soon, from around 1980 at Montreux, is not exactly pristine, the King shows us why he makes the big bucks.

Those Naughty Coffee Fiends in Seattle

I came across an interview on CSPAN2 with a guy who wrote a history of the Starbucks chain the other day.

While I only watched it for a few minutes, I thought his explanation of the history of the logo we see on the cup was very interesting. So I did a little research and found some more detail on this site.

I pulled out the images so you can see below where the logo originally started (and what the viewer's eyes were presumably drawn towards) to the much more sanitized version we have today.

For the record, I've never been a fan of their coffee...primarily on the grounds ;-) of taste. I'm more a Dunkin' Donuts guy.

Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! I might have to change my preferences on this. I just checked their site and DD seems to have brought in that Spawn of Satan, Rachel Ray,as a spokesperson.

Screw Oprah; Bollywood Gets Behind Obama!

This is really cool...someone put a nice amount of effort into inserting Barack into the Indian cinema scene.

After seeing his moves, how can Andrew Young argue that this cat doesn't get his share of black tail?

Old Skool Blues

Had a few spare moments here and listening to some blues music here got me thinking that I should dig back into the vaults a little bit and find some Howlin' Wolf.

So that's exactly what I did.

How appropriate to post up Dust My Broom, as I just got finished cleaning the last of the fall leaves from my sidewalk...

CYA and the CIA

I was reminded this morning of Fawn Hall, whose famous line, after finding herself in the middle of a document shredding incident in the Iran-Contra affair, said that sometimes you have to go above the law.

Shrub and the rest are continuing to go outside the law, common sense and decency with the news late this week of the "enhanced interrogation technique" videos from Gitmo that have been destroyed. This was done, according to the agency, because they posed no real value and could endanger national security were they leaked.

Of course, W and Big Time found out about it on Thursday just about the time the rest of us did.

If you believe that...

I've almost gotten to the point where I'm just getting desensitized to all of this. With every passing week, I hear more and more BS going on there in the name of a war on evildoers that I have trouble getting fired up over it anymore. Maybe I should check out the job market in Montreal...or go sign up with Oprah on the Barack campaign...more on that later.

The Grateful Dead Ain't Often Right But They've Never Been Wrong...Well, Maybe This Once

After Garcia left, the Grateful Dead organization has clearly changed its way...looking to find a way to keep the heads satisfied with the wealth of old material they have available for release and a way to keep the cash flowing in.

To think that the organization was not an actual business before is foolish, so I get it. They were giving me what I perceived to be a good deal at the time and that's why I, and countless others, continued to come back for our regular dose of crazy.

There are some good decisions they've made, most notably the Dick's Picks series. These are generally-unedited master tapes of classic shows. The sound quality on them is amazing and gimmickry is kept to a minimum...just like the old days.

Likewise, some of the videos they've put out, like the Closing of Winterland (admittedly not released by GDM, but you get my point) and Downhill from Here have kept true to the groove.

They miss the mark, however, in their latest release, RoadTrips Volume 1. Let's hope that this series goes the way of Caveman.

They've strung together the hit performances of the boys' east coast Fall Tour of 1979. While interesting in concept to the uninitiated, it struck me as akin to selling a picture book of just the punchlines from Peanuts cartoons. Sure they're very clever and you can probably piece together the setup to the joke, but the cartoons are best taken in as whole, not a series of parts.

While I can get in the mood for an isolated song (as I am kind of forced to do on this blog, for instance), you really have to take in a show in something approaching its entirety to fully appreciate what they were up to. That's what I like about their new station on Sirius. Three times a day, they play full, uninterrupted (with the exception of some David Gans commentary at halftime) shows. I tape one each night at 3AM to have something to kick off my day on the way into work.

"Where did they get it right", you ask?

On the band's official site, they've opened up the bottom-up fan commentary and this is a good thing. Fans can come on and offer up their thoughts on the product. This dood hits the nail on the head.

Good day.

>>Addendum a few minutes after posting. If you follow the comment link I had above, the poster refers a few times to the "Movie." He's talking about The Grateful Dead Movie, a really cool piece they remastered and re-released a few years back. Footage came from the marvelous 1974 run at Winterland in San Francisco. There's apparently a lot left on the cutting room floor and this guy wants it all.

Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

Guns N' Roses...the last truly great American rock band, in my opinion. I'm shocked to this day that all of them are still alive.

This cut of Rocket Queen was filmed at The Ritz in NYC in 1988...right as these guys were starting to see the peak of their success...and excess.

I broke down and went to see Axl's current day lineup last year and left after a few songs. Being stuck with my thumb up my ass at The Q for several hours waiting for him to be ready to perform after midnight was enough to drive me nuts.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The junkie class is starting to start jones as we head into the primary season in a few weeks.

I was so delighted to look at the RCP averages I am keeping posted on the side of the page for now...we really have a horserace going on in the GOP. And this weekend, when O unleashes the O in Iowa, New Hampshire and the football stadium in South Carolina, the other mother party could blow much more wide open than we thought it would be a month or two ago when Hillary was the presumptive nominee.

It doesn't get a whole lot better than this!

A Little More Garcia/Dylan

It's been kind of a busy week for me, so I've been lacking the time and inclination to post, but did want to throw down a little more Jerry Garcia for anyone who trips upon the site.

This is from a commercially-released video of a show Jerry did out at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA in September of 1990. The gig had originally been booked as a Grateful Dead show, but when Brent Mydland checked out that summer after overdosing, Jerry decided to step in with his band instead of disappointing the heads.

The fat man really seems to be having fun up there with what seems to me to be his classic lineup of Kahn on bass and Melvin on the ivory...

Enjoy the Dylan epic, Tangled Up in Blue...I'm sure I'll be pissed enough about something to post over the weekend.


WOW! I learned something new in the Wiki-link from above. I had misunderstood one of the lines in the song for all these years, but it seems I'm not alone!

The song contains one of the more famous mondegreens in rock and roll music: "We split up on a dark, sad night," understood by many listeners as "We split up on the docks at night."

Some Beautiful Garcia Tunage

As I lick my wounds from yesterday and head back into the salt mines, I wanted something very easygoing to listen to this morning. As usual, I found just what I was looking for out of Jerry Garcia.

This is a Jerry Band live cut from the famous Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ in 1980. He plays one of the prettiest songs he used to cover in his solo gigs...Sitting in Limbo.

Chill out and check out the cool keyboard solo offered up at the end...

To Catch a Democrat

Too bad they couldn't get Chris Hansen in on the sting took place in the Beltway the other day in which a Senate staffer was caught trying to set up a little butt bongo with a 13 year old boy.

The dude worked on the office of Washington hottie Maria Cantwell (D). He'd also worked on the Presidential campaigns of John Kerry and Dick Gephardt.

I wonder how much more play this would get had the guy worked for the GOP?

'Tis the Season to be Mary

Speaking of Christmas, I guess I now have a good excuse over the coming weeks to play clips from the classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Drudge's Headline this AM

Drudge made me laugh this morning.

He leads with an AP article about Hillary getting ready to take her gloves off with Barack. I was watching some kind of journalist roundtable on CSPAN last night (this should give you some indication of what a hip cat I am) and one of the panelists was talking about candidates going negative.

He said what anyone who's ever been involved in a childish squabble knows...that one person stabbing another in the back does not necessarily produce a unidirectional effect.

Hillary personally having to resort to going on the offensive like this shows a lot about herself in doing so and can move her already-high negatives even higher.

Anyway, the headline made me chuckle because it reminded me of some tape I heard on the radio once where there was a white man learning how to speak 'street.' He would say a sentence, then it would be translated for him. The funniest one was:

Nerdy White Man: "I am very angry and plan to take out some form of revenge on you."

Big Angry-Sounding Dude: "CANCEL CHRISTMAS, MOFO!"

I Don't Own a Dog

But if I did have one, I'd get two more and let them sleep at the foot of the bed tonight.

The cold wind blowing outside means winter is coming in...but not as ferociously as elsewhere.

Anyway, Shambala has always been a favorite Three Dog Night song of mine. And these people all look like Dennis Kucinich voters, so they had best hurry back for the Iowa Caucuses in a few weeks!

Let Phil Sing!

A guaranteed crowd pleasing moment at shows was when they let the old dude playing bass pick up some vocals. Here's his cover of Dylan's Tom Thumb Blues from Spring Tour 1993 out here in Cleveland.

I saw the Chicago run at the former Rosemont Horizon that year...


When you're lost in the rain in Juarez
And it's Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs
When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outa you

Now if you see Saint Annie
Please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move
My fingers are all in a knot
I don't have the strength
To get up and take another shot
And my best friend, my doctor
Won't even say what it is I've got

Sweet Melinda
The peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English
And she invites you up into her room
And you're so kind
And careful not to go to her too soon
And she takes your voice
And leaves you howling at the moon

Up on Housing Project Hill
It's either fortune or fame
You must pick up one or the other
Though neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly
You better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you
And man they expect the same

Now all the authorities
They just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms
Into leaving his post
And picking up Angel who
Just arrived here from the coast
Who looked so fine at first
But left looking just like a ghost

I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City
I do believe I've had enough

Just in Time for Celebration of the Virgin Birth

If I order this now, I should be able to get my Hillary Clinton Nut-Cracker in time for Christmas!

McCain Gets Union-Leader Nod

It's a good Sunday for John Wayne McCain. The man who won the 2000 NH GOP Primary was endorsed this morning by the influential Union Leader.

Like a child choosing between brussel sprouts, peas and spinach, I have yet to make a choice.

Brent Mydland and the Grateful Dead Perform "Far From Me"

Brent Mydland was easily my favorite of the 4 keyboard players the Grateful Dead had. He brought more soul to the seat than anyone. His Hammond organ makes me want to boogie and his vocals sometimes get so haunting that chills run up my spine.

This is one of my fave compositions of his, "Far From Me," out at the Oakland Coliseum during the summer of 1987. This was part of the great-idea-in-theory-$hitty-idea-in-practice tour the boys did with Bob Dylan.

I believe this video (like some others I've posted in the past and will continue to do when I find something I dig) were filmed by the son of drummer Billy Kreutzmann, Justin.

Anyway, check out Garcia's fashionable summer flannel look...

This Made Me Giggle

I've been accused more than once of pulling a stunt like this...but little did I know that the Irish Goodbye was a documented genetic phenomenon! Perhaps I can chalk it up to Scots-Irish heritage.

Speaking of Breathless Coverage by FNC

Lest anyone thing I was exaggerating about Carl Cameron's coverage of the hostage "crisis" in New Hampshire yesterday, I post below a highlight clip of this coverage.

Someone Looked Very Presidential Yesterday

While not blessed with omniscience (sorry to disappoint you), it seemed to be a pretty good guess to me that the hostage situation at the Clinton office in New Hampshire yesterday was probably just a random, relatively harmless nut.

This turned out to be true...despite the breathless, Achille Lauro-like coverage offered up by Fox's Carl Cameron.

The big winner for the news cycle was undoubtedly going to be the Junior Senator from New York. But it goes beyond the generic sympathy she's going to get, as well as a springboard to blame Bush budget cuts in health spending for leaving a deranged man like this on the street.

Hillary also got one hell of a photo op last night in front of her Washington DC crib. The brisk weather allowed her to cover up the pantsuit with a long jacket and scarf...leaving her looking as Presidential as I've ever seen her!

Behold the Master

Albert King was pretty much a guitar god. It's hard to argue otherwise.

He influenced many of the greats during my lifetime, but you can't get much better than going back to the original.

Here he is, from Sweden in 1980, performing probably his most popular song, "Born Under a Bad Sign."

Cheers.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

If this starts to get legs, it's not going to be good for the Giuliani campaign.

The Times comes out with a below-the-fold front page article this morning slamming the Rudy campaign for citing crime, economic and health statistics that are, at best, misleading. At worst, they've pretty much got to be called lies.

As my buddy up in the tundra and I have jabbed back and forth about, if this becomes part of the narrative of his campaign, everything he says is going to be held to a little higher truth standard than otherwise.

Think back to Gore's exaggeration (which could lead to headlines being created when he said that he was 'so hungry he could eat a cow') and Kerry's flip-flopping problem and the exaggerated coverage that brought him.

What Happened to Mike Gravel?

This is what happened, apparently...

Gail Collins Makes a Funny

Gail Collins must have been bumping right up against a deadline to get this in in time to make the national print edition of the Times, but thanks goodness she did.

The opinion piece is pretty much just a run-down of the cast of horses' asses running for the GOP nomination, but it has some really funny quips in it.

I mean, frankly, how can you not like an article that throws down a Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat reference? ;-)

Anyway, her little juxtaposition of where one might expect to see 'alleged' made me chuckle.

"Lately, Thompson has also been busying himself attacking the Fox network for bias against his alleged campaign."

Randy Newman Performs "Louisiana 1927"

I've been really tied up with work and life and just not in the mood to post much on the debate last night. It was kind of disgusting after a while.

So I will continue my little streak of appreciation for the music of the wonderful Randy Newman.

Here's his song, written pre-Katrina, about an earlier flood down in the Gulf. Obviously, the song enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in 2005.

I hope you like Randy at least half as much as I do...

Happy Birthday, Randy Newman!

Today is Randy Newman's birthday and I wore my special socks in celebration.

Anyway, I thought I'd put one of his more biting satirical songs up here.

Don't play it if you can be overheard or are sensitive to some vile language in making an observation about our southern brothers.

Deep Thought for the Day

I thought I'd read this somewhere before and was glad to find it's not a figment of my imagination...it came up on my iGoogle page this morning...

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.

Albert Einstein

I Wish That I Had Jesse's Nerve

Race-baiting bigot, The Reverend Jesse Jackson is back at it with an opinion piece in the Chicago tabloid, the Sun-Times.

John Edwards (not Dennis Kucinich) is apparently the only candidate who cares about black people.

Nothing new here at all...just the same old time religion that's worked on some people for more than a generation. Shockingly, he waits until the last paragraph to throw down a little Dr. King on us, so his restraint is admirable.

I Could Not Write a Better Headline, So I'll Let it Speak for Itself

Thanks, Ryno...

How Long Until Matt Drudge is Openly Cited as Part of the Right Wing Attack Machine?

The Times ran an article in late October about how the Hillary campaign was learning to play nice with Matt Drudge, feeding him snippets here and there. The general feeling I got from the article was, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." I mentioned it briefly here.

Judging from what our boy in Miami Beach is up to today, I suspect the good times are about to end.

He led overnight with a link to the British rags and an article about an alleged lesbian affair with a senior aide, and has now pushed that down to make room for Obama's claim that talking to hubby does not induce a kind of transubstantiation whereby the spouse becomes a driver of policy.

Hillary will find that if she can't neutralize Drudge by playing nice with him, she'll turn him into the enemy and try to profit from him.

Eagles Featured on 60 Minutes This Evening

Taking a break from some outdoor work on perhaps one of our last nice days of 2007 here in Cleveland before Winter strikes, and I noticed that the Eagles are featured tonight on 60 Minutes.

I'm just hoping (against the impression laid out in the preview from CBS) that they don't pretend that Glenn Frey and Don Henley are the whole damned band...

Amen to That, Brother

I haven't posted enough (any?) of one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Randy Newman. This cat really has longevity and depth to what he does. You probably know him even if you don't know it.

There's a certain wry humor to most of his stuff that really catches my fancy.

Here's a cut (haha, i just had to change a funny typo there ;-) ) from SNL which seems to be from the 80s of "It's Money that Matters" and even without seeing him on stage with him, Mark Knopfler's signature guitar sound hits you like a color TV you should move.

Sunday Shows

Hmmm....FNS just started and Chris Wallace introduced Uncle Fred as someone who's "running hard" for the Presidency.

I'll have what he's smoking.

But Meet should be fun this week. Their scheduled guest list is a carbon copy of the early September lineup that ended up in Mary Matalin throwing a pen at Bob Shrum.

Giddyup!

More Evidence of Dan's Catlike Reflexes to Catch a Good Thing While It's Happening

If there was ever any doubt that I'm perpetually apprehensive about bringing new things into my life, I proved it yet again last week when I watched, loved and lamented the 2006-passing of the charming Fox show, Arrested Development.

What a treat!

I'm not sure how I tripped upon it, but added it to my Netflix list and watched Season 1 last week and was immediately smitten.

Starring former kid-star and brother of Justine, Jason Bateman, it's about a dysfunctional family trying to maintain appearances and the family business after the patriarch, Jeffrey Tambor (AKA Hank "Hey Now" Kingsley) was thrown in jail for embezzlement in the pilot.

The perfectly-chosen backdrop for everything that goes on in the series is the outwardly-beautiful, yet shoddily-constructed, model home they live in, out in the middle of nowhere. It's the ultimate metaphor.

I won't bore you with more plot lines from the show, but I'm anxiously awaiting getting seasons 2 & 3, and recommending that you do yourself a favor if you've not seen this delightful show and rent it right away.

Maybe good TV is not dead...

John Hiatt Performs "Cry Love"

I never got totally into John Hiatt, but always dug the use of the mandolin in this song...I hope you do, too!

This is from a Sessions at W. 54th performance.

The Best Little Whorehouse in...Nashua?

There have been two interesting articles this weekend about the whore like overtures candidates make when running for office. When compared to other indecencies performed once in office these examples are rather benign, but it still kind of gets my goad not that candidates will do it, but that we continue to eat it up, cycle after cycle.

The first example comes to us from Friday's New York Times. Jodi Kantor talks about the amount of unhealthy foods the otherwise-health-conscious candidates have to take in in their bid to be seen as one of the people. The paradox, of course, is that if candidates actually ate like the early voters in Iowa and New Hampshire wanted them to, they'd likely end up losing because they'd be perceived as undisciplined, overweight sloths.

The other article that caught my eye, by the AP's Phil Elliott, comes down to Rudy and Fred whipping out their double-barrels for all to see. In an effort to convince voters of...something, Thompson proudly told voters in New Hampshire the other day that he used to have his own skeet shoot, implying that Rudy apparently didn't.

While our choice of hobbies, I guess, does technically differentiate us from others, why in the hell the gun nuts continue to equate recreational gun use (whether target shooting or hunting) with one's reading of the Constitution will always baffle the daylights out of me.

It's times like these that I really feel sorry for John Kerry. While we should all rub our index fingers in the "shame on you" motion towards him for even playing the game, I really have to ask who gives a crap if the guy liked to windsurf? When we peer into his soul, would it reveal something different about the man than if he preferred shooting rabbits between the eyes?